Testimonial
Peter’s training was a refreshing and enjoyable experience. After 15 successful years in sales, I wasn’t sure, naively, that there was much I could learn from a mentorship. I was wrong. Peter’s common sense approach and calm demeanour guided me in examining my sales process. He has helped me a great deal with my time management. Peter has a great way of simplifying what is required to set up an effective selling formula, tailored to my individual needs. At a time when peoples purchasing behaviour is shifting considerably, Peter’s guidance has been very timely. He has helped to update my technique so that it is more compatible with the current selling landscape.
Gail Dineen MINOTTI LONDON
Testimonial
At BLUM we are continually looking to innovate and think differently about adding value to customers.
Peter has helped us to drive this value proposition throughout our ‘Customer Journey’ enabling us to successfully implement this strategy.
This has been really beneficial to the company and we look forward to continuing our development work together.
David Sanders Director – BLUM UK
Testimonial
Peter has been working with one long standing member of our sales team and three new recruits, he has made a really big difference to the way the long standing guy is performing, he is more focused, asking better questions and his reporting is far more relevant and commercially based.
Peter’s work with the new recruits has enabled them to start with effective planning which has enabled them to ask the right questions gaining important information resulting in good meetings and reporting.
Peter doesn’t train in the usual way, I have been on lots of sales courses over the years and I find his style really worked with the team, it certainly has had impact and I hope we can continue that into the future with the whole team.”
Andrea Hillier National Retail Services Manager – BLUM UK
Testimonial
Working with Peter to challenge, improve and map out our sales and marketing processes put us in a fantastic position for when we sat down to scope our new CRM with our chosen provider. Our provider even commented that they wished all their clients were so well prepared. I would 100% recommend going through the same processes if you are serious about getting the best out of your new CRM system”
Dean Hayward Sales & Marketing Manager
NMBS Ltd National Merchant Buying Society
Testimonial
If you have been in sales for any amount of time the likelihood is that you will have been on a “sales training course” this usually entails death by PowerPoint, stale sandwiches and a sense of loathing towards a manager that has put you forward for the delightful event.
However, this isn’t just a “sales training course”.
Peter’s presentation was clear and concise, asking open questions to get all participants involved. Personally, I found it invigorating, having been doing client calls for around 4 years I’m still fairly new to it all, however I do have a certain understanding of how to conduct a meeting (or so I thought).
Since starting the journey with Peter my client meetings have improved drastically, there is always a clear and concise point to the meeting and always the goal of looking forward to adding value to my customers. I have had customers contact me since putting in to practise what Peter has taught me saying how motivated they were to try different ideas. I also focus much more now on creating an entire the customer journey.
To me so far, this process has been invaluable and I look forward to continuing it.”
David Sanders Jnr – BLUM UK
Testimonial
The work with Linear and Peter Holland has been very useful for Bolon. In an organization where we have grown the number of direct markets, and increased the number of sales people quite significantly in the last couple of years, we needed to find a better structure for managing sales. Peter Holland has extensive experience from our industry of contract interior sales and therefore a great understanding for our specific needs. With his help, we have improved processes and tools across the sales organization, and today we are well prepared to reach our future goals of expansion.”
Helen Emanuelsson – Chief Marketing & Sales Officer
BOLON
Testimonial
Our work together with Peter Holland has brought our sales and our work with sales to another level.
By meeting us in an open and engaged way he challenged our whole sales organization to take new steps towards success.
Peter has a lot of sales experience. He shows respect for individuals and can also challenge people, when needed – and by asking good questions – help them to look at things in a new and exciting way.
Peter Holland is a great person – I wouldn´t hesitate to consult him again.”
EvaCarin Mattsson – Head of Sales Direct Markets
BOLON
Testimonial
I was really pleased with the work that we have done together with you at Bolon in this “training”, and have tried to summarize it in short below.
I think that the training was really valuable, over all great and just “spot on”. The planning and tools provided have helped me a lot in focusing on the right customers, and to put my efforts and energy in the right things. It has really helped me in my daily work. Thanks!”
Ann Östervall – Area sales Manager
BOLON, Sweden
Testimonial
I have found the planning work and focusing on less clients very useful for myself. This first year is certainly a good learning period and I have already noticed that some of the activities have to be cut down due to lack of time but all that we have done until now has been very effective and well received.
