Frontline sales manager coaching for an identity management software company

Client need

A leading global media company, serving audiences in 170+ countries, had built its reputation on delivering high-quality content through a vast network of regional operations. With over 20,000 employees, its business relied on leaders at every level making fast, effective decisions in their markets while staying aligned to global strategy.

The company saw an opportunity to better support new leaders joining the organization globally and seasoned leaders seeking additional development opportunities, focusing on those responsible for bringing strategy to life every day.

To bridge that gap, the company set out to pilot a scalable leadership coaching program focused on:

• Building six leadership capabilities critical to business success
• Creating consistency across regions while respecting cultural and language nuance
• Measuring progress at individual, regional, and organizational levels
• Enabling development that lasts beyond the coaching engagement

The goal: strengthen alignment and elevate leadership impact across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia–Pacific region.

Solution

The challenge wasn’t just delivering coaching, it was creating a leadership development system that could work across continents, prove its impact, and adapt to local realities without diluting global priorities.

The company partnered with Sounding Board, a BTS company, to design a pilot that blended human expertise with scaled, tech-enabled insight to meet four imperatives:

• Activating frontline and mid-level leadership – Focused on people leaders who directly shape day-to-day execution and culture.
• Building the capabilities that matter – Six leadership behaviors rooted in the company’s unique culture, values, and strategic operating principles, ensuring development was relevant to how leaders drive success within the organization.
• Ensuring quality at scale – AI-driven matching connected each leader to a coach with relevant industry, regional, and cultural experience.
• Making growth measurable and sustainable – Biweekly coaching reinforced through a digital platform for goal tracking, reflection, and feedback, plus structured manager check-ins to keep progress aligned to business needs.

Scaled coaching gave the company a consistent platform and approach to leadership development, developing leaders in every region to the same leadership expectations and behaviors. Real-time insights surfaced trends in behavior change, engagement, and alignment early enough to adjust the program midstream. The data struck the right balance between consistency and cultural relevance, showing where local adaptations strengthened leadership and where global priorities needed to hold firm.

Results

By the end of the program, leaders across continents were working from the same playbook, speaking a shared leadership language, and working in ways that respected local context and in alignment to how they wanted leaders to show up in the organization. Managers noticed stronger alignment with their direct reports, leaders felt more confident in their roles, and the data showed tangible shifts in the behaviors tied to business success.

Impact at a glance:

• 84% completion rate demonstrated sustained engagement.
• 92% of coachees advanced their development goals, with nearly as many showing measurable improvement in targeted leadership behaviors.
• 84% of coachees and 64% of managers reported stronger alignment in how they approached priorities and collaboration.
• 76% of leaders progressed toward broader career goals, signaling a stronger leadership pipeline.
• 87% satisfaction rate with coaching, reinforced by a 95% coach match success rate.
• 30% of coachees reported increased job satisfaction—critical in a competitive talent market.

What’s next:

The company expanded coaching to 50+ additional team leaders and began planning its rollout to mid-level managers worldwide, confident they have a model that delivers measurable growth, alignment, and cultural agility at scale.

Testimonials

“I have seen [my report] take it to another, more strategic level, particularly as she engages with her senior stakeholder. She spent time reflecting on what she wanted to get out of their first meeting, how to present herself as his new partner, what kind of questions would solicit the most meaningful responses etc.” — Senior Manager

“[My report] increased her capacity to appreciate the views of others and to work to develop them. She expanded her horizons to think outside of her comfort zones and to draw out some fine work from others. She showed improved capacity to help others develop their own ideas, rather than imposing her own on them.” — Senior Manager

“[Coaching] has helped me have a better understanding of where I enjoy working and developing most so I can continue to do so.” — Coachee

