ExecuTrain Houston

Solution Selling® 2.5 Day Blended Workshop

Solution Selling® 2.5 Day Blended Workshop

DAY 1

Module: Introduction and Key Concepts

Objectives:

• Review eLearning component
• Describe the importance of utilizing a sales process
• Describe the key components of a sales process
• Articulate the characteristics of situational fluency
• Define key selling skills, terms and basic principles that underlie Solution Selling®
• Describe how buyers buy procedurally and behaviorally
• Describe four levels of buyer need and the actions required to navigate each level
  

Exercise(s):

• Perform an introductory exercise focused on introducing themselves and their top selling challenge(s)

Module: Conduct Pre-call Planning and Research

Objectives:

• Employ best practices around pre-call planning
• Leverage specific sources to conduct customer-research
• Identify and define customer pain and depict how it flows throughout a buying organization
• Describe roles and characteristics that key customer individuals may play in an opportunity
• Use specific job aids and information sources to assist in pre-call planning activities; including:
  • Account Profile
  • Key Players List
  • Pain Chain®
    

Exercise(s):

• Conduct an Opportunity Exercise focused on:
  

  • Developing a profile of your selected account
  • Depicting the organizational interdependence within the account/opportunity
    

Module: Stimulate Interest

Objectives:

• Describe the keys to effective business development and elements to avoid when prospecting
• Describe best practices for executing sales-driven and marketing-driven business development strategies
• Use specific job aids to attempt to stimulate interest with prospective buyers including:
  

  • Business Development Letters and Prompters
  • Reference Stories
  • Value Propositions
    

Exercise(s):

• Conduct an Opportunity Exercise focused on determining a business development strategy supported by building stimulating interest job aids
  

Module: Define “Pain” or Critical Business Issue

Objectives:

• Identify the key decisions prospective buyers make during a first call or meeting
• Articulate tactics for aligning with prospective buyers leading to the admission of pain
• Use specific job aids to assist in navigating the steps of a first call or meeting; including the:
  

  • Strategic Alignment Prompter (Call Plan)
    

Module: Diagnose and Create Vision

Objectives:

• Describe the importance of diagnosing a business problem prior to prescribing a “solution”
• Articulate the elements that comprise an effective customer-focused diagnostic questioning model
• Explain the significance of creating customer buying visions around the capabilities of your offerings
• Use specific job aids to assist in diagnosing a customer’s business issue and creating a vision of a solution inclusive of your unique capabilities; including the:
  

  • 9 Block Vision Processing Model® for Vision Creation
  • Pain Sheet® (Situational Fluency Prompter®)
    

Exercise(s):

• Conduct an exercise focused on developing questions that could be used to help have a customer-focused diagnostic conversation
• Perform roles plays on having customer-focused diagnostic conversations for customer scenarios
  

  • Vision Creation
    

DAY 2

• Review Previous Day

Module: Diagnose and Create Vision (continued)

Objectives:

• Articulate a technique for helping buyers establish quantifiable value for the salesperson’s offerings
• Use specific job aids to assist in diagnosing a customer’s business issue and creating a vision of a solution inclusive of your unique capabilities; including the:
  • 9 Block Vision Processing Model® for Vision Creation
  • Pain Sheet® (Situational Fluency Prompter®)
    

Exercise(s):

• Conduct an exercise focused on developing “drill down” questions that could be used to help establish quantifiable value
• Perform a role play on having customer-focused diagnostic conversations for customer scenarios
  • Enhanced Vision Creation

Module: Buyer / Process Qualification: “Sponsor”

Objectives:

• Articulate tactics that assist in determining a prospect’s ability to make a purchasing decision
• Articulate tactics for negotiating next steps and gaining access to “power”
• Write follow-up correspondence that effectively qualifies both a prospect’s sponsorship and the opportunity
• Use specific job aids to assist in qualifying the buyer and the process; including the:
  

  • Strategic Alignment Prompter
  • Sponsor Letter

Module: Buyer / Process Qualification: “Power Sponsor”

Objectives:

• Describe the differences of conducting diagnostic conversations higher up in a buying organization
• Articulate tactics that assist in ensuring a prospect’s ability to make a purchasing decision
• Articulate tactics for uncovering and defining a buyer’s evaluation and purchasing-decision criteria
• Write follow-up correspondence that effectively qualifies both a prospect’s ability to buy and the opportunity
• Construct an evaluation-oriented plan that helps influence and direct the steps of the buyer’s evaluation approach
• Describe the key line items that should be included in evaluation-oriented plans
• Use specific job aids to assist in qualifying the buyer and the process; including the:
  

  • Strategic Alignment Prompter
  • Power Sponsor Letter
  • Evaluation Plan

  
  

Module: Elements of an Evaluation Plan

Objectives:

• Effectively manage the evaluation process
• Report progress to power sponsors as evaluation-oriented plans are executed
• Describe the importance of and techniques for addressing buyer issues related to implementing operational capabilities
• Articulate the key questions to answer in order to develop a value justification
• Describe the benefits of establishing and measuring client success criteria
• Use specific job aids to assist in constructing and executing key elements of an Evaluation Plan; including:
  

  • Transition / Implementation Letter (e-mail) and Plan
  • Value Analysis / Value Justification
  • Success Criteria
    

Exercise(s):

• Conduct an exercise focused on constructing an evaluation-oriented plan
  

Module: Active Opportunities

Objectives:

• Objectively assess an active opportunity to determine whether it is qualified or not
• Describe four specific competitive strategies to consider when engaging in active opportunities
• Reengineer existing customer buying visions biased around the capabilities of their offerings
• Describe the key differentiators they will employ when responding to active opportunities
• Conduct customer-focused diagnostic conversations with multiple selling resources at the meeting
• Use specific job aids to assist in assessing and reengineering active opportunities; including:
  

  • Opportunity Assessment Worksheet
  • 9 Block Vision Processing Model® for Vision Reengineering
  • Pain Sheet® (Situational Fluency Prompter®)
  • Sponsor Letter (for Reengineering)
    

Exercise(s):

• Performed a reengineering role play focused on conducting customer-focused diagnostic conversations
  

  • Vision Reengineering
    

Module: Reach Final Agreement

Objectives:

• Describe the buyer’s perspective and tactics they use during final negotiations
• Effectively prepare for final negotiations prior to them taking place
• Use specific job aids to assist in negotiating and reaching final agreement with buyers; including:
  

  • Negotiating Worksheet
  • Get-Give List
    
  
  

DAY 3

• Review Previous Day

Module: Managing Your Territory

Objectives:

• Articulate progress and status of an opportunity in relation to specific pipeline milestones and sales activities accomplished
• Describe management techniques that help analyze and coach to specific opportunities
• Describe how pipeline milestones can help identify opportunities that are potentially stalled
• Calculate the total revenue yield of opportunities in their pipeline
• Identify gaps in revenue goal attainment and actions to take to close gaps
• Conduct Opportunity Presentations
  

  • Presentation 1 and debrief opportunity presentation
  • Presentation 2 and debrief opportunity presentation
  • Presentation 3 and debrief opportunity presentation
  • Presentation 4 and debrief opportunity presentation
    
  
  

Module: Getting Started

Objectives:

• Describe short term and long term actions that salespeople and sales managers should consider taking to help implement Solution Selling® in their organization
• Provide general presentation feedback and announce presentation winner (if applicable)
• Conduct evaluations
• Close the workshop