Vohkus transforms sales conversations and creates £12m+ pipeline through Top Flight sales acceleration program
Transforming sales capability through mindset, methodology and customer-centric engagement
The challenge
Vohkus has grown into a trusted technology partner by building strong, long-term customer relationships. As the market has evolved, customers have come to expect more from suppliers: a clear understanding of their business, insight into opportunities and challenges, and advice that connects technology to their goals.
Vohkus recognised that relationships, products and technical expertise were no longer enough to stand apart. Its salespeople needed to lead with greater commercial insight, engage customers more strategically and become trusted advisers.
The business wanted to help experienced sales professionals move beyond familiar approaches to broaden their perspective and give them the curiosity, confidence and practical tools to challenge assumptions, uncover opportunities, handle difficult conversations and explore solutions collaboratively with customers. This required more than standard sales training. It called for a practical methodology that could change mindsets and behaviours while improving every customer interaction.
Chrissy Day, Head of HR explains
“The question we posed was simple: what if we could give our people more?
This shift in thinking became the catalyst for change.
The programme transformed sales development from a training activity into a business growth strategy, enabling sales professionals to shift from traditional transactional selling to insight-led, consultative engagement that differentiates Vohkus in a highly competitive market.”
The approach
Top Flight is not a conventional sales training program.
It combines practical sales frameworks, live opportunity coaching and real-world application.
Participants used target accounts and active opportunities throughout, turning learning into clear actions that improved customer understanding, stakeholder engagement and opportunity management.
The program covered
Customer buying journeys
Macro business drivers
MEDDPICC qualification and opportunity risk
Stakeholder mapping, executive engagement and multi-threading
Business value and outcome-led selling
Competitive positioning and win strategies
Closer collaboration with vendors, specialists and internal teams.
How we worked
More than 20 sales professionals took part across two cohorts.
Anna Britnor Guest of Alate led the program in partnership with channel activation specialists Recur Global, supported by Vohkus and Cisco leaders. Participants prepared by applying the concepts to live opportunities through Recur’s Sales Activator platform, which also tracked learning and progress.
They then joined a two-day workshop to learn together, share ideas and work on real pipeline opportunities and target accounts..
Tracking progress
Over the following two months, participants tracked the personal and commercial impact of their actions.
Institute of Sales Professionals-endorsed completion certificates were awarded based on demonstrated learning, and selected opportunities continue to receive live deal coaching.
This follow-through, which continues beyond this case study, helps ensure that development becomes sustained progress rather than a short-term training event.
“There’s no point in providing development that doesn’t deliver results. We use simple frameworks to work on live deals and real situations so that salespeople develop clear action plans.
Unlike standard training, we stick around to make sure those action plans turn into progress in their deals. Partnering with Recur, together we track progress and deliver impact that grows, not training that fades.”
Anna Britnor Guest
Alate MD & Lead facilitator
Immediate behaviour change
“I've sat through plenty of sales training over the years, but this was genuinely different.
It wasn't death by PowerPoint or theory for theory's sake. The content was relevant, practical and immediately applicable to the opportunities our teams are working on every day.
What impressed me most was the level of engagement and the quality of the conversations it created across the business.”
Nick Howells
Network Solutions Specialist, Vohkus
The sales team moved beyond product-led conversations to explore customers’ wider business challenges. As a mid-market business serving mid-market peers, Vohkus can relate directly to their priorities, helping to open broader discussions about market drivers, organisational goals, business outcomes, risk, return on investment and long-term transformation.
Teams strengthened qualification and identified decision-makers, influencers, procurement stakeholders and executive sponsors earlier.
Vohkus is now developing new ways to engage senior leaders around business issues and drivers, while involving Cisco, solution architects and internal specialists sooner.
This helps customers assess options more effectively and strengthens proposals and competitive positioning.
Quote from John here
John Cox
Partner Account Executive, Cisco Systems
Results
Within two months, the impact was visible in both sales behaviour and commercial outcomes.
Commercial impact
Closed-won business £
New pipeline £
Improved forecast accuracy
Increased cross-sell & services attachment
Wider access to senior stakeholders
“Top Flight has been one of the most impactful sales development programs I've experienced in my career.