I think this work will help us focus and analyze our own work better. The way we use this planning will form our style and company along the way and we will find our own way of working.For me personally it has most valuable to analyze the clients and really find out who is bringing business. It gives me the freedom from guilt since it is impossible anyway to take care of all the architect customers to the same level.”
Johanna Rostedt – Sales Manager
BOLON, Finland
Testimonial
For me it was interesting and nice to see, that there is existing different kind of management / sales consultants on the market, and I mean that in a very positive way!!!
You know, having more than 20 years experience working in sales, you develop a focus on the important things, topics or clients automatically.
But it´s always good to get a reminder and some fresh ideas and to think about to optimize your daily work. Thank you for your insights and development.”
Heike Gehlen – Area Sales Manager
BOLON, Germany
Doing this strategy work with Peter has been brilliant. In a few short hours we now have clearly stated objectives with activities and metrics to hit them. It’s given us a clear focus for the year and everything we have done directly relates to achieving our company goals. Previously, when working for other major organisations we spent months putting together bulky strategy documents and presentations, but this process has our plan down on one or two pages.”
Simon Herman – Managing Director – Bolon Flooring UK
Peter’s presentation was excellent, he really engaged with everyone in the group and created a lively interaction that was thought provoking and motivating. He left us with some great practical points to apply to improve our communication skills at work and at home!”
Sarah Herman – Marketing Director – Bolon Flooring UK
In a fast paced and competitive sales environment it’s easy to become reactive. Working with Peter has given us the opportunity to stand back and clearly set our strategy and focus our sales effort which has been a great help. Our company has grown significantly, any areas that used to be ad hoc have now been replaced with new structures as a necessity to achieve this growth.
Peter’s approach is flexible and he has demonstrated his ability to adjust his approach and methods to meet our specific company requirements which has also been of great value and benefit to me and the team.”
Tony Browne – Managing Director – Fagerhult Lighting
The work we have done with Peter has really added value to our key account management. Previously we were all working in different individual ways and it was a challenge to follow up and get accountability.
Now we have a clear process for mapping and directing the team’s success both now and consistently in the future.”
Graham Taylor – Sales Manager – Fagerhult Lighting
It’s been a great experience working together with Peter. We now have a professional sales process in place, giving me the confidence and understanding to manage the sales team to produce consistently high results. His approach is practical and his enthusiasm and support of the team has resulted in them achieving a 70% increase in sales, which is an excellent result. One member of the team was completely new to field sales, and I’m delighted she achieved over £500k in her first year with Peter’s help and support.”
Stephen Baker – Sales Director – Solus Ceramics
Peter is a dynamic and engaging speaker who is able to directly address the issues presented in a clear and unambiguous manner. I have always been able to take away several actionable points which has directly benefited my company and myself.”
Richard McDonald Co Founder & Chief Executive – netConsult
Peter does an excellent job in bringing to life his training programs, engaging the audience at all levels and creating a platform to drive self-motivation.”
Tony Butler – Solution Architect – IBM Workplace Transformation & Transition
Peter has helped us improve the effectiveness of our meetings by focusing on improving our questions and ‘active listening’ abilities. We now get a much higher quality of information leading to us creating winning solutions. By implementing the Linear methods we now have a clearer sales process in place, allowing us to develop and manage our team more effectively. I’m happy to recommend Linear’s service to any sales organisation looking for performance and growth.”
Ian Streeter – UK Sales Director – Deltalight UK Ltd (Architectural Lighting)
I have enjoyed working with Linear to develop our sales team. Peter’s in depth experience of the Architectural and Design industry has given us clear structure to manage the sales team and track our projects successfully. What has also helped is having the support to implement the ideas in practice and see results. I look forward to growing and building the team in future.”
Andy Barnett – UK Sales Manager – Deltalight UK Ltd (Architectural Lighting)
Before working with Peter and Linear, I didn’t really see myself as a sales person and my impression of sales generally was of ‘pushy second hand car salesmen’, which put me right off. Peter has helped me completely change my approach. I am now more focused on discovering clients’ problems and creating real solutions; which has given me greater confidence to ask key business winning questions. As a result of implementing the ideas, I have reduced the number of clients I actively work with from 250 to 50 key ones and my annual sales went from £300k to £1.2m within 12 months. I have really enjoyed working with Peter; his approach really delivers and his commitment to helping me get results has made the difference.”
