Winning complex B2B sales
This unique programme is based on research carried out into how large corporates actually make decisions. It is designed to help sales teams understand how to work with large corporates and plan the actions needed to progress sales.
The programme shows how to devise and implement a sales strategy and plan which applies intense focus to winning key strategic sales opportunities within an account. Participants dive deeply into a live sales project, determine if the opportunity represents a good place to invest time and resource and, if so, how to win. Through the rigour of opportunity assessment to determine if the opportunity meets the required criteria, to the critical examination of key players in the account, on towards competitive landscape and the charting of the ‘Win Plan’, participants examine crucial factors that drive a winning strategy. The strategy and key tactics are documented for team communication and commitment. Any critical resources needed to win are identified early so they may be reserved. Participants will leave with a thoroughly reviewed operational Win Plan which will greatly improve the chances of effectively and efficiently progressing the opportunity through the sales cycle to a win.
This is a tried-and-tested programme, delivered around the world. See what people have said about it:
‘The best presenter I have experienced in my 25 working years’
‘Tim is an excellent trainer with a vast knowledge, which is conveyed in a very engaging manner’
‘Tim was very good – I enjoyed his teaching methods, he knew a lot and gave many useful pointers and I would recommend him in future’
‘Really looking forward to being in contact with Tim with any questions or help I might need – exceptionally valuable’
‘Best sales training I have ever attended – gave so much value – takes things to the next level – Tim is amazing’
Learning objectives
- Increase revenue – by improving action plans in live cases
- Improve win rate – by identifying and forming action plans to mitigate unknowns and capitalise on strengths
- Improve teamwork and coaching – using a common language for opportunity management
- Make more accurate forecasts – by gaining control of the sales pipelines
- Improve resource utilisation – through better qualification and focusing on the right projects
- Maximise long-term impact – by ensuring that the concepts become part of daily practice
- Prepare and present value propositions – to add value at the final business negotiation stage
Who should attend?
The workshop is targeted at sales professionals. For optimal results, complete opportunity teams should attend, including account managers, sales managers, pre-sales specialists, solution architects, bid managers, sales managers and directors, and any consultants involved in opportunities.
Format
A very practical, interactive two-day session for a maximum group size of 16.
The style is very facilitative and learner-centred, taking into account the needs and preferences of the group on the day whilst at the same time delivering the programme as agreed with the client in order to meet the specified learning objectives.
Special features
This is a uniquely practical programme. Participants bring live opportunities with them to work on throughout the workshop. In the last session they work together in a deal clinic to help win specific live deals. This works equally well whether the entire team is working on the same deal or whether each participant brings a deal of their own.
The majority of the training we deliver is either tailored or completely bespoke. This workshop can therefore be delivered entirely as advertised, or it can be tailored to your particular requirements, or we can simply take it as a starting point for a conversation with you before we draft a completely bespoke programme for you – the choice is yours. As a rule, there is no additional charge for this service.
Expert trainer
Tim is passionate about helping people achieve greater results in business, specifically in business-to-business sales. His sales and sales management career has now spanned over three decades. He began his sales career in the pharmaceutical sector and since starting his own independent sales training and management consultancy some twenty years ago he has worked with a wide range of other sectors as well, including IT, telecoms, financial services, hospitality, automotive, business services, etc, etc, delivering training in more than 20 different countries around the world, for clients such as Vodafone, Hilton, IBM, Marriott, Nokia, Motorola, Orange, Halifax, Auditel, HSBC, Standard and Poor’s, Daimler Chrysler, Wyeth Biotechnology, Johnson & Johnson, etc, etc.
He spent 15 years as an Authorized Independent Sales Consultant for Miller Heiman, a highly respected global sales consultancy specialising in sales management sales processes and methodologies. Tim is also a certified NLP Master Practitioner and runs courses in Neuro-Linguistic Programming, focusing very much on the practical applications of the discipline in today’s business environment. He was one of the trainers involved in the first NLP Practitioner Course for Henley Management College.
Tim is widely regarded as a leading authority on sales techniques, particularly complex B2B selling, and has been a judge at the prestigious UK National Sales Awards. He contributed to the government-sponsored body, the MSSSB, involved in setting national standards for sales throughout the UK. He is also a certified training provider for the ISMM, providing courses in sales and management up to degree level.
1 Introduction
- Understanding why we really lose sales
- The problems in selling in the Internet age
- Research on what customers really expect from B2B sales professionals
- Uncovering the real drivers for sales in larger, more complex, B2B sales
- Destroying the myths of sales
- Understanding the differences between the sales process and the customer’s buying process
2 Identifying opportunities
- Using an opportunity Win Plan to help us understand the crucial information in an opportunity
- Using a version of the GROW model to help us focus on action planning to win deals
- Determining real goals – ours and the customers’
- Analysing the reality of a deal – what we know and what we don’t know
- How deals are lost
- Using the Win Plan as a framework for coaching
- Getting true visibility for forecasting deals
3 Analysing the customer
- Understanding the different ‘players’ in an account
- Uncovering their roles in decision-making for large and smaller accounts
- Determining the influence and priorities of each member of the stakeholder decision group
- How to avoid overlooking any players who can have a major effect on the outcome of a sale
- Getting real evidence for our assumptions
- Understanding and gauging levels of support for our proposal
4 Selling to the right people and having the right conversations
- How most conversations are pitched
- What stops this from having impact
- How to best prepare for conversations with impact
- Using research findings on what buyers are really interested in
- Using your coach to help you uncover the real needs
5 Using the opportunity assessment tool as a predictor of success in a Win Plan
- What is the tool?
- Understanding and developing your ideal customer criteria
- Understanding your ideal opportunity criteria
- Developing the opportunity assessment score
- How to use the tool
- Improving qualification to determine which opportunities to focus internal resources on
- Analysing wins and losses to prevent mistakes from being repeated
6 Gaining access to the complete team of decision-makers in an account
- What stops us from gaining access?
- Why it is – or sometimes is not – in a stakeholder’s personal interest to help us
- Navigating the customer’s internal politics
- Exploring ways around the roadblocks
- Using your coach to help
7 Developing good value propositions
- What most proposals are like
- Where we go wrong as sales people
- The key components of a great value proposition
- How to make a value proposition ‘speak’ to a customer
- Why you don’t send a value proposition to a customer
- How to secure and accelerate the sale by quantifying the benefits of your solution
8 Live deal clinic and action planning
- Assess and develop action plans on live deals using the GROW model
- Gain trust at multiple levels by aligning the sales team with the key stakeholders in an organisation
- Developing and deploying a comprehensive competitive strategy
- Converting the concepts learned into daily business
Any questions? Please just give us a call on 01582 463463 – we’re here to help!