Whyte & MacKay Graduate Success

	“Pareto offered a tailored bespoke solution, with ready-made high calibre and highly trained sales people. It was a painless process which entirely met our needs”
	Rosslynn Law, Operations Director

Background

Whyte and Mackay is one of the world’s leading producers of Scotch Whisky. As well as the brand itself the company also owns Jura and The Dalmore single malts, Glayva liqueur and Vladivar, the number two vodka brand in the UK. Over the past few years the company has undertaken a £110m investment in upgrading its facilities and re-branding its products to appeal to today’s consumers, ensuring that its brands have strong global appeal. Part of the reorganisation involved changing its distribution model and creating its own national field sales team to communicate directly to its “on-trade” outlets: pubs, clubs and bars throughout the UK.

The Business Requirement

Operations Director Rosslynn Law found herself in the unenviable position of having to build a completely new sales organisation within a matter of months. Not only did she have to find the right people but there had to be a proper structure in place involving training and KPIs necessary for longer term. Added to this was a desire from Whyte and Mackay for a step change in the type of sales people they hired. “We have invested millions in our brands. We were looking for people who not only excelled in sales but more importantly who would share our passion for these fantastic brands” commented Rosslynn.  The initial plan was to recruit a team predominantly made up of experienced sales people married with a select number of graduates.

A Bespoke Recruitment and Training Solution

Initially Whyte and Mackay were looking for 30 new sales staff for a variety of national field sales roles.  After learning of The Pareto assessment placement and training model for graduate sales people Rosslynn decided to change the brief and hire 15 graduate Business Development Executives as well as 15 experienced sales staff.

The challenge was to find graduates from all over the UK, assess, recruit and train them in a matter of weeks. Pareto’s central graduate recruitment team set about the task of finding 15 graduates for a bespoke assessment day at Whyte and Mackay headquarters in Glasgow and from other Pareto assessment centres in England. Assessment days were bespoke to Whyte and Mackay and tailored to the specific type of graduate and role on offer. Rosslynn and colleagues were invited along to have direct input into the process and to be sure they were getting the right kind of cultural fit for the Whyte and Mackay business. “The process was remarkably easy from Whyte and Mackay’s point of view. It could have been completely effortless but for the fact that we chose to participate in the assessment day.“ added Rosslynn.

Whyte and Mackay chose 15 graduates from the assessment days and Pareto then set about delivering four bespoke training modules over two months designed specifically around Whyte and Mackay’s needs and terminology.  The graduate Business Development Executives (BDEs) were also given intensive product training which included visits to distilleries and meeting the company’s master blender; the award winning Richard Paterson.

In addition to training the graduates Pareto was also asked to provide training for sales managers to familiarise themselves with the four modules of the Pareto graduate BDE programme and to understand the Pareto process. Over the first year some 65 additional sales staff will go through the bespoke W&M Pareto training programme. The objective was to instil consistency across the team in terms of the sales process and use of language.

The Pareto Law Approach

Pareto Law was founded on a belief that to achieve excellence you need the best. From thousands of CVs each application is read in detail, before candidates are narrowed down and contacted by telephone for a first informal interview. 

Successful graduates are invited to attend assessment days where they are interviewed and monitored by a team of experts backed by state-of-the-art psychometric testing, with bespoke assessment days developed, as was the case with Whyte and Mackay. Following a further interview the candidate is briefed and put forward to a suitable prospective employer. 

If successful, the graduate is offered a position and commences their new career with five days of intensive training facilitated by Pareto Law. The graduate will then return to Pareto for additional training and development throughout the early stages of their career.

Pareto Training also offers bespoke training to managers and seasoned sales professionals across all sectors with modular training sessions covering areas such as presentation, negotiation, motivation, account management, cold calling and effective communication.

A Winning Combination

Whyte and Mackay needed to recruit, structure and train an entirely new sales force within a matter of months. In using Pareto Law they were able to achieve this, while at the same time introducing Pareto training to ensure consistency throughout the sales organisation. With the combination of the company’s huge investment in re-branding its portfolio and bringing on an enthusiastic and passionate sales force to drive the brand values Whyte and Mackay now has a firm foundation for growth.