Future Sales Challenge 2023

Winning case – Overall winner across categories
OKQ8

Søren V. Fledelius, Head of Energy, Bunker & Customer Service
and Trine Risager, Head of Credit & Collection, received the main award
as the company that has developed best on the 7 sales virtues.

How OKQ8 developed best on the 7 sales virtues

“You can’t help but feel a little proud when we note that we are a hair’s breadth ahead of other companies also working with Future Sales.

“But the biggest benefit of attending the winners’ ceremony in the Future Sales Challenge was to exchange experience and spar with other companies.”

Implementing a mapped customer journey

OKQ8 has worked with Future Sales for two years, and the first step was a detailed mapping of the customer journey.

“Getting a map with lots of data only adds value when we activate and implement the new customer insights in synergy with our own data and market data.

“It’s an interesting exercise for several reasons. Partly because the new insights are not just about measurable quantities, such as volume and earnings, but to a greater extent about soft values such as attitudes, views and relationships. And partly because the exercise requires everyone in the organisation to know and understand the roles they have in the company’s sales.

“Therefore, the project quickly began to include the Swedish part of our business.”

Coordinating data or management?

“Sweden differs from Denmark in terms of IT systems, sales traditions, market, geography and culture. So learning how to navigate and utilise data to

analyse the trends that define our segments optimally has been a challenge. In the beginning, we saw coordinating data, information and reporting as an administrative function. But six months ago, we realised that the project needs – and can sustain – a Sales Excellence Manager.”

Future Sales is here to stay

“The fact that we have hired a Sales Excellence Manager, reporting to the Group Management, clearly underlines that Future Sales is here to stay. A dedicated person who can make strategic decisions, structure sales work, and communicate the value internally increases the impact.

“We are in the process of activating our customer insights as a common frame of reference across the organisation, and right now we are pilot testing the new customer journey and segmentation model on two salespeople.

After the summer holidays, we will roll it out throughout the organisation, and it will be exciting to see how much further that elevates our performance on the 7 sales virtues.

The more we can base our sales on customer insights, the better the performance
and results. Because competing against customer relationships and customer knowledge is hard.”

Søren V. Fledelius, Head of Energy, Bunker & Customer Service