If you are looking for more performance out of your sales organization you can hire a couple of superstars or you can use a “moneyball approach” and align your strategy, process, people and tactics to drive growth with undervalued talent.
Did you know…?
- 91% of sales organizations lack a formal structured sales process
- 74% of all sales people don’t know how to sell consultatively
- 71% of front line sales managers have never been trained as sales managers
- 70% of CEO’s have never been in sales
Is it any wonder so much time, money and energy are spent on the wrong things or the right things at the wrong time? Using sales assessments and analytics we help you identify what the real issues are and what kind of training your sales people and sales managers really need. Below is a partial list of our offerings….
Baseline Selling
In this course, we will show you how to become a sales superstar by using what you already know about the game of baseball. Many of today’s sales “experts” have complicated the sales process so much that it has become confusing and unsuccessful. Baseline selling strips away the complexities and dramatically changes the way we approach the sales process, returning it back to a simple and effective process. Studies have shown that the selling techniques of the last two decades have had very little impact on most of the sales population – less than 75 percent of all salespeople, to be exact. These overcomplicated sales methodologies have made it difficult for salespeople to apply even the simplest concepts of the system.
There is an urgent need for a flexible and innovative process that will enable people to grasp the essential skills necessary to close a sale in any situation. This course reemphasizes the fundamentals of selling in a fresh, memorable way that modern sales professionals can relate to and more importantly, utilize. Furthermore, this strategy will complement and enrich other advanced sales methodologies.
Salespeople who take this course can expect to succeed at acquiring more appointments and even excel at creating opportunities with prospects who are “not interested”. They’ll sell at higher margins by using the “Rule of Ratios”. Their closing percentages will improve dramatically as they implement the simple “Inoffensive Close”. Salespeople selling commodities, struggling to differentiate themselves, will love “Commodity Busters” and every salesperson will be able to shorten his or her sells cycle by “Taking a Lead”.
Quite simply, Baseline Selling introduces a way for salespeople to visualize and touch all the “sales bases” without over-complicating the process.
Selling to Buyer Types
Sales people who approach every prospect the same way have a 75% chance of blowing the first meeting or phone call! There is a critical factor they are missing… the ability to identify the four buyer types and adapt their selling style on a dime. Have you ever hung up the phone or walked out of a meeting feeling like you just didn’t connect? Each prospect has a certain buyer type that is uniquely different. As a successful salesperson it is critical to be able to identify that style and adapt. For example, the way you build a relationship, move through the sales process, ask questions and present information radically changes depending on the prospect’s buyer type. Unless you know how to adapt your selling style, you will have trouble gaining trust, shortening the sales cycle and increasing your close rate.
Stealth Negotiations
If you are preparing for negotiations you have already lost. Most negotiation programs focus on the wrong aspects. In today’s world, sales people get pressured into discounting or risk losing the deal. They are leaving a ton of money on the table when they fail to set that table properly.
This course is a contrarian approach to traditional negotiations. It is designed to shorten the sale cycle and close the deal BEFORE negotiations start. We will de-mystify the negotiation process so that reps take the right steps to getting the best terms. They will learn how to eliminate the common errors that set sales people up for negotiations and preempt negotiation ploys typically used by buyers. Finally, they will master techniques to avoid having to discount to win the sale and settling for unfavorable terms that kill your margin.
The Art of the Takeaway
The sales “take away” is an extremely powerful yet grossly misunderstood technique in the sales profession. It has been seen as highly controversial in sales circles because some recognize how powerful it can be while others call it manipulative. Whether it is used as a technique, a mindset, a reframe, or a process, it is a powerful way to get to the prospects “truth”. When applied properly, a role reversal can occur and the sales rep will enjoy the unique experience of having the prospect sell to him.
In this course, sales people will learn the take away technique and also discover the pros and the cons that it can follow. We will give countless examples of how the take away is used in cold calling, marketing and communications. These different scenarios will allow sales reps to master the art of applying take away as a sales technique, as a mindset, in a reframe or just in their sales process. This technique is unconventional and takes a while to master but once they do you will be amazed at its effectiveness!
