Mapping Sales Processes to Guide Digital Transformation

A European home security company wanted to understand how their door-to-door sales process worked across four countries (Norway, Sweden, Spain, Ireland) before introducing digital tools. Each region operated independently with its own variations, and they needed a clear picture of what was actually happening on the ground.

In partnership with another senior designer, I helped prepare workshop materials that could work across different countries and languages. We needed a format simple enough that others could facilitate if necessary.

We used canvas-based activities where salespeople mapped their entire process: planning territories, knocking on doors, closing deals, and handling the administrative aftermath of scanning contracts and tracking commission.

I co-facilitated one workshop in Ireland with about 10 salespeople. Keeping experienced door-to-door sellers focused on mapping activities rather than swapping war stories was a constant challenge, but their energy and opinions proved valuable.

Two product managers from the company ran the remaining workshops in Norway, Sweden, and Spain using our materials. They picked up the format quickly and even ran Sweden's session independently.

My main responsibility was synthesising insights from all workshops into a cohesive sales journey map. Over about a month, I analysed where processes aligned and where regional differences emerged.

Some patterns were universal: manual paperwork, handwritten contracts that caused errors, opaque commission tracking, and frustration with internal booking teams.

But regional variations mattered. Swedish sellers focused on booking future meetings rather than immediate sales. Spanish sellers were also installation engineers, completing the entire process in hours. Irish managers used Google My Maps for territory planning whilst some Swedish teams didn't use maps at all.

These differences meant any digital solution needed to respect local practices rather than forcing a one-size-fits-all approach.

The client used the research to guide decisions about digital transformation. The company has since shifted towards digital channels, though I wasn't involved in the implementation work that followed.

The project demonstrated practical service design work: mapping complex processes across regions, identifying opportunities for improvement, and providing strategic recommendations grounded in what we heard from the people doing the actual work.