What Do You Do? Sales Training?

An excerpt from San Diego Voyager Magazine.

 

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Flannery Sales Systems, LCC – What should we know?

At a cocktail party or BBQ I say we do Sales Training. What we really do is help our customers to refine and implement a repeatable process to drive revenue. If I say the latter at a social event, people walk away (joking). But if I am speaking with a Commercial Leader of a mid to large size organization, they get it.

Because the work we do is fundamental to the tactical execution of the GoTo Market strategy. And companies spend millions on getting their strategy right. We help our customers to improve the quality of the Sales opportunities they develop, and to increase the overall revenue in their pipeline. All Sales organizations are focused on this, and we enable it with a skills-based program that is custom built for our customers based on the markets they compete in and how organizations BUY, not how they should be selling.

Sales effectiveness is about understanding buying, not refining your sales pitch. The source of pride for us is twofold. First, we have helped the individuals in our customers’ organizations to improve their success. This is important monetarily, but even more so when you hear the effect it has on their families – that makes my heart sing.

And second, there are seven customers who have come back to buy from us again: four have bought from us twice, and three have done so 3 times. It may not be seen like a lot, but we only have 3-4 customers at a time and have worked with 56 overall, so the repeat business says we are doing something right.

What sets us apart is our team. I know that may seem trite or overused, but people buy from people, and we have super individuals at FSS who make the difference.

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Sales Strategies For Insurance Carriers

Property and casualty update: two key sales strategies for carriers to get ahead of the hard market.

We don’t think anyone disagrees that the hard market is here to stay.  The upward trend that began in 2018 has added the instability of a pandemic, civil unrest, a regulatory environment in flux and a decrease of private capital supporting reinsurance markets. 

We know that carriers are getting ahead by disciplined balance sheet management and by reexamining terms and conditions: coverages, retentions and limits, payment terms, exclusions, all of which translate to enhanced risk selection. 

Those with vision however will realize that they can longer rely on their standard flow of submissions to achieve revenue and profit goals.  From a distribution perspective, we recommend carriers do two things: 

  1. Improve the quality of opportunities in development. Distribution teams and underwriters will have to unearth accounts at the broker level that fit into the tighter box, an exercise known as broker mapping.  
  2. Increase the value of revenue in the pipeline. At the account level, they must uncover the account’s business objectives.   The carrier must be able to demonstrate their value proposition to the account.

It will be mission critical that distribution and underwriting work in concert more closely than ever.  These strategies will be necessary from the large deductible down to main street markets.  They will also apply to programs, captives and alternative markets which experts believe will see a significant uptick in activity.   Those that change rapidly will be well positioned to survive current market conditions and for whatever, dare I say, becomes the new normal.  

Sales training and coaching designed for insurance carriers, brokers and TPA’s.  Contact Chris Bullick to learn more: (484) 477-9075. 

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Flannery Sales Systems Completes Virtual Workshop With PathTech Pty Ltd.

Flannery Sales Systems is grateful to have completed a successful virtual sales process and sales skills training workshop with Pathtech Pty Ltd. And surprise guest, Australian Gold Medalist Kerri Pottharst showed up! Thank you Ashley Goodman.

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Strange Days Indeed* : Gratitude Floats

Last week, the new owner of our office building (so glad to NOT be working from home) put our logo on the glass door out front (see the photo attached). It looks great, although they changed the logo color for the name “Flannery” from blue to purple. I like it. A lot.

It reminds me that many things are simply not the same right now. It’s strange, and I am grateful for the opportunity for perspective in this environment.

We just conducted another virtual Sales Process Workshop through Zoom for a new customer in Australia , and it went very well by their account. Their participants were engaged, the exercises were given full attention, and they will get results from their efforts. It’s not the same as face-to-face, but it works. I’m grateful for the technology.

In the absence of being able to travel, we welcomed the new customer in cyberspace and built rapport as best we could. I miss travel badly, as it is part of the grand adventure of creating relationships in customer organizations and helping people improve. And for my personal growth, travel allowed me to be readily seeing new places, people and things. For now, it will have to be virtual, across the screen in various global time zones; I’m grateful for our customers’ willingness to embrace the experience.

Sitting atop the door in the picture is the prominent COVID 19 warning sign, the ones you are seeing all over the place to remind us to take all precautions we can to stay safe. And most of us do take those precautions—remarkably, some still do not. Selfish. We live and work in a beautiful part of the country where much of life happens outdoors, providing opportunities for gratitude all around us.

If I get stuck in the trap of comparing the ways things were “before” to the way they are now, my learning stops and my ability to grow is limited. By embracing the shift, and seeing what’s possible with the human spirit, gratitude floats.

*Article title inspired by John Lennon’s song “Nobody Told Me”. Have a listen here.

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We Are Pleased To Announce Our Affiliation With Chris Bullick

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Flannery Sales Systems is pleased to announce its affiliation with Chris Bullick and Cathedral Consults.  Cathedral is a startup consultancy providing sales coaching and training to insurance related organizations.  Chris brings over 25 years of experience to the consulting world. 

“I am very excited to join with John Flannery and his team.  The FSS’ platform is tried and tested, and has been a revenue driver for companies across many industries around the globe.”   

Chris will be conducting sales and coaching activities with a focus in the commercial insurance industry where he has spent his career.   Chris is a Paralegal, graduate of Penn State University and recipient of an MBA in Organizational Management from Eastern University.

 “We are thrilled to add Chris’ experience and skill set to the platform.  It will allow us to penetrate new markets where we feel there is a lot of runway,” said John Flannery. 

