From pilot to 6 extensions: How one training seat turned into a program for 11 employees

ho.Systeme is an IT systems house based in Halle (Westfalen), Germany. Since 2001, the company has supported business customers with their IT needs. Its portfolio ranges from IT infrastructure, servers and IT security to telecommunications and print/copy solutions.

The business is highly consultative and relationship-driven. Around 60 to 70 percent of customer contacts are Managing Directors, and individual projects can range from €50,000 to €250,000. At the same time, ho.Systeme operates in a strongly regional market: around 80 percent of its customers are located within a 30-minute drive.

For the sales team, this creates very different challenges: winning new customers, competing for complex projects against other IT systems houses, developing existing accounts, consistently following up on proposals and continuing to develop even experienced salespeople.

hyrise has supported ho.Systeme in this since 2023. What started with a single training seat was gradually expanded to additional field sales reps, a group of five experienced senior salespeople and, most recently, the entire inside sales team.

Today, 6 extensions of the collaboration reflect an approach where the training content was never fixed once and then repeated. Instead, it was continuously adapted to the role, experience level and specific challenges of the people taking part.

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The company

“I couldn’t provide coaching at this level of quality myself.”

For Michael Müller, the value of the collaboration was never about teaching his team the basics of sales once.

It was about continuously developing employees in the specific situations they encounter in their day-to-day work.

“That’s why I deliberately chose to work with hyrise. With the number of people on our team, I simply wouldn’t have had the time to provide continuous sales coaching at this level of intensity and quality myself.”
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- Michael Müller, Managing Director & Chief Sales Officer

The feedback from the team was equally clear:

“This type of training should be mandatory for every sales department to sharpen awareness and boost motivation.”
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- Experienced Sales Rep, Senior Program 2026

The challenge: One sales team, very different development areas

At ho.Systeme, there wasn’t one single challenge that could be solved with a standardized training program.

This became particularly clear during the assessment of the experienced sales team: while the salespeople rated their own productivity at around 80 percent on average, management assessed it at just 40 percent.

For Michael Müller, it was clear that there was still potential within the existing team — but the areas for improvement differed significantly depending on the role.

So the key question wasn’t which one sales training ho.Systeme needed.

It was:

How do you develop a sales team when experience levels, responsibilities and day-to-day challenges vary so much across the team?

The solution: Different roles, different training priorities

Instead of putting every employee through the same program, hyrise and ho.Systeme developed the collaboration across several training waves.

The senior program, for example, consisted of 16 90-minute sessions over around 13 months.

Another group completed all 24 planned sessions, while an individual cold-calling coaching program ran across 12 sessions.

What mattered was not only the consistency, but also the direct connection to day-to-day sales situations.

One participant described the impact like this:

“I had three customer meetings this week and prepared for them using the frameworks we worked on with hyrise: pains, open questions, key decision-makers, etc. The meetings were significantly more professional and goal-oriented.”

Other participants particularly highlighted the practical nature of the training:

“Very individual training, highly practical.”

Or even more specifically:

“Proposal presentation, amazing session!”

Role plays were also used regularly to practice difficult situations rather than only discussing them in theory:

“The role plays were very valuable and helpful.”

“Role play with a tough negotiation partner. Very good.”

At the same time, regular management syncs with Michael Müller helped evaluate progress, identify new challenges and adjust the training focus accordingly.

The results: From pilot to continuous sales development

Today, the collaboration can be measured through concrete numbers and feedback.

^{6 extensions since the initial pilot}

Since the beginning of the partnership, the collaboration has been extended or expanded six times.

Each extension introduced a new need: additional field sales reps, a long-term development program for five experienced salespeople, individual cold-calling coaching and, most recently, a dedicated program for the inside sales team.

Looking back, Michael Müller summarizes the decision like this:

“In hindsight, the decision was absolutely the right one. The program gave our colleagues valuable impulses and created lasting improvements that are now measurable in our sales KPIs.”

4.84 out of 5 average training satisfaction

Participant ratings also show a consistently high level of satisfaction.

Across 32 recorded weekly survey responses, the average training satisfaction score was 4.84 out of 5.

The extension group rated the program an average of 5.0 out of 5 across 15 responses. Two participants in the senior program also gave the program 10 out of 10 in their final feedback.

Michael Müller summarized the feedback from the final retrospective simply:

“It was positive across the board. I didn’t hear anything negative.”

Winning a new customer against 8 to 9 competing IT systems houses

One particularly tangible example of the training’s impact came during a new-business opportunity handled by an experienced field sales rep.

He had to compete against eight to nine other IT systems houses in the pitch and applied methods from the training.

ho.Systeme won the customer.

“One particularly good example was a colleague who had to compete against eight other IT systems houses in a new-customer selection process. He deliberately applied techniques he had learned during the coaching. In the end, the pitch was successful and we won the customer.”
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- Michael Müller

Beyond individual deals, participants also reported changes in their sales behavior.

They mentioned MEDDPICC, Challenger Selling, reframing, nonviolent communication, body language and the deliberate use of silence as techniques they were actively applying in customer conversations.

“The approach is excellent. I can see a system behind it.”

From 64% to 275% of the order target KPI

There were also significant changes in individual sales KPIs.

One inside sales employee reached a combined 64 percent of his order target KPI across January and February 2026.

In March, he reached 275 percent.

According to Michael Müller, he had already achieved his “best month of the entire year” in December 2025, with a particularly high number of closed deals.

The numbers show that the changes were not limited to subjective feedback from the training sessions.

Improved contribution margins despite a more difficult market environment

“Despite a difficult market environment in 2025 and 2026, we were able to improve our contribution margins. Under the circumstances, the results should actually have been worse. The fact that we still improved is, for me, clear proof of the value of the coaching.”

- Michael Müller

Three takeaways for other IT systems houses

1. Different sales roles need different training content

A field sales rep selling complex IT projects in the six-figure range faces very different challenges from an inside sales team qualifying leads over the phone or following up on proposals.

Training becomes relevant when it reflects that reality.

2. Experienced salespeople need practice, not the basics

Someone who has been selling for years doesn’t need general sales tips.

At ho.Systeme, the value for experienced salespeople came from working on real customer situations and using methods such as MEDDPICC, Challenger, reframing and negotiation techniques directly on active opportunities.

3. Sales development requires repetition

ho.Systeme’s experience shows that effective training doesn’t end when a new methodology has been introduced.

What matters is whether people are still applying it weeks and months later.

Regular sessions, real-life cases and management syncs help reinforce new behaviors and bring them back into day-to-day sales work.

Outlook

In 2026, the collaboration was expanded to the inside sales team.

The six-month program focuses on call structure, objection handling, following up and closing proposals, as well as sales mindset.

It also covers specific tasks from ho.Systeme’s day-to-day business, including customer evaluation, booking meetings with existing customers and supporting product campaigns.

This continues the same approach that started with the initial pilot:

Not one training for everyone, but continuous sales development focused on where the team currently has the biggest opportunity to improve.

Or in Michael Müller’s words:

“That’s why I wanted to work with hyrise. There are many things I can support myself, but I simply couldn’t provide continuous sales coaching at this level of quality and intensity internally.”

Want to develop your sales team like ho.Systeme? Train with hyrise