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SPI INSIGHT:
HOW TO GET MORE FROM
YOUR CORE WITH HIGH
IMPACT SALES COACHING
2
© Sales Performance International, Inc
TABLE OF CONTENTS
HOW TO GET MORE FROM YOUR CORE
WITH HIGH IMPACT SALES COACHING
01: COACHING TO STANDARDS OF EXCELLENCE
What To Do When Top-Performers Slide Backwards?
(Pages 3-4)
02: HOW TO AVOID SALES SLIPPAGE
CoachingYourSales Team To Keep It Real And Finish Strong.
(Pages 5-6)
03: USING COMPETITIVE STRATEGY TO WIN SALES
How The Best Managers Collaborate & Coach ForMore Successful
Outcomes.
(Pages 7-8)
04: TAKING A HARD LOOK AT “MUST WIN” SALES
OPPORTUNITIES
How To Coach WhenYou Can’t Afford To Lose.
(Page 9-10)
05: LEVERAGING ACCOUNT AND TERRITORY GROWTH
REVIEWS TO ENSURE SALES SUCCESS
Coaching Beyond The Obvious To Accelerate Revenue Production.
(Page 11-13)
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© Sales Performance International, Inc
COACHING TO STANDARDS
OF EXCELLENCE
WHAT TO DO WHEN TOP-PERFORMERS SLIDE
BACKWARDS?
By Timothy Sullivan, Director, Sales Performance International
	 As a sales leader, you depend on your team to contribute consistently and
predictablytowardsachievementofsalesgoals.Butwhatshouldyoudoifpreviously
top-performing sellers on the team start to slide backwards? How do you get them
back on track – and keep them there?
	 Inworkingwithourclients,wefindthatmanyfirst-linesalesmanagersdon’t
really know what to do when top performers on their team stumble. Most of them
feel comfortable when coaching rookies or average performers. However, they
aren’t as confident when it comes to coaching an experienced seller with a strong
record of success, especially when it’s a high performer who faltered.
	 The reason for this is simple. Most sales managers, especially those new
to the position, mistakenly believe that coaching is equivalent to providing good
advice that’s based on their own past success and experience. As a result, when
working with someone who already has a good sales track record and considerable
experience, many sales managers are at a loss about how best to coach a veteran
performer.
	 Providing useful advice is certainly a desirable outcome of coaching,
but most sales managers need to rethink how they go about doing this. Effective
coaching starts first with establishing standards of excellence and coming to an
agreement with sellers about what those standards require.
	 Coaching sales behavior against agreed-upon standards enables
managers to help each salesperson, regardless of their performance history, come
to their own realization of what they can do to improve.
There are three steps to standard-based sales coaching:
1.	 Establish standards for customer engagement
If you don’t have agreed-upon expectations for how your salespeople
should engage with customers and how your sales managers should
engage with their salespeople, then establish those first. We help our
clients do this through the development of dynamic, buyer-aligned
sales processes, as we described in chapter 7 of our recent book, The
Collaborative Sale.
Standards for effective sales engagement should include:
•	 Ideal pipeline characteristics – how large and how dynamic should they be?
•	 Ideal customer profile – what do your best customers look like?
•	 The customer buying process(es) – what are their buying preferences?
•	 Aligned seller process steps with verifiable outcomes at each step
•	 Opportunity qualification criteria – when will you walk away from a deal?
•	 Cadence and criteria for sales management inspection
2.	 Train sales managers to assess and diagnose against your standards
With clear standards, your sales managers then have objective criteria
against which to assess and diagnose performance issues, regardless of
any salesperson’s tenure or experience. By examining each seller’s pipeline
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© Sales Performance International, Inc
shape, managers can identify skill, time, and activity management issues.
Standards enable your sales managers to proactively identify issues and
prescribe corrective action before they grow into big problems.
3.	 Train sales managers to coach effectively against standards
Effective coaching entails observing what happened relative to a standard,
knowing why it happened, and then reaching an agreement with the
seller on how they can comply better with expectations. If the manager’s
diagnosis is based on objective criteria and accurate observations, then a
high-performing salesperson will be more open to listening and acting.
	 But good coaching is both a science and an art. While coaching to objective
standards is important, there’s also a human side to coaching. It’s important to
understand the preferred work style of each seller for the sales manager to coach
them effectively. Using an assessment tool, like DISC, can help sales managers
better understand their preferred style and how to best align with those in their
charge.
	 Too many sales managers rely solely on informal, on-the-spot coaching.
The best sales managers also establish a regular cadence for formal review of
pipelines and opportunities, and they take the time to prepare for each coaching
conversation.
We’ve provided a complimentary coaching preparation template to help your
managers coach more effectively to your standards of excellence and keep your
sales team’s performance on track.
5
© Sales Performance International, Inc
HOW TO AVOID
SALES SLIPPAGE
COACHING YOUR SALES TEAM TO KEEP IT REAL AND
FINISH STRONG
By Timothy Sullivan, Director, Sales Performance International
	 For nearly all of our clients, the end of every quarter is an important
milestone – each with sales goals to meet. As we approach another quarter-end,
ensuring that sales opportunities close as expected is critical for every sales leader.
How do top-performing sales teams avoid delays in closing sales and minimize
slippage of opportunities into the next quarter?
	 As we documented in our recent book, The Collaborative Sale, more
organizations are increasing the use of well-trained procurement professionals
throughout the entire buying process. A common tactic of procurement managers
is to draw negotiations out until the very end of the month, quarter, or year, because
buyers know that sellers become increasingly desperate to close business as the
clock ticks forward. To avoid delays at the end of the sales cycle, the sales team
must be fully equipped to manage a formalized negotiation, not just at the end of a
purchase decision, but throughout the entire sales engagement with a buyer.
	 Avoiding closing delays starts by knowing if and when a deal is closeable, as
indicated by five indicators:
1.	 Doesthesalesteamhaveaccesstoandarealignedwiththeindividualswho
have the power to buy? If not, the customer is more likely to use multiple
rounds of negotiation with different levels within the organization, which
could extend the final decision date.
