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Twenty-Year Partnership Stands the Test of Time

In 1986, Strategic Enhancement Group introduced a revolutionary new sales process called Counselor Salesperson to ten sales representatives at Nalco Company, a leading global provider of integrated water treatment and process improvement services, chemicals and equipment programs for a variety of industrial and institutional customers. Few would have predicted that 20 years later this experiment would touch tens of thousands of employees and support the consulting mindset that has defined Nalco's culture since it was founded in 1928.

Since those ten participants attended that first Counselor Salesperson (CSP) session two decades ago:

• More than 10,000 Nalco employees worldwide, including senior managers, have participated in the consultative sales training.
• CSP training is now required for any Nalco salesperson hoping to move up in the sales organization and advanced sales training and sales management training that builds on CSP principles is required for all sales managers.
• The curriculum has been adapted to reflect the unique cultures and social norms of over 130 countries where Nalco has operations and has been customized and translated into eight languages, including Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese and German.
• The sales effectiveness curriculum has grown to include two additional specialized programs - Versatile Salesperson and The Leader Manager - that expand on CSP principles.
• Nalco's sales culture has thrived, despite dramatic changes, including major industry consolidations, mergers, changes in ownership, related leadership changes and an intensely competitive market.
• Nalco has come to be regarded as one of the chemical industry's leading sales organizations.

Humble Beginnings
"From the outset, Nalco management was open to taking an unconventional approach. That was key," explained Bob Parks, General Partner at Strategic Enhancement Group. "At the time, most companies saw a sale as a one-time transaction. Nalco approached each potential sale as part of an ongoing relationship and a chance to solve a unique problem."

"They recognized the importance of consultative sales and value-added service long before it was popular," said Parks, who has worked with Nalco since the relationship began. "Nalco understood that every solution was customized. They didn't offer 'off the shelf' solutions like many competitors. Customers choose to work with Nalco as much for the way they arrived at the solution as the solution itself."

CSP suits Nalco's needs perfectly because it is designed to help salespeople look at a business challenge from the customer's point of view using a comprehensive discovery process, explained Parks. A thorough understanding of the client's situation, concerns, challenges and requirements allows the Nalco salesperson to make sound and accurate recommendations. Many clients find the discovery process equally enlightening.

"The CSP process helped formalize what Nalco was doing already and integrated consultative selling into every aspect of the sales process," he explained. "CSP helped ensure that everyone approached customer situations from the same perspective."

Bruce Michalowski, Global Education Manager for Nalco, said that since embracing CSP Nalco has never seriously looked at another sales development approach because CSP helps showcase what Nalco has done best since the company was founded: Deliver custom solutions based on a thorough understanding of the customer's needs. "We sell experience, problem-solving and chemical expertise. The three are intertwined," he said.

Solutions Grow, Change with Company
The CSP approach quickly became the foundation of Nalco's sales and service. Over the years, Strategic Enhancement Group has helped the company incorporate enhancements to the curriculum that include the latest research on human behavior, current technology and best practices learned over the years.

Over time, more advanced sales training has been added to the Nalco sales development curriculum. Versatile Salesperson (VSP) provides a more in-depth understanding of the consultative process and focuses on adapting the sales approach to reflect a customer's personal style. The Leader Manager (TLM) process focuses on leadership and building the skills sales managers need to maximize the efforts of their sales teams. TLM is used throughout the company, in all departments and functions, as the primary leadership course at Nalco.

In fact, Nalco's integration of TLM principles into real sales leadership situations is so well-known that the company was asked to act as a test site for the most recent version of the new TLM program, offering practical insights before it was introduced worldwide through Wilson Learning Corporation.

Very early on, Nalco decided to facilitate the training internally to control costs and ensure that the curriculum reflected the company's strategies, goals and markets. Strategic Enhancement worked closely with Nalco to certify a team of sales managers and training managers to take on the facilitation.

As Nalco's training needs evolved and grew - an average of 200 employees per year go through at least one of the three curriculums - Strategic Enhancement's role shifted as well.

Strategic Enhancement's partnership with Nalco now focuses primarily on advanced sales and management development rather than facilitation. Ongoing coaching programs and manager development help to ensure that the CSP, VSP, and TLM sessions are not just "one-time" training events and help Nalco managers to reinforce key principles regularly. Strategic Enhancement also provides administrative support, such as managing logistics for more than 40 sessions held worldwide each year, coordinating pre-class surveys and assessments.

"We have had a very positive, fruitful working relationship with Strategic Enhancement," said Michalowski who has worked with the firm for the past 15 years. "We expect them to bring best practices and we're never disappointed. Bob pushes us to think differently. He uses the same CSP principles we teach. He asks great questions then uses our responses to create a solution."

Michalowski said Strategic Enhancement has been a great partner over the years, often bringing in the right resources when a specialized skill is needed.

A CSP Culture
Not surprisingly, CSP, TLM and VSP have become deeply embedded in the Nalco corporate culture over the past two decades.

At a minimum, all sales employees are required to take CSP and, as a result, CSP has become "the sales vocabulary at Nalco," said Michalowski.

CSP language, sales and leadership principles can be found in all sales-related documents, call planning, hiring practices and sales discussions. They are integrated into the coaching process and form the basis of promotion criteria for higher sales and sales management positions. Nalco also now requires all participants to complete a web-based self-study course before attending CSP so they are familiar with its vocabulary and terms.

Despite changes in ownership and accompanying shifts in senior leadership, CSP continues to be a core foundation of the company's success. In fact, many attribute the company's resilience and high rates of customer and employee retention to a corporate-wide belief that every interaction focuses on the customer's needs - a key CSP principle.

"CSP is alive and well among Nalco employees," said Parks. "The company's core beliefs about customer service and sales have deep roots."

Looking ahead, Michalowski sees many opportunities to further enhance its sales development efforts and expects Strategic Enhancement to play a key role in realizing those opportunities.

As the saying goes, "no matter how good you are, you can always get better!"

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