Ben Dietz is the final supervisor of Mintel, a number one knowledge and analytics firm. The corporate operates throughout North and South America, Europe, Africa, the Center East, and Asia-Pacific.

On this episode of Gross sales Hacker, Ben recapitulates his first days within the firm, the corporate’s core companies, the challenges they confronted through the pandemic and are dealing with now, given the recession and different international occasions. Ben and host Sam Jacobs speak concerning the significance of belief and help in a disaster, each internally and externally. Ben discusses how one can be a sensible but motivational chief and the way giving and asking for suggestions is essential for a supervisor to maneuver his group and operations ahead.

Visitor-at-a-Look

💡 Title: Ben Dietz

💡 What he does: Ben is the final supervisor of Mintel.

💡 Firm: Mintel

💡 Noteworthy: Ben started his profession in logistics and provide chain with ConAgra Meals, then moved into provide chain consulting, and ultimately pivoted to gross sales when he joined Mintel. He has held seven totally different roles throughout two continents by his 14 years at Mintel, throughout which Mintel has tripled in dimension.

💡 The place to search out Ben: LinkedIn

Key Insights

⚡Enterprise improvement at its core is listening to clients and giving them what they want.

And the beauty of enterprise, as Ben explains, is its common nature. If you work in an organization reminiscent of Mintel that operates throughout numerous continents, you come throughout totally different nationalities and languages, however that variety is an influence, not a barrier. ”For me, being in Europe gave me a heavy enhance of confidence as a result of even in case you’re talking a unique language with them, in case you have an answer serving to construct their enterprise and serving to construct their private model, you’re onto one thing.”

⚡Transferring up the profession ladder requires openness to taking dangers.

Though Ben attributes his skilled success to luck, his dedication confirms that luck occurs when preparation meets alternatives. ”I’ve at all times been vocal to the board and our homeowners that no matter essentially the most troublesome problem we as a corporation have at that second, I would like it.” However, he additionally says that his expertise and abilities had been typically not sufficient. Due to this fact, he believes enterprise progress is dependent upon the willingness to hunt assist and recommendation. ”Have a way test, ‘Okay. What I’m doing, is it working?’ Share that willingly with others, but additionally be searching for recommendation from what different organizations are doing. That has been immensely helpful.”

⚡Availability and proactivity result in long-term enterprise partnerships.

Shopper/buyer preferences might change, however one factor stays the identical, and that’s that they wish to know you’re there each time they want you. ”We’ve seen when you’ve quick response instances to clients which have questions or once you don’t, and also you’re being proactive, the outcomes from a retention standpoint, after which the expansion on high, they arrive.”

Episode Highlights

Mintel’s Scope of Providers

”Take into consideration any model that you simply work together with any day — meals, drink, magnificence, or some type of expertise. Any of these consumer-facing manufacturers companion with us to know the tendencies driving shopper conduct, which in the end drive shopper demand in order that they will be taught and perceive what services and products they wish to innovate.

After which, on the again of these improvements, how do they wish to message these merchandise on the opposite aspect? […] So we assist manufacturers perceive the place’s the market as we speak and what they need to be doing about it from their innovation standpoint.”

Belief Is Essential in Instances of Uncertainty

”I give attention to it each day to verify I’ve that belief amongst at the least my administration group, which in fact, can then cascade. So that they’re proper now preserving me sincere on what the temperature of the group is. And proper now, it’s heavy adversity.

I’m making an attempt to take away every other distraction or potential venture we had that we had been going to take a look at launching or pushing the groups, going by totally different coaching; it’s all arms on deck in the intervening time.

We’ve weathered these storms a number of instances prior to now. So, in the intervening time, what I’m making an attempt to do from a motivation standpoint is just not essentially engaged on the enterprise as a lot as it is vitally a lot within the enterprise and with the groups; so there’s a way of camaraderie, and we’re all working by it.”

By no means Cease On the lookout for Methods to Assist Your Clients

”We’ve obtained 1000’s and 1000’s of folks that we could be supporting. We all know the place we finest win. We are able to simply see which accounts are doubtlessly extra in danger than others. So if the rest, starting out and serving to our clients as a result of they’re frightened [is always going on].

Two days in the past, I joined a name the place it was going to be a constructive dialog. The evening earlier than, that firm laid off 1200 of us. So the dialog, in fact, adjusted fairly a bit. However we nonetheless approached the decision, ‘Okay. How are you doing?’ After which, ’How can we be supporting you and your private model in the intervening time, but additionally then supporting the broader enterprise?’”