These resources may include technical or other specialists from the salesperson's own company, or similar resources that are employed by suppliers or channel partners.

If salespeople have access to product/service experts, why should they spend time learning technical details? Instead, why don't they laser-focus their learning on how to find and qualify opportunities?

Your company can facilitate this kind of focused learning by redesigning product and service training curriculums to address the following topics:

• Product/Solution/Service Overview: What does the product or service do (in plain English)?
  
  
• Differentiation: W
  Video Shop for Sales Success
  A national home builder needed to be sure his model home sales reps were taking prospects out into the community to show inventory homes and site lots. Some reps preferred to stay in the air conditioned model office, and merely give prospective home buyers a map or point them in the general direction - losing the opportunity to turn prospects into buyers.The sales manager had a list of sales steps the reps should follow, so the reps knew what was expected of them. The builder told the reps they would be "mystery shopped" periodically, and all reps had signed an agreement to be shopped as part of their empl
  Maximizing account penetration is one of the most critical functions in sales. Why? The depth of account penetration has an enormous impact on revenues and profitability.

  Think about it – if every one of your company’s salespeople sold every product and service in their portfolio to every business unit, department, and division of every account, what kind of number would they produce? Something huge, right?

  From a sales management perspective, few things are more frustrating than having a bunch of “one trick ponies” on a sales team. These are salespeople that have developed a comfort level with one product or service, and that product or service makes up 80% to 100% of their sales.

  I used to work for a computer distributor that had numerous salespeople that fit this mold. They would congratulate themselves for selling servers to an account, completely oblivious to the fact that the very same account was also buying storage, networking equipment, software, and professional services. The distributor’s salespeople only scratched the surface of the total available opportunity in most accounts.

  Here is a second huge frustration for sales managers and executives -- salespeople that don’t produce “traction” with new products and services.

  When your company introduces a new product or service, you make a pretty sizeable investment to train your salespeople to sell the new product or service, right? Doesn’t it drive you crazy when only a fraction of your salespeople actually sell the new product or service? The return on your sales training investment stinks, and your company never sees the revenue boost it expected to receive from the new product or service.

  Why do I bring up lack of account penetration and lack of sales traction for new products and services in the same article? Because the same problem is often at the root of both issues! That problem is an excessive focus on technical details.

  Many managers and salespeople believe that salespeople need to become experts in order to sell a product or service effectively. To develop this understanding, companies invest enormous amounts of time and money in exhaustive training to educate salespeople on product features and benefits, performance characteristics, industry information, pricing guidelines, promotional activities, available collateral material, etc.

  Unfortunately, when salespeople leave these training sessions, they often have no idea how to find or qualify opportunities for the product or service they were just "trained” to sell! This leaves the salespeople frustrated, as they feel the time spent in training was wasted. Management is equally frustrated with their sales team's inability to gain traction with new products and services, and their inability to learn to sell their company's entire portfolio of products and services.

  This mutual frustration results from a lack of recognition of one very important fact:

  When a salesperson identifies a qualified opportunity, there is usually no shortage of knowledgeable resources that can assist the salesperson with converting the opportunity into a sale.

  These resources may include technical or other specialists from the salesperson's own company, or similar resources that are employed by suppliers or channel partners.

  If salespeople have access to product/service experts, why should they spend time learning technical details? Instead, why don't they laser-focus their learning on how to find and qualify opportunities?

  Your company can facilitate this kind of focused learning by redesigning product and service training curriculums to address the following topics:

  • Product/Solution/Service Overview: What does the product or service do (in plain English)?
    
    
  • Differentiation: Wh
    How to Leverage Your Influence
    Why do we get into sales? Typically it is two reasons for most people. One is to make money, and the other is often that we like working with other people. Yes, there are good reasons to be in sales. To be highly effective and win on a consistent basis, we must remember that sales is a team effort. Its great to have a big ego (of course you would here this from me). A big ego will carry you far. A big ego is also a strong ego in my world. A strong ego is someone who knows when and how to put him or herself aside, and bring whole team along. There are two sales then that we must constantly win to
    d numerous salespeople that fit this mold. They would congratulate themselves for selling servers to an account, completely oblivious to the fact that the very same account was also buying storage, networking equipment, software, and professional services. The distributor’s salespeople only scratched the surface of the total available opportunity in most accounts.

    Here is a second huge frustration for sales managers and executives -- salespeople that don’t produce “traction” with new products and services.

    When your company introduces a new product or service, you make a pretty sizeable investment to train your salespeople to sell the new product or service, right? Doesn’t it drive you crazy when only a fraction of your salespeople actually sell the new product or service? The return on your sales training investment stinks, and your company never sees the revenue boost it expected to receive from the new product or service.

    Why do I bring up lack of account penetration and lack of sales traction for new products and services in the same article? Because the same problem is often at the root of both issues! That problem is an excessive focus on technical details.

    Many managers and salespeople believe that salespeople need to become experts in order to sell a product or service effectively. To develop this understanding, companies invest enormous amounts of time and money in exhaustive training to educate salespeople on product features and benefits, performance characteristics, industry information, pricing guidelines, promotional activities, available collateral material, etc.

    Unfortunately, when salespeople leave these training sessions, they often have no idea how to find or qualify opportunities for the product or service they were just "trained” to sell! This leaves the salespeople frustrated, as they feel the time spent in training was wasted. Management is equally frustrated with their sales team's inability to gain traction with new products and services, and their inability to learn to sell their company's entire portfolio of products and services.

    This mutual frustration results from a lack of recognition of one very important fact:

    When a salesperson identifies a qualified opportunity, there is usually no shortage of knowledgeable resources that can assist the salesperson with converting the opportunity into a sale.

    These resources may include technical or other specialists from the salesperson's own company, or similar resources that are employed by suppliers or channel partners.

