Consumer Goods & Bedding case study
Consultative Selling, Commercial Confidence & a Decade of Revenue Growth
Tempur-Pedic Australia
At a glance
- Client: Tempur-Pedic Australia
- Industry: Premium Bedding & Furniture Manufacturing
- Focus: Consultative Selling, Value-Based Positioning & Embedded Sales Leadership
- Program: Multi-Year Embedded Sales Leadership Partnership (2012–Present)
- Decision Addressed: Ownership → Predictable Revenue
Key highlights
Revenue Growth
~$20M to ~$75M over approximately one decade
Team Scale
Grew from a small national team to 17 Account Managers nationally
Consistent Overachievement
Revenue targets exceeded year on year across both phases
Crisis Resilience
Entire national team adapted to remote selling during COVID-19, with verified behaviour change from every rep
The challenge
The Challenge
Tempur-Pedic Australia’s sales team defaulted to price and product conversations rather than elevating to genuine business conversations with retail partners — a critical gap for a premium product retailing at roughly $2,000 per mattress. The team needed the commercial confidence to sell value without apologising for price, and to be recognised as trusted industry experts rather than order-takers. As the business scaled from a small national team to 17 Account Managers, the challenge compounded: no shared commercial framework existed across a growing mix of new hires and veterans, and rising talent was underperforming relative to its capability — lacking the confidence and conviction to play a bigger game.
The approach
The Strategic Approach
Bernadette McClelland partnered with Tempur-Pedic Australia across a decade-long, two-phase embedded engagement — beginning with National Sales Manager John Lawrence in 2012, and continuing with Jason Nicholas, Adam DiCristofaro and David Tagg from 2018.
Key Transformation Areas
Cultural Foundation & Baseline Measurement
Opened with a tailored keynote aligning the national team to a shared commercial vision, backed by a 90-day readiness assessment measuring both consumer and store-level perspectives.
Elevated Commercial Conversations
Delivered national sales conferences using the Strategic Selling Scale framework, moving the team from lower-level product conversations to Significance-level, outcome-based buyer engagement.
Individual & Group Coaching at Scale
Ran 1:1 and peer coaching for 17 Account Managers nationally, using DISC profiling as a baseline, alongside targeted coaching for rising talent on conviction and negotiation in larger accounts.
Crisis-Ready Leadership
When COVID hit in 2020, pivoted immediately to emergency group coaching — helping the entire national team adapt to remote selling and maintain commercial momentum rather than retreat, as much of the industry did.
The results
Results & Tangible Commercial Growth
The revenue trajectory across the full engagement tells the story:
Decade-Long Revenue Growth
Grew from approximately $20M to approximately $75M across the engagement — including a $30M uplift in the first 4.5 years alone.
Consistent Overachievement
Revenue targets were exceeded year on year across both phases of the engagement.
Client Advocacy “Smashed”
Customer advocacy scores were, in the National Sales Manager’s own words, “smashed.”
COVID-Resilient Commercial Culture
The national team stayed commercially active and mentally grounded through the pandemic, with every rep confirming real, lasting behaviour change — greater confidence with senior decision-makers, more productive meetings, and outcome-based conversations replacing transactional ones.
Executive testimonial
“
Bernadette is different. She has become an extension of where we are leading the business and that, for us, is extremely exciting. Who else acts as a sounding board just because she cares? Bernadette does — and that values alignment, coupled with her skill set and personal buy-in, is what is making this arrangement so successful.
John Lawrence
National Sales Manager, Tempur-Pedic Australia (2012–2016)
“
Bernadette is an inspiration! She will offer you fresh insights that empower you to make (and own) decisions and equip you with essential business development tools and methods to not only manage but be a more effective and successful sales leader. Her style is nurturing but challenging, and you can only feel empowered when you walk away from her sessions.
Adam DiCristofaro
National Sales Manager, Tempur-Pedic Australia (2017–2021)
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What challenge did Tempur-Pedic Australia face?
The team defaulted to price and product conversations with retailers instead of business conversations, and had no shared commercial framework as it grew to 17 Account Managers.
How did Bernadette McClelland help Tempur-Pedic Australia?
Through a decade-long, two-phase embedded sales leadership partnership from 2012, working with successive national sales leaders on consultative selling and value-based positioning.
What results did Tempur-Pedic Australia achieve?
Revenue grew from about $20M to about $75M over roughly a decade, targets were exceeded year on year, and the whole team adapted to remote selling during COVID-19.
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