2.	 Has the customer agreed to the potential payback of this particular
purchase? If they have not yet acknowledged the value of what you are
offering, that will almost certainly result in a delay.
3.	 Has the sales team and the customer received all the required approvals,
not just from purchasing, but also from legal, technical, administrative, and
any other customer groups that need to review the decision?
4.	 Has the customer and the sales team completed all the required steps for
the customer to complete a good evaluation? A good Collaboration Plan
will include all of those steps. If your team tries to close before completing
the evaluation process, expect push-back from the customer.
5.	 How long has the customer known about the cost? The final negotiation
meeting is not the time to reveal prices. Customers need a reasonable
amount of time to socialize and come to consensus on anticipated costs
within their organization.
	 In addition to the preceding criteria, it helps to identify a compelling reason
to act (CRTA). A CTRA is a time-bound occurrence, beyond which, if a customer fails
to make a decision to act, bad consequences will follow. For example, a customer
might be launching a new product and may need your capabilities to make the
results of this event a success. If you can identify a CRTA, it can go a long way in
helping to speed up final negotiations.
	 Even with a clear CRTA, quantifying the cost of delay is a powerful way to
emphasize the value of an immediate purchase decision. Every day that goes by
is another day that the customer is not receiving that value, which increases the
lost opportunity cost. The more quantifiable the value of a solution, the more a
customer can be motivated to come to a decision.
	 We have found that a little planning goes a long way in making final
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© Sales Performance International, Inc
negotiation discussions much more effective. Even just a few minutes of planning
will improve the likelihood of coming to a satisfactory conclusion on schedule.
	 We recommend using a simple tool known as the Get/Give List. It enables
sellers to think sensibly about agreements that they might get from the buyer in
exchange for concessions. For example, a seller may ask the customer to extend
thetermsofbusinessfromoneyeartomultipleyears,oragreetobeareferenceable
case study. In exchange, they can offer equivalent value concessions which would
be useful to the customer, and not just offer price discounts.
	 Now is the time to review opportunities that are expected to close at the
end of this quarter:
•	 Is it really ready to close? Verify the five closing criteria.
•	 Has a CRTA been identified?
•	 Has the cost of delay been calculated – and does the customer agree?
•	 Have “gives and gets” of equivalent value been determined for use in final
negotiations?
	 With a little extra diligence and discipline, the sales team can bring in every
opportunity they expect to win by the end of the quarter. Remember: hope is not a
strategy for success!
Make your end-of-quarter negotiations more productive by downloading a free
Get/Give List planning tool.
7
© Sales Performance International, Inc
USING COMPETITIVE
STRATEGY TO WIN SALES
HOW THE BEST MANAGERS COLLABORATE & COACH
FOR MORE SUCCESSFUL OUTCOMES
By Timothy Sullivan, Director, Sales Performance International
	 In the past, we’ve provided a tool (the Successful Sales Formula) to
determine the strength of a seller’s position for any given sales opportunity. This
tool is a very useful way to see how well a seller is collaborating with buyers in a
particular opportunity, and it provides insight about what tactics a seller needs to
accomplish in order to win.
	 The Successful Sales Formula can help sellers to select effective tactics in
pursuit of an opportunity. But oftentimes, sellers forget that their tactics should be
chosen in support of a specific competitive strategy. Without a strategic view of an
opportunity, sellers can lose perspective and over-invest time and resources in the
wrong deals.
	 Choosing to qualify out of a sales opportunity is one of the most difficult
decisionsthat a sellercan make, especially if they are behindon achievingtheir sales
goal or if their pipeline is lean. Sales leaders must help sellers to objectively review
opportunities and coach them towards the best decisions about where and how to
pursue business. In addition to the Successful Sales Formula, application of another
valuable tool – the Competitive Strategy Selector – can help sellers to maintain a
strategicperspectiveoneachopportunity.Thisperspectiveenablessellerstoknow,
with complete confidence, how best to engage their time and resources, and more
importantly, when they should walk away.
WHAT IS A COMPETITIVE STRATEGY?
	 Many people tell us that they want to “sell strategically,” but they often
cannot describe what that means, exactly. A strategy is a framework for objectively
determining how to apply resources in order to achieve a desired result. In this case,
optimizing the use of sales resources to pursue and win competitive opportunities.
	 If a seller does not have a clear competitive strategy, then they do not really
know how to win. They can only guess about how much they should invest, or if it
even makes sense to pursue the opportunity in the first place.
	 As Keith Eades described in his book, The New Solution Selling, there are
five competitive strategies:
•	 Preemptive – be there first, create a latent opportunity
•	 Head-to-Head – compete directly against another competitive alternative
•	 EndAround–changethebuyer’sweighingofdecisioncriteriatoemphasize
your unique differentiators
•	 Divide and Conquer – pursue a fragment of the business where you can
provide a high-value solution
•	 Stall – encourage the buyer to delay a decision and wait for a future higher-
value solution
USING COMPETITIVE STRATEGY
	 In our latest book, The Collaborative Sale, Keith and I explained how using a
preemptive strategy to engage with buyers first results in winning business over five
times more often than when engaging with buyers later in their decision process. By
far, the preemptive strategy is the most effective.
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© Sales Performance International, Inc
	 But most sellers are not able to engage first with every potential buyer, and
as a result, they must compete with other vendors and alternative choices (such
as an in-house developed solution or choosing to remain with the status quo and
do nothing at all). As a result, sellers must select from the remaining competitive
strategies to determine the optimal approach and how many resources they should
invest in order to win.
	 The Competitive Strategy Selector steps through these choices, starting
with Head-to-Head – the default strategy for the majority of sellers but only
effective if the seller has a clear advantage – through Stall, which is the last strategy
for denying a competitor a win.
	 TheresultofusingtheCompetitiveStrategymaybethatnostrategycanbe
appliedsuccessfullytoaparticularopportunity,andtherefore,thebestdecisionisto
disengage and qualify out. That decision to walk away is the last choice, but it is also
the wisest decision if there is no clear way to win or to deny a win for a competitor.
