CaseStudy /

Consistent mental toughness training delivered to 3,000 sales people across 20 countries that will motivate and equip them to achieve new targets in 2012

Equipping a global sales force to achieve new targets

01/ The Client Thomson Reuters is a global business data company that operates in over 100 countries and has over 55,000 employees.

02/ The ChallengeThomson Reuters had undergone quite a change as an organization, particularly in terms of its sales teams. The company decided to invest in a program that would motivate and inspire its sales people at the beginning of 2012, and set them up for success in what promised to be a challenging year for sales targets. The company recognized that an invigorated global sales force would have a significant impact in helping drive success in the coming year.

The scale of the project was a particular challenge: 3,000 sales people within the financial and risk division needed to be motivated and inspired to achieve their targets at a series of 27 sales kick-off conferences, in 20 countries worldwide, in the space of a month from the initial kick-off meeting.

The sessions needed to be organized quickly and had to be tailored specifically for the sales people to ensure the training had maximum impact and would empower them to achieve higher levels of performance over the coming year.

03/ The SolutionThe team from Thomson Reuters met with consultants from rogenSi to design and develop a sales conference that would combine presentations from senior management to launch the sales program with some training that would really engage, energize, and motivate the global sales force.

Lisa Redekop, Global Head of GSAM Academy and Sales Enablement for Financial & Risk at Thomson Reuters says, “rogenSi had done a couple of lunch and learn sessions with us last summer around preparing the perfect pitch and mental toughness. We liked both of those presentations so much we ended up filming them in front of a small audience and sharing it with all of our sales people.”

Following discussions, Thomson Reuters and the rogenSi consultants decided that a mental toughness training session would work really well as part of these sales kick-off conferences. They also agreed that a rogenSi consultant should facilitate the whole event and tie everything together. Redekop comments, “It was a really good thing to do. It raised the bar of the overall session, gave it a flow and overall consistency and made sure we kept to time. It meant we had people energised and involved throughout the day, not just for the training session.”

RogenSi designed and delivered 27 sales kick-off conferences to 3,000 participants in a total of 20 countries, in the space of four weeks. In some of the larger events, there were up to 500 participants in the room.

The key objectives for this program of conferences were to motivate the sales people and focus their mindsets on achieving their targets for the coming year. Redekop explains, “We wanted to provide a combination of motivational messages, but equally, if not more so, it was about making sure that they were focusing on the right things to do, in order to drive the sales results for 2012.”

The rogenSi consultants worked closely with Thomson Reuters to ensure the company’s high level business objectives were communicated in a way that was relevant and engaging and that the sales people took away practical messages that would significantly improve their job performance. Redekop says, “We had the challenge that any sales organization faces: we have the business priorities that have been set up by the leadership around what we’re going to sell, and in what markets, but how do we make that real for a sales person to take something away and act on it when they leave?”

Thomson Reuters was delighted with the program rogenSi delivered, especially given the logistical challenges and the very tight timeframes for this project. Redekop says, “We achieved what we set out to do. Even given the time and the scale of what we had to do, I think we still achieved our objectives.”

04/ AchievementsAs a result of this series of sales kick-off conferences:• 3,000 people were engaged, motivated, and trained at 27 events, in 20 countries in 4 weeks• Sales teams are now focused on the priorities of the business for 2012• Sales staff worked in teams to share ideas and solutions for the best ways to achieve their sales targets in the coming year• Business was able to deliver a consistent message and set of priorities to the global sales force that the teams are now able to put into practice

Having the consultants from rogenSi facilitate the events played a key part in delivering a consistent message across a large number of events in so many different countries. Redekop comments, “We were impressed by their ability to facilitate really consistently across such a big program.

The people from rogenSi who facilitated across the 27 sales kick-offs were of the same high quality.”

“We wanted to provide a combination of motivational messages, but equally, if not more so, it was about making sure that they were focusing on the right things to do, in order to drive the sales results”

Lisa RedekopGlobal Head of GSAM Academy & Sales Enablement for Financial & Risk

02/ The LegacyThe Thomson Reuters sales force responded really well to these conferences and the practical messages about how mental toughness can be used to improve their everyday performance. Redekop says, “We did surveys and the results were very positive. People really liked what we did and felt that we did what we set out to do. rogenSi got very high scores: in almost every case they scored well to extremely well.”

The consistency of the message and the way it was tailored to Thomson Reuters as a company was vital to the success of the program of sales conferences. The energetic style of delivery matched the message and ensured that the content really resonated with the participants.

The focus on mental toughness was particularly appropriate for the sales staff and Thomson Reuters is confident that this training will make a real difference in the challenging year ahead. Redekop comments, “One of the things I really liked about the mental toughness training was the fact that it’s about taking control of your own destiny and your own reaction to outside forces. It’s a mindset tweak that helps people think in a different way and may make the difference between them achieving their sales targets and really exceeding them.”

03/ The Verdict “rogenSi helped us deliver a consistent program across multiple countries and multiple cultures that really resonated and helped us set up what will hopefully be a very successful 2012.”

“I think rogenSi are very responsive. They try to creatively figure out how we can make sure we are delivering to the objectives we’ve set out, and they are always trying to look at new ways to deliver the training.”

Lisa Redekop,Thomson Reuters’ Global Head of GSAM Academy & Sales Enablement for Financial & Risk

What can we do for you?rogensi.com

“We did surveys and the results were very positive. People really liked what we did and felt that we did what we set out to do. rogenSi got very high scores ... in almost every case they scored well to extremely well.”

Lisa RedekopGlobal Head of GSAM Academy& Sales Enablement forFinancial & Risk