Cases

1. Optimization and increased Earnings

An IT company with 25 employees wants to

  • increase sales of consulting services,
  • strengthen relationship with a key partner,
  • improve service for selected major customers, and
  • become a more proactive, visible, and professional sales- and customer-focused organization.

Approach:
The counseling starts out with 2–4 hours of weekly sessions with the management and the sales management, where we discuss priorities and desired objectives. The company has purchased a voucher for 20 consulting hours. During the discussions, the assignment is operationalized by carrying out practical projects focusing on the desired goals. Soulaima Gourani continues to work with the company 2 days a week at a fixed rate until the new objectives have been implemented and are documented successes. Soulaima is still connected with the company as an adviser on specific assignments.

2. Focus on the Customer’s Perceived Value

A company with 20 employees including a call center wants to

  • improve customer service,
  • create a higher degree of customer loyalty,
  • deliver a positive and professional overall experience, and
  • improve cooperation between the company’s departments—e.g., sales and marketing.

Approach:

  • Soulaima conducts targeted workshops that are used as educational implementation tools for relevant employee groups.
  • The call center’s customer service is improved through operational training. The call center learns how to deal with critical customers who must be viewed as important contributors to the process of further improving the organization.
  • Soulaima provides strategic input to the management to ensure a successful implementation of changes.
  • Soulaima carries out research and performs mystery shopping at the customer and the customer’s competitors.

A new service and customer management policy is created based on the gathered information from the management, the employees, the competitors, and the customers. The consulting services for the management are billed by the hour. A fixed price is agreed for research, analysis, training, and workshops.

3. From Industrial Thinking to focusing on Strategic Relationships

A large production and service company with more than 11,000 employees wants to

  • change the company’s traditional focus on revenue, optimization of time, and control to a focus on making the needs of selected customers the basis for all decisions.

Approach:

  • Soulaima Gourani bases her counseling on the current strategy which is developed in a customer-focused direction.
  • • We develop new ways to define and measure success to reflect the new focus.

The sparring is based on 1:1 meetings with the executive management and midlevel managers. Each session lasts 2 hours and is repeated every 8–12 weeks. The management develops a healthy and open attitude toward customers, relationships, and targeted service.

4. Attraction and Development of Talents

A global consulting company with 144,000 employees wants to

  • • become Denmark’s preferred place of work for young talents with diverse backgrounds.

Approach:

  • Over the course of a few months, Soulaima Gourani advises the company’s management and HR department on how to attract, integrate, and develop talents.
  • Soulaima establishes contact to relevant third parties and organizations who will become important partners in a successful project. She also provides suggestions for specific activities to further the relationships.
  • The assignment is operationalized through practical tasks and projects that are carried out together with the company’s management.
  • The strategy and objectives are developed and operationalized.
  • Soulaima Gourani holds lectures for relevant groups of talent.

The counseling starts out with 2–4 hours of meetings with the executive management and the HR department. The company buys a voucher for 20 hours. The lectures last approximately 1 hour and are billed at a fixed price.

5. Professional and Viable Organizations via Networking

A large Danish municipality needs help with the design, implementation, and facilitation of networking competences and networking groups to make their many local sports and leisure organizations even more successful, measured by the number of active members. The organizations have been managed by volunteers, and their role as responsible individuals for their organization/network is strengthened through a workshop where 10 specialists are trained to handle the further training of the other volunteers.

Approach:
Soulaima Gourani delivers the project at a fixed price, which includes analysis, design, and implementation of the new behavior and the new focus. The assignment is carried out in close cooperation with the customer’s key employees.

6. Positioning and Optimization of Communication

A training company with 6 employees wants to

  • improve their competitive advantage and obtain a clearer positioning in the market,
  • give everybody in the company a better understanding of the strategy and the management’s expectations for the employees and vice versa, and
  • become conscious about the company’s most important strengths.

