ALLIED FORCES GROWS WITH TAKEAWAY.COM

Takeaway.com is a Dutch success story. We know the company as Thuisbezorgd.nl, but the listed company is active throughout Europe and beyond. The intended merger with the British Just Eat underlines the spectacular growth of the online deliverer of ready meals. It is a great challenge for Global Sales Director Silvie Cremers to bring the sales for restaurants with their own delivery into one line and to a high level in all countries. Allied Forces coaches this permanent mission.

During the fast, hectic growth of Takeaway.com it is important to engage the company. The digital grow-up is developing itself rapidly in all directions. Cremers: “When I joined the company in 2015, I saw a very motivated team but at the same time there was a lot of room for development. An extra management layer was essential. And structure in the control as well as the personal development of all the sales staff.”

In 2016 Allied Forces was given the honorable task to develop and implement training programmes in sales skills for teams in various countries. Once a year for inside, field and after sales. Zuleiga Benjadi, now promoted to Team Lead, was one of the first participants: “Initially I was a little sceptical, but it turned out to be highly instructive. I have become more conscious of myself and I have learned new techniques. This was definitely also generated by the trainer, who provided a lot of trust and lowered the threshold. With role plays it helped tremendously to really immerse oneself in the training.”

Sales Director Cremers: “I find this very important: the click between trainers and participants. A couple of currently active trainers are being highly valued at the moment. To master this specific knowledge and to understand where the needs are. And if the click is not there sometimes, then there will be an intervention. The sales training programmes have a high energy level, sales people love that. The hard skills are mastered well and it is only a matter of working on them continuously, also via internal training. Now the soft side: team development. Allied Forces has developed a training programme for this with the focus on ‘ownership & attitude’.”

The average age at Takeaway.com is 29. This is why Cremers thinks team development is so important. “Our employees generally don’t have a lot of experience with it: ownership, looking past your own frames and borders, and attitude, listening well and having productive meetings. It’s up to our Heads of Sales and Team Leads to continue the training in the day-to-day practice. They will lead the troops together with the Team Leads.”

Team Lead Zuleiga Benjadi: “I am the first point of contact in the workplace. I speak with everyone, also individually. That’s why team development is very welcome. We get to know each other in a different way. During the training people are very open, expose themselves. You really see where everyone stands within the team. By carrying out assignments together, you can see how the lines run: Who takes the lead, who does most of the talking, who pulls tasks towards themselves? Subsequently you then see those roles reflected in daily life.”

The development programme for Team Lead deals with cooperation, behaviour and communication. The half year process starts with management drives, followed by three one or two day sessions, supported by coaching. The groups are mixed with participants from as many as eleven different countries where the company is active. The programme finishes with a communal plan for team development in practice – creating a Team Development Programme. Aligned with all countries, presented to the Heads of Sales and the Global Sales Director.