Solution for
Industrial Fabrics Wholesaler
Iron Cage helped this industrial fabrics wholesaler completely reshape their business and add serious numbers to their bottom line.
Company went from losing money, to adding $3m in sales - in the middle of Covid.
The client was an industrial fabric importer and wholesaler based in Melbourne, Australia. They provide a range of fabrics, including upholstery, interior fit-out, marine, medical, aged care, recreational vehicles, solar protection and high end architectural tensile structures. When they client came to us, the revenue of the company was going backwards (even before Covid). They had six BDMs on the road taking meetings, following the standard system for their industry, but those BDMs were not meeting their budgets. When Covid hit, and the BDMs could not be on the road, most stopped trying to make sales altogether. The owners of the company were concerned that the hit in revenue meant the company wasn’t going to survive.
Our plan and process
Our first step was to take the company through our sales audit process. This involved a deep look at the sales process of the company, and interviews with all staff members. This gave us a thorough understanding of where the company was at, and how it could be improved. We then created our plans – a 1 month plan, a 3 month plan, and a 6-12 month plan.
Our most pressing issue was getting the BDMs working. During our interviews we discovered that the BDMs saw their role as relationship management only, and not as being responsible for bringing in new business. We instituted a marketing plan previously unseen in this industry (and now copied by their competitors!) as a way to get BDMs comfortable on the phone calling existing customers.
Our plan was to transition the BDMs into using the phone and Zoom to book appointments and conduct presentations, since they were unable to be on the road during the pandemic. As a result of this initial change and being asked to be proactive about selling, one BDM quit straight away, saving the company 90k + car and benefits. After this the company started seeing an influx of previous customers buying stock again, as a result of being reached out to again, as well as new customers signing on. In addition, they started to see their larger competitors watching what we were doing with their marketing, and begin to institute it themselves.
Over the following months we completely reshaped the company’s sales process. We were able to let go of most of the remaining BDMs, and instead hire appointment setters on a lower salary (and without cars) who could spend all day on the phone setting up presentation appointments with potential clients. This system allowed the company to reach many more leads than BDMs on the road could. We instituted scripting and objection handling systems and conducted weekly sales meetings with the team, changing the culture around sales and management within the company.
As a result of the new systems, the introduction of appointment setters, and our innovative marketing plans, the company went from going backwards in revenue, to adding $3m to the bottom line – in a matter of 6 months.
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