Value-based Sales Skill Training
Differentiate by how you sell...not only by what you sell
Prior to meeting with sales people, customers can learn a lot about a company's offerings by doing research on the web. Sales people are no longer the single source of product or service knowledge. Furthermore, a sales approach based on Power Point presentation, product pitches, specs, and capabilities typically falls flat. From the customer's viewpoint, every offering starts looking the same and price becomes the compelling differentiator.
OUTCOMES of our Value-based Sales Skill Training
- Competitively differentiate your products or services by using skills that enable sales people to know their customer better than any other competitive vendor.
- Build trust with customers by demonstrating you know their business by conducting in-depth research prior to each customer engagement.
- Open a sales meeting or call with a compelling methodology that provides a roadmap for the interactions and encourages customer participation.
- Utilize various types of discovery questions to understand how each person in the buying process perceives challenges, issues, and problems.
- Influence buying criteria that favors your solutions over other competitive offerings or "status quo".
- Learn how to read the styles of customers and then adapt your personal style to connect better—and close more sales.
- Enhance the value of your solution over all others, justifying price by the value you bring.
- Gain commitment to your products and services through a series of well-defined recommendation and implementation methodologies.
We Customize Sales Training to Meet Your Company's Needs
Content Customization
We begin our journey by assessing the current state of your company's selling efforts. We look at the organization, the selling process, the customer engagement methodologies, marketing support, competitive activity, etc.
In essence, we learn your business through research and dialogue with sellers and leadership.
We then customize content based on what your particular sales environment needs to increase competitiveness and win. We embed customized case studies into each training session, integrating exercises and role-plays that are "real world".
We follow the general process of "how buyers buy" and compliment that process with our sales process, both described below.
THE VALUE-BASED SELLING PROCESS
How Buyers Buy
The Sales Process
The Sales Process
First, we ensure participants understand the process of how a customer buys within a complex buying environment.
CHANGE: The buying process usually starts with change:
-External change: The economy, environment, governmental regulation, technology shifts, competitive activity, etc.
-Internal change: Organizational reconfigurations, new product launches, acquisitions, mergers, promotions/demotions, etc.
GAPS: The process proceeds as buyers beomce aware of gaps between the current state and the desired state. Large gaps are perceived as problems to be solved. It is at this stage when customers will generally start their web-based research.
NEEDS: Needs stem from recognized problems that must be addressed. Customers can define needs on their own and begin the search for a solutions, or, sales people can influence needs by exploring causes, significance, and impact.
CRITERIA: Whether influenced internally or by an outside source, customers develop standards on which a judgment or decision for solution will be based. Many organizations formalize their criteria for vendors by issuing Request of or Proposals or Requests for Quotes.
OPTIONS: Byers consider solution options, including the maintenance of "status quo" against their buying criterial.
COMMIT: At the end of the process, buyers commit to a course of action and develop a process of solution implementation.
The Sales Process
The Sales Process
The Sales Process
We teach the complimentary sales process that occurs as sellers meet with the various stakeholders during the buying process.
CONNECT: We guide sellers to study the customer by accessing the publicly available on-line information. Look to see what is changing and use this information in customer meetings to demonstrate relevancy and creditably. In addition, we teach sellers how to control a meeting by opening with strength, purpose, and desired outcome.
DISCOVER: Through various types of high-gain questions, sellers uncover each stakeholder's view of the gap between the current state and desired state...is it significant or minimal? Uncover the impact of the gap, problems to be solved, and preferences for a solution.
UNDERSTAND: Sellers should consistently demonstrate their understanding of the customer's challenges throughout the buying process.
INFLUENCE: Condiser your offering's strengths and influence buying criteria to favor your strengths over competitive offerings or status quo. Utilize a unique set of tools to understand your competitive position, including ability to meet customer needs and value of your offering vs. lowest price competive offering.
RECOMMEND: Command the spotlight; utilize a proven process for collaborative recommendations combined with compelling proposals. Match your solution offerings as compelling ability to address problems, issues, challenges, and gap closure.
CONVINCE: Overcome any last minute concerns and deliver a value, a solid implementation plan and a structured timeline for deal closure.
DiSC tool to build the relationships and win more sales
Everything DiSC for Sales focuses on three vital areas:
We embed the DiSC assessment and learning program into our sales skill training. The three main components consist of:
- Understanding Your DiSC Sales Style
- Recognizing and Understanding Customer Buying Styles
- Adapting Your Sales Style to Your Customer’s Buying Style
Components of DiSC for Sales
Section I: Understanding Your DiSC Sales Style
- Module 1: Introduction to the DiSC Sales Map. Participants learn about their DiSC sales style and how personal priorities influence their selling behaviors.
- Module 2: Participants use what they’ve learned about sales priorities in an interviewing activity.
Section II: Recognizing and Understanding Customer Buying Styles
- Module 3: Participants learn customer mapping, a new way of people-reading. They practice their customer-mapping skills in a competitive video-based activity.
- Module 4: Participants learn about different customer priorities, then use their new skills to identify the buying styles of current customers.
Section III: Adapting your Sales Style to Your Customer's Buying Style
- Module 5: Participants use their DiSC Sales Maps to understand how to navigate from their own styles to those of different types of customers.
- Module 6: Participants role play adapting to their most challenging customer and complete an interaction plan for working with that customer.