Sales Training in Novozymes
Game-based training session for summit
Training is at the top of the agenda, when Novozymes’ global organisation gathers its employees from Sales, Marketing and Customer Solutions to an annual summit.
At the 2012 summit, the main focus for the training was three new tools: A new way of segmenting customers, a service catalogue for each industry and an analysis tool to support pricing. Novozymes asked Workz to help design a motivating and involving training process.
We designed the one-day programme around a case competition in order to motivate the participants. The day was a fun experience to the participants, but it also communicated important information and a sense of necessity.
The participants from Sales, Marketing and Customer Solutions were grouped into in cross-functional teams. Each team had to complete a sales process using the new tools. Their performance was evaluated on their ability to segment their customers using the new model, to present the relevant services to their customers and to price the services. Through the case competition the participants got hands-on experience with the new tools and customer insight from Novozymes’ managers who played the role of customers.
It has been a great success. The participants have identified with the cases and it seems that the level of complexity was just right
Constructing the cases was one of the biggest challenges. The enzyme industry is technical and complicated and it was out job to keep the realism while reducing complexity. Experts from Novozymes provided the foundation for a case in each of their industries. After some additional research, the cases were written by out Workz. The cases were then finalised in close collaboration with Novozymes.
When designing game-based processes we always test before launch. This time it was especially important due to the nature of the business.
The workshop was run in China, Thailand, Brazil and Germany respectively. A total of more than 450 persons participated in the five workshops. It was important to Novozymes that the workshop materials could be printed locally so that the facilitators did not have to check them in when flying to the different locations.
“It has been a great success. The participants have identified with the cases and it seems that the level of complexity was just right. We have been pleasantly surprised by the few questions about the technical content in the cases. The participants were under the right amount of pressure throughout the day. The fact that the management played customers worked fantastically well.” – Kristoffer Friis Gleberg, Manager, Sales Excellence, Novozymes.