To pursue a sales opportunity without a clear competitive strategy is simply a waste
of time and resources.
	 We urge sales leaders to use the Competitive Strategy Selector when
reviewing opportunities with their sellers. It will enable sellers to make better
decisions about the application of sales resources and most importantly, it will
encourage them to make good decisions about using their most valuable resource
– their time – on deals where they have the best chance to win.
Download the Competitive Strategy Selector and help your team make good
decisions about how to engage in sales opportunities – or when to walk away.
9
© Sales Performance International, Inc
TAKING A HARD LOOK
AT “MUST WIN” SALES
OPPORTUNITIES
HOW TO COACH WHEN YOU CAN’T AFFORD TO LOSE
By Timothy Sullivan, Director, Sales Performance International
	 Many of our clients report that their sales pipelines include a distribution
of different opportunity sizes – a mix of small transactions, moderate-sized deals,
and a few large strategic opportunities. In some cases, the impact of the large
opportunities is extremely significant, as they often make or break achievement
of sales goals. These big deals are typically “must win” opportunities and require
special care and scrutiny to ensure their successful closure.
	 Towards the end of a year, we are often asked by our clients to help them
validate their plans to win strategic opportunities. We follow a structured review
process that determines the accurate status of each opportunity and identifies
what specific actions must be taken in order to maximize the probability of winning
the business. After a thorough review, the odds of winning “must win” deals can be
improved significantly – some of our clients report win rates of nearly 90 percent on
strategic deals, after conducting formal opportunity reviews.
	 This high win rate is possible for two reasons. First, an objective review
reveals what specific actions and resources are required to make it easy for the
customer to buy. An opportunity review can uncover aspects of the buyers’
evaluation and decision process that have not been adequately addressed, which
puts the entire opportunity at risk. The sales team can focus on those specific
actions that make the most difference and not waste time doing things peripheral
to enabling the buyer to make a positive decision.
	 Second, an opportunity review presents a realistic picture of the likelihood
of securing business in a defined amount of time.  In some cases, an opportunity
review reveals that a strategic deal is most likely unwinnable in the time remaining
before the end of the planned period. This finding is often a bitter medicine to
swallow,butitalsomeansthatasalesteamcanfocustheirenergiesonopportunities
more likely to close sooner. They can also schedule the opportunity in question in a
realistic time frame and set proper expectations for when that business can truly be
secured. Trying to rush buyers to buy before they are ready rarely results in a good
outcome, for both the buyer and the selling organization.
IT TAKES SOME COURAGE
	 To our surprise, we find that some sales leaders are unwilling to conduct
opportunity reviews on their “must win” deals. There is far too much wishful thinking
in many sales pipelines, especially as the pressure to achieve goals increases as
the end of the month, quarter, or year approaches. We sometimes find strategic
opportunities in clients’ pipelines that are forecasted to close, with little evidence
that they will actually come to fruition in the prescribed period. In too many cases,
winning a “must win” deal is based largely on hope, and not on objective facts. It
takes some courage to step back and take stock of what is really happening in
large opportunities, and then make rational decisions about how to bring them to a
successful conclusion, for both the seller and the buyer.
How should sales leaders conduct reviews of “must win” business?
1.	 Start by using the Successful Sales Formula to determine the strength of
a potential sale and the degree of alignment with buyers, in order to identify
tactics that will move the opportunity towards a win.
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© Sales Performance International, Inc
2.	 Re-evaluate the available competitive strategy opportunity’s by using
the Competitive Strategy Selector to determine if the team is using selling
resources in the optimum fashion to win.
3.	 Evaluate the extent and rate of progress of the opportunity through the
buying process. Reviewing the quality of verifiable outcomes – observable
customer behaviors at each stage of the buying process which indicate
alignment with the seller – shows how far and how quickly a “must win” deal
is progressing towards a desirable decision.We’ve prepared a checklistthat
helps evaluate the progression of an opportunity, which you can download
here.
	 As mentioned previously, we often find a lot of emotion entangled
around strategic “must win” opportunities. After all, they are nearly always critical
for individual sellers and sales teams to have a good year. For this reason, we
recommend using an objective facilitator to guide the sales team through their
opportunity reviews and keep them free of subjective influences. This will produce
higher quality decisions and optimal plans of action.
	 It’s time to start taking a hard look at the opportunities in the sales pipeline
that will make the biggest difference in your team’s success.
If you would like to learn more about our review and planning services for
opportunities, pipelines, accounts, territories or channels, please contact us for a
complimentary consultation.
Click here for a copy of the Opportunity Review Checklist.
11
© Sales Performance International, Inc
LEVERAGING ACCOUNT
AND TERRITORY GROWTH
REVIEWS TO ENSURE
SALES SUCCESS
COACHING BEYOND THE OBVIOUS TO ACCELERATE
REVENUE PRODUCTION
By Steve Smith, Vice President, Sales Performance International
	 Every quarter, about one-third of sales leaders fall short of their goals,
according to recent industry research. If you have ever found yourself in this
situation, then you know how uncomfortable your life becomes.
	 If you want to avoid this situation, there are several things you can do to
improve the likelihood of attaining your sales objectives.
	 First, look at your average sales cycle times and compare them against
the opportunities in your pipeline. Identify the low-hanging fruit that you can win in
the near-term and dedicate the right resources to close those opportunities. For
example, if your typical sales cycle is 2-3 months for average sized opportunities
and 4-6 months or more for larger deals, you can easily determine if there’s enough
in your pipeline to make up any missed production in the quarter.
If your pipeline is too light, you can expand your current quarter pipeline by:
•	 Closing opportunities slated for future quarters earlier, bringing them into
the current quarter
•	 Finding more recurring or repeating business in existing accounts that can
be closed this quarter
•	 Selling new offerings into existing accounts this quarter
•	 Closing more new accounts
•	 A combination of the above
YOUR FIRST FOCUS
	 We recommend you first focus on your existing accounts. Sales cycles
in existing accounts are usually shorter, and you should have more visibility into
customers’needsandwhereyoucanaddvalue.Itmayalsobeeasierfromafinancial,
legal, and procurement standpoint if contracts and service agreements are already
in place.
