W&P’s sales and customer service functions get an overhaul

CLIENT: Wightman & Parrish Ltd

SECTOR: Wholesale suppliers of consumables and equipment to various sectors across the UK.

PROJECT: A detailed review of the structure and performance of W&P sales and customer service functions.

OUTCOME: A revised structure and priorities. Newly defined roles including the recruitment of a senior Sales Director.

Situation

Wightman & Parrish is a successful family business over 100 years old.  A leading UK player in the distribution of consumables and critical equipment to the medical and nursing home sector, it wants to build on its success, reach into new markets and secure the next generation of development. After a recent strategy review and complementary systems investment, the W&P CEO wanted to ensure that the structure and skills of the sales and customer service functions were aligned to the re-energised business direction.

Approach

A wholesale review of the sales and customer service functions was undertaken. This included face-to-face interviews with a range of field sales and customer service staff, analysis of sales performance and revenue generation trends, and the structure of the client base and key potential markets. This input was then matched with the strategic business development plan and the plans for how the new back office systems were evolving.

Output and Outcome

The output was a brief written report and presentation. The outcome was a proposed re-structure of the wider field sales, customer service and telesales functions and the realisation of some operational efficiencies. The first step towards realising the new plan was the recruitment of a senior Sales Director role with the brief of rolling out the changes in structure and strategy over the next few months.

What the client said

“The significant investments we have made in back office systems meant that we needed to optimise our sales and customer service functions.  I commissioned Chris White at EMC who interviewed staff, reviewed the structure and processes and put forward a plan that better aligned our approach with our business strategy. Chris has a useful style and staff were able to discuss the issues that we needed to be addressed, helping us achieve the best possible outcome”. Nicholas Parrish, CEO