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Client needNufarm is a global crop protection and seed technologies company helping farmers and businesses meet the challenges of food, feed, fiber, and fuel production. The company leverages agility, capabilities, and partnerships to help customers succeed in a rapidly changing world.Commercial Excellence was identified as a core driver of value for both customers and shareholders, ensuring that Nufarm’s commercial teams developed the right capabilities for today and the future.To strengthen this focus, Nufarm partnered with BTS to create a Commercial Capability Framework — a comprehensive, global platform designed to enhance capability development and deepen customer insights. The goal: to empower teams to deliver consistent, high-impact results while driving stronger customer engagement.SolutionBTS designed and delivered the Commercial Capability Framework through a structured, multi-modular program involving approximately 500 commercial professionals across North America, Europe, and APAC. Tailored to diverse roles, it offered specific learning paths for leaders and field teams in sales, marketing, and customer service.The framework featured six core modules — Sales Excellence, Sales Leadership, Business Acumen, Key Account Management (KAM), Campaign Management, and Pricing — each localized into multiple languages. This ensured a global standard while allowing flexibility for regional markets.Key elements included:Interactive business simulation:A custom Go-To-Market (GTM) simulation where leaders tested strategic and operational decision-making in a risk-free setting. Participants evaluated GTM strategies, analyzed financial metrics, and created actionable, market-specific plans that balanced short-term wins with long-term growth.Leadership coaching program:Aimed at commercial leaders, this initiative developed coaching and communication skills through workshops, one-on-one, and peer learning sessions. It emphasized active listening, empathy, and strategic dialogue to foster cultural and behavioral change.E-learning modules:Short, interactive modules reinforced a shared commercial language and provided easy, on-demand access for new and existing employees. Video scenarios and quizzes offered real-time feedback, while participant data informed continuous improvement.Strategic conversations program:Designed for sales and account managers to elevate customer dialogue quality. Using AI-supported feedback, participants practiced balancing operational discussions with high-value strategic conversations. The program will expand to other commercial roles to increase alignment.The rollout aligned with Nufarm’s fiscal planning cycle, allowing teams to immediately apply learnings to annual strategic kickoffs. Regional capability leads localized delivery to ensure strong engagement and relevance.ResultsEach phase was evaluated using Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Evaluation, measuring satisfaction, learning outcomes, behavioral shifts, and business impact. Ongoing feedback drove iterative improvement and ensured alignment with company strategy.Key outcomes:Enhanced commercial and leadership capabilitiesGreater consistency in customer engagement and sales processesActionable, regionally adapted strategiesThrough its partnership with BTS, Nufarm not only strengthened commercial excellence but also empowered its teams to deliver on its brand promise of “Evolving Ag.”

Client need

A multinational beverage corporation embarked on an ambitious strategy to drive revenue and brand growth by fostering cross-functional Revenue Growth Management (RGM) collaboration at scale. Traditionally, revenue and brand growth strategies were crafted by experts within individual functions. This shift to shared responsibility demanded a transformative change in leaders' mindsets, knowledge, and behaviors. By embracing this collaborative approach, the organization aimed to significantly enhance global efficiency, effectiveness, and value creation. To achieve this, the corporation partnered with BTS to design a comprehensive RGM development program tailored for global and regional leaders across functions. This program was designed to deepen these leaders' understanding of the global revenue growth strategy, strengthen their acumen for integrating consumer/shopper and customer insights across RGM levers, and empower them to identify and seize profitable growth opportunities.

Solution

The resulting program was customized to align with the organization's RGM framework, fostering consistency and cohesion while simultaneously building RGM capabilities. The initiative was launched both in-person and virtually, reaching 679 leaders and RGM practitioners across 24 countries. Participants were organized into cross-functional teams, immersing them in collaboration, skill-building, practice, and discussion through a tailored business simulation. The objectives of the program include:

• Developing a common understanding of the revenue growth framework and recognizing the significant contributions of each function.
• Achieving sustainable revenue growth through holistic decision-making and the establishment of a robust governance model.
• Identifying profitable growth opportunities in the face of evolving market conditions.
• Comparing and contrasting strategies to better discern where and how to invest for long-term growth.
• Sharing and experimenting with best practices across regions.

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To achieve these objectives, leaders and key account managers were asked to:

• Prepare for the experience by engaging with RGM modules and a simulation case study.
• Engage in team competition within a dynamic and fictional, yet realistic market – setting strategies and making hundreds of decisions to achieve the highest revenue growth and profitability across three simulated years.
• Participate in facilitated debrief sessions, where they share and receive feedback and coaching, identify key learnings, and discuss how to integrate these insights into their roles.