    If salespeople have access to product/service experts, why should they spend time learning technical details? Instead, why don't they laser-focus their learning on how to find and qualify opportunities?

    Your company can facilitate this kind of focused learning by redesigning product and service training curriculums to address the following topics:

    • Product/Solution/Service Overview: What does the product or service do (in plain English)?
      
      
    • Differentiation: W
      The Perfect Embroidery
      What makes a perfect embroidered product? Have you ever noticed an embroidered logo or sewn garment? Did it strike you as being a quality produced product, or one that looked like it was mass produced and sewn in a “cheap” fashion?Nearly 10 years ago I founded my Denver based embroidery company with only one thing in mind - Perfect Products. Finished products that people would notice and want to wear or display. Since then, our business has grown 1000 fold. And we have always kept to our motto of “perfect products, guaranteed quality, satisfied customers”.But what makes a quality, embroidered produc
      service? The return on your sales training investment stinks, and your company never sees the revenue boost it expected to receive from the new product or service.

      Why do I bring up lack of account penetration and lack of sales traction for new products and services in the same article? Because the same problem is often at the root of both issues! That problem is an excessive focus on technical details.

      Many managers and salespeople believe that salespeople need to become experts in order to sell a product or service effectively. To develop this understanding, companies invest enormous amounts of time and money in exhaustive training to educate salespeople on product features and benefits, performance characteristics, industry information, pricing guidelines, promotional activities, available collateral material, etc.

      Unfortunately, when salespeople leave these training sessions, they often have no idea how to find or qualify opportunities for the product or service they were just "trained” to sell! This leaves the salespeople frustrated, as they feel the time spent in training was wasted. Management is equally frustrated with their sales team's inability to gain traction with new products and services, and their inability to learn to sell their company's entire portfolio of products and services.

      This mutual frustration results from a lack of recognition of one very important fact:

      When a salesperson identifies a qualified opportunity, there is usually no shortage of knowledgeable resources that can assist the salesperson with converting the opportunity into a sale.

      These resources may include technical or other specialists from the salesperson's own company, or similar resources that are employed by suppliers or channel partners.

      If salespeople have access to product/service experts, why should they spend time learning technical details? Instead, why don't they laser-focus their learning on how to find and qualify opportunities?

      Your company can facilitate this kind of focused learning by redesigning product and service training curriculums to address the following topics:

      • Product/Solution/Service Overview: What does the product or service do (in plain English)?
        
        
      • Differentiation: W
        Marketing: The Value of Your Own Experience
        Bill Gates, Founder of Microsoft "Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning."Years ago, when I was in graduate school, I enrolled in a course titled, "Services Marketing." Among other things, my professor required that we document three positive and/or negative customer experiences we had each week to share with the class.We were asked to include the following:1. Describe what happened.2. How did this make you feel?3a. What should they have done to make your experience better?or3b. What did they do that exceeded your expectations?At f
        es, promotional activities, available collateral material, etc.

        Unfortunately, when salespeople leave these training sessions, they often have no idea how to find or qualify opportunities for the product or service they were just "trained” to sell! This leaves the salespeople frustrated, as they feel the time spent in training was wasted. Management is equally frustrated with their sales team's inability to gain traction with new products and services, and their inability to learn to sell their company's entire portfolio of products and services.

        This mutual frustration results from a lack of recognition of one very important fact:

        When a salesperson identifies a qualified opportunity, there is usually no shortage of knowledgeable resources that can assist the salesperson with converting the opportunity into a sale.

        These resources may include technical or other specialists from the salesperson's own company, or similar resources that are employed by suppliers or channel partners.

        If salespeople have access to product/service experts, why should they spend time learning technical details? Instead, why don't they laser-focus their learning on how to find and qualify opportunities?

        Your company can facilitate this kind of focused learning by redesigning product and service training curriculums to address the following topics:

        • Product/Solution/Service Overview: What does the product or service do (in plain English)?
          
          
        • Differentiation: W
          Costly Web Copy Pitfalls
          One secret to a site that sells: Look at your site from your customer’s perspective. Another secret: Watch out for these common web copy pitfalls.Welcome to…nothingLook at your site’s web copy. Does it begin with “Welcome to…?” If so, get rid of it. It means nothing. It doesn’t speak to your customers. It’s just a waste of your customers’ time and space. Rather than the worn out phrase, “Welcome to…” try a statement that captures the essence of your company, explaining it in terms that’ll benefit your customers. Instead of “Welcome to Crazy Dave’s CD Emporium,” try “Crazy Dave’s CD Emporium, where y
          t can assist the salesperson with converting the opportunity into a sale.

          These resources may include technical or other specialists from the salesperson's own company, or similar resources that are employed by suppliers or channel partners.

          If salespeople have access to product/service experts, why should they spend time learning technical details? Instead, why don't they laser-focus their learning on how to find and qualify opportunities?

          Your company can facilitate this kind of focused learning by redesigning product and service training curriculums to address the following topics:

          • Product/Solution/Service Overview: What does the product or service do (in plain English)?
            
            
          • Differentiation: What are a few key differences between this product or service and competitive products or services?
            
            
          • Business Problems: What business problems does the product or service solve?
            
            
          • Qualifying Questions: What questions should salespeople ask to determine whether a prospect or customer has the business problems that the product or service can solve, and to quantify the impact of these business problems?
            
            
          • Expert Resources: What expert resources are available to help salespeople manage technical details?
          If your salespeople have access to product/service experts, you can turn them into prospecting and qualifying machines by focusing your company’s product/service training curriculums on how to find and qualify opportunities. This strategy will help your organization maximize account penetration and jump-start sales for new products and services.

          Copyright 2005 -- Alan Rigg