PRESS RELEASES
 



Massive Increase in Net Profitability at Xpert Communications

-- Silent Edge’s unique 137 point evaluation methodology results in dramatic performance improvement for IP solutions provider --

London, UK 13 June 2005 Silent Edge, the sales performance authority, can today announce that the Critical Hour evaluations it undertook on behalf of leading independent converged IP solutions provider Xpert Communications in 2004 and early 2005 achieved dramatic results for the company.   

According to Rob Coyne, Xpert’s chief commercial officer, the company achieved a dramatic increase in net profitability in part as a result of its improved sales performance. 

Silent Edge’s Critical Hour analysis benchmarks sales team performance at both blue-chip and mid-sized companies in various markets including telecoms, tech, FMCG and others.  Salespeople are analysed and evaluated “in action,” during actual presentations to live clients.  Their performances are then scored against Silent Edge’s unique and exhaustive 137 point matrix which clearly reveals both collective and individual strengths and weaknesses.

When Xpert decided to engage Silent Edge last November, the company had a sales force of 23 executives divided into three teams.   Its tactical emphasis was on improving the way it managed and sold in key markets.  The immediate challenge in the face of ambitious new sales targets was to identify precisely where there was room to improve  performance and also to prioritise the actions necessary to maximise the effectiveness of its entire sales process.  To achieve this, Silent Edge carried out its unique Salesforce Evaluation Programme over a three-month period.  

The outcomes of the evaluation were extensive, resulting in Xpert fine-tuning and re-engineering many aspects of its sales structure ranging from training that resulted in improvements in actual critical hour performance to re-drafting collateral materials and redeveloping the sales value proposition. 

Rob Coyne summarises the impact of Silent Edge’s work as follows: “My task was to create rapid growth in the profitability of the company in just 6 months and I did not have time to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the sales force myself. Silent Edge's objective and statistical evaluation not only gave me the roadmap for future improvement in sales performance but also motivated my team to want to change its behaviour.”

Coyne adds “ Silent Edge was fundamental in creating an increase in net profitability that enabled us to exceed our targets. The difference between Silent Edge and other sales training organisations is both immense and measurable!” 

Russell Ward founder of Silent Edge says that his company’s analysis has consistently revealed flaws in the performance of leading UK salesforces as a basis for making improvements.   He notes:  “As we move into our second year of life as a company, the results of our work are now being released and the impact of critical hour analysis is being recorded by clients in actual numerical terms.  And the simple fact is that the numbers – as they do at Xpert Communications – prove that we do what it says on the tin!  Critical Hour analysis is rapidly coming to be accepted as the gold standard in sales performance training.”

Concludes Silent Edge co-founder Lorna Dakers, “the positive impact we’ve had on results at Xpert Communications underlines the importance of getting the sales approach right.  Even in tough macro-economic conditions, a relatively small investment in sales training can result in a seven-figure change on the bottom line.  While our approach to sales performance may remain somewhat new in the broader market, one client after another who has used Critical Hour analysis has confirmed its dramatic impact on their business.  The proof is in the numbers.”