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Georgia-Pacific Sharpens Its Strategic Sales Coaching Focus
Paper and building products giant Georgia-Pacific (GP) is a global leader in a highly competitive, commodity marketplace. The industry is marked by consolidation and increasingly sophisticated buyers who are driving the need for strategic partnership all the way up the supply chain.
GP knew that it needed strategic sales training to address these competitive concerns, and so the company implemented value-added sales skill training. But Bill Schnitzer, Distribution Division Director of Program Management, knew that GP sales leaders needed more help managing individuals so that strategic sales thinking could translate to better customer relationships. "Our sales managers were so involved in the tactical day-today activities of our business that they were neglecting coaching. We needed a process and tools to help them focus back on that," he says.
More Than Coaching Training
Advantage partner Steve Gielda recommended Delivering Business Results (DBR), from The Real Learning Company. Far more than a traditional coaching workshop, DBR develops sales managers as strategic resources by giving managers a common language and tool-rich process for assessing, planning, managing, and coaching.
Managers from the company’s National, Distribution, and Industrial divisions have different sales skill needs, but common sales management and coaching needs. That’s why DBR was such an ideal fit. Gielda says, "This program allowed us to truly focus on the specific business drivers of Georgia-Pacific, while tailoring the exercises to help managers overcome the challenges of exceeding their expectations."
The program directly addressed the challenges that GP’s area sales managers were facing in their efforts to attain better business results with direct reports and peers. These challenges included thinking strategically instead of tactically, managing poor performers better, developing teams to take on more responsibility, focusing on key drivers, setting clear expectations, and giving effective feedback.
Customization, Interactivity Add Realism
Gielda, Schnitzer, and the Real Learning team went to work customizing DBR to the company’s environment, key drivers, and goals.
A Strategic Coaching Survey sent out before the training gives managers a "look in the mirror" at how direct reports perceive them as strategic coaches. Then managers spend two days learning how to manage sales performance, focusing on key drivers and best practices within targeted business areas, and using an eight-layer customized case.
Learning map methodology adds a compelling interactive aspect to experiences such improving the behavioral styles skills necessary for more effective communication. "This was a fun way to learn," says Schnitzer. "Understanding behavioral styles is a critical part of dealing with people, and this was a great part of the program."
The program capstone is a "Day in the Life" sales manager simulation, which GP managers will experience in the fall. "That’s where the real aha’s happen," says Gielda. Managers will meet five realistic people on their simulated sales teams, all with different behavioral styles, and practice coaching them in a variety of scenarios that GP sales managers currently encounter on a daily basis.
Accountability is another important aspect of the learning. Area Managers essentially run their own businesses; some manage $300+ million. Now these managers are being held accountable for the way they coach to strategic relevance. "For the first time, people are being held accountable for their coaching. This is a new idea in our culture," admits Schnitzer. "But we’ve created a very positive environment and approach to help them do this. We tell people we want to see improvement, and we’re here to help them get better, to be more successful. It’s a positive rather than a negative message."
Tools Sharpen the Coaching Focus
Development partnership has played a key role in the initiative’s success to date. Schnitzer says, "I couldn’t say enough good things about Steve. He really helped us evaluate our situation and had our needs in mind when bringing solutions to the table. I also put my trust in Real Learning that they would get this done and customized with very little intervention on my part. They more than met my expectations."
Real Learning also provides GP Area Managers with access to a broad and deep set of online tools that support their efforts to become better strategic coaches. "The Real E-Tools.com website offers tools for ramping up employee performance, developing sales performance plans, creating goals, and a lot more," says Gielda. "We created a series of ‘lunch- ‘n-learns’ around the online Peak Performer tool to give managers a call to action post-training. This tool is a phenomenal back-end component to the DBR strategic management and coaching program."
"Definitely Two Thumbs Up!"
All General Managers and Area Managers from Georgia-Pacific’s National, Distribution, and Industrial divisions will experience Developing Business Results. Midwest Region General Manager Bud Skinner says the program "is excellent. The case studies were very realistic. I’ve been with GP for 23 years and I could relate to every problem in the case studies. This program is definitely two thumbs up!"
Nashville Area Manager Kent Marks says, "The whole course certainly strengthened my ability and commitment to coaching. One of the most impressive parts of the program was when we laid out the board game and began to put on the pieces. That put a name on the feelings I had about people’s strengths or weaknesses. I could walk away and say, ‘I see that aspect in a certain individual’s work ethic or personality. Now I have a name for it and I have the information I need to fix it.’"
Reaction across the board has been very positive. Schnitzer recalls, "Our Area Managers are saying things like, ‘This is great stuff. I had stopped doing this and this will get me back into focusing on coaching,’ and, ‘The best part is that this gives me a process that I can really use when I’m coaching my people about improvement.’"
The payoff for General and Area Managers is expected to be higher revenue results, clearer lines of communication between their people, and less fear of losing people to competitors. All improvements will be carefully measured. Schnitzer says, "We’re all about measurement. We’ll survey again in the fall and we’ll also use monthly reinforcement learning and weekly newsletters to reinforce the coaching focus."
Schnitzer feels that providing powerful tools was the key to increasing managers’ desire and ability to coach their people strategically. "People learned a lot from the program, partly because it provided a lot of very realistic challenges. But the larger point is that we have provided tools that are accessible, save time, and are highly effective. Now people have a complete manager’s toolbox they can use to really zero in on what they need to focus with each employee."
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