Thomas Hardie New Truck Sales Manager Steve Wilson has taken an award simply entitled ‘The Best’ during a nine-month, five-module training course called The Rubicon. The unique, Volvo-designed course for New Truck Sales Managers was held over ten days spanning nine months in a range of European locations and included candidates from the UK, Ireland, Spain and Italy.

"The Rubicon has been a truly great experience and being accredited with 'The Best' Award was a major personal achievement," says Steve, "especially when you consider the high calibre and commitment of the other candidates."

Volvo's Competence Development Manager Andy Walker, the man charged with making The Rubicon happen - is clear on the benefits it will bring to Volvo customers. "It's aimed at giving New Truck Sales Managers and their teams a competitive edge - but also helping them give that edge to their customers," says Andy. "If they're properly focused, they'll be listening to their customers'' needs and wants, analyzing them and coming back with solutions and products that make those customers more competitive."

Issues covered by the course included leadership, benchmarking against competitors and the setting of personal goals, but the two overarching themes were the use of coaching as a management technique and the importance of listening intelligently to customers.

According to Andy Walker, the programme was intended to help "formulate strategies for individual customer relationships using customer management techniques."

The programme was entirely developed within Volvo Truck Corporation and was the brainchild of Stanley Olsson, whose simple criterion in devising The Rubicon was "If we were going to design the perfect development programme for sales managers, what would we do?"

The Rubicon has made a considerable impression on those who took part. Rob Ireland, Sales Manager of Dennison Commercials in Ballyclare, says; "The Rubicon was the most interesting course I've been on - possibly even life-changing. It's personally very challenging; you're asked to look in the mirror and see what you'd change about yourself;" He goes on, "As a direct result, there's a lot more integration between departments, which can only be to the benefit of our customers, especially in the current trading conditions."

Another session of The Rubicon is planned for 2010, aiming to spread the word of change even further and faster; Aftermarket Sales Managers may well be included in the candidate pool this time around.