	 For your high-potential accounts, coach your salespeople to look beyond
obviously defined needs and identify undefined needs which you can address. This
can be accomplished more easily through a simple exercise called white space
analysis.  White space analysis enables you to clearly and quickly identify new high-
value opportunities in accounts. Download our simplified White Space Analysis
Worksheet to get started. This tool helps you find new sales opportunities by
mapping your portfolio of solutions to a customer’s critical business issues and
initiatives, thereby making a vital connection between your solution and its potential
for solving an urgent problem.
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© Sales Performance International, Inc
Simplified White Space Analysis
DEVELOPING LATENT BUSINESS
	 Once you’ve exhausted the identification of opportunities in existing
accounts, turn your focus to new accounts. Selling into new accounts is usually a
longer and more difficult sale, especially if buyers don’t know you or your company
well. Most of these opportunities will be latent in nature.
	 Latent opportunities are those where the buyer is either unaware of a
business need that they should or they are aware but aren’t yet motivated to do
anything about it. Your salespeople will need to move these buyers from a latent
state to an admitted state and motivate them to take action. This approach is very
proactive, and creates a competitive advantage by influencing the buyer’s vision of
a solution to one that favors you and your capabilities.
	 Turning latent opportunities into active opportunities requires a
segmentation strategy. A segmentation strategy can apply either at the account
level in very large accounts or within a territory or portfolio of accounts.   We
recommend creating an ideal account profile and then sorting accounts into three
simple categories: A’s, B’s, and C’s.
•	 “A” Prospects have the highest potential for new business, and should
receive the most personal time and attention. “A” accounts are in a
transition of some sort, or are being impacted by change, enabling you to
create a sense of urgency to act. These should receive the highest priority
for attention. Apply the white space analysis and mapping tool on your “A”
accounts to identify specific opportunities to develop.
•	 “B” Prospects are ones that do not have immediate potential for new
business,butyouhavegoodexistingrelationshipsinplace.Beopportunistic
with “B” accounts by servicing recurring and repeat business as required,
and leverage relationships to expand into new business units to create new
opportunities, if possible. Optional: Apply the white space analysis and
mapping tool on your “B” accounts.
•	 “C” Prospects are accounts that have potential, but awareness is low, for
both the buyer and the seller. You’ll really need to use digital media and
micro-marketing, as opposed to higher-touch methods, to stimulate
interest. The goal is to eventually convert “C” prospects into “A’s”.
QUALIFY OPPORTUNITIES RIGOROUSLY
	 If your sales team is under pressure to achieve a difficult goal in a limited
period of time, the temptation is to try to be everywhere at once and close
everything. The savvy sales leader knows that the best performing sales teams
13
© Sales Performance International, Inc
qualify buyers against their compelling reason to act, and their willingness to share
their problems (“pain”) and to collaborate to find optimum solutions. The best
prospects collaborate and share their timeline and budget expectations. A good
salesleaderisalwaysconfirmingthatbuyersarealignedwithsellersandcollaborative
next steps are identified throughout the buying process.
If you are behind your number, we can help you develop a plan to get you back on
track quickly. Please contact us for a confidential discussion.
14
© Sales Performance International, Inc
WHERE TO DOWNLOAD ASSETS?
01: FREE COACHING PREPARATION TEMPLATE
With This Simple Planning Tool You Can Be Better Prepared To Coach, And
Keep Your Sellers On Track.
http://global.spisales.com/standard-based-coaching
02: FREE GIVE/GET LIST PLANNING TOOL
Use This Handy Planning Tool To Identify Potential Exchanges Of Equal
Value For Use In Final Negotiations.
http://global.spisales.com/avoid-delays
03: FREE COMPETITIVE STRATEGY SELECTOR
Apply The Right Level Of Resources To Every Sales Opportunity, Every
Time - Or Know When To Walk Away With The Competitive Strategy
Selector.
http://global.spisales.com/competitive-strategy
04: FREE OPPORTUNITY REVIEW CHECKLIST
Objectively Determine The Extent And Velocity Of Sales Opportunities
Towards A Win With This Opportunity Review Checklist.
http://global.spisales.com/EOQ-Reviews
05: FREE WHITE SPACE ANALYSIS WORKSHEET
This tool helps you find new sales opportunities by mapping your portfolio
of solutions to a customer’s critical business issues and initiatives, thereby
making a vital connection between your solution and its potential for
solving an urgent problem.
http://global.spisales.com/account-territory-growth
15
© Sales Performance International, Inc
ABOUT SPI
Sales Performance International (SPI) is a global sales performance improvement
firm. We help the world’s leading companies drive predictable revenue and
profitability growth by optimizing sales organization performance.
Founded in 1988, SPI has been the leader in helping global companies apply process
and methodologies to transition from selling products to marketing and selling
high-value, customer-focused solutions.
Our extensive sales performance expertise, deep industry knowledge, global
resources, and verified results uniquely position SPI as the go-to firm for
organizations seeking to gain a competitive edge by how they sell.
SPI has assisted over 1,500,000 sales and management professionals in more
than 55 countries and 15 languages to achieve higher levels of sales effectiveness.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Tim Sullivan is Director of Business Development with Sales
Performance International. He is co-author of The Solution Selling
Fieldbook, and more recently, The Collaborative Sale: Solution
Selling in a Buyer-Driven World.
Steve Smith is a vice president and sales team leader at Sales
Performance International. He has served clients in the sales
performance improvement industry for over 15 years, including
many Fortune 500 organizations, to increase and sustain year-
over-year sales productivity, revenue and earnings growth.
