We have worked extensively with customers in the Life Sciences sector (ICU Medical, Corning Life Sciences, VWR International, EAG Laboratories) to build a customized sales process as a foundational connection between Sales and Marketing, and to help define the usage of Customer Relationship Management system. Specific toolkits have also been built to target the titles of Key Players, and address concerns they have along the buying cycle. Successful implementations have been done in medical device, scientific product distribution, analytical/diagnostic testing services and a few other related organizations. Reach out to us for a brief consultation to help you to Understand the New Buying Model in Life Sciences, and enjoy the article below from Shauna Leighton at Seismic.com.
FSS Summer School: Sourcing Sales Enablement Solutions 101
School is not out for summer! But don’t worry, in Part 2 of our series with Brian and the team at 5600blue, we are giving you a study guide that will make sure everyone is going to ace the class.
In our always-on, always-connected, digital world it is increasingly simple to source solutions from a global marketplace. This is good news and bad news, while competition is good for things like innovation and pricing, a larger pool of options often means more complexity when understanding:
How do you select the right option for your business and your business objectives?
This is very apparent in the emerging function of sales enablement that we talked about in our podcast. There are a growing number of tools, services, solutions and consultants ready to help you.
To feel confident, organizations should re-examine how they sources solutions, including sales enablement. To share industry best practices, Brian and team put together a guide that we think you will find helpful: Sourcing Sales Enablement Solutions: An Organizational Guide To Holistically Support Sales & Drive Organic Growth.”
CTA: Be sure to visit the 5600blue blog here. and download the sourcing guide, and be sure to let us know what you think.
On Thursday, July 20th, join John Flannery at the Del Mar Hilton for a round table discussion on how to drive revenue through sales process.
John will share insights into how to define (and refine) your sales process. This approach has helped Flannery Sales Systems’ customers to:
- Use objective criteria to improve predictable revenue streams
- Allocate human and technological resources efficiently
- Increase visibility into new areas for growth
- Identify skill deficiencies and coach to improvement
Successful strategies used by top performing companies will be shared during this 75 minute session.
Seating is limited. Admission and self parking are free. The Del Mar Hilton is located right across from the racetrack on 15575 Jimmy Durante Blvd. in Del Mar.
July 20th from 7:30 – 9:30am. Continental breakfast will be served.
Contact Malinee to save your seat: malinee@drive-revenue.com or call 858 518-7039 with any questions. We look forward to seeing you there.
In this final post of our three part “Prospecting Spotlight” series, we elaborate on the strategies for effectively getting in touch with key contacts after hearing news of an award or recognition for an innovative accomplishment.
After establishing your target account list, create a system to actively engage with an organization’s activity and their industry in general. My favorite method is setting up news alert feeds which summarize articles based on keywords of your choice, but do not let this be your only source of information. In sales, creativity is critical for success.
Expand your options. Networking is a powerful tool for acquiring information. Look for relevant events and do your homework by utilizing LinkedIn and other tools so you know exactly who to approach.
When the time to establish contact comes, equipping yourself with an appropriate opener is key. This is where the news of a recent award or accomplishment comes into play.
Maintaining authenticity is of paramount importance when using news of an award or accomplishment as your reason to establish contact. It will backfire and tarnish your reputation if a prospect gets the sense you are not being genuine. Flattery must be sincere to be effective.
Start by reaching out to whoever is highlighted in the article about your target company’s success. If there is not an obvious contact, use your detective skills to find someone with a relevant title. Even if your guess is incorrect, this honors the person you are reaching out to because it shows you attribute their efforts directly to the success of their organization.
Pull specifics from the article or their LinkedIn profile to use in your messaging. For example: “I saw you manage the worldwide product development team for Company X, congratulations on the success of….” Your goal is relating their responsibilities as it ties to the award or accomplishment.
If your prospect replies, gently probe on common pain points associated with the tasks behind their success. Demonstrate how you can help to solve their challenges with your products or services. Prove how you are a valuable resource to similar organizations to your prospect with customer success stories.
If there is no immediate need, use the same approach for establishing yourself as an industry expert mentioned in the earlier articles of this series (*Link to* “How Expansion Opens New Doors” & “Leadership Changes Create New Opportunities”) and wait patiently. There is no need to create artificial pressure and rush a prospect; your opportunity will come with time. Building out your pipeline is just as important for driving revenue as closing a deal this quarter.
