Enhance the sales culture by using interim management

When the consultancy Steenberg & Plahte AS wanted to build a stronger sales culture without hiring a permanent salesperson, they chose to use interim management. "It is without doubt the most flexible alternative to permanent employment or consultancy," says partner and co-owner Erik Steenberg.

You may have seen his colleague and co-owner, Alexandra Plahte, debating pensions with Lundteigen and Hagen on NRK or read her expert opinions on pensions in the newspapers Aftenposten or Dagens Næringsliv. This is excellent expertise for a company of only nine employees offering advice within pensions and restructuring to the private and public sector to have.

In need of external strength

"Our company is knowledge-based and we have been going for 15-16 years now. But as we grew we also identified a need for external strength that could help us build a sales culture and more structured sales and marketing work," Steenberg explains by mobile phone as his hectic working life has him rushing between two meetings.

It was on the recommendation of Chairman of the Board, Kaare Frydenberg, that the company got in touch with InterimLeder, having considered both permanent recruitment and hiring a consultant.

"The advantage of interim management is the low risk." It was much more likely that we would get the right person on board with InterimLeder's extensive database than if we approached a consultancy to find individual consultants for individual tasks," Steenberg reflects.

Great results after four months

It was at the end of summer of 2013 that the company hired an interim manager to assist the management and board of directors in developing new products, making sales efforts more systematic, building a sales culture and to act as a discussion partner for management when it came to these areas. The assignment had a duration of four months and has now been completed and Steenberg is very happy:

"We wanted the interim manager to make some lasting structural changes in the organisation and I feel that we have achieved this. We have become more structured when it comes to sales and marketing, the CRM system is up and running and the sales focus and culture have been enhanced. In this case I feel that it was the right decision for us to hire an interim manager and I would definitely consider doing so again should the need arise," Steenberg concludes.