UNITED STATES, HQ
Corporate Headquarters:
6201 Fairview Road Ste 400
Charlotte, North Carolina, USA 28210
+1 704 227 6500
EUROPE
Corporate Village – Figueras Building
Da Vincilaan 11
B-1930 Zaventem, Belgium
+32 2 2525004
UNITED KINGDOM
1st Floor
3 More London Riverside
London, SE1 2RE
+ 44 203 283 4090
GREATER CHINA
Room 1707
East Century Building, No. 345
Xian Xia Road, Chang Ning District,
Shanghai 200336, China
+86 21 3257 7030
CANADA
1200 McGill College
Bureau 1100
Montreal Quebec H3B 4G7
Canada
+1 514 904 0655
info@spisales.com
www.spisales.com
www.solutionsellingblog.com

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SPI Insight: How to Get More From Your Core with High Impact Sales Coaching

  • 1. SPI INSIGHT: HOW TO GET MORE FROM YOUR CORE WITH HIGH IMPACT SALES COACHING
  • 2. 2 © Sales Performance International, Inc TABLE OF CONTENTS HOW TO GET MORE FROM YOUR CORE WITH HIGH IMPACT SALES COACHING 01: COACHING TO STANDARDS OF EXCELLENCE What To Do When Top-Performers Slide Backwards? (Pages 3-4) 02: HOW TO AVOID SALES SLIPPAGE CoachingYourSales Team To Keep It Real And Finish Strong. (Pages 5-6) 03: USING COMPETITIVE STRATEGY TO WIN SALES How The Best Managers Collaborate & Coach ForMore Successful Outcomes. (Pages 7-8) 04: TAKING A HARD LOOK AT “MUST WIN” SALES OPPORTUNITIES How To Coach WhenYou Can’t Afford To Lose. (Page 9-10) 05: LEVERAGING ACCOUNT AND TERRITORY GROWTH REVIEWS TO ENSURE SALES SUCCESS Coaching Beyond The Obvious To Accelerate Revenue Production. (Page 11-13)
  • 3. 3 © Sales Performance International, Inc COACHING TO STANDARDS OF EXCELLENCE WHAT TO DO WHEN TOP-PERFORMERS SLIDE BACKWARDS? By Timothy Sullivan, Director, Sales Performance International As a sales leader, you depend on your team to contribute consistently and predictablytowardsachievementofsalesgoals.Butwhatshouldyoudoifpreviously top-performing sellers on the team start to slide backwards? How do you get them back on track – and keep them there? Inworkingwithourclients,wefindthatmanyfirst-linesalesmanagersdon’t really know what to do when top performers on their team stumble. Most of them feel comfortable when coaching rookies or average performers. However, they aren’t as confident when it comes to coaching an experienced seller with a strong record of success, especially when it’s a high performer who faltered. The reason for this is simple. Most sales managers, especially those new to the position, mistakenly believe that coaching is equivalent to providing good advice that’s based on their own past success and experience. As a result, when working with someone who already has a good sales track record and considerable experience, many sales managers are at a loss about how best to coach a veteran performer. Providing useful advice is certainly a desirable outcome of coaching, but most sales managers need to rethink how they go about doing this. Effective coaching starts first with establishing standards of excellence and coming to an agreement with sellers about what those standards require. Coaching sales behavior against agreed-upon standards enables managers to help each salesperson, regardless of their performance history, come to their own realization of what they can do to improve. There are three steps to standard-based sales coaching: 1. Establish standards for customer engagement If you don’t have agreed-upon expectations for how your salespeople should engage with customers and how your sales managers should engage with their salespeople, then establish those first. We help our clients do this through the development of dynamic, buyer-aligned sales processes, as we described in chapter 7 of our recent book, The Collaborative Sale. Standards for effective sales engagement should include: • Ideal pipeline characteristics – how large and how dynamic should they be? • Ideal customer profile – what do your best customers look like? • The customer buying process(es) – what are their buying preferences? • Aligned seller process steps with verifiable outcomes at each step • Opportunity qualification criteria – when will you walk away from a deal? • Cadence and criteria for sales management inspection 2. Train sales managers to assess and diagnose against your standards With clear standards, your sales managers then have objective criteria against which to assess and diagnose performance issues, regardless of any salesperson’s tenure or experience. By examining each seller’s pipeline 1
  • 4. 4 © Sales Performance International, Inc shape, managers can identify skill, time, and activity management issues. Standards enable your sales managers to proactively identify issues and prescribe corrective action before they grow into big problems. 3. Train sales managers to coach effectively against standards Effective coaching entails observing what happened relative to a standard, knowing why it happened, and then reaching an agreement with the seller on how they can comply better with expectations. If the manager’s diagnosis is based on objective criteria and accurate observations, then a high-performing salesperson will be more open to listening and acting. But good coaching is both a science and an art. While coaching to objective standards is important, there’s also a human side to coaching. It’s important to understand the preferred work style of each seller for the sales manager to coach them effectively. Using an assessment tool, like DISC, can help sales managers better understand their preferred style and how to best align with those in their charge. Too many sales managers rely solely on informal, on-the-spot coaching. The best sales managers also establish a regular cadence for formal review of pipelines and opportunities, and they take the time to prepare for each coaching conversation. We’ve provided a complimentary coaching preparation template to help your managers coach more effectively to your standards of excellence and keep your sales team’s performance on track.
