Introducing a structured approach to BD in a technical environment
There are countless examples of projects from £20,000 to £500,000+ that have been won by Arup consultants at different grades, all based on a much more proactive mindset and skill level at consultative selling.
Like many firms in the engineering and technical arena, the culture is based very much on scope and compliance. Arup is involved in most major construction projects around the world from New York Metro, Sydney Harbour Opera House to Beijing Olympics. With increasing competition, and the current cost-cutting climate, it has become essential to build on the relationships the technical experts have by winning further business and proving the true value expected.
What did Arup want to achieve?
Many of Arup’s professionals still see the word “sales” in a negative light, aligning it with the wrong end of the sales profession, and so are potentially not as proactive as they could be. This ultimately leaves the business development to just a few individuals.
What issues were Arup facing?
The issue has been to find a way to harness the strong reputation Arup has, alongside the relationships that are constantly being built and ensure continued growth in winning the right business. This can be achieved by making business development and relationship management a core part of each person’s role.
The results
There is now a cross-company culture around the importance of sales and Arup consultants have developed a conscious competency around sales methodology and skills. Arup now have sales pipelines that are being maintained, and forecasting is therefore much more accurate within the individual practices. External auditor LRQA shared that the customer relationship journey was the best example they had seen of following a process to achieve the objectives set out. Overall, there has been a large increase in sales activity across all consulting grades.
£500,000+project size wins
Increase in sales activityreduction in cost of sale
“The financial benefits of SBR Consulting’s programme were very clear to us. We were selecting our opportunities better. We were managing our pipeline more efficiently. Our conversion rates had clearly improved and overall, the cost of sales was reducing. We were winning more for less.”
Matt Bythell Associate Director
SBR’s approach
The strategy has been to introduce a company-wide structured approach to business development. Sales training is an essential part of this process. SBR Consulting was chosen as the preferred provider for sales training for the following reasons: We train a Consultative Sales Methodology, unlike many other traditional sales training models. SBR Consulting understands that, with technical experts, it is not purely skills training that is needed. To change behaviour, the training must also address the mindset, confidence and sales activity aspects. All our training encompasses these aspects SBR are experts in our field and train “how” to sell not just “what” selling looks like. The SBR model of Consult, Create and Embed was carried out and 2 programmes have been created: High-Performance Sales Habits Programmes for Consultants and Customer Relationship Management programme with leaders across the sectors.
About Arup
Arup is a British multinational professional services firm headquartered in London that provides design, engineering, architecture, planning, and advisory services across every aspect of the built environment.
