BMW, South Africa
To whom it may concern,	15.1.2001

Bill Gibson

1. Background

BMW SA carried out an in-depth training needs analysis to determine how we could improve the selling skills of our sales staff in the dealer network.
There were a number of areas which we needed to focus on, but the problem was that these differed widely from dealership to dealership

We reviewed a number of programmes on the market and after carrying out in-depth assessments chose Bill Gibson's Sales Action system - Motor Industry series - as the programme which would meet our needs best, supplemented by " Managing Complex Business Relationships "

We have never had cause to regret the choice as the Sales Action System
delivered everything we had hoped and is continuing to do so.

One of the main benefits of the Sales Action System is that because the abilities of Sales Executives differed from person to person, a tailor made programme could be implemented focusing for example on Closing, Prospecting, Qualifying etc.

2. Implementation

Our implementation of the Sales Action System was made up of the following :

• An "Awareness Tour " which took place 4 years ago, before the programme was implemented, at which Dealer Principals, Sales Managers and Sales Executives were advised of the route we were
  about to follow and the rationale explained.
  
  
• Bill Gibson wrote and developed the Motor Industry series for
  BMW SA which built on the success of the Salea Action System
  We have used with great success the following modules :
  
  
  • Prospecting Continually
    
  • Presenting / Demonstrating / Test Driving
    
  • Negotiating For Success.
    
  
  
• It is relevant that in South Africa legislation will soon be adopted
  whereby all training courses which qualify for rebates have to be
  competency and outcomes based. All the Sales Action System modules already meet this criteria.
  
  
• In terms of application, BMW SA utilize the programme in the
  following areas :
  
  
  • Satellite Training
    
  • In- Dealer Training
    
  • Classroom Training
    
  
  Although primarily purchased for Sales Training, we have also found
  many parts of the programme valuable for training Service and Parts staff on eg Customer Care.
  
  
  
• We have appreciated Bills willingness to support the material by
  appearing on satellite programmes and at Dealer presentations.
  
  
  
  
• BMW SA have regularly been either first or second in terms of
  Independent Customer Satisfaction measurement ( CCSI )
  In the industry.
  Unofficial advance information indicates that the recent independent market research places BMW SA in first position.
  This may be due in part to the training of Service Advisors by Bill with follow up sessions for Dealer Principals and Service Managers

In conclusion, we would like to put on record that after the sale took place Bill spent many hours ensuring the programme was meeting our needs and performing how it was supposed to.


Should more information be required, I would be happy to answer any questions.

John Whittall
Manager After-Sales and Systems Training
BMW South Africa