  • 5. 5 © Sales Performance International, Inc HOW TO AVOID SALES SLIPPAGE COACHING YOUR SALES TEAM TO KEEP IT REAL AND FINISH STRONG By Timothy Sullivan, Director, Sales Performance International For nearly all of our clients, the end of every quarter is an important milestone – each with sales goals to meet. As we approach another quarter-end, ensuring that sales opportunities close as expected is critical for every sales leader. How do top-performing sales teams avoid delays in closing sales and minimize slippage of opportunities into the next quarter? As we documented in our recent book, The Collaborative Sale, more organizations are increasing the use of well-trained procurement professionals throughout the entire buying process. A common tactic of procurement managers is to draw negotiations out until the very end of the month, quarter, or year, because buyers know that sellers become increasingly desperate to close business as the clock ticks forward. To avoid delays at the end of the sales cycle, the sales team must be fully equipped to manage a formalized negotiation, not just at the end of a purchase decision, but throughout the entire sales engagement with a buyer. Avoiding closing delays starts by knowing if and when a deal is closeable, as indicated by five indicators: 1. Doesthesalesteamhaveaccesstoandarealignedwiththeindividualswho have the power to buy? If not, the customer is more likely to use multiple rounds of negotiation with different levels within the organization, which could extend the final decision date. 2. Has the customer agreed to the potential payback of this particular purchase? If they have not yet acknowledged the value of what you are offering, that will almost certainly result in a delay. 3. Has the sales team and the customer received all the required approvals, not just from purchasing, but also from legal, technical, administrative, and any other customer groups that need to review the decision? 4. Has the customer and the sales team completed all the required steps for the customer to complete a good evaluation? A good Collaboration Plan will include all of those steps. If your team tries to close before completing the evaluation process, expect push-back from the customer. 5. How long has the customer known about the cost? The final negotiation meeting is not the time to reveal prices. Customers need a reasonable amount of time to socialize and come to consensus on anticipated costs within their organization. In addition to the preceding criteria, it helps to identify a compelling reason to act (CRTA). A CTRA is a time-bound occurrence, beyond which, if a customer fails to make a decision to act, bad consequences will follow. For example, a customer might be launching a new product and may need your capabilities to make the results of this event a success. If you can identify a CRTA, it can go a long way in helping to speed up final negotiations. Even with a clear CRTA, quantifying the cost of delay is a powerful way to emphasize the value of an immediate purchase decision. Every day that goes by is another day that the customer is not receiving that value, which increases the lost opportunity cost. The more quantifiable the value of a solution, the more a customer can be motivated to come to a decision. We have found that a little planning goes a long way in making final 2
  • 6. 6 © Sales Performance International, Inc negotiation discussions much more effective. Even just a few minutes of planning will improve the likelihood of coming to a satisfactory conclusion on schedule. We recommend using a simple tool known as the Get/Give List. It enables sellers to think sensibly about agreements that they might get from the buyer in exchange for concessions. For example, a seller may ask the customer to extend thetermsofbusinessfromoneyeartomultipleyears,oragreetobeareferenceable case study. In exchange, they can offer equivalent value concessions which would be useful to the customer, and not just offer price discounts. Now is the time to review opportunities that are expected to close at the end of this quarter: • Is it really ready to close? Verify the five closing criteria. • Has a CRTA been identified? • Has the cost of delay been calculated – and does the customer agree? • Have “gives and gets” of equivalent value been determined for use in final negotiations? With a little extra diligence and discipline, the sales team can bring in every opportunity they expect to win by the end of the quarter. Remember: hope is not a strategy for success! Make your end-of-quarter negotiations more productive by downloading a free Get/Give List planning tool.
  • 7. 7 © Sales Performance International, Inc USING COMPETITIVE STRATEGY TO WIN SALES HOW THE BEST MANAGERS COLLABORATE & COACH FOR MORE SUCCESSFUL OUTCOMES By Timothy Sullivan, Director, Sales Performance International In the past, we’ve provided a tool (the Successful Sales Formula) to determine the strength of a seller’s position for any given sales opportunity. This tool is a very useful way to see how well a seller is collaborating with buyers in a particular opportunity, and it provides insight about what tactics a seller needs to accomplish in order to win. The Successful Sales Formula can help sellers to select effective tactics in pursuit of an opportunity. But oftentimes, sellers forget that their tactics should be chosen in support of a specific competitive strategy. Without a strategic view of an opportunity, sellers can lose perspective and over-invest time and resources in the wrong deals. Choosing to qualify out of a sales opportunity is one of the most difficult decisionsthat a sellercan make, especially if they are behindon achievingtheir sales goal or if their pipeline is lean. Sales leaders must help sellers to objectively review opportunities and coach them towards the best decisions about where and how to pursue business. In addition to the Successful Sales Formula, application of another valuable tool – the Competitive Strategy Selector – can help sellers to maintain a strategicperspectiveoneachopportunity.Thisperspectiveenablessellerstoknow, with complete confidence, how best to engage their time and resources, and more importantly, when they should walk away. WHAT IS A COMPETITIVE STRATEGY? Many people tell us that they want to “sell strategically,” but they often cannot describe what that means, exactly. A strategy is a framework for objectively determining how to apply resources in order to achieve a desired result. In this case, optimizing the use of sales resources to pursue and win competitive opportunities. If a seller does not have a clear competitive strategy, then they do not really know how to win. They can only guess about how much they should invest, or if it even makes sense to pursue the opportunity in the first place. As Keith Eades described in his book, The New Solution Selling, there are five competitive strategies: • Preemptive – be there first, create a latent opportunity • Head-to-Head – compete directly against another competitive alternative • EndAround–changethebuyer’sweighingofdecisioncriteriatoemphasize your unique differentiators • Divide and Conquer – pursue a fragment of the business where you can provide a high-value solution • Stall – encourage the buyer to delay a decision and wait for a future higher- value solution USING COMPETITIVE STRATEGY In our latest book, The Collaborative Sale, Keith and I explained how using a preemptive strategy to engage with buyers first results in winning business over five times more often than when engaging with buyers later in their decision process. By far, the preemptive strategy is the most effective. 3
  • 8. 8 © Sales Performance International, Inc But most sellers are not able to engage first with every potential buyer, and as a result, they must compete with other vendors and alternative choices (such as an in-house developed solution or choosing to remain with the status quo and do nothing at all). As a result, sellers must select from the remaining competitive strategies to determine the optimal approach and how many resources they should invest in order to win. The Competitive Strategy Selector steps through these choices, starting with Head-to-Head – the default strategy for the majority of sellers but only effective if the seller has a clear advantage – through Stall, which is the last strategy for denying a competitor a win. TheresultofusingtheCompetitiveStrategymaybethatnostrategycanbe appliedsuccessfullytoaparticularopportunity,andtherefore,thebestdecisionisto disengage and qualify out. That decision to walk away is the last choice, but it is also the wisest decision if there is no clear way to win or to deny a win for a competitor. To pursue a sales opportunity without a clear competitive strategy is simply a waste of time and resources. We urge sales leaders to use the Competitive Strategy Selector when reviewing opportunities with their sellers. It will enable sellers to make better decisions about the application of sales resources and most importantly, it will encourage them to make good decisions about using their most valuable resource – their time – on deals where they have the best chance to win. Download the Competitive Strategy Selector and help your team make good decisions about how to engage in sales opportunities – or when to walk away.
