Winning the Complex Sale

Straightforward Strategies for Winning Major Accounts

INTRODUCTORY MODULE:

Understanding Organizational Buying Behavior

  • Why understanding the Complex Sale is critical to sales success today
  • The Sell – Learn Process
  • The Complex Buying Team: Gatekeeper, Integrator, Virtual authority, User, Power broker, and Sponsor/antisponsor (GIVUPS)
  • Understanding buying behavior: Team and Individual
  • Understanding relationships within the buying team
  • The four sources of conflict in the buying team

ONE:

Preparing to Sell at the “C” Level

  • The Business Model (customer values, strategy, goals, systems, people, culture, structure and work processes)
  • Locating Information Sources
  • Analyzing the customer’s business through the Annual Report, Internet and 10-k report
  • Understanding what the numbers mean and how to impact them
  • Developing “Critical Case References” for gaining access to the C-level
  • Developing an account penetration plan that begins with access to the C-Level decision makers

TWO:

Demand Creation

  • Preparing to create demand through your meeting with the C-Level Decision Maker
  • Fully understanding your value to the C-Level Decision Maker
  • Offsetting the cost of change in the decision maker’s mind
  • Identifying common customer problem areas and potential causes
  • Developing diagnostic questions
  • Presenting preliminary prescriptions / testing feasibility
  • Determining Meeting Outcomes and Go Forward Commitments
  • Keeping the C-Level Decision Maker door open
  • Cross-training your sponsor
  • Developing the components of the “Memo of Understanding”

THREE:

Influencing the Buying Team to Gain Competitive Advantage

  • Analyzing your position with the Buying Team: Relationship Strength, Degree of Influence, Buying Criteria / Solution Fit
  • Identifying strengths & weaknesses with each member of the buying team
  • Techniques for emphasizing your strengths, off-setting weaknesses
  • Influencing buying criteria and leveraging relationships to gain access to power

FOUR:

Analyzing Your Competition

  • Analyzing competitors’ sales strategy
  • Considering all the intangibles
  • Unlocking competitive information
  • Determining your competition’s fit with the complex buying team relative to: Relationship Strength, Degree of Influence, Buying Criteria / Solution Fit
  • Using four strategies to defeat your competitor’s strategy

FIVE:

Presenting with Power

  • Assessing your audience: Attendees, Power Balance and Timing
  • Using your timing to your advantage
  • Selecting your content
  • Using four tips to enhance your presentation
  • Presenting positive and negative cash flow situations
  • Cost justifying your solution
  • Preparing for a wide range of questions
  • Effectively responding to questions
  • The power of practicing your presentation

SIX:

Negotiating from Strength to Close the High-Margin Sale

  • Using the NO TRICKS method to analyzing your power with the Complex Buying Team
  • Establishing your range: best case, target, and minimum acceptable
  • Areas to consider in your negotiation
  • Identifying high-value/low cost “bargaining chips” for each Complex Buying Team member
  • Being aware of common customer negotiating tricks
  • Using Quid Pro Quo as a basis for your negotiating discussions
  • Destabilizing demands for price reductions without harming your relationship

SEVEN:

Ensuring Successful Implementations

  • Understanding the difference between customer needs and expectations
  • Determining how expectations change over time and why
  • Managing your customer’s expectations to ensure satisfaction
  • Analyzing the customer’s “Complex Implementation Team”
  • Maintaining communication with the C-level
  • Creating your “Early Warning Detector System”
  • Avoiding the #1 Killer of Customer Satisfaction
  • Driving Customer satisfaction on an ongoing basis

EIGHT:

Leveraging Your Cross-Selling Opportunities

  • Using your existing contacts to leverage access to other C-Level Decision makers
  • Exploring internal and external opportunities
  • Understanding the prerequisites to gaining effective referrals
  • Identifying the three levels of potential for referrals
  • Creating and using critical case studies