“Our ambition is to show breeders the added value of health & nutrition, so they will recommend it to future pet adopters”, he says. “While our salespeople are our best ambassadors for conveying these messages, which they’re perfectly familiar with, they have a lower level of expertise when it comes to consultative selling. All we had to do was support them in implementing the methods used in this approach”. To this end, Royal Canin called on Wolf Learning Consulting.
The aim: to bring value to breeders
In concrete terms, Nicolas Doithier’s objective was to help his breeding partners develop their expertise and professional methodology. “The vast majority of them breed cats or dogs out of passion”, he explains. “And they do it very well. But they generally have a job on the side, without having had any training in breeding”. And yet this sector is under pressure, due to stricter legislation and the influence of animal protection associations that are encouraging adoption from shelters. If a breeder can gain additional skills and put their expertise to good use, future pet owners will be more likely to turn to them to adopt their cat or dog. “Beyond these observations, we didn’t know what educational strategy to adopt with our sales staff to help them advise and train breeders”, he confides. Wolf Learning Consulting suggested that we rely on our in-house teams to train our sales force, and set up a blended learning program that could be deployed in an international context. ” This is what provided new energy helping to better embody this change in the sales approach at Royal Canin and give it a real positive dynamic.
The method: three-stage training
Wolf Learning Consulting a donc conçu pour Royal Canin une formation sur mesure qui s’est déroulée en trois étapes. « Notre filiale française a été la première à tester la formation, rapporte Nicolas Doithier. L’agence a créé des contenus distanciels et présentiels dédiés et les a présentés aux trois personnes désignées pour devenir formateurs internes de la quarantaine de commerciaux sur le territoire. » Elle les a aussi aidés à acquérir des compétences dans l’apprentissage, la pédagogie, la capacité à faire passer les messages.
From there, the second stage was set in motion to develop a sales support tool in the field. « “We worked with the four regional managers around the world to develop a diagnostic tool with around 60 questions for breeders. The aim isn’t to talk to them about Royal Canin products or technical subjects, but rather about their business – what are their hygiene protocols, how do they welcome their customers, do they have a website, etc. – in order to encourage them to develop it”. In addition, five-minute mini-modules have been produced on eight areas outside animal nutrition, such as communication. Their role is to help the sales force acquire basic knowledge on these subjects, which are not part of their speciality, and thus help them feel legitimate in leading a discussion on these topics.
The third stage was to identify countries willing to roll out the training for their sales force. The French subsidiary served as a pilot for the experiment and a group of representatives tested the content and the relevance and ease of use of the tool. “So far, our 40 national salespeople have presented the diagnostic tool to 180 breeders”, enthuses Nicolas Doithier. “Korea, Spain, the United States, Japan and Portugal are ready to take the plunge and have translated the tool into their languages”.»
What next?
With this new approach, Royal Canin has received 100% positive feedback, both from breeders who have benefited from this consultative approach and from sales staff who have used it. “ It’s been an extremely positive experience for our sales staff. Helping their customers to demonstrate their expertise is particularly rewarding. This role of advising breeders gives legitimacy to their work, leading them to become loyal partners”. . » Lorsqu’un commercial identifie un possible point d’amélioration – par exemple le besoin d’un logo -, il a toute la latitude pour accompagner son client, par la mise en relation avec un graphiste prestataire régulier de Royal Canin, par une négociation sur le coût de réalisation ou encore par le financement partiel ou complet du logo. Il s’agit donc aussi d’une manière de les responsabiliser sur les budgets à accorder à leur partenaire. C’est du concret ! « Aujourd’hui, nous sommes en cours d’élaboration d’un tableau de bord de performance, qui nous permettra de mieux apprécier les résultats de notre action de formation et de notre stratégie de vente consultative, conclut Nicolas Doithier. “This performance won’t be measured by sales volumes or turnover, but by the ability of breeders to recommend Royal Canin to pet owners and by the quality of this nutritional recommendation. We’re looking forward to collecting the results and hearing what they have to say. To be continued…” »