Flannery Sales Systems provides customized sales coaching and management training to sales teams that want to drive revenue.  They go beyond the traditional approach by implementing and reinforcing the sales process. 

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Fall 2020 LSP Sales Process Workshop

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Train your team to speak the language of sales through a proven methodology customized for language service providers.

When looking to increase your sales volume, would it be helpful if your Sales, Marketing, Project Management and Managerial teams could:

  • Consistently develop opportunities that align with your core competencies?
  • Accurately assess the stage that the prospect/customer is in during the buying cycle?
  • Increase the potential to cross-sell or bundle additional services and languages into projects?

You are invited to participate in the Fall 2020 Virtual LSP Sales Process Workshop, created and delivered by Nimdzi Insights and Flannery Sales Systems. Our combined team has conducted this program for 15 years, in 7 countries with hundreds of attendees.

Topics included in the workshop include:

  • Prospecting for New Revenue
  • Identifying Business Objectives and Establishing Value
  • Accessing Key Players
  • Managing an Evaluation Timeline and
  • Negotiating and Closing Opportunities while maintaining your margins.

Each of these topics is aligned with a key selling skill, and attendees will practice in the Workshop and through an online portal for continuous reinforcement.

Training does not drive results; get on a call with you coach and practice what you have learned. For every 3 participants, there will be 1 dedicated coach for breakout sessions during the workshop and post-follow-up opportunities to continue training with your coaches.  

Dates and format:
September 15 – 17, 2020, virtual
7-11 AM PDT  |  4-8 PM CET 

Pricing and Special Offers
Workshop price: 2,500 USD
Nimdzi Partners: 1,875 USD (25% discount)
Group bookings: 2,100 USD (reach out to John Flannery to speak about your company’s special group offer john@drive-revenue.com )

REGISTER BY CLICKING HERE

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How To Crush Any Sales Meeting

This guest article was written by Chris Bullick. Chris is a Principal Consultant who is the Creator of the Sales Diagnostic Questionnaire (“SDQ”), he provides analysis and strategy for go to market strategies, corporate messaging, pipeline metrics, relationship building and winning presentations.

I was speaking with a wildly successful colleague recently and she relayed the story of her latest accomplishment.  The company she was selling to was not necessarily in buying mode.  They reached out to a few vendors to conduct general capabilities presentations.  She had never met the buyer.

My friend’s presentation blew the doors off the buyer.  The buyer immediately put the wheels in motion to contract with my friend’s company to provide services to his and they never talked price until the actual closing. 

When I asked my friend what did the trick, she said her team prepared as if it was biggest and most important finalist presentation they had ever participated in.  

Best Practice: Treat every meeting like a finalist presentation.  Learn how to prepare for the big day.

She brought the team who would service the account, the potential account manager, a regional executive and a video from her company’s CEO imbedded into her PowerPoint that was customized for the prospect.  She noted that her biggest competitor was presenting right after her.  They sent one person and she learned later that their presentation was a generic one-page marketing piece. 

Best Practice:  Bring the team.  It’s great practice for those who are not in front of customers every day.  If you don’t win, you still may be setting the table for the future with that prospect.  Learn how to get your whole team comfortable presenting. 

Imagine that!  Allocating resources full bore on a deal with a low probability of success.  Do other organizations do that?  The answer is not many.   A lot of organizations handicap themselves out of deals.  They look in their CRM and see that they have tried to sell to that buyer in the past without success.  They think the buyer is just kicking tires or leveraging them on price.  Another great excuse is they haven’t met the buyer yet.  They place a low percentage of winning in the CRM. 

The organizations that handicap themselves will not allocate resources on a low percentage deal.   They will tell their sales people not to spend so much time on a deal like that, don’t burden marketing, don’t take anyone important and use generic marketing materials.  In doing so, they take the passion, urgency, energy and enthusiasm out of the deal.   They have set themselves up to fail. 

Best Practice: Don’t skimp on preparation and resources. Learn how to prepare the right way and bring the right resources to every meeting.  

Winning companies tell their sales people to jump in with both feet.  It’s alright to drop everything, muster your resources, and prepare with a mindset that you are winning the business right then and there.  When you present with conviction and purpose it reveals your company’s attention to detail, planning and execution.   

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The Right Way to Sell  

Is there a “right” way to sell? Perhaps. But, if the Covid-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that the world can change in a flash and the “right” way may no longer work. 

In my role as a sales trainer and consultant these past 16 years, I’ve seen a constantly changing new twist and turn on the “right” way to sell in light of current economic conditions. Personally, I have worked through four popular sales methodologies in my career: SPIN Selling, Miller Heiman, Solution Selling, and Customer Centric Selling. 

Admittedly, each of those methodologies provides an excellent framework for helping enterprise sales organizations understand how to organize themselves and face the market. However, the one aspect that has regularly challenged my clients is that these programs often have components that are too complex to use in a practical format. 

During many of the conversations I have with sales and executive leaders, I’m regularly told that they have “tried” two, three, or sometimes even four different methodologies but none of them worked. They just didn’t stick. What I hear loud and clear is that they want something that’s their own, a sales process that reflects how their customers buy, aligned with the tools and skills that their sales people can use to excel. 

The ultimate goal of a sales process in any organization is to help drive more revenue. Is there a right way to sell? I’d say yes. But it needs to be what’s right for your organization and sales team. And a popular sales methodology might not be the answer—especially when the economy takes a turn for the better or worse. On the other hand, a customized sales process might be a perfect fit. 

 

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Driving Revenue in Italy, Australia and America

We are pleased to complete workshops in Italy and America and look forward to working with a new customer in Australia next week.

Stay tuned for our announcement for upcoming workshops.

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