Case Studies - TimBar Packaging & Display

INTRODUCTION

For TimBar Packaging & Display, an independent producer of packaging and point-of-purchase display solutions, practicing consultative selling skills has customers reaching for their date books like never before to make sure they don't run short on TimBar's products.

The TimBar sales team works with the company's customer service and design laboratory divisions to build unparalleled business solutions for its clients; solutions that deliver the kind of value that's needed for long-term, mutually profitable partnerships. To strengthen commitment to a customer-centric operation, management chose to shift the strategic direction in which TimBar markets itself.

This includes a new vision for the reps' sales approach, one that has improved their productivity and significantly increased sales. All this is happening because TimBar has incorporated Huthwaite’s selling strategies into its sales process.

"In sum, Huthwaite has completely transformed TimBar reps' ability to advance—and close—key sales," according to Mike Sadlon, vice president of sales at TimBar's Oneida Division. “We can now cultivate new and current customers alike more successfully because we're so much better at understanding their true business needs."

THE RESULTS

TimBar's enhanced sales prowess yields results throughout the company. One of the repsentatives, David Shaw, used his new call planning skills to turn a wavering customer into an eager one. Shaw crafted questions before the call that were designed to foster a sense of urgency around a potential problem that TimBar could solve expertly. The customer, a food preparation company, risked putting much of its inventory in jeopardy by delaying a decision to purchase new packaging materials from TimBar. Shaw asked: Did the customer know when he was going to run out of his current inventory and had he made any concrete plans for the transition to TimBar's solution?  “At this point the customer began to check his calendar," Shaw reports. "Though he was traveling much of the next week, he saw a potential opening on Tuesday. I suggested we meet for lunch, and secured the appointment.