Global electrical distributor Capital Lighting & Supply wanted to unite and better educate its workforce on providing solutions to customers. Company executives credit their gross margin increases and unified, service-focused culture to the leadership and sales skills training delivered to their team. Learn about their success here.

1. Culture-Building, Service Excellence and Sales
Skills Development Intertwine to Create a
Competitive Edge for Capital Lighting & Supply
Popular counter-culture comedian George Carlin
once noted that “electricity is really just organized
lightning,” which fittingly describes how electrical
products distributor Capital Lighting & Supply
became a more formidable competitor in its price-
and service-sensitive business.
Company executives credit its gross margin increas-
es and unified, service-focused culture to leadership
development and sales skills training delivered to its
executives, sales and service personnel by
AchieveGlobal, an international performance
improvement company.
COMPANY: Capital Lighting & Supply
“We knew if we could get our people better educat-
Industry: ed about our products and how to present them as
Manufacturing/Distribution solutions to our customers’ needs then we would be
stronger in the marketplace and a more successful
Strategy: organization,” noted John Hardy, president of
After a series of acquisitions, create a
Capital Lighting & Supply, part of the Sonepar
united culture and grow profit margins
group, the world’s largest privately-held electrical
Implementation: distributor.
All key stakeholders become involved in
an intensive program to develop key
Creating a common culture
leadership and sales skills
Acquired by Sonepar in 2000 as part of an industry-
Training Population: wide consolidation, Capital Lighting & Supply pro-
Branch managers, salespeople and vides electrical products, lighting, and services to
front-line delivery personnel contractors, builders, and end-users in the Mid-
Atlantic States. It services its customers from 21
Results: locations throughout Maryland and Virginia and
1.5% margin increase in gross margin, from its 220,000 square foot headquarters and cen-
attributable directly to the AchieveGlobal tral distribution center in Upper Marlboro, MD. Its
programs
mission is to be the electrical distributor of choice.

2. Sharpening strategic selling skills
Branch managers and their sales people also
sharpened their selling skills through
AchieveGlobal’s Professional Selling Skills
and Professional Sales Coaching programs.
Front-line delivery personnel were developed
John Hardy, CEO (left) and Tim McGowan, as well, participating in customer service pro-
grams Reaching for Stellar Service and
VP of Corporate Development (right)
Healing Customer Relationships.
As a result, these front-line people are better
By 2003 Capital Lighting had itself acquired able to deliver a higher level of leadership,
five competitors, each firm bringing with it sales results and customer service, successful-
into the fold a unique culture that Hardy and ly differentiating Capital Lighting & Supply
Tim McGowan, vice president, Corporate in this commodity-oriented industry.
Development, knew had to be unified and
then united. “Our managers are great technicians, but
they lacked depth in frontline management,”
“We wanted to reinforce and establish a com- McGowan said. “They had not been formally
mon culture,” McGowan said. “And once we trained on sales processes and selling to sup-
did that, establish goals that would align the port the growth of the organization. We
organization and build a bench of people found the AchieveGlobal provided the perfect
quickly and profitably to meet the challenges fit for these objectives.”
of this rapidly changing business.”
As with many distributor-type businesses,
To build Capital Lighting’s unified culture, Capital Lighting’s primary contact with cus-
AchieveGlobal introduced the company’s tomers – electrical contractors on a job site –
branch managers to a two-day seminar is through its parts delivery personnel.
designed to help them better understand and “These guys are more than drivers; they’re
sharpen basic communications skills. really our customer service agents. A vital
Reinforcing that seminar were follow-up pro- link in achieving our mission, their daily con-
grams delivered one-on-one, in small groups tact with our market can make or break the
and online. Those programs further devel- impression the customer has about our com-
oped such leadership skills as delegating, pany,” said McGowan.
developing others, evaluating performance
and handling difficult people. In addition to sharpening employee’s business
skills, AchieveGlobal training whetted
AchieveGlobal programs included: appetites for self-learning as means to career
enrichment, all part of Capital Lighting’s goal
• Interpersonal Managing Skills and follow-
of unifying its culture and creating an organi-
up programs
zation enthusiastic about its business.
• Principles and Qualities of Genuine
Leadership “AchieveGlobal has helped us create an
• Clarifying Performance Expectations incredible culture change, especially as we’ve
• Delegating for Shared Success woven the cultures of the various companies
we’ve acquired into a unified awareness that
• The Hallmarks of Supervisory Success we are no longer a bunch of small businesses
• Developing Others but a big company,” McGowan said.
© 2008 AchieveGlobal, Inc. www.achieveglobal.com

3. Hardy agreed. “We see this in how our people From a holistic perspective, the training has paid
have changed their interest in continual learning to off handsomely as well. “Our people are learning
be successful, in their use of these new skills on the that they’re truly the engine that drives the busi-
job and in their attitudes toward how they ness, and this kind of education investment proves
approach their jobs. Our new culture is making a to them we care and that we’re willing to invest in
huge difference.” them,” Hardy noted.
“Reinforcing our common culture has gotten our
Results drive ‘huge’ margin increase
people marching in the same direction,” McGowan
The results of Capital Lighting’s culture and sales added, “and it has created momentum. We all now
performance efforts are paying off nicely, share the same vocabulary, behaviors and attitudes
McGowan noted. “We’re enjoying a 1.5 percent reinforced by AchieveGlobal’s programs, and that
increase in in-stock product gross margin, directly enthusiasm has had a huge impact on how we do
attributable to the AchieveGlobal programs. We business. How do you put a price tag on that?”
are a $225 million company with in-stock sales
representing 65 percent of our business. That’s a
$2 million to $2.25 million gross margin increase.
This is huge, huge! And we spent something like
$150,000 total for first-year training, so that’s
pretty good ROI.”
Developing the 21st Century Workforce.
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