Putting ourselves in the seat of our customers and their buying journey opens up avenues of conversations that enhance the customer experience and allows us to understand our customers' business in a richer, more impactful way.
Top Flight allowed us the space to think differently, try new techniques and as a community share experiences.
The results have been evident in both pipeline growth and shift in mindset from our sales teams.”
Jen Downes
Head of Product Sales Specialists, Vohkus
Sales effectiveness impact
Participants changed how they approach opportunities.
They now ask deeper discovery questions, look beyond stated requirements to understand the wider business context and organisational priorities, map and engage stakeholder networks more effectively, identify risks earlier and qualify opportunities more consistently.
Together, these changes position Vohkus as a trusted mid-market adviser rather than a transactional supplier.
Teams strengthened qualification and identified decision-makers, influencers, procurement stakeholders and executive sponsors earlier. Vohkus is now developing new ways to engage senior leaders around business issues and drivers, while involving Cisco, solution architects and internal specialists sooner. This helps customers assess options more effectively and strengthens proposals and competitive positioning.
“We recently completed the Vohkus Top Flight Program.
It was a great opportunity to step back, challenge our existing thinking and develop new approaches around customer engagement, value based selling and personal effectiveness. I came away with a number of practical techniques that I was able to apply immediately.
I’m already delivering greater value for my customers, gaining access to SLTs who were previously beyond reach, enhancing champion support and being invited to bid on new opportunities.”
Paul Scott
Senior Account Director, Vohkus
Building a more strategic sales organisation
Perhaps the most sustaining outcome was a shift in mindset to become more consultative, more strategic and more customer-focused in their approach.
From responding to requirements, they now help customers define business outcomes.
From relying on a single contact, they build broader stakeholder networks.
From positioning technology, they now connect solutions to organisational priorities and business value.
This behavioural change is helping Vohkus strengthen customer relationships, improve pipeline quality and build a foundation for sustainable future growth.
“We've seen sellers challenge themselves, think differently about customer outcomes and become more confident in strategic engagements. If we're serious about developing our people and improving how we sell, Top Flight is absolutely the right investment.”
Nick Howells
Network Solutions Specialist, Vohkus
“Ultimately, the programme has been about unlocking potential. By investing in the growth and development of our sales team, we are investing in the growth of the business itself. When individuals become more capable, confident, and effective in their roles, customers receive a better experience, stronger relationships are built, and the organisation is better positioned to succeed. This was the fundamental purpose of the journey: to create a high-performing sales culture built on continuous learning, intelligent engagement, and a relentless focus on delivering value to our customers.”
Chrissy Day
Head of HR, Vohkus
Summary
By bringing together Vohkus, Cisco, Recur and Alate, the programme has not only generated measurable commercial results, but also equipped the sales team with a more disciplined, customer-centric and value-led approach to business development.
As customer buying journeys continue to evolve, Vohkus is now better positioned to engage strategically, compete more effectively and create greater value for its customers and partners.
Quote from Matt
Matt Hathorn
CEO, Recur Global
The future
This isn't the end of the story. The work continues to further embed and enhance the skills needed to take Vohkus on their next stage of growth.
"Top Flight has been the catalyst that will help move Vohkus from good to great!
It has given our sales professionals a clear understanding that real transformation doesn't come from dramatic changes, but from consistently making small improvements in mindset, behaviour and execution.
By creating a common approach, greater accountability and a stronger focus on value-led selling, Top Gun has elevated both the capability and confidence of our sales team, helping to build the high-performance culture needed for long-term success."
Chrissy Day
Head of HR, Vohkus
Alate Business Growth is a B2B sales and leadership development company founded in 2002 by Anna Britnor Guest, who has over 30 years of experience in the B2B technology sector.
Alate works with technology companies across SaaS, cybersecurity, connectivity, MSP, telco, and AI that are under pressure to grow faster and smarter but whose people don't yet have the capability and skills to get them there.
Unlike standard training providers who deliver a program and move on, Alate works on live deals, real leadership challenges, and specific commercial goals over time, building the lasting change that connects capability directly to revenue.
Clients typically report improved win rates, stronger pipeline accuracy, and leadership teams that can finally move as one.
Alate is an endorsed training partner with the Institute of Sales Professionals.
Vohkus summary
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