The challenge
With operations spanning across six countries, Fagus GreCon, a market leader in fire protection systems needed to maintain consistency in their sales approach. While their teams excelled at explaining product features, they needed to better articulate how these translated into values for clients, ensuring consistent customer experiences globally.
The solution
Fagus GreCon partnered with Lepaya to implement global value-selling training tailored to different roles within their organization. The program balanced theory with practical application and was delivered in local languages by high-quality trainers to maximize engagement. This approach transformed their global sales conversations, strengthened customer relationships across markets, and delivered impressive revenue growth - including a 70% increase in sales offers in the French market.
Unlocking sales performance through value-based selling
With the powerful mission of "saving lives through fire protection," Fagus GreCon, a market leader in fire protection systems, has always placed people at the center of their business and creating value for their clients.
As the company expanded globally, Fagus GreCon identified a need to enhance their sales approach. While their teams excelled at explaining technical features, they needed to better articulate how these translated into tangible benefits for customers.
Thus, Fagus GreCon implemented a value-based selling methodology to align their sales strategy with customer and market needs. This allows them to position themselves as strategic partners rather than simply product providers, creating deeper connections with customers.
"I believe that if you want to have strategic partnerships with customers, you need to focus on creating value for your customer."
Building value-based sales practices at scale
To implement their strategy effectively across international operations, Fagus GreCon faced a challenge. With sales teams in six countries each telling their own story, they required more than just a new methodology—they needed a unified sales practice that would work across diverse markets.
Recognizing this, Fagus GreCon partnered with Lepaya to create a training program that would standardize their commercial process globally while respecting regional differences. Tailored for various roles from sales managers to support staff, the program ensured a consistent value-based approach at every stage of the buyer journey and sales pipeline.
Regional leaders drove adoption by ensuring the training addressed local needs, including delivering sessions in native languages. As Guillaume Prabel, General Director in the French region, explains: "It was my demand to Lepaya and the headquarter that please make the training in French, because some salesmen, they don't speak English or German. So they introduced to us a French trainer, and the training experience with him was very great."
Dr. Uli Hilbers, Head of International Sales also notes: “First, I have to say that the teams from other regions—especially Latin America and China—gave very positive feedback on the approach. [...] We see different requirements across many regions; however, the approach was highly appreciated by all teams that received the plan."
"We wanted to make sure that we have more or less the same story that we are telling our customers all over the world.”
Practical learning tailored to real-life sales situations
The success of Fagus GreCon's training program lies in its balance between theory and practical application.
The training incorporated role plays, interactive exercises, and discussions of actual sales scenarios, allowing learners to understand concepts and practice their new skills in a safe environment before applying them with customers.
Another critical factor in the program's success was the quality of Lepaya's localized trainers, who quickly established credibility by demonstrating an understanding of both sales methodology and industry insights. The trainers also showed flexibility, adapting to each group's specific needs and addressing real challenges from learners' daily sales conversations.
"It's the way your trainers teach the program and we've seen many well-prepared trainers in the Lepaya program with good skills and good communication."
From technical experts to strategic advisors
Armed with their new skills, Fagus GreCon's sales team transformed their customer approach, evolving from technical experts into strategic advisors.
For many team members, this meant taking a step back from product-centered discussions to focus first on uncovering customer needs. Philipp Kunkel, Area Sales Manager in Germany, reflected on this change:
"The training helped me a lot to be more confident in asking questions and letting the customer know that I don't know everything about their production. And that also allows us to let the customer find out what the system brings to the table for them.”
The training also benefited younger sales professionals, who gained confidence and more structured ways of preparing for meetings and gathering deeper customer insights. The result has been more informed sales discussions and better-tailored solutions
"It was really a mentality shift from trying to be the expert for the customer, [...] to taking a step back and asking a lot of questions towards the customer.”
Measuring business impact: A 70% growth in French sales offers
The value-based selling approach quickly delivered measurable results across Fagus GreCon's global operations.
One of the most significant results came from the French team, who experienced a 70% increase in sales offer volume after completing the program. As Guillaume Prabel notes: "Last year we made 6.5 million euro offers for the first two months, and today, I think above 13 million euro offers." While multiple factors contributed to this growth, the training program played a key role in equipping the team with the right skills to capitalize on market opportunities.
Meanwhile, individual success stories also emerged as sales representatives began winning competitive contracts by leveraging what they’ve learned and focusing on value points for customers. For example, Philipp Kunkel described how the training helped him win a significant deal:
"The customer was close to making the decision on a big x-ray system and they brought in the competition. I started thinking, what did I learn in the last four training sessions? [...] That showed me that we discussed a lot of things really deeply with the customer.[...] The training basically gave me the confidence to rely on those topics and in the end, it helped me win the project."
The program also earned exceptional reviews with training satisfaction scores of 9.2/10 and trainer quality ratings of 9.6/10. Jonathan Hamill, Managing Director in the UK, explained: "I already had a very capable sales training partner and a methodology that we'd bought into and trusted. And I think that if you change that or bring in a new organization when you have a high reference bar, you don't know if that new organization can meet the same high levels."
"Now, I'm pleased to see that Lepaya was able to meet and exceed my expectations,” he said.
In challenging economic conditions, this strategic transformation has helped Fagus GreCon extract more value from existing opportunities while developing deeper customer relationships that support their long-term vision for achieving revenue targets.
"Last year we made 6.5 million euro offers for the first two months, and today, I think above 13 million euro offers."
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