AgraQuest

AgraQuest helps companies in the agricultural market improve their pest control management by discovering, developing, and marketing effective and environmentally friendly natural products.

AgraQuest first started evaluating KeyRoad Enterprisesä-CustomerCentric Sellingâ after receiving a promotional email describing challenges CFO face in today’s economical climate. “What resonated in this message was the similarity of challenges we were facing”, shared Glidewell, AgraQuest CFO.

The primary goals of the executive team, as described by Pam Marrone, CEO, were to improve revenue performance and predictability in pipeline and forecast. The challenges they faced were:

• o Sales churn had created a morale and sales performance challenge
• o The bottom up forecast was unreliable and inaccurate resulting in Board of Director questioning the effectiveness of the operations
• o No pipeline grading system to more effectively manage the sales executives

Pam Marrone and the executive team were looking for:

• A company wide auditable and repeatable sales process to more effectively manage the sales force
• Transforming feature function product presentations into sales messages, presenting how AgraQuest products can be used by the farmers/growers to address their pest management goals
• Sharing of “best practices” to propagate best sales behaviors
• Creating qualified leads through more effective prospecting and qualification

KeyRoad Enterprisesä-CustomerCentric Sellingâ provided AgraQuest with such capabilities. After conducting a customized CustomerCentric Sellingâ workshop with their entire worldwide sales force in late July 2003, Philippe Lavie, a CustomerCentric Sellingâ affiliate and President of KeyRoad Enterprises, worked with the executive team and the sales force to assist in the implementation of the newly learned skills. Results achieved include:

• Significant increase in qualified sales leads in sales pipeline
• Confidence in predictability in pipeline and forecast increased by 75%
• Directly related revenue attributed to the implementation of this process: $500,000 in late 2003.

When asked to comment on the performance and level of satisfaction towards the services rendered, Pam Marrone, CEO, says: CustomerCentric Sellingâ and Philippe Lavie have provided the tools we needed to upgrade our sales processes and assess the performance of our existing sales force. Don Glidewell, CFO, adds: “CustomerCentric Sellingâ and Philippe Lavie have allowed me to have visibility on the sales revenue pipeline that I never had before. Prior to working with Philippe and CCS, I would get to the end of a month or quarter and wonder if the projected sales revenue was going to materialize.

Now I have the ability to look at the pipeline and the salesmen’s efforts to date in developing that pipeline and better judge for myself where we will close against plan. I can talk intelligently with the sales guys about the possibility of closing this deal or that deal. Revenue forecasting will always be a combination of art and science, but now I have a great tool to reduce the variability”.

For more information about AgraQuest, please visit: www.agraquest.com Reach Philippe Lavie by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .