Background
As Australia’s largest family-owned equipment rental company, Kennards Hire had already made significant progress toward one of its most important strategic priorities: growing its enterprise customer segment.
The opportunity was clear. Customers were looking for higher-value assets, and their needs were becoming larger and more complex. As the company continued to grow in this area, leaders saw a chance to strengthen the commercial sales function so it could keep pace with what was ahead.
While the sales team was already successful, the next step was to bring more consistency to the way people planned, sold, managed accounts, and worked across regions and roles.
Kennards Hire first engaged RAIN Group for a consulting assignment to understand where the sales organization stood, where it needed to go, and which gaps mattered most.
The consulting work included interviews with senior leaders, general managers, top performers, sales managers, and other key stakeholders. RAIN Group also reviewed key sales, strategy, customer, and planning materials to understand how the team was working and where support was needed.
The result was an executive summary that gave the organization a clear view of its current state, the future state it wanted to build toward, and the initiatives that would have the greatest business impact.
Solution
Following the consulting assignment, Kennards Hire expanded the work into a broader, customized sales capability engagement for participants across Australia and New Zealand.
RAIN Group worked closely with the commercial sales and customer experience teams to tailor the program to Kennards Hire’s language, customer scenarios, sales motions, and business priorities. Custom tools, case studies, and role plays were built specifically for the team, using situations that reflected how they sell and the types of customers they serve.
The goal was to make the learning feel practical and immediately relevant for everyone involved in growing and supporting large enterprise customer relationships, from senior leaders and general managers to sales managers, sellers, and supporting team members. Including these broader teams helped break down silos and create a more coordinated, team-based approach to engaging enterprise customers.
The rollout began with leaders. Kennards Hire wanted senior leaders and managers to go first, so there was alignment, visibility, and support before the broader sales team moved through the learning journey.
The learning journey included several sessions and content from six training programs:
- Senior Leader Alignment: RAIN Group facilitated sessions with the leadership team to establish the Buyer Change Blueprint, clarify the current and future state, and align leaders around the goals of the broader capability program.
- GM and CEO Team Workshop: Because general managers were critical to the success of the initiative, this session was designed to build understanding, ownership, and support from the top.
- Top-Performing Sales Manager: Sales managers focused on coaching, accountability, execution, and team performance.
- 9 Habits of Extreme Productivity: Participants learned how to focus on their highest priorities, plan better, prepare more effectively, and build stronger habits around execution.
- Territory and Key Account Management: Participants learned how to identify accounts with the greatest growth potential, build stronger account plans, expand relationships, and communicate value more clearly.
- Core Consultative Selling: Participants focused on shifting to a more buyer-centric, solution-selling mindset and leading stronger sales conversations from beginning to end.
- Sales Negotiation: The team learned how to manage negotiations more effectively, create value, reduce unnecessary discounting, and negotiate based on value rather than price.
- Winning Major Sales: Selected participants focused on the company’s largest and most strategic opportunities, learning how to build stronger pursuit plans and improve their chances of winning major deals.
Tom Kimber, general manager of sales at Kennards Hire, said the value came not only from the training, but also from the full process around it. The work up front, the customization, the reinforcement, and the ongoing support helped the program avoid the common “drop and run” approach that often limits impact.
Results
Kennards Hire is already seeing results.
“The impact has been significant, with a marked improvement in our sales team’s effectiveness in a short period of time. The structured cadence, accountability, and transparency introduced through the program were quickly adopted and have driven positive outcomes,” said Kimber.
The team is applying what they learned in real sales situations, with successes including:
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Winning contracts for major roading infrastructure projects, growing in the renewable energy sector, and securing a seven-year contract with a public utility company projected to generate $200 million in revenue.
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Preferred supplier panel wins with major construction and infrastructure customers, expanding access to high-value project opportunities across the region.
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Getting in front of larger accounts and earning chances to present on deals they may not have been considered for months earlier.
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Avoiding unnecessary concessions with a top five customer by going back for clarification instead of reacting too quickly to pressure around rate increases.
Across the programs, average program scores reached 4.5/5 and facilitator scores averaged 4.8/5. In addition, confidence uplift across key sales skills averaged 10.4%.
“The adaptation of RAIN methodologies, including account management, meeting planning, and the Buyer Change Blueprint has been highly effective for our team,” said Kimber. “These strategies have strengthened our sellers’ business acumen and sales approach and have supported substantial wins.”
Just as important, the program has helped the team become more consistent. Sellers have a clearer way to plan, prepare, talk with customers, manage accounts, and work through complex deals. Leaders and managers also have a common language to coach around.
For Kimber, the engagement stood out because it fit the reality of the team's day-to-day work.
“With more than 30 years of industry experience, I’ve found the mentorship and guidance from RAIN to be invaluable,” he said. “One of the biggest strengths of the program is its practical methodology. It is easy for a team with operational backgrounds to understand and put into practice, which has made a real difference for our commercial sales organization.”
With the foundation in place, the company is in a stronger position to continue growing its enterprise customer segment, pursue larger opportunities, and build the sales capability needed for long-term growth.