  • 9. 9 © Sales Performance International, Inc TAKING A HARD LOOK AT “MUST WIN” SALES OPPORTUNITIES HOW TO COACH WHEN YOU CAN’T AFFORD TO LOSE By Timothy Sullivan, Director, Sales Performance International Many of our clients report that their sales pipelines include a distribution of different opportunity sizes – a mix of small transactions, moderate-sized deals, and a few large strategic opportunities. In some cases, the impact of the large opportunities is extremely significant, as they often make or break achievement of sales goals. These big deals are typically “must win” opportunities and require special care and scrutiny to ensure their successful closure. Towards the end of a year, we are often asked by our clients to help them validate their plans to win strategic opportunities. We follow a structured review process that determines the accurate status of each opportunity and identifies what specific actions must be taken in order to maximize the probability of winning the business. After a thorough review, the odds of winning “must win” deals can be improved significantly – some of our clients report win rates of nearly 90 percent on strategic deals, after conducting formal opportunity reviews. This high win rate is possible for two reasons. First, an objective review reveals what specific actions and resources are required to make it easy for the customer to buy. An opportunity review can uncover aspects of the buyers’ evaluation and decision process that have not been adequately addressed, which puts the entire opportunity at risk. The sales team can focus on those specific actions that make the most difference and not waste time doing things peripheral to enabling the buyer to make a positive decision. Second, an opportunity review presents a realistic picture of the likelihood of securing business in a defined amount of time. In some cases, an opportunity review reveals that a strategic deal is most likely unwinnable in the time remaining before the end of the planned period. This finding is often a bitter medicine to swallow,butitalsomeansthatasalesteamcanfocustheirenergiesonopportunities more likely to close sooner. They can also schedule the opportunity in question in a realistic time frame and set proper expectations for when that business can truly be secured. Trying to rush buyers to buy before they are ready rarely results in a good outcome, for both the buyer and the selling organization. IT TAKES SOME COURAGE To our surprise, we find that some sales leaders are unwilling to conduct opportunity reviews on their “must win” deals. There is far too much wishful thinking in many sales pipelines, especially as the pressure to achieve goals increases as the end of the month, quarter, or year approaches. We sometimes find strategic opportunities in clients’ pipelines that are forecasted to close, with little evidence that they will actually come to fruition in the prescribed period. In too many cases, winning a “must win” deal is based largely on hope, and not on objective facts. It takes some courage to step back and take stock of what is really happening in large opportunities, and then make rational decisions about how to bring them to a successful conclusion, for both the seller and the buyer. How should sales leaders conduct reviews of “must win” business? 1. Start by using the Successful Sales Formula to determine the strength of a potential sale and the degree of alignment with buyers, in order to identify tactics that will move the opportunity towards a win. 4
  • 10. 10 © Sales Performance International, Inc 2. Re-evaluate the available competitive strategy opportunity’s by using the Competitive Strategy Selector to determine if the team is using selling resources in the optimum fashion to win. 3. Evaluate the extent and rate of progress of the opportunity through the buying process. Reviewing the quality of verifiable outcomes – observable customer behaviors at each stage of the buying process which indicate alignment with the seller – shows how far and how quickly a “must win” deal is progressing towards a desirable decision.We’ve prepared a checklistthat helps evaluate the progression of an opportunity, which you can download here. As mentioned previously, we often find a lot of emotion entangled around strategic “must win” opportunities. After all, they are nearly always critical for individual sellers and sales teams to have a good year. For this reason, we recommend using an objective facilitator to guide the sales team through their opportunity reviews and keep them free of subjective influences. This will produce higher quality decisions and optimal plans of action. It’s time to start taking a hard look at the opportunities in the sales pipeline that will make the biggest difference in your team’s success. If you would like to learn more about our review and planning services for opportunities, pipelines, accounts, territories or channels, please contact us for a complimentary consultation. Click here for a copy of the Opportunity Review Checklist.
