Miradorus Develops Sales Academy For Dialog Semiconductor

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Industry

Information technology/manufacturing

Interview Subject

Dan Harper, Head of Sales – The Americas, Dialog Semiconductor

Tell us about Dialog…

Dialog Semiconductor creates technology that makes your smartphone stay powered up for longer: integrated, mixed-signal circuits (ICs or microchips) , optimised for portable, short-range wireless connectivity, as well as LED solid state lighting and automotive applications.

The company is headquartered in London with global sales, R&D and marketing departments covering four continents.

Why did you approach Miradorus?

We approached three companies who all pitched to run our sales training programme, but Jenny just nailed it. She approached the sales pitch much like a sales call and she’d done her research. Her methods and ideas were very similar to our own and, most importantly, she was credible, she had worked in sales herself so I knew our teams would immediately feel at ease with her thought processes. She also demonstrated that she understood who our customers were and how we should be talking to them.

How did Miradorus answer your needs?

We worked together to devise a plan and, when I say we worked together, I mean Jenny and her team involved us throughout the development process. We decided on five distinct training modules, each with their own criteria and set of goals, focusing on everything from Consultative Selling to Competition Analysis. We called it our Sales Academy and set up training centres at each of our key locations in Europe, the US, Japan and the rest of Asia.

Alongside the core training modules the team also developed a coaching programme for our sales leaders and directors to ensure that the skills learnt in the Sales Academy training were embedded into the business and put into practice in our day-to-day operations.

What Were The Team Like To Work With?

They’ve really been very good. They quickly understood our business and they knew how to teach our people to sell. We were closely involved with the team in the development of each of the training modules so we were confident of their relevance to our business. We made sure that a lot of role plays and practical demonstrations of how we want our teams to work were included. By working with Jenny and her team we were able to make those sessions 100% relevant to our industry and the specific roles within our teams. They constantly sought our input when they were putting everything together.

Did They Rise To The Challenge?

They definitely have. Our leadership team now has a benchmark to make sure the right skills are embedded across our organisation. They are there to encourage and observe and, where needed, act as coaches and ‘trusted advisors’ themselves. We are including some of the training exercises from the Sales Academy modules in our global sales conference this year. We want to make the techniques part of everyone’s day-to-day routine.

I see a great training programme as a little bit like an operation – if you take the proper physio afterwards, then you’ll be back where you started in no time. Miradorus helped us put the building blocks (the proper physio) in place for us to achieve sales excellence for a long time after the training process had been completed.

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