By Haley Bowers
Internal Communications Specialist
Woodard & Curran

As a people-first organization, one of the ways we show our dedication to our employees here at Woodard & Curran is by investing in our peoples’ careers through specialized training and unique learning opportunities. Just ask several of our Sales team members, who recently wrapped up a one-of-a-kind training session in Los Angeles, California!

This was the second cohort to complete the training and included 18 individuals who are currently Senior Client Managers or on track to become a Senior Client Manager. The first in-person session took place in Tampa, Florida, in April of 2022. Since then, training and coaching were held online and over video calls – up until this final in-person session in March. So, what is it about this program that makes it so special?

The training is intricately planned with our partner, Advantage Performance Group, and tailored to the needs of Woodard & Curran and this specific group of people. While a sales training methodology called “ROPE” (achieve RESULTS faster, take advantage of OPPORTUNITIES, solve critical PROBLEMS, and EXECUTE more efficiently) serves as the backbone of the program, a lot of time goes into building content that is relevant to our team, so it doesn’t feel “canned.” The training also challenges participants to think about how to sell our unique value, align with our customers’ buying cycles, and ask high-impact questions.

“The goal of this training is to solidify the Woodard & Curran approach to sales, regardless of what business unit the sale is coming from,” said Jen Andrews, VP of Marketing and one of the program champions. “Our goal is to have everybody whose focus is on business development at Woodard & Curran go through this program and embed it into the fabric of the firm. We believe that through consistent training and lofty principles, like Selling with Noble Purpose, we can outperform the market and provide people with fulfilling careers.”

A noble purpose

A couple of unique aspects of this training included a renowned guest speaker to kick off the second in-person session and a realistic simulation designed to put our team to the test.

Lisa McLeod wrote a book called Selling with Noble Purpose: How to Drive Revenue and Do Work that Makes You Proud. It is based on a business concept she developed in which people who genuinely understand how they can make a difference to their customers outsell people who are focused on targets and quotas – a concept that lined up nicely with our own work on defining our purpose, our vision, and our values. As part of the program, Lisa gave an engaging presentation and gave each of the participants a signed copy of her book.

“If you take the approach to understand a client and their purpose, you can also start to see how our purpose ties to theirs,” said training participant Stacey Hellekson. “Gaining insight into this has allowed me to see the bigger picture and, regardless of my technical background, ask the right questions for clarity, which helps to build long-term relationships and make our existing partnerships even stronger.”

As for the simulation, it was the result of a lot of work done by Advantage, along with our program champions – Business Development Leaders Jay Sheehan and Dave MacDonald, Director of HR Solutions Rowena Holden, and Jen. It was developed by starting with the end in mind – identifying a real-world problem we wanted the participants to work with the client to solve – and working backward to define all the things they needed to do to reach the best solution.

3 teams, 2 days

For this cohort, the simulation involved breaking into 3 teams who worked tirelessly over 2 days to develop and hone their approach to winning work with the fictional town of Wynot, Georgia. Wynot was based on the real city of Gainesville, Georgia, which is experiencing high growth. To ensure we incorporated an industrial perspective, a fictional poultry processing company – based on the real Pilgrim’s Pride – factored heavily into the simulation. Ultimately, the team that identified the right strategy, had the best approach, and made the best pitch – incorporating presentation skills learned in the first part of the training – won the day.

“The training had a focus on creative thinking and group collaboration,” said training participant Brenda Ponton. “It was set up like a game, with each table being a team. Everyone at the table was encouraged to participate and share ideas. It was really fun, which helped people relax and become more open to sharing thoughts and creating new ideas together.”

“This training gets you a bit out of your comfort zone, but that makes it fun because you are in a sandbox that allows you to play and explore new concepts and ideas,” said Stacey. “Your imagination can run wild! It was fun to imagine how you can help an imaginary small town named ‘Wynot’ achieve their goals.”