Ultimately, with prospecting your goal is to be creative. The methodologies highlighted in our Prospecting Spotlight series all stem from the idea of putting your target prospect first. Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People stresses the fact that everyone loves the sound of his or her own name. Leveraging this into sales is an extremely effective tool for prospecting.
There are seemingly infinite sales people competing against you to get a prospect’s attention. So many of them neglect this golden rule and craft their messaging about what their products or services are all about – everyone loves the sound of their name, but the salespeople who set themselves apart and get decision maker’s attention are those who like to hear the sound of their prospect’s name.
These are the questions that Brian Dietmeyer, the President and CEO of 5600blue and Think! Inc., and I answered in a podcast that he has posted over on his blog .
During the podcast, we aimed to answer the following:
- What is sales enablement? There are many different definitions from industry experts, so for the purposes of our podcast we agreed on one definition that we think best describes the function and how it should operate for success.
- Why is it happening? I believe, most people hearing the definition would say: “yes! I need that”. So why is it only in the last few years, that we are seeing this function gain traction?
- What are the core pillars for sales enablement success? Most experts reference three things or pillars and requirements for sales enablement to be successful. We pull back the onion on each of these pillars and why they are so important.
- Thoughts for those who are just starting to build a sales enablement function? How does a company bring a sales enablement practice into their organization?
- What are the benefits of sales enablement? And finally, we discuss the outcomes for an organization that invests in and successfully implements a sales enablement function.
What excites me the most about the emergence of the sales enablement function is that for many organizations it brings new cross-functional discipline to much of the work and programs Brian and I have been helping clients with for years. Whether you have built this function into your organization already or have never heard of sales enablement before, I encourage you to take a listen to the podcast where we share data, insights and our own experiences that I think you will find valuable.
You can listen to the podcast by clicking here to go to the 5600blue blog.
In this month’s On The Road Again, John informs of updates on Insight Selling and how to improve your sales, one conversation at a time. Click on the arrow above to view.
Business people cross the finish line
Before you answer, consider the following:
- 80% of front line sales and cross functional leaders are not satisfied with their ability to lead the customer decision and map how they meet customer needs better than alternatives to creative value. [1]
- American Marketing Association reports that 90% of what marketing provides for sales is not meeting their needs.
- CSO (Chief Sales Officer) Insights reports that the win rate on forecasted deals entered into CRM is at 46.4%.
Market shifts have radically altered the selling landscape, so what do I hear when I ask sales teams if they are prepared to win? The most frequent answer is “not always” and I can understand why.
Previously, I was asked to join a team meeting in Chicago with a company that believes they have developed the sales enablement solution that gives sales organizations the ability to say with confidence “we are completely prepared to win!”
After spending two days with this team—I am a believer; and I am proud to introduce to you what I think is the most compelling offering on Insight Selling in the marketplace today: 5600blue’s Precision Guided Selling.
Precision Guided Selling from 5600blue is a vertically total sales enablement solution that delivers:
Insight Data
The customized insight tracks with every stage of the new sales process from qualification to negotiation and close. The data assists sales in gaining access, creating demand, leading the customer decision and value conversation and ultimately the negotiation.
Cloud Based Technology
Insight data is embedded into their proprietary cloud based app. Your teams are equipped to leverage insights to create value propositions tailored to this specific customer’s needs and competitors’ alternatives and get compensated accordingly for that value.
Integrated Sales & Negotiation Training
This workshop is a ground-breaking program for your sales team to create (sell) and capture (negotiate) value. Integrating sales and negotiation training into a single event is efficient and cost-effective.
Key Deal Coaching
Their team provides virtual and face–to-face coaching on key deals facing your company. They also support your front-line managers enabling them to provide sales and negotiation coaching to their sales teams.
Win/Loss Reviews
They also provide virtual and face–to-face deal forensics on key wins and losses to determine how to further enhance your value creation and capture to drive organic growth.
[1] Creating and Maintaining Value Ecosystems, 5600 blue primary research 2012
Sixty one highly talented undergraduates from 14 universities were in attendance last week at the 3M SDSU Frontline Sales Conference (more on the background of Frontline as written in the previous blog seen here). It was my pleasure to join them, as well as the other 80 attendees including 3M Executives, Faculty from the universities and Sales Leaders, for a day and a half of the 3.5 days they spent together to learn more about a career in Sales.
