Executive Network is a fast-growing specialist recruitment consultancy, founded in 1999 by managing director Russell Moore to fill a niche in the market for a high-quality organisation that would look after the interests of both clients and candidates in the FMCG sector. The company’s initial focus was on food manufacturing and retail, where Russell used 21 years’ experience in the sector to develop a professional process for all aspects of recruitment.
Commenting on the company’s early years, Russell said: “I realised from my own experience, both as a sales director in the industry and as a candidate, that there were serious holes in the approach of existing recruitment consultancies. I wanted to build a company that would understand the customer’s needs, culture, business plans and infrastructure. How can you find and place the right candidate for the job without this vital knowledge?”
Executive Network’s fundamental ethos is to treat people the way they themselves expect to be treated. This philosophy has proved very effective for Russell and the company has developed a strong brand as a consequence, which has enabled them to expand into other areas of the fast-moving consumer goods market.
Ambitious expansion plans required the honing of skills
Now looking into developing markets, Russell recently appointed Barrie Moore as Executive Network’s new sales and marketing director. “When I joined the company,” said Barrie, “Executive Network was already well established and very successful in the food sector. I was brought on board to help facilitate expansion into new FMCG markets.”
Quickly recognising the need to develop both his own skills and those of his consultant team if the company’s ambitious growth targets were to be met, Barrie attended Huthwaite International’s open SPIN® Selling and Account Strategy for Major Sales programmes.
“Our philosophy demands a highly consultative approach to clients,” said Barrie. “We turned to Huthwaite not only to help hone my own skills but to clarify what we needed to do to develop our consultants. We recognise that as we recruit new people, we need to ensure they adopt the same consultative style that has delivered our success in the past.”
SPIN® training paid real dividends in a matter of months
“I was delighted by both the training and the results that followed; I think it’s fair to say it has changed my whole approach to sales and marketing. I use the SPIN® approach on a daily basis; it has already become a natural part of the way I interact with customers. As a result, I am much better at exploring their needs and developing appropriate solutions. To win high-level business we need to build strong relationships, where the clients know they can trust us to fully understand their needs and deliver candidates who can add real value to their organisations.”
“There is no doubt that the new skills developed through the Huthwaite training programmes have already helped me to win substantial business I don’t think I would have won otherwise. I don’t want to talk about the actual value, but I can say the training has paid for itself ten times over. I would recommend Huthwaite’s open courses to anyone looking for sales training that really brings results.”