How Sunward Steel Transformed Their Sales Org from Legacy to Leadership
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When your company has delivered over 75,000 steel buildings worldwide, you might think your sales process is bulletproof. But Sunward Steel's visionary CEO saw an opportunity that most manufacturing leaders miss: turning decades of legacy knowledge into a systematic revenue engine.
The result? A 16-month sales transformation that slashed new hire ramp time from 8 months to 60 days and achieved 140% improvement in sales process adherence.
Here's the blueprint that made it possible - and why it's relevant for any B2B sales organization looking to scale.
About Sunward Steel
Founded in 1972, Sunward Steel Buildings stands as a testament to American manufacturing excellence, having delivered over 75,000 structures worldwide. Operating three manufacturing facilities across the United States, they provide comprehensive solutions including stamped engineering plans, fabrication, and delivery for commercial, industrial, agricultural, and residential customers.
Under the leadership of Amy Wirth, CEO, their team of 20 salespeople serves a diverse client base seeking durable, energy-efficient, and customizable steel structures.
Their Challenge: Evolve from Scattered Strengths to a Sales Machine Stronger than Steel
Despite their impressive 50-year track record built on entrepreneurial spirit and personal relationships, Sunward Steel had a problem: their top performers couldn't explain how they won deals, and new hires were drowning.
In addition she grappled with a fundamental challenge: a culture where legacy sales reps “doing their own thing” had led to a severe lack of accountability on the sales floor.
Amy recognized that to honor and build upon her family’s legacy of success, they needed to transform their sales culture built on tribal knowledge into a systematic, repeatable process that could support her ambitious goals for their next phase of growth.
The success of Sunward's early decades came from deep industry knowledge and strong customer relationships cultivated by their veteran sales team. However, capturing and scaling this expertise presented several key challenges:
Executive leadership struggled to create a culture of accountability and consistency, as top performers had developed their own highly successful but difficult-to-replicate approaches. Without a documented playbook or standardized process, new hires took approximately eight months to close their first building.
Sales managers struggled with one-to-many leadership, relying on inefficient all-hands meetings rather than individual coaching. This approach, combined with legacy team’s resistance to modern sales technologies like video calls, screen sharing, and 3D rendering tools, made it difficult to build and scale a high-performing team culture.
Pipeline management suffered from lack of context and inconsistent CRM usage. Without a systematic approach to tracking and following up with qualified leads, the team struggled to understand buyer intent resulting in missed opportunities and lost revenue.
An ineffective hiring process that failed to hire high performing sales people who will thrive in Sunward’s unique culture.
The impact? In a competitive marketplace with short sales cycles, leads needed prompt follow-up to close deals. Without proper organization and accountability, significant revenue was lost month after month.
Sales Transformation: Forging a Better Way Forward
Over a 16-month engagement, Pitch Lab partnered with Sunward Steel to transform their sales organization through a comprehensive three-phase approach:
1. Create the Foundation for Scalable Success
Developed a comprehensive sales playbook documenting the proven Sunward way of selling
Implemented a lead scoring system to help reps prioritize efforts based on where each prospect is at in their buying journey
Created 12 video training modules covering vital sales topics like:
Effective discovery questions to uncover prospect hot buttons
Competitive differentiation strategies to avoid discounting
Objection handling
Negotiation and closing techniques
Built a structured onboarding and orientation program complete with final certification test that new hires can easily follow to get ramped up quickly with less manager oversight
Deployed conversational AI tool to ensure consistent sales process adherence and reduce manager interruptions from new hires
2. Reimagine Sales Leadership and Org Structure
Restructured from a one-to-many approach to smaller, more focused teams
Trained “player coach” managers on vital skills including:
Running effective one-on-one meetings
Delivering both positive and negative feedback
Creating accountability through goal setting
Time management for balanced selling and coaching
Deployed call analysis AI tool that reduced call review time from 60 to 10 minutes
3. Overhaul the Hiring Process
Established a repeatable hiring process to consistently identify driven sales professionals who will thrive in Sunward's environment
Developed structured interview questions focused on identifying drive and intrinsic motivation
Created clear criteria for evaluating resumes and assessing candidates
Sunward’s Outcomes: Solid Steel Results
Sunward’s culture transformation yielded impressive results:
Reduced new hire ramp time from 8 months to 2 months - a 75% improvement, enabling new salespeople to close their first building significantly faster
Achieved 140% increase in sales process adherence and CRM adoption, growing from 5 out of 15 salespeople following the established process to 12 out of 15 team members fully embracing the new methodology
Saved managers 83% of their time in call audits through AI-powered coaching, reducing daily call audit time from 60 minutes to just 10 minutes per manager
Improved pipeline visibility with proper lead scoring and buyer journey context
And most importantly, developed a high-performing sales culture of accountability
Pitch Lab Steels the Show
How did the engagement go? In the words of Sunward’s CEO:
"Working with Jay transformed our sales culture from the ground up. Within 16 months, we went from an individualized approach to a scalable, high-performing sales organization.
Jay helped us document our proven sales methodology into a comprehensive playbook, streamlined our new hire onboarding, and introduced AI tools that dramatically improved our coaching efficiency.
What impressed me most was how he preserved the entrepreneurial spirit that built Sunward Steel while giving us the modern infrastructure we needed to scale. If you're looking to transform your sales team without losing what makes your company special, I can't recommend Pitch Lab enough."
—Amy Wirth, CEO, Sunward Steel Buildings
Key Takeaways for B2B CEOs
✅ Document What Works: Creating a comprehensive playbook is essential for scaling beyond individual star performers and ensuring consistent excellence across the team.
✅ Invest in Sales Management: The right organizational structure, combined with proper training and AI-powered tools, creates the foundation for sustainable growth.
✅ Focus on Onboarding: A structured onboarding program with clear certification milestones dramatically reduces ramp time and improves new hire success rates.
✅ Create Context Through Lead Scoring: Understanding where buyers are in their journey enables proper resource allocation and improves close rates.
✅ Prepare for Resistance: When establishing new accountability measures, expect turnover from those unwilling to adapt. Success requires both the conviction to maintain high standards and a robust hiring strategy to bring in team members who will thrive in a highly competitive environment.
Want to Learn the Hard Truth About Sales Transformation?
Ever wonder what really happens when you try to enforce accountability in a sales team that's never had it?
In this article we pull back the curtain on Sunward’s raw 16-month transformation - including the tough decisions, resistant reps, and unexpected wins that emerged.