  • 11. 11 © Sales Performance International, Inc LEVERAGING ACCOUNT AND TERRITORY GROWTH REVIEWS TO ENSURE SALES SUCCESS COACHING BEYOND THE OBVIOUS TO ACCELERATE REVENUE PRODUCTION By Steve Smith, Vice President, Sales Performance International Every quarter, about one-third of sales leaders fall short of their goals, according to recent industry research. If you have ever found yourself in this situation, then you know how uncomfortable your life becomes. If you want to avoid this situation, there are several things you can do to improve the likelihood of attaining your sales objectives. First, look at your average sales cycle times and compare them against the opportunities in your pipeline. Identify the low-hanging fruit that you can win in the near-term and dedicate the right resources to close those opportunities. For example, if your typical sales cycle is 2-3 months for average sized opportunities and 4-6 months or more for larger deals, you can easily determine if there’s enough in your pipeline to make up any missed production in the quarter. If your pipeline is too light, you can expand your current quarter pipeline by: • Closing opportunities slated for future quarters earlier, bringing them into the current quarter • Finding more recurring or repeating business in existing accounts that can be closed this quarter • Selling new offerings into existing accounts this quarter • Closing more new accounts • A combination of the above YOUR FIRST FOCUS We recommend you first focus on your existing accounts. Sales cycles in existing accounts are usually shorter, and you should have more visibility into customers’needsandwhereyoucanaddvalue.Itmayalsobeeasierfromafinancial, legal, and procurement standpoint if contracts and service agreements are already in place. For your high-potential accounts, coach your salespeople to look beyond obviously defined needs and identify undefined needs which you can address. This can be accomplished more easily through a simple exercise called white space analysis. White space analysis enables you to clearly and quickly identify new high- value opportunities in accounts. Download our simplified White Space Analysis Worksheet to get started. This tool helps you find new sales opportunities by mapping your portfolio of solutions to a customer’s critical business issues and initiatives, thereby making a vital connection between your solution and its potential for solving an urgent problem. 5
  • 12. 12 © Sales Performance International, Inc Simplified White Space Analysis DEVELOPING LATENT BUSINESS Once you’ve exhausted the identification of opportunities in existing accounts, turn your focus to new accounts. Selling into new accounts is usually a longer and more difficult sale, especially if buyers don’t know you or your company well. Most of these opportunities will be latent in nature. Latent opportunities are those where the buyer is either unaware of a business need that they should or they are aware but aren’t yet motivated to do anything about it. Your salespeople will need to move these buyers from a latent state to an admitted state and motivate them to take action. This approach is very proactive, and creates a competitive advantage by influencing the buyer’s vision of a solution to one that favors you and your capabilities. Turning latent opportunities into active opportunities requires a segmentation strategy. A segmentation strategy can apply either at the account level in very large accounts or within a territory or portfolio of accounts. We recommend creating an ideal account profile and then sorting accounts into three simple categories: A’s, B’s, and C’s. • “A” Prospects have the highest potential for new business, and should receive the most personal time and attention. “A” accounts are in a transition of some sort, or are being impacted by change, enabling you to create a sense of urgency to act. These should receive the highest priority for attention. Apply the white space analysis and mapping tool on your “A” accounts to identify specific opportunities to develop. • “B” Prospects are ones that do not have immediate potential for new business,butyouhavegoodexistingrelationshipsinplace.Beopportunistic with “B” accounts by servicing recurring and repeat business as required, and leverage relationships to expand into new business units to create new opportunities, if possible. Optional: Apply the white space analysis and mapping tool on your “B” accounts. • “C” Prospects are accounts that have potential, but awareness is low, for both the buyer and the seller. You’ll really need to use digital media and micro-marketing, as opposed to higher-touch methods, to stimulate interest. The goal is to eventually convert “C” prospects into “A’s”. QUALIFY OPPORTUNITIES RIGOROUSLY If your sales team is under pressure to achieve a difficult goal in a limited period of time, the temptation is to try to be everywhere at once and close everything. The savvy sales leader knows that the best performing sales teams
  • 13. 13 © Sales Performance International, Inc qualify buyers against their compelling reason to act, and their willingness to share their problems (“pain”) and to collaborate to find optimum solutions. The best prospects collaborate and share their timeline and budget expectations. A good salesleaderisalwaysconfirmingthatbuyersarealignedwithsellersandcollaborative next steps are identified throughout the buying process. If you are behind your number, we can help you develop a plan to get you back on track quickly. Please contact us for a confidential discussion.
  • 14. 14 © Sales Performance International, Inc WHERE TO DOWNLOAD ASSETS? 01: FREE COACHING PREPARATION TEMPLATE With This Simple Planning Tool You Can Be Better Prepared To Coach, And Keep Your Sellers On Track. http://global.spisales.com/standard-based-coaching 02: FREE GIVE/GET LIST PLANNING TOOL Use This Handy Planning Tool To Identify Potential Exchanges Of Equal Value For Use In Final Negotiations. http://global.spisales.com/avoid-delays 03: FREE COMPETITIVE STRATEGY SELECTOR Apply The Right Level Of Resources To Every Sales Opportunity, Every Time - Or Know When To Walk Away With The Competitive Strategy Selector. http://global.spisales.com/competitive-strategy 04: FREE OPPORTUNITY REVIEW CHECKLIST Objectively Determine The Extent And Velocity Of Sales Opportunities Towards A Win With This Opportunity Review Checklist. http://global.spisales.com/EOQ-Reviews 05: FREE WHITE SPACE ANALYSIS WORKSHEET This tool helps you find new sales opportunities by mapping your portfolio of solutions to a customer’s critical business issues and initiatives, thereby making a vital connection between your solution and its potential for solving an urgent problem. http://global.spisales.com/account-territory-growth
  • 15. 15 © Sales Performance International, Inc ABOUT SPI Sales Performance International (SPI) is a global sales performance improvement firm. We help the world’s leading companies drive predictable revenue and profitability growth by optimizing sales organization performance. Founded in 1988, SPI has been the leader in helping global companies apply process and methodologies to transition from selling products to marketing and selling high-value, customer-focused solutions. Our extensive sales performance expertise, deep industry knowledge, global resources, and verified results uniquely position SPI as the go-to firm for organizations seeking to gain a competitive edge by how they sell. SPI has assisted over 1,500,000 sales and management professionals in more than 55 countries and 15 languages to achieve higher levels of sales effectiveness. ABOUT THE AUTHORS Tim Sullivan is Director of Business Development with Sales Performance International. He is co-author of The Solution Selling Fieldbook, and more recently, The Collaborative Sale: Solution Selling in a Buyer-Driven World. Steve Smith is a vice president and sales team leader at Sales Performance International. He has served clients in the sales performance improvement industry for over 15 years, including many Fortune 500 organizations, to increase and sustain year- over-year sales productivity, revenue and earnings growth.
  • 16. UNITED STATES, HQ Corporate Headquarters: 6201 Fairview Road Ste 400 Charlotte, North Carolina, USA 28210 +1 704 227 6500 EUROPE Corporate Village – Figueras Building Da Vincilaan 11 B-1930 Zaventem, Belgium +32 2 2525004 UNITED KINGDOM 1st Floor 3 More London Riverside London, SE1 2RE + 44 203 283 4090 GREATER CHINA Room 1707 East Century Building, No. 345 Xian Xia Road, Chang Ning District, Shanghai 200336, China +86 21 3257 7030 CANADA 1200 McGill College Bureau 1100 Montreal Quebec H3B 4G7 Canada +1 514 904 0655 info@spisales.com www.spisales.com www.solutionsellingblog.com