Achieve Sales Excellence

Why did I choose this resource?

I chose this resource to learn the challenges of selling to business-to-business customers and how to overcome those challenges.

What did you learn from it?

I learned why it is hard to sell to business-to-business customers and the rules to be successful. I also learned what makes a sales organization first-class.

Key Knowledge

• The “Sales Effectiveness Gap”
  • Between 1992 and 2002 80,000 business customers were surveyed and this demographic had an exceptionally low opinions of sales people.
  • In a survey of 7,200 sales forces in 15 industries, business customers rated only .003%, or fewer than 20 as “world-class.”
• Beating the Competition
  • How customers make their decision:
    • “Salesperson effectiveness” – 39%
    • “Total solution” – 22%
    • “Quality of offering” – 21%
    • “Price” – 18%
  • The sales person makes or breaks the sale!
• Foundational Rules of Professional Competence
  • Rule 1 – Results are your responsibility
  • Rule 2 – Understand Your Customers’ Business
  • Rule 3 – Advocate for Your Customers
• Advanced Rules of Sales Excellence
  • Rule 4 – Explain the Application of Your Product
  • Rule 5 – Stay in Touch
  • Rule 6 – Solve Customers’ Problems
  • Rule 7 – Be Creative
• World-Class Sales Organizations
  • Evaluating salespeople and their companies, products, and services.
    • What drives the company culture?
    • How does the company segment its market?
    • How efficiently does the company adapt to market changes?
    • How are customers served by the company’s IT initiatives?
    • How evolved are the company’s sales, services, and technical support systems?
    • How does the company solicit customer feedback and measure customer satisfaction?
    • How does the company recruit and select salespeople?
    • How does the company train and develop its sales force?

How are you using what you learned?

I am using what I learned to develop a sales approach for business-to-business customers.

Key Changes / Key Actions

• Review our leads and prospects to identify a business-to-business customer.
• Create a process and training program for selling to business-to-business customers.

Source

• Name : Achieve Sales Excellence
• Author : Howard Stevens and Theodore Kinni
• getAbstract.com: Link to Book