Sales Management and Leadership
This course is dedicated to the science of sales management and the best practices that produce top performing sales organizations. We focus on 6 critical areas: planning, key performance indicators, process/skills, compensation, coaching and hiring.
Planning has to do with establishing structured sales plans that provide a systematic approach for reaching prospects and clients to increase revenue. Tracking, reporting and analytics are part of the key performance indicators that need to be utilized in education training and planning.
Also, having a measurable sales process is crucial in making sure your team has the necessary skills to execute effectively. The fourth critical area is compensation which provides motivation to help drive performance.
Just like professional sports, coaching is a key component to high performance sales organizations and lastly, hiring sales superstars will ensure that you will always have fresh talent bringing in new business.
Accelerated Innovation Training
This course is designed to be effective for nearly all goals, challenges, problems or questions. The workshop is based on how most human brains think, and therefore can be used in a variety of job situations, functions, professions and age groups. Individuals from professions such as management, sales, marketing, public relations, communications, product and service development, finance and operations have all found course to help foster innovation. Other benefits include helping people to develop new products, services, experiences and improved team collaboration.
Over two decades have been invested in developing, refining and testing proven models and processes that can be taught in a series of training workshops. First, you will learn how the human brain consists of four quadrants that comprise the 4BrainThinker™ 4-Quadrant Model. Second, you will be introduced to four unique processes that help you facilitate creative and innovative thinking. The M-Curve, New 3-Rs, Ideate & Filterate, and Accelerated Innovation process will clarify how you can think better, faster and smarter. Finally, you will learn how to USE your whole brain by applying the 4-Stage Accelerated Innovation® Process that consists of Stage 1: Investigating Needs, Stage 2: Creating Ideas, Stage 3: Evaluating Solutions, and Stage 4: Activating Plans.
Creating a Raving Fans Culture
What does Apple, Amazon, Zappos, FedEx, Harley Davidson, Intuit and Southwest Airlines all have in common? Raving Fans and loyal employees!
Next to profitability, customer satisfaction is the most critical component to growing your business. Unfortunately, too many businesses kill their long term growth by trading customer “dissatisfaction” for short term revenue and profits. In this program we show you what world class organizations have done to create a raving fans culture! We examine proven methods, models and tools previously only available to the Fortune 500. Using these tools, small to mid-size business can codify a process to increase customer satisfaction, referrals, employee happiness and profitability.
Using an international standard to measure customer and employee satisfaction, we will help you bridge the gap between perception and reality. A few small measurable improvements will increase revenues and profits in a matter of months. A simple 12 point gain in satisfaction will double your rate of growth. If you are looking for ways to motivate and inspire your people to take actions that produce a raving fans culture then this is for you!
Complex Selling
This course is designed to help sales organizations develop strategies needed to win in business to business selling. Sales teams will use the complex selling road map to develop action plans that lead them to successfully selling solutions that require approval from multiple influencers and committees.
Complex Selling significantly improves the odds of winning complex selling opportunities. It gives the sales organization a common process and language for pursuing complex selling opportunities. Participants will establish criteria for allocating resources to determine if the time, energy and resources required to work on the deal have a high or low probability win. Organizations will walk away with the tools to help salespeople focus time and energy on those opportunities most likely to become profitable, long-term customers.
How to Get an Appointment with Anyone!
In today’s world you have more ways to get an appointment with just about anyone and its easier than you think. With caller ID, voice mail and people being busier than ever, cold calling gets tougher and tougher. The good news is with social media, commercial databases, networks, a few unknown tools and the new disruptive technology called snail mail, getting an appointment with anyone is possible with just a little effort!
Participants will learn all the possible ways to identify and reach your ideal client. You will come up with a fun plan that leaves a favorable impression and has the potential client eager to meet with you. We know of no other program as effective at getting an appointment with anyone!