L.J. Stone has been renovating bathrooms since 1967, mastering industry trends and sales methods. But trends change, and L.J. Stone’s customers now represent an aging population that needs safer spaces. Increasingly, sales calls became discussions of home renovations that would increase customer safety, particularly in bathrooms. To adapt, the sales team had to rethink their approach.

The challenges

L.J. Stone has about a dozen sales reps, and Sales Manager Rick Polei is responsible for training everyone on the team. Ensuring consistent success meant keeping tabs on everyone’s activities, and Rick piggybacked on team calls every day, often working 12–14 hours just to keep a pulse on their methods, conversations, and trends. It was unsustainable, and it hindered growth.

‍“I was out there on sales calls every day, all afternoon into the evening, never in the office,” Rick said.

They also faced challenges around sales call data and information. Rick could only be on one call at a time, so reps often reported on their conversations. These impressions didn’t always match with Rick’s assessment, but without recordings or other tools, he could only take their reports at face value.

Rick needed an innovative solution that could put him in more places at once, get clearer insights from sales calls, and improve training.

Rilla puts leadership on every sales call

Rilla solved these problems. L.J. Stone adopted the platform, which allows Rick to monitor each call as he sees fit. He cut multiple hours of driving time out of sales management, and gained better visibility into sales calls.

"It's given me the ability to be in two or three places at one time,” he said.

In addition to time savings, Rilla gave L.J. Stone more data. Rick uses this data to adapt the training process, and team members can also access this information to improve their tactics.

‍“Sales is everything here. We're a remodeling company, but at the heart of it, we're a sales organization,” Rick said. “Being able to coach the guys, know what's going on out in the field, hear it almost immediately after it happens, that gives me the ability to act quickly and make sure the guys are on track.”

The results

Rilla increased accountability for the team, which led to improved performance. 

Before using Rilla, the team closed at under 30%. After Rilla, the team saw an increase of 11%. The Net Sales Per Lead Issued (NSLI) increased by 22%, and the average ticket size went up by $1,332.

Training improved, too. Newer team members saw the fastest growth. 

“They come on board quicker. They're getting more feedback early in the process. They listen to themselves and other reps and learn a lot faster,” Rick explained.

While the sales team and company benefited from these changes, Rick saw personal improvements in his workday. Cutting hours out of his training efforts, he found more time to spend with his family, catching more of his son’s baseball games.

‍“It's a game-changer. I would recommend it for anybody who has sales reps,” Rick said. “The possibilities are endless of who could use this. If you need to know what's happening on your front line, that's one of the most important things about your business you can know, and the better you grasp on it, the better you can react.”