• Absorb new concepts, knowledge, and perspectives through knowledge-sharing and best practice sessions.
• Translate their learnings into reality by committing to concrete on-the-job actions during an application session.

Though the simulation aspect was largely consistent worldwide, learning paths varied in purpose, level, and sophistication based on the local needs of each region, which accounted for differences in customary channel partners, trade spend, and more.

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Results

Global roll-out is still underway. However, evaluation of the program’s effectiveness to this point demonstrates that:  

• 92% of participants rated the program Good or Very Good.
• 65% of participants agreed that they better understood the organization’s RGM framework.
• 78% of participants reported that the program improved their RGM knowledge.
• 85% of participants stated that they would recommend the program to a colleague.

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Six months after the first initiative, three-fourths of the top leaders who participated agreed that they had achieved business results made possible by the program.

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Testimonials

“Now, when colleagues from channel development are asking for initiatives, they are not only looking for volume and value share, but consider impact in terms of revenue, shopper, and consumer lens.” – German participant

“Impressed by the professionalism of the session and how close to reality the simulation was.” – Flemish/Luxembourgian participant

“Superb course, brilliantly facilitated. Really enjoyed the mix of experience, capability, and the roles — so much value to be had running this as a system and with representatives from teams that aren’t always close to the commercial agenda or the strategy.” – British participant

"Thank you very much for giving us the opportunity to stop and think and look at strategies.” – Spanish participant

Client need

Safety in the transportation industry has often been treated as a set of rules to follow and boxes to check. But one Spanish railway organization saw an opportunity to redefine safety as something far greater, a core value embedded into the culture of their company at every level.

This bold vision demanded more than compliance. It required a cultural transformation to challenge outdated behaviors, inspire teams, and empower leaders to embrace and model a safety-first mindset. For years, the organization had been working to foster a culture that prioritized protection over profit, setting new behavioral standards across the industry.

To accelerate this shift, the organization partnered with BTS to design a leadership development program that dismantled old practices and equipped leaders with the tools, insights, and behaviors needed to bring their vision to life.

• Deconstruct existing mindsets to enable cohesive change.
• Identify barriers preventing progress.
• Equip leaders with practical behavioral knowledge and tools.

Solution

BTS partnered with the organization to design a leadership journey that would reshape not just processes but perspectives, fostering a workplace where physical and psychological safety were paramount. Over eight months, the project team conducted interviews with leaders and focus groups to uncover critical behavioral insights and tailor the program to the organization’s unique needs.

Participants explored essential themes, including:

• Embedding safety into daily decision-making.
• Cultivating greater awareness of safety risks.
• Understanding the influence of their leadership on safety outcomes.
• Leading by example to set a cultural standard.
• Building trust, commitment, and open communication within their teams.

The program unfolded in three distinct phases to drive lasting behavioral change:

1. Workshop preparation
   Participants began with a self-assessment to uncover personal “safety blind spots” and mind traps. This phase, delivered through a custom online platform, helped leaders reflect on their current practices and prepare for the transformational journey ahead.

3. Safety workshop
   The one-day, immersive workshop was designed to spark deep conversations about safety culture, challenge ingrained mindsets, and equip participants with actionable strategies for change. Leaders engaged in real-world scenarios to explore the implications of their decisions and practice new behaviors. The day concluded with collaborative debrief sessions, leaving participants with practical tools to implement their insights immediately.
4. Implementation in action
   To sustain momentum, the post-workshop phase extended over six months, offering six targeted activities. These activities reinforced key lessons, encouraged team collaboration, and provided ongoing support for integrating safety-first behaviors into daily routines.

The leadership program was delivered to 1500 participants over 66 workshops in seven locations across Spain.

Results

To measure results, the project team created a resource map evaluating progress.  

Average completion rate of Activities One–Three: 57 percent. (One: 78.21%; Two: 53. 01%; Three: 40.57%)

A post-workshop survey was sent to participants, reporting on the following metrics:

• Average satisfaction — 4.7/5.
• Trainer’s evaluation — 4.9/5.
• NPS — 82 percent.
• “Saw improvement in safety alignment” — 93 percent.
• “Integrated safety tools in daily roles” — 82 percent.
• “Identified new initiatives for improving safety” — 77 percent.
• “Mitigated team/peer mind traps” — 93 percent.
• “More aware of risk in daily roles” — 98 percent.
• “Identified a normalized risk to work on” — 92 percent.

