The Value Prop Sales Acceleration Program Mastering the 20 Pivotal Sales Conversations that Advance and Close More Sales Your sales team is the critical path of your B2B marketing success. Equip your sales professionals with a powerful set of specific prospect interaction skills and tools to maximize their impact and close more deals! Value Prop Interactive The Marketing System for Growing Companies
Overview About The Program Effective B2B sales professionals know how to get prospects and customers in the room, but don t always follow a consistent process for what comes next: the actual sales conversation. Companies can create great marketing and lead-gen programs, but only direct salespeople can convert those leads to sales. Even a heavy investment in marketing support will fail to deliver results if the last mile in messaging your sales reps inconsistently handle the pivotal conversations that advance and close sales. Outcomes: Sales Teams will internalize a Framework to: Rapidly understand the true prospect situation; Uncover the real issues a customer has in making a decision; Answer objections to frame your offering in positive ways; Focus proposals to the sweet spot in a decision maker s thinking; Engage in business dialogue that moves the ball forward; Communicate true decision status to sales management Bottom line: advance and close more opportunites more consistently than ever before. The Sales Acceleration Program explores key questions, such as:» What approaches do our best sales professionals actually use to close deals?» Is our sales force prepared with a powerful overall conversation strategy?» How can we most effectively advance opporunities to a decision point? Teams will examine the logic behind sales conversations, and focus on developing five practical and persuasive Pivotal Conversation Tracks. Together, you will create powerful conversation management strategies for your real-world sales situations. With the help of Value Prop, we have been able to extend our leadership in the national healthcare graphics and multimedia arena. Quite simply, they have proven invaluable in helping Creative MediaWorks improve our sales effectiveness and marketing consistency. Richard Van Fleet, President, Creative Media Works This program is designed for companies looking to augment their current sales process, and continually improve their sales results. 2 2012 Value Prop Interactive 645 Swedesford Road, Malvern, PA 19355 877-848-4122 www.valueprop.com
Structure Program Components The Sales Acceleration Program is designed around the following elements: The Pivotal Conversations Skills Workshop: A one and a half day interactive workshop, where sales professionals bring a specific client Case to refine and model.» 20/80 Best Practice Transference Model» Conversational Scenario Planning» Bridging the Gap Role Playing Exercises» Workbook and Journal» Field Quick Reference Tool» Online Opportunity Assessment Pivotal Conversation Managers Workshop: A connected halfday interactive workshop where managers learn and apply the 20/80 Best Practice Transference Model, Conversational Scenario Planning, and how to leverage Bridging the Gap Role Playing Follow-Up Exercises.» Manager s Workbook and Journal» Field Quick Reference Tool» Online Opportunity Assessment Pivotal Conversations Skills Reinforcement Content» Day 14 Interactive Webinar: Specific Case Diagramming» Day 30 Interactive Webinar: Specific Case Diagramming» Day 60 Interactive Webinar: Specific Case Diagramming» Monthly Client-Only Method Webinar Series (1 year) Opportunity Assessment Tool: A special online assessment that can quickly and accurately reveal where you stand in any given opportunity. Benefits for Reps Sales Impact Shorten sales cycles and increase close rates. Credibility Rapidly increase credibility with prospects and existing clients. Forecast Accuracy Reps who use the Framework will be able to maximize the accuracy of their forecasts. Unified Messaging The Conversation Framework builds a unified company messaging front from Marketing to Sales. Time Management Quickly identify which opportunities require additional, strategic investment of time and effort. Ongoing Coaching Options for Sales Professionals and Managers include 6 Month Coaching Packages for monthly one-hour coaching sessions deep dive into specific opportunities and skill development. The Sales Acceleration Program is a multi-faceted program designed to deliver a foundational and sticky training and development experience for long term results. 3 2012 Value Prop Interactive 645 Swedesford Road, Malvern, PA 19355 877-848-4122 www.valueprop.com
Alignment It s All About Alignment Every day, your sales teams map critical connections between your offering and specific sales situations. Effective selling requires that sales professionals create alignment in five critical areas in order to be able to advance and close opportunities. A new prospect is always doubtful or concerned when meeting a new vendor. Even if you ve already done business with a given organization, a new buying center is still stuck in the five doubts until resolved by a salesperson carefully managing the Pivotal Conversations: The Five Doubts:» Why should I deal with you?» How will your offering affect us financially?» How will we manage and absorb your offering?» How does your offering compare to my alternatives?» How can I safely step into your offering? Pivotal Conversations are logical tracks for conversations you engage in to close any one deal. Pivotal