Putting meat on the bones

"Can you give me a skeleton outline for sales training?"

Better than that lets put some meat on the bones and look at the outcomes you can expect

🟠 Orange Hat Thinking 🟠

The whole point of training is to drive results so the outcomes are important otherwise its just a load of information

Implementation > Information

Training has got to be linked to doing

This is what the VALUE Framework drives

🔶 Collaborate

- Identification of historical sales best practice relevant today
- Understanding of best sales tactics to use
- Recognition of characteristics of ideal salesperson for industry
- Understanding own ‘partnering intelligence’ (PQ)
- Plan to develop own PQ
- Introduction to tools to support learning

🔶 Validate

- Profiling of accounts to spend time with
- Understanding and creation of value proposition
- Generation of prospecting/land and expand activity
- Development of messaging
- Appreciation of using video

🔶 Align

- Prepare a plan to understand target account
+ Define objective for sales growth
+ Map decision making unit
+ Conduct SWOT and MegaSWOT
+ Survey competitive landscape
+ Plan actions
- Refine value proposition (based on ‘Value Pyramids’)
- Consider market change drivers as potential for new business
- Begin to build ‘Personal Brand’ as go-to individual in the sector

🔶 Leverage

- Use structure to prepare and undertake effective meetings
- Develop questioning skills to facilitate better discussions
- Provide insight and perspective to help customers to think
- Understand the tools and techniques to sell virtually

🔶 Underpin

- Prepare more effective proposal documents
- Design more interesting and stimulating presentations
- Capture the power of story telling
- Position the customer as ‘hero’
- Develop messages to reduce fear, uncertainty and doubt
- Handle objections elegantly

🔶 Evolve

- Understand principles of negotiation
- Learn how to prepare to negotiate
- Trade variables to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes
- Develop a contact plan to strengthen relationships
- Use Quarterly Value Review to grow business


Big old skelington... but then effective B2B sales involves a big old effort

It depends how serious you are about the results

There are clever ways to roll it out so it isn't so scary

Indeed it's exciting as people can sell while they learn...

... results start to happen quickly...

... and the organisation can develop a solid way of working for the future

Not everyone will/can/wants to do it though

For those that do it's a good thing