Jon Christos-Brooks – Area Sales Manager – Deltalight UK Ltd (Architectural Lighting)
We first hired Peter to help develop our London showroom staff to be more confident and effective communicators when dealing with showroom visits. His in-depth industry knowledge has meant the suggestions and advice have always been well informed and practical to our situation. Since the training, we have seen measurable results from our showroom staff in the orders they have received and their level of confidence in dealing with potential clients in a friendly and professional manner. Secondly, we created a program with Peter for our Architectural and Design (A&D) sales team which has improved the quality of information from our client meetings and we now have an improved structured approach to winning projects, which has been of real value.
In fact, following Peter’s involvement with A&D training, we saw our best year ever in term of sales growth. This has continued into this financial year and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Linear’s services and look forward to working together in the future.”
Marc LePeltier – Sales Director – Boss Design (Commercial Office and Hotel Furniture)
I wanted to improve the quality of information that our sales team were obtaining from their client project meetings with particular focus on achieving more business and accurate sales forecasts from them. It was also important to me that the team enjoyed the training and development and that ALL felt engaged to implement it. Peter involved everyone in a relaxed and supportive way which enabled an effective delivery. His commitment to follow through and implement what had been learnt in the training sessions by working with us on live project examples has been of real benefit in creating a clear structure to win new business and provide appropriate feedback. As a result of Peter’s work with the sales team, I believe that we are now in a position to move forward more effectively.”
Brian Steventon – Sales Director – Selectaglaze Limited (Secondary Glazing)
Coming from a highly technical IT background, we had limited awareness of the sales process. Peter has enabled us to rapidly develop our business and we now have a clear understanding of the sales process giving us improved conversation rates and accurate forecasting. He has also helped us to improve our communication skills; we now have clearly defined company values to communicate and the confidence to hold effective meetings with both new and existing clients. The other area we have benefited is from the public speaking training we received. We now have the ability and confidence to do keynote speaking and run forums and roundtables. All of this has significantly raised our company profile and generated new business opportunities.
I would highly recommend Peter because he has the ability to communicate complex ideas and turn them into steps that are both easy to follow and practical to apply to get day to day results. He followed through and helped us to implement his advice. He was committed to see our team achieve real results and took the time and effort to ensure we were comfortable each step of the way. I am sure we will continue working together as our business continues to grow.”
Richard McDonald – co-Founder & Chief Executive – netConsult
Our most recent project with Peter at Linear Structure involved training a brand new member of our external sales team. Although this person had previously worked in the Armstrong Technical Service department internally for several years, he had no actual previous sales experience. As a business, we needed him to quickly get up to speed and carry a £7m target in his first year. Based on this, we decided to give him an intensive training program over several weeks with Peter and I am delighted with the results achieved. In a relatively short period of time, the new person has become a key member of our specification sales team and is producing good results. The training he received from Peter has paid dividends, giving him a solid foundation in covering his communication with clients, his approach to meetings, project tracking and forecasting. I look forward to implementing these tools and ideas into the business and seeing him continue to develop his sales career.”
Graham Taylor – Sales Director UK, Ireland and Southern Africa – Armstrong World Industries Ltd
The work we have done with Peter at Linear Structure has really assisted our European Customer Service Team in developing their communication skills, their ability to build rapport quickly and enhance their customer relationships effectively. They also discovered what their customers valued and how they liked to be dealt with in each of the different markets both as individuals and as companies which has also improved our customer relationships significantly. The practical methods of conducting meaningful personal telephone customer surveys with a structured follow up and implementation to resolve or address the issues raised has helped each member of the team gain the respect of their customers moving forward. A key aspect of this process was Peter’s support and commitment in following up and helping to fully implement our plans which has ensured our success in establishing our goal of creating a real centre of excellence for our customer service in the industry. Without Peter’s tenacious approach to execution follow up, we would never have realised the full benefit of the improvement programme. We plan to continue using the skills ad methods learned as we grow and develop our team and we look forward to working together with Peter in the future.”
Ian Rose – General Manager, Marketing, Armstrong Building Products, Europe & AME – Armstrong World Industries Ltd
