SALES TALENT MANAGEMENT: Putting Everyone On The Sales Team
Industry:
Financial Services: Separately Managed Accounts
Objectives:
Leverage individual development, meaningful messaging and firm-wide relationship management to attract financial professionals to firm’s managed accounts platform. Goal was to achieve ease of use in working with the system as well as leverage professional development to facilitate greater asset conversion.
Approach:
Built sales talent management system to equip senior distribution team to manage all human capital interfacing with financial professionals. Created one day talent management seminar for senior leaders to kick off year-long curriculum focused on Opportunity & Time Management, FA Profiling, Relationship Management and Closing Skills. Created overall development framework while creating messaging for leadership as complement to go-to-market strategy.
Results:
In 7 months, achieved 190% of gross, 150% of net sales goal while growing employee satisfaction from 38% to 73% during same period. |
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SALES COACHING: Helping The Best Get Better
Industry:
Financial Services: Retirement and Investments
Objectives:
Enhance the selling skills of Vice President while preparing participant for broader management responsibility in the organization.
Approach:
Sales Coaching: Created an analysis tool to profile ideal prospects and clarify key decision criteria at targeted accounts. Used Myers-Briggs and David McClelland's Theory of Motivation tools to classify relationships and buying orientations of key players in benefits procurement. Mapped buyer decision criteria to create concrete contact strategies and provide role clarity for the support organization.
Results:
Participant's win/loss ratio improved by over 20%, while personal productivity as measured by sales compensation grew 50%. Candidate progressed to number 1 salesperson in 16 months and was promoted to Managing Director 6 months later. |
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PROSPECTING: Cutting Through The Clutter With Advisors
Industry:
Financial Services: Mutual Fund Distribution
Objectives:
Prepare internal wholesaling desk of top tier asset manager to proactively engage Financial Professionals in seeking creative solutions to clients’ investment needs. Give reps confidence to proactively place calls to advisors in a way that stimulates interest and confirms need.
Approach:
Introduced ProDirect branded sales process with focus on prospecting. Trained over 50 wholesalers in Never Make a Cold Call Again™ curriculum with focus on prospect profiling and sales messaging.
Results:
Achieved 80% hit ratio on outbound calls in first week after training with new ProDirect elevator pitch and calling disciplines. |
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SALES COACHING: Meaning More To The Market
Industry:
Professional Services: Audit and Tax
Objectives:
Coached head of Business Development Center of big 4 audit firm. Goal was to achieve greater client penetration across Mid Atlantic Region through re-energized sales and marketing staff. Adopt engagement style that would yield greater participation in business development activities from regional Partners.
Approach:
Create coaching program following ProDirect's 5-step process of needs contracting, assessment, development planning, coaching and reentry. Focus areas included team talent management, stakeholder analysis and reorganization planning.
Results:
Achieved team talent goals within revised organizational structure. Promoted to Chief of Staff to the Chairman 11 months later. |
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SALES TRAINING: Creating The Solution Sale
Industry:
Industrial Electrical Components – Radio Frequency & Cable Connectivity
Objectives:
Develop a vehicle for rallying the entire organization around customers in a different way. Engage sales, service, engineering and manufacturing around a consistent message and approach to customers.
Approach:
Worked with President and CFO to engage sales management team and 50- member sales force to penetrate accounts more deeply. Created solution selling methodology to get reps away form selling products in the catalog to generating custom response to custom assembly solutions for customers in the Global 2000.
Results:
Sales team doubled sales units in 7 months while winning 22% more competitive bids against firm’s most formidable competitors. |
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SALES EXECUTIVE COACHING: Getting "Board Room Certified"
Industry:
Business to Business: Corporate Car Rental
Objectives:
Support SVP of sales in effort to rally organization and clients around new product and service capability in a highly competitive, low margin business.
Approach:
Worked with SVP of Corporate Sales to build new market-specific product from the ground up. Plan covered all aspects of team selection, market analysis, pricing, marketing and launch execution.
Results:
Sales team created product framework with senior management’s blessing in less that two business days. |
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CHANNEL SALES: Creating Greater Third Party Alignment
Industry:
Offshore Outsourcing - India
Objectives:
Refine and execute offshore outsourcing model to connect buyers and sellers of outsourced front and back office operations (Customer Care, Transcription Services, Data Entry, Payables/Receivables, and Archive Digitization). Secure vendor relationships with premier providers while recruiting US companies as offshore outsourcing clients.
Approach:
Sales Process/Segmentation: Worked with CEO to align offshore vendor network by selling strength of the US appetite for outsourced services. Traveled to Asia to qualify vendor network and gain buy-in for commission structure. Created segmentation strategy, prospecting script, contact management system, and overall sales process to penetrate established US buyers of business services. Secured and attended key sales meetings with US buyers.
Results:
Achieved 100% hit rate on vendor agreements with all targeted solution providers. Set key meetings with over 50 US buyers to sell offshore outsourcing concept and established visibility at key trade shows and conferences. Business model expanded from India to Thailand in just 1 year. |
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SALES ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT: Process As Product
Industry:
Software/Internet
Objectives:
Created and implemented a sales architecture for newly promoted VP of Sales. Goal was to help candidate assess sales talent pool, install a pipeline reporting process, build a higher level of sales coaching skill, and implement daily prospecting and time management disciplines.
Approach:
Branded Sales Process: Developed a turnkey "selling system" for managing performance while simultaneously focusing on individual skill development. Set performance standards in step with personalized development plans for each salesperson. Developed tailored "elevator pitch" to boost prospecting activity. Trained salespeople to consultatively explore needs in complex sales situations and to better manage account portfolios with the help of a defined sales process.
Results:
Sales force doubled pipeline entries by nearly 50% in two months. Dollar value of actual pipeline opportunities increased by 20% during same period. |
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Creating A Sales Foundation
Industry:
Interactive Marketing
Objectives:
Create a go-to-market strategy for selling conceptual Web-based marketing programs to fashion marketers and advertisers. Craft new "elevator pitch" and "selling system" as part of reliable process for reaching senior decision makers in fast-paced fashion-related industries.
Approach:
Prospecting: Created unique sales and marketing message that spoke more closely to the results of the client's broadband marketing application. Trained CEO, CFO and sales team to uncover customer needs and tailor on-line fashion marketing solutions to meet them. Conducted weekly training sessions and coached salespeople one-on-one in the field. Leveraged information gathered in customer meetings to advance sales situations and write winning proposals. Developed and branded the company’s follow-up strategy and installed a CRM solution to capture incremental sales opportunities.
Results:
The average value of a transaction grew from $10,000 to over $80,000 in just 6 months. Salespeople increased their sales calls per week from 2 to 5.7 during the same period. More than 30% of the firm's revenue now comes from repeat business. |
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CLIENT LIST
American Century Investments
American Hospital Association
American Water
Ameriprise Financial
AOL
AvisBudget Group
Bank of America
Boehringer-Ingelheim
Boston Scientific
Citigroup
Deloitte
Ernst and Young
Exopack
Fallon Community Health Plan
Financial Executives International
Fitch Ratings
Huber + Suhner
IDT
JDRF
L’Oreal
Legg Mason
Lenox
Medpointe
Merrill Lynch
Montblanc
Pfizer
Prudential Financial
RCI
SAS
South Star Funding
Spectra Marketing
Structuretone
Stryker Spine
The Boston Consulting Group
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co.
Tyco Healthcare
UBS
US Technologies
Waterworks
Wyndham Worldwide |
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