Conversations anticipate the areas of concern that prospects will require you to address. What will I have to prove for this customer to be comfortable with our offering? At the beginning of a specific sales campaign, you establish your company s credentials within your target market, as evidenced by years in that industry, specific expertise, or client references. In a complex sale, you will ascertain your prospect s strategic direction and call out how your firm s direction is consistent with theirs. A seasoned sales rep will think about how to articulate his or her solution as making great business sense for his or her prospect. This natural flow is the essence of the Business Alignment Track, the first of five Pivotal Conversation Tracks: The Doubtful Buyer is uncertain and unsure about a new offering or new vendor. They cannot make a purchase decision while concerned about pivotal issues. The Confident Buyer is certain and sure about a new offering or new vendor. They can make a purchase decision, because pivotal issues are clearly addressed. nd» Business Alignment Track» Financial Alignment Track» Technical Alignment Track» Competitive Alignment Track» Decision Process Alignment Track 4 2012 Value Prop Interactive 645 Swedesford Road, Malvern, PA 19355 877-848-4122 www.valueprop.com
Five Tracks The Pivotal Conversations The twenty Pivotal Conversation Dimensions are organized into five Conversation Tracks. Pivotal Conversations resolve the specific buyer concerns that make or break deals. I believe that you are fundamentally aligned with our best interests. I understand how your offering benefits us financially. I understand how your offering fits our organization and people. I believe your offering is better for us than the alternatives. I feel we can proceed with your offering with confidence. Business Alignment Track: considers your prospect s mission and the issues and processes they are trying to resolve, enhance, or enable. The Business Alignment Track establishes the overall business logic behind choosing your solution or product. This Track centers on concepts such as mission, vision, and what comprises the client s biggest win. These conversations may seem mostly C-suite in nature, but are actually themes that should be addressed at all levels. Financial Alignment Track: analyzes a prospect s financial targets, thresholds, and expectations for purchases. This is a dialogue that gets to the heart of why it is good business to select your offering. While senior executives and the CFO may be the primary point of contact on this dimension, any budget-focused manager will want to engage in discussing the financial impact of your offering. Technical Alignment Track: takes into account your prospect s ability to take advantage of your offering. It is customer-centered and focuses on how they will evaluate your offering s capabilities in several technical dimensions. This is where you would explore issues such as personnel, legacy systems and processes, facilities, and ease of integration. Competitive Alignment Track: examines the strengths and weaknesses of your specific offering against your competitors. It reveals an understanding of the landscape of options your customer is considering. Preparing for this Alignment Track gives you an opportunity to frame the discussion your prospect is already having internally. Decision Alignment Track: defines how a selling organization works with clients to enable them to make informed decisions regarding the solution or product they are considering. This track looks at your prospect s highest value requirement, assurance of fulfillment and considers how your offering either reduces or increases different risk dimensions. 5 2012 Value Prop Interactive 645 Swedesford Road, Malvern, PA 19355 877-848-4122 www.valueprop.com
About Value Prop Interactive Value Prop Interactive delivers high-performance marketing and sales acceleration methods designed for sales teams, marketing teams, entrepreneurs, and business owners looking for strategic growth. Our Clients Include: The Value Prop Method starts with the creation of a sharp and powerful value proposition and then builds a real-world execution program around it end to end, from strategy to specific sales conversations. The Value Prop Method is delivered through hands-on workshops, customized training, coaching, and consulting, and has delivered successful outcomes for a wide range of companies from enterprise-class companies to smaller, privately-held companies. Value Prop Interactive gives growing companies the sales and marketing edge they need to win in crowded and competitive markets. About Jose Palomino: Founder & CEO Jose Palomino has over 25 years of leadership experience, with a track record of success working with business owners, mid-market CEOs, and Fortune 1000 sales and marketing teams who want to go-to-market with greater consistency, speed, and impact.» Proven strategist, dealmaker, and presenter working with industry leaders such as SAP, Day & Zimmerman, Goldman Sachs, and IBM.» His advice has been featured in top business blogs and journals, including Bloomberg BusinessWeek.» Author of the book Value Prop: Create Powerful I 3 Value Propositions to Enter and Win New Markets.» Villanova University Adjunct Professor, teaching graduate courses in Selling to the C-Suite, Social Media Strategy, and Entrepreneurial Marketing.» Vistage International Resource Speaker. 6 2012 Value Prop Interactive 645 Swedesford Road, Malvern, PA 19355 877-848-4122 www.valueprop.com