Sinking, swimming, or winning together

“Many of my team members are natural leaders, competitors, strong personalities, and successful in sales and their careers; thus, we all had our own way of doing things, interpreting information, and creating a game plan for success,” added training participant Daryl Baltazar, “Being thrown into a sales challenge together without working together in the past was one of the most difficult, stressful, exhilarating, and educational experiences of my professional career. It also bonded us and made me feel I could rely on any of my salespeople to help create a plan of action and ultimately be successful in any future sales opportunities. Being in a competitive situation with my team – sinking, swimming, or winning together – was a memorable part of the training.”

While this dynamic training aims to improve the team’s skillset and approach to sales, it is also inextricably linked to all our key strategy initiatives, proving beneficial for the company, but the program extends beyond that, profiting our people on a personal level as well.

“This training has helped me to develop the language and processes that are a part of the role as a Client Manager,” said Stacey. “It makes me understand that it is important to know both what Woodard & Curran can do for our clients, but most importantly, listen to the client so we can find the best solution for their needs.”

“The ability to communicate the value we bring through storytelling and tying it to purpose is key – and being able to do so in a confident and compelling way is critical,” added Jen. “We expect that participants will utilize the knowledge gained and share it with their colleagues and deploy it on future opportunity development.”

“This training made me a better presenter and helped me connect more with the vision of the company,” said Brenda. “Everyone at the training is now empowered to teach and show what we learned to others in the company. We can go back to our teams and help encourage collaboration and safe spaces to share ideas.”

Many of our training participants are already implementing the lessons learned.

“Our training was meant to give those of us at the session the tools to go out and teach others,” Stacey said. “Sharing the tools and thought with internal teams only increases our ability to succeed. I have personally started sharing some of these tools with subgroups of the BP Key Client Team. We may bumble through learning how to use them, but we’ll be learning and growing together for the success of the team.”

Key takeaways

“A big takeaway for me was staying client-focused and making sure to not talk at the client about Woodard & Curran’s services, but rather to talk to the client about their needs and solutions to accomplish their goals, being sure to use ‘you’ more,” Brenda added. “We are working on a big proposal for the City of Inglewood, and I’ve been reminding myself to keep the language focused on the client rather than about us.”

In hindsight, our mission for the sales training program was a major success – not only when it comes to honing our skills but also in demonstrating our dedication to our people and their personal growth.

“We hope the participants feel fulfilled in that we are investing in them and their careers and that this will all lead to continued growth in revenue through sales that come from larger projects and projects that are truly connected to the type of work we want to be doing as a firm – projects that result in clean water, safe environment, healthy communities, and happy people,” said Jen.

“This training shows that Woodard & Curran wants to provide us with the best tools for our roles,” added Stacey. “The training also sets high expectations for us to continue to invest in our skills and improve and innovate with the tools the company has provided us. Like the Reorganization Brainstorming teams that used Legos in one of our training exercises, Woodard & Curran wants to hear our thoughts to help shape what our culture is and how we can make that successful. By investing in me, I can be even more successful in selling what we do.”

“In working with my fellow salespeople, I found that choosing to work at Woodard & Curran was one of the best decisions I made for my career and my own well-being and personal life,” Daryl said. “I chose Woodard & Curran because I felt a team culture and energy that permeated throughout the organization. I saw, felt, and was energized by the team attitude we all had at the sales training. I am eternally grateful for the opportunity. I see it as an investment that will help grow sales, grow team and colleague relationships, and in turn, grow the company in all aspects.”

“I feel very fortunate to work for a company that provides training like this,” concluded Brenda. “It was such a memorable experience with so many useful lessons and takeaways. Training like this not only provides us with the strategies and tools to work effectively, but it also immerses us in the learning process over an extended period of time so we can really practice the skills. Plus, there is the added benefit of expanding our network and becoming closer with our coworkers, which left me feeling supported in future opportunities. The training helped me feel like part of a community. It was an experience I will remember for a lifetime!”

Editor's Note: The custom simulation at Woodard & Curran was built on the Advantage/BTS proprietary framework called SalesTeam. Ask us how we can help  build a unique simulation especially for your organization, too!