Case study: Transforming relationships with key customers
A Brand Team at white goods manufacturer Whirlpool used PRINT® to improve their knowledge and insight of each other and of their key Brand Customers prior to a major negotiation.
The team invited their customers to take part in a joint PRINT® workshop where they could learn about their own and others’ Unconscious Motivators®, unique strengths, Triggers and potential Shadow behaviours. The team used these insights to inform their combined team strengths and their customers’ styles and preferences to tailor their negotiation approach.
A $100,000 investment yields $70m profit improvement
The brand/customer negotiation that followed was a revelation. The Brand Team were able to fully utilise the unique strengths of each team member, and adapt their negotiation to better suit their Brand Customers’ needs and preferences. Both groups rapidly built a shared understanding and reached agreement. The Whirlpool brand team increased their share of the customer’s available business for the period to 100% – delivering a further $70m to the bottom line and doubling their profitability.
But what if they would have seen these results anyway?
At the same time, a second Whirlpool brand team were going through an identical process with their own Brand Customer. This second team were highly confident that they would win substantial business, and chose not to implement a PRINT® workshop at that time.
The contrast was stark. The negotiation was later characterised as inefficient, ineffective and fraught with “unresolved antagonism” and distrust. Despite their earlier confidence, the team were unsuccessful in signing any of their Brand Customers’ available business – a lost opportunity of up to $600m.
PRINT® was able to bring a shared understanding between the team members and customers involved in the first negotiation, an understanding which was absent in the second. Because the team and customers didn’t understand each other and how they would act and respond during the negotiations, they were unable to put personal and collective strategies in place to encourage greater Best Self behaviour, and, in turn, better collaboration and team work.
The evidence is overwhelmingly in PRINT’s favour – it can bring huge improvements to teamwork, communication, productivity, and both personal and organisational performance.
For more information on how PRINT® could benefit yourself or your organisation, email hello@discoveryourprint.co.uk, visit our website and social media (Facebook: @discoveryourprint, Twitter: @Discover_Print, LinkedIn: Print Profile Ltd) or sign up to our mailing list. If you’d like to bring PRINT’s benefits to organisations and businesses, we offer Accreditation courses enabling in-house coaches and learning & development professionals to become certified PRINT® coaches.
