In the TSL industry, it is easy to compare rates and transit times. It's harder to compare people. And it is the salesperson - his knowledge, the way he conducts the conversation, his understanding of the client's business - that decides whether the cooperation ends in one order or lasts for years. This conviction gave rise to the GT Sales Leader Academy - an original development program created for the salespeople of all companies of the Transport Group by Magdalena Lipska, GT Commercial Director.
Where did the idea for your own academy come from?
The sales training market is huge. You can buy a ready-made workshop package, tick off the topic and get back to work. Magdalena Lipska chose a more difficult path and built the program from scratch, for the specific needs of GT teams."I didn't want a training that enters the company for two days and disappears. Before the Academy plan was created, I talked for a long time with salespeople and company directors - about what they are working out, where they are blocking, what customers are asking about. It was only from these conversations that a program was put together that really fills the gaps, and not just exists."
- said Magdalena Lipska, Commercial Director and author of the program
What the Academy teaches
Product and market knowledge is the starting point at GT. The Academy goes further - it focuses on competencies that make a difference in the work of a salesperson, and rarely make it into training plans: sales psychology, business communication, building relationships and trust, negotiation and working with objections, mental resilience and cooperation between branches and companies."Hard skills can be learned from procedures. Not how to talk to a client who has had a difficult week and a difficult decision ahead of them. That's why I focused on soft skills. They sound less specific than the rate per kilometer, but it depends on them whether the customer will receive the phone from us in a year"
- explains Magdalena Lipska
Experts who co-created the program
Magdalena Lipska invited people with three different perspectives to the Academy - and this combination turned out to be the strength of the program. Joanna Gdaniec, the creator of the IMPROsales and IMPRO4Business methods, has been working with sales leaders and teams for over 20 years. During the workshops, participants practiced active listening, working with convictions and partnership-based negotiations. Dietmar W. Dahmen, Managing Director and Member of the Board of Management of the Transport Group, brought more than 30 years of experience in logistics and knowledge of GT inside out to the program. His sessions were about effective communication and the conscious use of language in sales. The "Magic Words of Influence" block was particularly popular among the participants. Dr. Mateusz Grzesiak, a business psychologist, lecturer and author of publications on sales and leadership, led the workshops during the last congress of the Academy. The participants worked on the mechanisms of decision-making by customers, the influence of emotions on the purchasing process and their own effectiveness - attitude, motivation, energy management in demanding work."The invitation of Dr. Mateusz Grzesiak was not a coincidence. Our salespeople know the market very well, but each of us has moments when we are blocked by our own head, not by the competition. These workshops gave the teams the tools to work on themselves and I can see that people are using them"
says Magdalena Lipska
A program that listens to participants
The Academy has a rule introduced from the first congress: after each training, participants fill out questionnaires. The questions are specific - what worked, what was missing, which topic to deepen, what to change in the formula. The results do not end up in a drawer. On their basis, further modules are planned and leaders are selected. Surveys after the meetings so far have shown high engagement of participants - they indicated an increase in motivation, greater self-confidence in conversations with customers and better cooperation between teams and companies."Surveys are the most important document for me after each congress. I read each answer and on that basis I decide where the Academy will go next. The participants see that their comments change the program, so they write honestly - and that's the point"
emphasizes Magdalena Lipska
What do the Transport Group's customers get out of it?
The development of team competencies has a direct impact on everyday cooperation with clients:A salesperson who understands the client's business and advises instead of simply pricing freight
Clear, structured communication at every stage of cooperation
consistent service throughout the Group - a customer using several of our services is served according to the same standards.
Few companies do it on such a scale
In the Polish TSL industry, proprietary, cyclical development programs involving salespeople of all companies of the group are still rare. Individual product trainings or onboarding of new employees are more common. Grupa Transportowa treats team development as an element of the strategy. The Sales Leader Academy is the best example of this - and the program will be developed in subsequent editions, in the directions indicated by the participants themselves."Big companies don't build big results. Great companies build great people, and they build great results"
Magdalena Lipska sums up,