What has your career path been like so far? Who have you worked with to date?
I’ve been involved in the automotive industry for over 10 years, and sales has been the common thread running through my career. I started out in premium showrooms as a BMW and Porsche sales consultant, managing the entire process: from prospecting and needs analysis, through configuration, financing and negotiations, to finalisation and after-sales support.
Today, I work mainly with the sales departments of importers and dealer networks. I design and deliver training courses, certification programmes, exams and solutions supporting sales, customer experience and managerial development. I have carried out projects for, amongst others, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Mitsubishi and Volkswagen Financial Services. I combine the perspectives of a practitioner, trainer, ICI coach and examiner, and my growing knowledge of psychology enables me to work more precisely with decision-making mechanisms, motivation and behavioural change.
What do you do at MYB?
At MYB, I help organisations improve the effectiveness of their sales departments, particularly in the automotive sector. I identify where sales are losing momentum: in the process, competencies, management, service standards, use of CRM, or misaligned KPIs. I then translate this analysis into concrete solutions: recommendations, development programmes, workshops, coaching, working standards and implementation tools.
My role is to bridge the gap between strategy and the team’s day-to-day practice. I ensure that the principles outlined in the presentation can be applied in real-life conversations with customers, and that the results are evident not only in the post-training survey but also in the quality of the process and sales performance.
Please complete the sentence: I am a business consultant because…
… I can see the same problem from several perspectives: that of the client, the sales representative, the manager and the organisation responsible for the results. I don’t stop at the answer ‘the team needs training’. First, I check whether the source of the difficulty is actually a skills gap, or perhaps the process, the tools or the management approach.
A good recommendation should be data-driven, understandable to people and feasible to implement. It must also stand up to the reality of Monday mornings, the CRM system and sales targets. That, to me, is what professional consultancy is all about.
What role does your own business experience play in your consultancy work?
My business experience forms the foundation, but I don’t treat it as a one-size-fits-all solution. It gives me an understanding of the realities of sales, the language of organisations and the consequences of decisions, which are often not apparent in procedures. I know what it means to work with a client, the pressure to deliver results, implementing standards across a dispersed network, and managing change – which looks far calmer on a slide than it does in reality.
I combine practical experience with process analysis, psychology and adult learning methodology. My experience helps me understand business, whilst my analytical approach prevents me from hastily assuming that the same approach will work everywhere.
Why do companies seek your support?
Companies seek my support because I combine sector-specific expertise with a broad perspective on sales. I understand both the customer and the salesperson’s behaviour, as well as the processes, the manager’s role and the importer’s requirements. I am able to work at several levels of the organisation, from sales teams to senior management, whilst maintaining a common direction.
I design solutions tailored to the company’s context and then help to translate them into observable behaviours, standards and tools.
What do you like most about your job?
What I like most is the moment when a complex problem becomes clear to the team, and that knowledge starts to change their behaviour. I value working with sales teams because the results are quickly apparent: in the quality of the questions asked of the customer, the way arguments are presented, how objections are handled, the decisions made and, ultimately, the outcome.
I also enjoy designing solutions from scratch: diagnosing the problem, building the programme, managing the process and implementing the solution.
And what is the most challenging part?
What’s challenging – but in the best sense of the word – is constantly switching between different brands. It happens that in a single week I run training sessions for several automotive brands, and each of them has its own identity, standards, communication style and customer profile. This requires a great deal of flexibility on my part, very thorough preparation and the ability to switch quickly between different business contexts. At the same time, this is precisely the aspect of the job that I really enjoy, as it offers me variety, constantly broadens my perspective and prevents me from falling into a rut.
What sort of companies or sectors do you enjoy working with?
I have particular expertise in the automotive sector: importers, dealership groups, premium brands, new and used car sales, financing and customer experience. This environment is close to my heart because it combines the product, emotion, technology, process and a demanding customer.
I also enjoy projects in other sectors, provided they involve complex sales, network development, changes to service standards or working with sales teams.
