Published in Jyllands-Posten 9.13.2006

Danish Success is exported to USA

BY RIKKE STRUCK WESTERSØ

A Danish consultancy will be teaching sales techniques to the home land of sales using their own Blended Learning concept

The country that invented the salesman as a fast talking, assertive sales machine is going back to school. The Danish consultancy Ladegaard A/S will be teaching sales techniques to Big Brother USA using their Blended Learning concept, which represents a very different sales strategy.

In the States, the ABC of salespeople is “Always – Be – Closing”, meaning make sure you get the order fast. However, Ladegaard A/S teaches the ABC as “Attention – Benefit – Close”. Listen to the customer, ask questions and make sure you understand the actual need before the solutions are put on the table.

»Americans think, »Let’s go out there and get them«. Our approach is more empathic. We focus on listening to the customer in order to uncover the actual need. Our concept is based on human relations,« says Jens Ladegaard, CEO of Ladegaard A/S.

Human qualities

There is actually less difference between the Danish and American sales mentality than Jens Ladegaard would have expected. But it’s still there. Americans have a more hard core approach to selling. They are more result oriented and their focus is on how fast they can achieve these results. But fundamentally the same techniques work in both countries.

»Human qualities play a much bigger part than people expect. It’s all about tolerance and respect for the customer and the reality that the customer is the basis of your salary. You have to respect other people for who they are and what they believe in. Don’t pretend you know everything and can read people’s minds. It doesn’t work that way,« says Jens Ladegaard.

» People do business with people they like and understand. We are all different and that’s why you have to communicate with customers in a variety of ways. Fundamentally we believe that you can’t sell anybody anything – but you can help them make a good decision. The customer has to play the leading part in the whole sales process, « says Jens Ladegaard, explaining the philosophy behind his sales strategy.

Common Sense

»It’s amazing that a Danish consultancy has opened up USA and Germany to Danish sales know-how. But they recognize the common sense in our approach. All the business school jargon has been removed. By taking the best from all existing strategies and systematizing it we have made sales easy to work with and down to earth,« Jens Ladegaard explains. The concept is now being used by a wide range of big Danish corporations such as ISS, Fiat, Carlsberg, PFA, Estate Agents and Sony.

Keeping Track of Staff Results

Right now Ladegaard A/S is the only supplier of a Blended Learning model involving different ways of learning; seminars, an audio cd, a reference book, on-line discussion forums and e-learning. It’s all put together in an educational package that optimizes sales, management and employee development.

The e-learning program contains a ”Learning Manager” making it possible for the sales director to keep track of each employee’s training, monitoring where they are doing well and where they need improvement.

The sales director can use the test results to coach employees. Blended Learning so to speak takes the learning out of the classroom continuing it in the workplace.

US contracts

The consultancy Creative Sales + Management, Inc. has signed a partner contract with Ladegaard A/S and will be launching Ladegaard’s Blended Learning concept “The Key to Successful Selling”.

There are several interested consultancies in the UK and Ladegaard is working with The Confederation of Danish Industries (DI) to launch the concept in China, Russia, Brazil and India.

Theory is not enough

Jens Ladegaard holds that his product is very different from other available products in the business.

»Rather than being based on a theory our concept has been developed through many years of experience with sales and marketing and 10 years experience coaching the largest Danish corporations.

What also sets us apart from other companies in the business is our instructors. They all have previous experience at least as sales directors. We would never hire a person solely on the basis of a good theoretical background. It’s essential that they know the practical part as well. It’s very easy to hear if an instructor knows what he is talking about or is just miming the part,« says Jens Ladegaard.

Jens Ladegaard has experience as a salesman and sales director.

He has been the sales director of Jyske Bank and CEO of Kreditforeningen Denmark.

Now he spends his time developing new strategies and internal marketing, inspiring, motivating and implementing processes with companies and people.