Testimonials

• “Many of the methodologies and tools not only help to improve safety but can also be used to improve operational or organizational processes.”

• “It has put us in front of the mirror of how we are today in terms of safety culture, opening our eyes to our development areas. Very participative and practical.”

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Over the years, BTS has expanded its global footprint through thoughtful acquisitions and collaborations, bringing new creative capabilities and local expertise into the fold. From digital design studios to leadership consultancies across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, we’ve built a community that blends shared values with local perspective. That diversity has become one of our greatest strengths, shaping how we design and deliver learning that feels deeply personal everywhere we work.

Whether someone is in a leadership journey in Singapore, a coaching program in São Paulo, or a strategy workshop in Stockholm, the goal is always the same: to make the experience feel like it was made just for them.

Many of those experiences live on Momenta, BTS’s digital experience platform, powering journeys like Coaching, Multipliers, and other core programs.

As those experiences grew, so did the need for nuance. Every journey had to feel local, not just sound translated. Tone, humor, and cultural context have always been central to the BTS approach, and as demand expanded across formats and regions, our translation model was ready for its next evolution.

In early 2024, the team began exploring how AI could help. Rather than treating technology as the destination, we saw it as a catalyst, a way to rethink translation and deliver richer, more customized client experiences at scale. That curiosity sparked one of BTS’s most ambitious AI-first experiments, led by our Global Product Enablement Function team in partnership with our global network of linguists and translators.

Shifting to AI-first

The next step was finding the right place to experiment. Enter Phrase, a cloud-based translation management platform that quickly became our test lab. Phrase brings every part of the translation process into one place, from machine translation engines to human review, terminology management, and workflow tracking. It gives our linguists, designers, and project teams a shared space to collaborate, test ideas, and learn.

Over the next few months, two key discoveries reshaped how we think about translation, and ultimately, how we work.

Key discovery 1: Making AI a teammate

We began with a clear goal: make translation faster and more consistent. Using Phrase, AI handled the first drafts while our linguists refined them. Quickly, we realized there was potential for AI-value that went far beyond speed.  

With AI completing the first 80% of the work in a fraction of the time, our linguists could focus on what matters most: nuance, tone, and cultural resonance. The relationship evolved from oversight to collaboration, AI structured and scaled, humans shaped and elevated.

The result was more than efficiency. It was better work, created by people and technology learning to amplify each other.

Key discovery 2: Turning a roadblock into a redesign

Next came a design challenge. Phrase, like most translation tools, struggled with text embedded in graphics, a hallmark of many BTS learning experiences. Instead of forcing the tool to adapt, we changed how we created.

We began designing with translation in mind: simplifying visuals, reducing text, and using modular components that could flex across languages. The constraint sparked better design, easier to scale, more consistent, and more inclusive for every audience.

Key discovery 3: Integrating systems for scale

With people, AI, and design in sync, the last barrier was process. Managing translations between Phrase and Momenta still required manual effort.

To fix that, we built an API integration linking the two platforms. Now, files move automatically, progress is tracked in real time, and everything stays connected.

That integration turned our workflow into a unified ecosystem, fast, transparent, and ready to scale globally.

Business impact

Just 18 months ago, our translation reviews lived in double-column Word docs. Today, we work in a fully connected, AI-first ecosystem. Each project feeds the next, refining prompts, tone profiles, and design patterns, so our translation process keeps getting faster, smarter, and more aligned with BTS’s voice.

Speed and quality. Translation cycles that once took months now wrap up in weeks, cutting turnaround times by over 40%. Phrase’s tools and AI-powered workflows accelerate production while maintaining quality through expert-approved reuse, glossaries, and automated quality checks. Even complex formats like videos and animations are localized faster, with AI supporting linguists at every step.

Smarter workflows. The integration between Momenta and Phrase automates project transfers and tracking, saving an estimated 2.5 hours per project. Teams across language, digital, and project management now collaborate in one streamlined environment.

