Industrial automation systems integrator Industrial Technology Systems (ITS) Ltd has witnessed significant order growth thanks to a coaching partnership with SalesStar UK.

The Huddersfield-based sales development consultancy, which is the UK partner of SalesStar Global, commenced a working relationship with ITS Ltd in February 2021.

Since then, ITS has seen an improvement in orders gained versus quotes issued, experiencing a 15% growth overall.

ITS is an award-winning industrial automation systems integrator with extensive experience in the Chemical & Petrochemical, Pharmaceutical, Medical Device, Energy & Nuclear, and Food & Beverage industries.

As an approved systems integrator of leading suppliers including AspenTech, Cognex, ICONICS, Microsoft, Radiflow, Rockwell, SATO and Siemens, ITS works with some of the biggest companies across the globe including AstraZeneca, Becton Dickinson, Gatwick Airport Ltd, INEOS, Calachem, Sellafield and Piramal Healthcare.

After significantly growing the business over the last 30 years, the team realised that driving growth had become harder and acknowledged that as a company it would have to revamp the sales methodologies it had become accustomed to.

This was exacerbated by the impact of Covid and having already engaged the services of a business coach, it was recognised that a dedicated sales coach could have a significant impact.

Carole Knott, operations improvement manager at ITS, said: “ITS are on a significant journey of growth and to drive that growth, we felt we needed a fresh approach to our internal sales processes and sales recruitment.

“When we first engaged with SalesStar, the passion demonstrated by Pete, Denis, Ian and the team matched the enthusiasm we ourselves have for trying to make ITS Ltd a better company. After a number of initial conversations, it was clear that their ethos matched that of ITS.

“The first thing they helped us to recognise was that at times, there are things not to quote for – sometimes there are people who want the lowest cost not the highest value. The team helped our team realise how to identify customers that we can genuinely help to make savings and improvements for the long term – where we can add value and our value proposition is worth something to the customer.

“We began quoting less of the prospects our proposition didn’t add any value too and instead concentrating on building genuine relationships with customers we felt we could add value for and who would value our contribution.

“Since implementing this, we’ve seen an improvement in orders gained versus quotes issued, and we’ve asked ourselves more questions before sending out quotes.”

ITS is now on a journey to grow its sales team. Using a series of OMG assessment and evaluation tools, SalesStar UK will work with the team to help them understand the mindset and skill sets of their existing salespeople, sales managers and sales leaders, as well as who they need to recruit.

The findings of the OMG evaluations will be used to develop tailored coaching and development for new salespeople. 

Pete Evans, UK partner of SalesStar, said: “It’s an absolute honour to be working with the team at ITS and helping support their sales growth.

“During the past few months, we have seen the impact that the sales coaching has had on the existing sales team, both in terms of changes in skill sets and sales mindset and also in terms of measurable financial results.

“The existing sales team is working hard to implement the necessary changes, supported by our team of high performance sales coaches.”

SalesStar is a sales development consultancy that provides integrated solutions to enable business owners and senior sales leaders to achieve exceptional sales results.

As an award-winning team of experienced salespeople, businesspeople, trainers and managers, the firm is passionate about the profession of selling and raising the performance and results of sales organisations.

Working with growth-oriented CEOs and executive sales leaders seeking tailored solutions to meet their specific needs, they combine sales specific research and proven best practices, and provide a clear path to help firms achieve their sales and business goals.