Some of the students are graduating, and have taken position with 3M in cities across the country. Others will be going back to St. Paul, Minnesota this summer to work in one of multiple divisions of 3M that sponsor interns. Either way, these young people were a very impressive bunch; articulate, educated, well rounded with a desire to learn and earn.
Candace Mailand leads the charge for 3M’s Frontline national program, and along with Dan McGinley from SDSU (also a 3M veteran sales leader), they put on a spectacular program to give the students perspective on what is to come for them in their respective roles. Dr. Joe Belch, Dean of the College of Business at SDSU participated, and delivered a keynote presentation on the changing face of Sales. Dr. Belch reemphasized how this next generation will have to adapt to a world where buyers are data driven, analytical and loaded up on information by the time a salesperson arrives. Heads up!
It was a distinct pleasure to be on a Leadership Panel with 3 other seasoned sales veterans to share insight on career paths, the excitement of Sales and lessons learned-mistakes made along the way. Nashwa Helmi, VP of Sales from LabCorp; Marc Martin, VP of Beer from Karl Strauss Brewery (no, not kidding on the title) and George Diaz, Business Director from 3M’s Latin American division were my counterparts. Addressing the conference was exciting, but I also enjoyed listening and learning from my fellow panelists’ adventures in Sales.
The students delivered presentations on the last day as the capstone to the Frontline Conference. Based on the level of interest they showed throughout the conference, and by virtue of the fact that they were in position to take an internship or field Sales role with 3M, I am certain success will be part of their path forward. Frontline is a powerful platform to begin their careers.
We spend the majority of our time building custom Sales Process programs for our customers that help them with two (categorically) fundamental conversations. The first is the conversation that the salesperson (or anyone in a customer facing role) has with the customer. The second conversation is the one that the Sales Manager has with the member of his team, to make sure that sellers (and related team members) are focused on the right opportunities at the right time with the right message (Marketing, that’s you I’m talking about in the message).
Sales Managers are pulled in so many directions, often helping their team with external conversations (to drive revenue), and also managing a host of internal conversations to make sure their team has the right resources and information to win. It can be exhausting as many have told me over the years.
It has been a long while since I read a whitepaper that documents the “must haves” for truly effective Sales Management with such impact and brevity. In the attached document, Matt McDarby and John Golden nail down the Five Fundamental of Effective Sales Management. This should reside on every Sales Managers’ desk as the Operator’s Manual on how to run their team, meet their revenue targets and maintain a level of sanity along the way.
It’s a great read I am sure you will enjoy.
Prospecting Spotlight: How Expansion Opens New Doors
When prospecting, strategically timing your messaging is critical for success. Last month’s feature highlighted the benefits of reaching out to decision makers when they take on a new role. Today, we focus on how to leverage news of a prospect’s expansion into closing your next deal.
Expansion takes on many shapes. Enabling a news alert feed for companies on your target account list puts updates on acquisitions, employee growth, product launches, new location openings, or any other noteworthy occurrences on your radar.
The moment an opportunity to reach out presents itself, drop your target contacts a quick note and follow it with a phone call – the gist of the message should be positive and brief. Just like with the first post in our Prospecting Spotlight series, your goal at this moment is simply making contact.
Once you have your decision maker’s attention, gently probe to see if they are experiencing any growing pains. Present your prospect with some common business objectives found within their industry through a success story you helped to create. If any of these are of interest, ask for the opportunity to meet to learn more. You are in the driver’s seat if this works.
Sometimes you will find yourself positioned as the answer to their problem before it becomes a problem. If this is the case, patience is necessary. Now that you made your introduction, if you did your job well, the prospect will get in touch when the timing is appropriate on their end.
When the conversation picks up again, be sure to create a connection to them again with your customer success stories. Show how your solution helped others with similar problems. Leave your prospect wondering what you can offer to help them.
Here is the secret behind the effectiveness of using news of expansion as an excuse to introduce yourself: you are catching prospects when they are planning ahead and forecasting new budgets. The earlier you set up a meeting, the sooner you can be a part of that budget.
News of expansion is a great reason to reach out to decision makers on your target account list. They will feel honored you associate them with the success of the company, and be far more open to a conversation.
Our next post will discuss how we can use the news of a prospect’s recent awards and accomplishments to start the conversation in a similar way, making the most of a fortuitous time.