Approach:
The assignment starts out with the conduction of a thorough analysis of the company’s objectives and strategy and the employees’ expectations and motivation. Following the analysis phase, Soulaima Gourani spars with the management, and she works with the organization to help them optimize their effort and focus. After the intense start, the implementation is followed up with a whole day together with the management every 2 to 3 months. A fixed price has been agreed for both the initial project and the follow-ups.

7. 360-degree review—from the Customer’s Perspective

One of Denmark’s largest consulting firms (600+ employees) wants to know how it is to be a customer of their company. The company purchases my concept: Mystery Service Shopping (MSS)and is now in the process of implementing my recommendations on the basis of the analysis. The customer wanted

  • to increase their sales of consulting services,
  • to strengthen their relationship with the customers to increase customer loyalty,
  • to improve customer service, and
  • • to become a more proactive and professional sales- and customer-focused organization.

Approach:
The counseling starts out with 2 preliminary meetings with the management team, where it is decided which departments to test. We discuss priorities and desired objectives. The company purchases a project on a fixed-price contract. The mystery service shopping process is carried out over the course of 3 weeks. Now, the consulting firm has obtained valuable insight into how it really is to be a customer of their company. They take advantage of this knowledge to become even better at satisfying their customers’ needs.

8. New Times, New Sales Methods

One of the world’s most successful companies in the field of cancer treatment products, among others, has decided to redesign their traditional sales education in Denmark. The company has realized that times are changing and that the customers no longer want to be sold to in the traditional way.

The customer wanted

  • to map, nurture, and develop relationships with selected customers;
  • to increase sales of medicine to hospitals;
  • to strengthen team effort—establish cross-functional customer teams;
  • to make the value of their products visible in a different way to make them stand out from the competitors.

Approach:
The counseling process starts with a 6-hour workshop, where all relevant customer-oriented employees are inspired to think about sales in a new way. Through lectures, exercises, and teamwork, everybody is motivated and inspired. After the workshop, Soulaima Gourani meets with the employees 1:1 and in groups to discuss specific initiatives for individual customers. The team members redesign Key Account Management plans, become operational, and carry out targeted sales work.

9. A strong Performance Culture

A large international organization with sales in 180 markets, more than 20,000 employees at offices in 80 countries, and production in several locations worldwide. A complex business where unique products, strong brands, and proud performing employees are of decisive importance.
The company has moved to a new office in Denmark and would like to know how they can optimize the employees’ job satisfaction and improve performance without sacrificing the team culture. The company is aware that they depend on close, long-term relationships with their partners. The corporate culture affects the ability to achieve success and the service to customers and business partners. We analyze, interview employees, and provide specific recommendations to the management, who can then target their strategic efforts based on our findings.
A strong corporate culture, together with the knowledge and utilization of this culture, is one of the key factors in achieving success. It is your culture that really differentiates you from the competitors.
The correlation between investing in the corporate culture and the bottom-line result has often been called into question. However, the doubt about this correlation has been put to rest by the Harvard Business School’s study, which shows that companies with a strong involvement in their corporate culture has a 20–30 percent better differentiation ability than companies with a weak focus on their corporate culture.
Does this mean that a company cannot become successful without a strong and consistent culture? No, absolutely not. However, it is certain that the path to success is both shorter and less troublesome if a company is aware of its culture’s advantages and limitations.

10. Memorable Communication with the Customers at Eye Level

The company sends out many standard letters to existing and prospective clients.
The tone of voice is professional and distanced, and the effect is not always as transparent as desired. The customers did not always respond positively, and the desired increase in sales and customer loyalty was not achieved. Furthermore, the company experienced that several of the customers brought cases before a court of law. It was our assertion that the problems were related to the communication not being at eye level with the customers, which resulted in an unnecessary distance to and conflict with the customers.
We have read through and analyzed a number of these standard letters and campaigns, and we helped write new letters. Our report containing our recommendations has been presented and is now the basis for a new, better, and more down-to-earth tone of voice in communicating with the customers.