Case Study: Simon National Carriers

SUMMARY

One of Australia’s largest privately owned national freight company saw an opportunity to make gains on competitors during the
COVID-19 pandemic. Jason Dinan at EXCC delivered his 90-day Peak Performance Programme – and the business has seen measurable differences in its sales as a result.

BACKGROUND

Simon National Carriers are amongst one of the largest privately-owned national freight companies in Australia, specialising in the transport and warehousing of high-value and hard-to-handle goods. The company has depots and regional hubs across all States and Territories in Australia. National Sales Manager, Ardy Almassi, has a team of 12 Account Managers and Business Development Managers spread across the country.

THE PROBLEM

When the COVID-19 lockdown hit Australia in 2020, Simon National Carriers was faced with a number of challenges:

• Mindset: “There was a lot of anxiety at that time, and many unknowns, for example, as to whether people would have jobs; if our business would survive; and what was going to happen. No one really knew what was going on,” says Ardy.
• Mechanisms: “Till then, a lot of our prospecting was done face-to-face, and obviously that was thrown out of the window and we had to adapt to video calling. We needed to gain techniques on how to build trust in video meetings. And also learn how to use video technology for maintenance meetings,” says Ardy.
• Growth opportunities: “We saw this as an opportunity to rise above our competitors, and focus on the things that we could control. For example, we wanted to concentrate on our own activities and get better at client video calls. We wanted to come out of the pandemic with really good sales pipelines as a worst-case scenario,” says Ardy.

THE SOLUTION

Ardy knew that he needed to take prompt action to counter the negatives of the lockdown, and grasp the opportunities that were presented. Jason Dinan was recommended to Ardy by a long-term business contact.

After the client on-boarding process, Jason immediately delivered his 90-day Peak Performance
Programme. This is an online learning module with a survey system, and was delivered to all the sales team weekly for that 90-day period.

Simon National Carriers has continued to work with Jason Dinan on an on-going basis.

What’s covered in the 90-day Peak Performance programme?

The 90-day Peak Performance Programme is designed to jumpstart your sales performance in a structured way:

• Building a sales process and growth plan: So your whole team is focused on outcomes.

• Building a growth plan: A clearly documented sales plan for the whole team.

• Mindset: Two modules covering self-awareness, and how to stop self-sabotage.

• Purpose, values, and goal setting: Builds culture, drives performance and changes behaviours.

• Strategic messaging: How to differentiate from competitors.

• Consultative selling: Develop a consultative selling system to increase buyer motivation.

• Feel, Felt, Found: Creating strong skills to deal with stalls, put offs, and objections.

• Revision sessions: Testing and demonstrating learning to create a deeper understanding

OUTCOMES

“The 90-day Peak Performance Programme was really good,” says Ardy. “We had a really good engagement on all the topics that we wanted to discuss. It was really positively received and helped align the sales team across the different States. And it laid a foundation on items that we’ll continue to develop and grow. We’ve also seen a measurable difference in the number of leads coming through, the quality of the leads, and the conversion rates.”

Positive mindset

“As well as dealing with the uncertainty and anxieties arising from the pandemic, there was work to do around individual mindsets and habits, says Ardy. “It was good to have the
mindset sessions delivered with some science behind them, as it’s not easy changing the habits of people who’ve been in their role for many years. We consistently refer back to the
mindset training.

“My favourite part about working with Jason is his really good energy. That brings a lot to our organisation, and he’s also very good at gaining trust with the team quickly.”

Effective mechanisms

Jason set up a CRM system for Simon National Carriers. “He did a lot of work assisting with the on-boarding of the CRM, and training our team to use it,” says Ardy. “The CRM has been a huge positive, and we needed to go down that path. It helps us visualise where the opportunities are, and also makes sure we’re organised in terms of follow-ups. “Jason developed a sales process with the team as well, and it’s something we’re always referring back to. It helps with changing habits, which is an on-going work in progress.”

Growth opportunities

“Our sales pipeline is looking really good since we started working with Jason,” says Ardy. “The
quantity of opportunities; the quality of the opportunities; and their conversion rates – it’s definitely improved. The effort we put in during the pandemic has paid off, and we have a sense of creating our own fortune. “I’m actually surprised at how many sales we’ve converted this year, and we’re on our way to outperforming the targets we’ve set ourselves. We keep chipping away at that.”

Increased accountability through one-on-one interviews

“The biggest positive impact we’ve had from working with Jason is the way sales meetings are
run,” says Ardy. “That’s been a massive win, and something I was probably most apprehensive about. I was reluctant to have one-on-ones with my sales team because it’s so time-consuming and I have all these other tasks to get through. But Jason pushed me to do it, gave me a template, and talked me through it. And although the one-on-ones do take a lot of time, we’re getting value from them. It’s improved self-accountability massively. Plus my team can get involvement from a lot quicker when they need it, plus I can push things along at my end, or provide support where it’s needed. It’s definitely been worth it.”

“We’ve seen a measurable difference in the quantity of leads coming through, the quality of the leads, and the conversion rates as a result of the 90-day programme. We have a sense of creating our own fortune.”

“I would definitely recommend Jason – there is definitely a lot of value in the results he
achieves. He has been a massive, massive plus to our business, and he was able to develop trust very quickly with my team. For me, it’s great to have an independent person I can bounce ideas off. And because he’s profiled the team, he knows how to handle certain situation, and that’s been massive. He’s been a big, big help, and we’re continuing to work with him on an on-going basis.”

If you’d like to find out more about working with EXCC, please contact us.