Company Description

Overhead Door Corporation is a leading manufacturer of doors and openers for residential, commercial, industrial and transportation applications. Overhead Door Corporation created the original overhead garage door in 1921 and the first electric garage door opener in 1926. Its Access Systems Division now employs more than 3,500 people, has 22 manufacturing facilities, 78 regional sales centers and more than 5,000 distributors and dealers that service national builders, national accounts, architects, general contractors and homeowners, as well as major retailers in the U.S. and Canada.

The Challenge
In a recent initiative to transform its existing sales dynamic and develop its sales talent, the Overhead Door Corporation recognized that a powerful selling strategy and a satisfied customer base needs a team of sales professionals who can engage the client, demonstrate and communicate value, and follow up by delivering on its commitments.

The Preparation 
Sales professionals in the industry are required to have a demonstrable depth of knowledge, including problem-solving skills, in order to build rapport with customers,
pinpoint and address customer needs/concerns, and close a sale. When recruiting sales talent, Overhead Door relied primarily on a candidate’s industry experience and did not evaluate a candidate’s soft skills and problem-solving skills.

The Implemention
Overhead Door partnered with XBInsight to assist them in improving their process for selecting and developing a high performing sales team. Leaders from each sales team participated in the XBInsight process to benchmark key sales positions by identifying and defining the characteristics, skills and abilities most important for success. The benchmarks were used to match job criteria against their existing talent. This information was then used to create performance standards and to measure future candidates’ skills against the criteria defined for the job.

The Results
Overhead Door was able to use the assessment data to create individual development plans for their existing sales team and now had an objective and validated tool to
measure soft skills and problems solving skills for their sales candidates. The XBInsight assessment is also used as a development tool for onboarding new hires to set them up for success. Overhead Door now has a proven sales approach that has led to a dramatic improvement in the company’s overall hiring process and a 10% increase in sales annually.