Neopost champions Academic approach to success

April 6, 2009 - PRLog -- Neopost is Europe’s leading mailroom equipment and logistics solutions provider, employing over 5500 people in more than 90 countries worldwide.  With over 800,000 customers globally, having highly skilled sales teams is essential to the company’s continued growth in a very competitive international market.  

When Chris Burns joined Neopost UK as HR director, it became apparent that the development of the sales force needed a fresh approach.  The style, standards and structure would need changing to deliver the need for a professional highly skilled and knowledgeable sales team.

Having previously worked with Progressive Training Services, Burns had been taken by their innovative and motivational methods. “The PTS approach is very tailored and conceptual,” he commented. “Their strength is introducing fresh ideas and developing new attitudes to training and they come up with potential solutions that I don’t see from other companies. They offer bespoke solutions, not just variations of standard solutions which is of great value, so I brought PTS’s managing director, John Constable, on board to help shape our future.”  

With the UK being one of the most dynamic postal markets in the world, it is critical that Neopost’s sales teams are totally professional and had the high level skills to meet the challenges and demands of the 21st century. Burns and PTS therefore began by taking a long hard look at the most effective way to enhance the sales teams, both in finding the right people, and enhancing their skills

The concept of the ‘Neopost Sales Academy’ was born. This placed everything to do with training and learning under one banner; viewed salesmanship as an art form and evolved learning and personal development as an integral part of the company ethos. The Academy would be responsible for sourcing staff, both directly via the website and indirectly using agencies, and developing a holistic and progressive approach to training rather than delivering isolated training modules.

PTS’s resources add knowledge and expertise to Neopost’s existing team of trainers. Programmes are overseen by experienced training professionals who manage the tutors and ensure continuity to the programme.  Programme tutors are either generalists who have experience of a wide range of industry sectors or specialists with in-depth knowledge and first hand experience of specialist sectors.  Both have high levels of ability in teaching specific subjects, which allows the programmes to be tailored to meet a wide range of specific needs.

The ‘Academy’ style is a dynamic approach to learning, dovetailing classroom and field training with continuous refinement, flexibility and adaptability.  This allows the programme to cater for the needs of delegates at all levels and with wide ranging skills, but critical to its success is ongoing and continual evaluation of delegates’ progress.  

The core programme consists of two formal class-based training modules, each of one week duration, delivered by highly motivating trainers with hands-on industry experience. These modules integrate both product knowledge and personal skill development.  The learning process is strengthened with daily revision papers, and delegates that require additional training are recommended further learning plans.  

The class-based learning is reinforced with field training, which is tailored for each delegate based on suggestions and recommendations of the trainers to the management teams.  The programme is continuous with follow up sessions at 5-6 week intervals which allows constant tracking of progress. Best practice from the field is constantly analysed and incorporated into practical role-play sessions, and feedback from these follow up sessions is reported directly to delegates by psychometric reports and one-to-one sessions with the tutorial team.  The Academy also feeds back results to management with recommendations for actions needed to maintain continual progress.

During the programme each delegate has clear results-based objectives to attain, and only on achieving their objectives do they graduate as fully-fledged sales executives. But it doesn’t stop there.  Development is continuous with successful graduates progressing to more demanding roles as senior sales executives, finance specialists, or specialists in selling high value products.

Burns added, “People respond well to the Academy approach, and we have people who joined with an apparent low skill level and have become highly competent, driven professionals earning £40-£50,000 in their second year. We’ve had people come through the Academy who have knocked well-established sales people off their perch. As a company, Neopost has been highly successful with a 9 –11% year-on-year growth despite it being a mature market. 2006 was exceptional with a 20% growth, and it’s even more important that our sales teams now have the highest level of skills to take us through the current difficult economic times. Our investment in the Academy has shown a significant return, played a major role in our success in the past, and will continue to do so in the future.  I can say with hand on heart that the Neopost Academy has been a success, so much so that we are now expanding it to develop other disciplines within the company.”

ends

Photos available on request

For further information


For media enquiries
Colin Caldicott, Ultimedia PR  
Tel: 01767 601470  E-mail: colin@ultimediapr.co.uk


For Neopost
Chris Burns, HR director.
Tel:     01708 714043  E-mail: chris.burns@neopost.co.uk
Website:  www.neopost.co.uk


For PTS
John Constable, managing director
Tel: 0845 458 9461
E-mail;  john.constable@pts-uk.net   Website:  www.pts-uk.net