An excerpt from the RBSG intranet about the value we bring to the bank...
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“I can absolutely guarantee that RBS’s sales will increase following any work with Andy Bounds Ltd. I have used them extensively over the past few years, and have found that our sales have shot up every time we put them in front of our salespeople. Andy Bounds has repeatedly instilled the ability and confidence for our people to smash their targets for new business, referrals and income.” |
Andy Bounds Ltd (ABL) are experts at helping organisations increase sales.
Their sales approach centres round their AFTERsTM methodology,’ which states that our customers are not interested in us and our products; instead, they are totally focused on why they will be in a better place AFTER buying them.
Our salespeople – like our competitors’ salespeople – often focus too much on the former – our unique products, the intricacies of the financial arrangements etc. Giving our people the ability and desire to focus instead on customers’ AFTERs instantly:
- differentiates us,
- makes us more customer-focused, and
- leads to a transformational shift in mindset, behaviour and sales (as can be seen from the above quote)
All ABL’s concepts were created by their founder, Andy Bounds. Andy’s unique slant on sales stems from the fact his mother is blind, giving him a lifetime of communicating from somebody else’s point of view … a critical skill to master when selling.
ABL can help improve your/your team’s ability to increase sales by:
- close more sales
- trigger more referrals
- win large/competitive pitches
- create best-practice, persuasive proposals
- win business from networking events
- speed up your pipeline
- give our customers confidence that we are the answer
ABL’s trainers deliver value every time. Their work has led to such comments from RBS as:
| “Andy Bounds Ltd are my Number One choice. The feedback is always excellent, and they always deliver outstanding value.” Leading Senior HR consultant, Gavin McQuillan, RBS |
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“I have to say that there is an ease of dealing with Andy Bounds Ltd which is quite unique in my experience of dealing with external suppliers. I can rely on things being done on time (sometimes before the deadline!) and open lines of communication regarding negotiating costs/venues/dates etc. An absolute pleasure to deal with.” |
Andy Bounds Ltd’s key strengths re selling: why RBS can feel certain ABL will help increase our sales
| “Andy Bounds’s training led to my team getting 30 referrals in just one morning. Their training transformed the way my team sell, and has led to huge levels of new business for RBS”. Bill Doherty, Director of Commercial Banking, RBS |
ABL’s work with RBSG in the past few years has helped us win £millions of new business. Other companies who have benefited from their cutting-edge sales advice include Virgin, BT, GlaxoSmithKline, Deloitte and Experian.
Their sales credentials are impeccable:
- Andy Bounds has been awarded the prestigious title of ‘Britain’s Sales Trainer of the Year 2008/9’ in the UK’s top sales awards. One of the judges said “Andy Bounds is a truly exceptional sales trainer. His credibility, track-record and gravitas ensured he was head and shoulders above the competition on every level.”
- ABL’s interventions have directly led to their clients winning over £4billion of sales in the last two years alone.
- Every ABL customer has benefited from sales at least ten times greater than their investment in ABL.
- Andy Bounds’s book on winning sales The Jelly Effect was the UK’s best-selling new business book in it’s year of release (2007) and is still selling at similarly high levels.
- Their clients include companies/institutes who are leading brands in sales-related fields. These organisations already possess world-class skills, yet use ABL to further improve their results. Names include:
-The Institute of Sales and Marketing Management (ISMM)
- The Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP)
- Shipley Ltd (market leaders in proposal writing)
- Drayton Bird Associates (market leaders in direct marketing)
- Superbrands (market leaders in branding)
- BNI (market leaders in referrals and networking. An organisation with 100,000 members, ABL’s work on their global sales techniques was so influential that they won BNI’s global award “Outstanding Commitment to Raising Training Standards”)
- All ABL’s trainers have 10+ years experience in sales/sales-related fields. ABL’s Head of Training worked in sales/sales training for a leading bank for 17 years, winning national awards for the sales he helped others achieve
ABL’s 5-step process for guaranteeing we increase our sales:
| Step 1 |
| ABL ask us detailed questions, to gain total clarity on what RBS want delegates to do after the intervention. This involves establishing suitable KPI’s (e.g. sales made, appointments in diary, conversion rates, speed from Customer Review to sale etc), and the value RBS want ABL to bring |
| Step 2 |
| Creation of learning interventions to guarantee RBS gets this value. Experts at delivering blended learning solutions, ABL’s interventions include training, e-learning, accountability coaching, follow-up emails/audios, text reminders, creation of “how to” guides, intranet tips and handy hints, consultancy and unlimited remote access to their trainers |
| Step 3 |
| ABL send us marketing material before the training takes place to create delegate excitement and buy-in |
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Step 4 |
| Delivery of the intervention, using their innovative training methodologies, which are so cutting-edge that RBS Retail Learning chose ABL to upskill all their 120 trainers how to train more effectively |
| Step 5 |
| ABL relentlessly follow-up, until RBS’s desired outcomes/value have been achieved |
Case Study: how ABL increased RBS salespeople’s sales by 15%
Every ABL sales course for RBS has resulted in an instant, dramatic and lasting increase in sales. The course outlined here was delivered to Steve Cox’s Hunter team …
| “This course has made a huge difference to my figures. I won £600k of lending secured, undoubtedly, using (ABL’s) techniques. Crucially, we were more expensive than our competitors, and still won. I am getting at least twice the number of referrals I was pre-course." RBS delegate, following an ABL sales course |
| "The training has transformed the approach I take with customers, which has put me in a far stronger position with them than ever before. It’s the only course I have been on where, if I’m honest, the notes haven’t gathered dust under my desk when I got back to the office. Instead, they sit proudly on it!” RBS delegate, following an ABL sales course |
Post-training results: sales increase of 15%
- Every delegate’s sales performance increased as a result of the course
- The uplift was tracked over many months i.e. the course resulted in long-term, sustainable growth, not a ‘short-term post training blip’
- One delegate improved his results by 88%
Measurement device, to confirm the sales increase
- The delegates’ figures were tracked both before and at regular intervals after the course
- The post-course average results were consistently 15% higher than they had been beforehand
How ABL helped us achieve these new sales
ABL delivered these results by adopting their 5-step process outlined above.
Step 1 (scoping) showed that the delegates had two key needs – to be able to:
1. see more of the ‘right kind’ of buyers; and
2. say the right things, so these buyers would buy
ABL used this insight to create a course to boost our people’s ability to trigger referrals and close sales quickly (Step 2).
They then sent pre-course marketing information to the delegates (Step 3), so all delegates (a) turned up (b) were motivated to learn.
The course (Step 4):
- Was delivered over two days, split by six weeks
- This gap gave delegates the opportunity to implement Day One’s learnings in real-life sales situations, supported by unlimited access to the trainers
- Day Two began with success-sharing (i.e. “these are the sales I’ve won since Day One”)
For the follow-up (Step 5):
- The trainers pro-actively contacted all delegates after the course, to ensure key skills were embedded
- The trainers also coached their managers (who had observed the training) how to ensure sales performance remained high
To book us to work with you and/or your team, click here
