Articles
Client Spotlight! Harcros Chemicals: Creating a World-Class Sales Organization
By Business Performance Group Staff Writer
Published on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 under Sales Training
Harcros is an independently owned, highly successful U.S. company that represents many of the top producers in the chemical industry. They also manufacture proprietary products at their plant in Kansas City, Kansas. Harcros is organized into 29 distribution and sales centers in key locations across the country. They have a fleet of over 200 vehicles equipped for the safe delivery of chemical products, and they have over three million gallons of bulk storage available for customers.
| "The manufacturing climate in the United States is extremely competitive. We’ve been very successful and our goal is to stay that way.” said Mr. O’Neill. |
“The chief challenge for our sales force is that we sell stuff not things,” said Vice President Jeff O’Neill. “Many of our products are commodities; the value we bring to the table is our service, our technical expertise, and our customer relationships.” While Harcros uses a field sales organization, this group is spending an increasing amount of time on the telephone servicing current customers and prospecting for new ones. “80% of our potential is within our customer base,” said Tom Worth, Vice President. “Account penetration and building multiple personal relationships within the account is critical. This is how we have built our success.”
Business Performance Group began a relationship with Harcros by providing the Leading High-Impact Sales course for the entire sales management group. Harcros’ goal was to equip sales managers with coaching skills before training commenced with the sales force. “We need good coaches in the field to work with our sales force. Each interaction between the manager and salesperson needs be productive,” remarked Rex Gmerek, District Manager. “As the market is changing, our approach needs to be flexible as well.”
In the spring, Harcros will provide a customized version of Business Performance Group’s course, Consultative Selling to its sales team. Developers accompanied Harcros salespeople in the field to learn about the unique aspects of their jobs and their high-value customer relationships. Telephone skills within the sales group will also be enhanced. “The manufacturing climate in the United States is extremely competitive. We’ve been very successful and our goal is to stay that way.” said Mr. O’Neill.