September 2006: Cidermill delivers Apples & Oranges® to Computacenter in the UK

Computacenter is Europe's leading independent provider of IT infrastructure services. Headquartered in the UK, with subsidiaries in Germany, France and the Benelux countries, Computacenter is a £2Bn giant in the IT industry, employing 9,500 people. The company offers a single source for technology, skills and expertise to help IT departments realise greater value from their technology investments. Computacenter provides technology sourcing, infrastructure integration and managed services.

Cidermill was asked to prepare a one-day workshop which could be used to develop the business skills of Computacenter sales teams. Cidermill specialises in just this kind of training. The first workshop was prepared, for a trial run on the Computacenter sales management team in Hatfield.

The centrepiece of the workshop was the Apples & Oranges® business simulation which Sweden-based authors Celemi have accredited Cidermill to deliver in the UK and Ireland. Apples & Oranges® enables people with no financial knowledge to learn the fundamentals of business finance, including cash flow, profit & loss and balance sheets. As is invariably the case, the Computacenter team found the simulation great fun; an element of competition kept the teams highly focused!

Complementing the business simulation, Cidermill delivered its own training modules which help sales teams study annual reports to analyse the financial situation of their prospects and customers. The basic financial understanding gained can help account managers learn how to spot sales opportunities and justify IT investments. Reaction to this pilot workshop was very positive.

• "the course was extremely valuable"
• "the business game is brilliant"
• "exactly what our account managers need"

Cidermill is now discussing how the workshop will be rolled out to Computacenter sales teams across the UK. A series of events is being planned for the coming months.

If you want to know how Cidermill Consulting could help your sales teams develop their sales skills, contact Cidermill Consulting today. Either send us an email or call us on +44 (0)1386 840277

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