Human focus. Our linguists remain the engine of quality and innovation. With AI managing repetitive tasks, they focus on nuance and meaning, and go further by creating specialized GPTs, training databases, and testing translation engines to continually raise the bar.

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A BTS next gen innovation story

When BTS invented business simulations in the 1980s, leadership development was mostly theoretical – case studies, lectures, and frameworks about what good decisions looked like. Simulations changed that. They let leaders learn by doing, stepping into a realistic version of their business to test strategy, make decisions, and see the impact before the stakes were real.

Since then, simulations have evolved from spreadsheets to digital platforms to immersive virtual experiences that capture the complexity of leading in today’s world. Now, large language models and agentic AI are opening a new frontier, one where simulations evolve as fast as the world they reflect and experiential learning scales with the pace of change.

Creating space for exploration

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Test quickly, abandon what doesn’t work, and share what you learn.
– Jessica Skon, CEO, BTS

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A handful of simulation experts were pulled out of their day-to-day work and given the freedom to set their own direction. They had the authority to shape the roadmap and the protection to explore bold ideas without fear of critique. The brief was simple: go figure out what’s possible.

They had cover to fail fast, freedom to explore, and permission to get a little messy. Early wins were interesting but small. AI could draft faster, automate a few things – helpful, sure. Transformative? Not yet.

The breakthrough came when we stopped trying to bolt AI on to what we already did. We rebuilt our simulation platforms, our processes, and tools from the ground up around AI. Suddenly it wasn’t just about micro-gains & efficiencies, the canvas of possibility was much larger.

From experimentation to acceleration

So, we tested. Some tools showed promise, others, not so much. Every experiment taught us something. Each “failure” made us sharper about where AI could actually help, and where it would just get in the way.

What began as small experiments turned into a new way of working, a process and platform working as one.

AI now accelerates the first 80% of the work, the structure, synthesis, and early drafts, freeing BTS consultants to focus on the high-impact moments that drive behavior change: dilemmas, trade-offs, and conversations that build conviction.

Our new AI simulation platform and AI-First development process operationalizes that process:

• Enabling live co-creation and branching edits with clients
• Applying light guardrails for quality and security
• Integrating with enterprise systems for compliance and control

AI accelerates, people transform. That combination is what makes BTS… BTS.

Clients feel the impact in four ways

1. Fast spin-ups for focused needs
   For targeted challenges like coaching a customer conversation, debriefing a safety incident, aligning a sales team, we can now stand up bespoke simulations in days, not weeks. Teams co-create live; scenarios adjust in the room; relevance is immediate.
2. Enterprise simulations for strategy alignment
   For multi-round, high-fidelity simulations, AI accelerates the structure without compromising quality. BTS experts still craft the dilemmas and trade-offs that drive conviction.
3. A broader platform portfolio
   Beyond enterprise simulations, we now support conversational practice, skill drills, workflow redesign, and company or market modeling, helping clients choose the right tool for each need.
4. On-demand, without the risk
   Clients can use our AI platform for self-authored micro-sims, where speed and iteration matter most. Our toolchain scaffolds the flow, enforces guardrails, and keeps quality high.

The best model is flexible: enable where DIY shines, co-build for complex challenges, and experts lead end-to-end when outcomes matter most.

What clients are already seeing

• Weeks to hours: Work that once took six weeks was delivered as a high-fidelity experience in just 13 hours, specific enough to engage a CEO on first pass.
• Lean, agile teams: Projects that required seven consultants now take two, with no loss in quality or impact.
• Live collaboration: Simulations are built with clients, not for them, adjusted in real time during design and delivery.

The result: faster delivery, deeper relevance, and experiences that scale across an enterprise without losing the human touch.

The bigger picture

BTS simulations have always given leaders a safe place to wrestle with real dilemmas. AI hasn’t changed that, it’s expanded the canvas. By rebuilding how we design and deliver simulations, we’ve removed the trade-off between speed and substance.

Focused needs can now be met in days. Complex transformations can move at the pace of business. Clients can engage however they choose, DIY, co-create, or end-to-end, with BTS expertise guiding every step.

We’re still early in this chapter, just like our clients. But the direction is clear: faster, smarter, more scalable experiential learning, anchored in human judgment, strategic alignment, and the craft that defines BTS.

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