STOP DELIVERING PRODUCT TRAINING AND START DELIVERING PRODUCT SALES TRAINING

5th Annual ISA Management Division

Marketing & Sales Summit

Why Product Training Isn’t Successful

Our sales people can’t sell solutions!

Our sales people just push products.

Our sales people are lazy. They never seem to actually study the new products/services properly. How can they expect to sell them?

I don’t go to product training anymore. They are a waste of time.

What I want is to understand how to sell it, not be a developer/applications engineer.

They don’t give me what I actually want.

Marketers say Salespeople say

Three Keys to Product Sales Training

Support the Sales CycleThink like a salesperson

Eliminate the “Leap of Faith”Prove the value

Provide Situational AccessMake it easy

Support the Sales Cycle

The Sales CycleThink Like A Salesperson

Needs

Goals

CompetitionContacts

Obstacles &Solutions

Product Sales Training

360 Opportunity Management

Value Principles

Beating the Price Tra

p

Competitive Sellin

g

Why of the Buy &

V3 Personal Value Propositi

on

Review 360

Opportunity Management

Needs

Plan to meet the customer’s stated or implied needs with transactional value

•Needs are the stated or implied “transactional” requirements of the customer• Product specifications or performance expectations, pricing,

vendor interactions, support, terms and conditions, warranties, delivery …

•The necessary “Ticket to Play”

•Requires a clear presentation of “transactional” Value Propositions which meet or exceed stated needs or outweigh shortcomings

•Message delivery to the Target Contact(s) who is most responsible for assuring needs are met.

Goals

Prepare to address the customer’s Performance Goals with Relationship and Business Impact Value•Performance Goals are results the customer will experience as a result of the vendor relationship• Stated or unstated, may or may not be recognized or anticipated,

or be defined as purchase criteria. Goals can be measureable business impacts like $$ saved or earned, efficiencies, competiveness … or relationship value like trust, loyalty, prestige …

•The job of the sales rep is to uncover customer goals and define potential “impact” connections between him/herself, his/her company and the customer: Value Proposition

•Requires a clear presentation of “Business Impact” Value Propositions with message delivery to the Target Contact(s) most responsible for assuring goals are met.

Competition

Find a Competitive position of strength•Understand the competitors True Value Proposition as perceived by the customer … not your opinion of the competitor’s strengths and weaknesses • What is valued about the current vendor by the company ( the

reason for doing business with them)? What are the Competitive Value Propositions (CVP) of each competitor? BLOCKS

•Define you “Offsets” • What are your value propositions (Transactional, Relationship or

Business Impact) which will effectively “offset” each of the CVP’s? COUNTERS

•Rate the Competitor Transactional, Relationship or Business Impact

•Identify the Competitor’s Power Advocates (CPA)

•Make the “Go /No Go” Assessment

Contacts

Connect to Individual Buyer Requirements & Personal Wants

•Identify Buying Contacts – from Needs evaluation, Goals identification and Competitive Power Advocate’s analysis

•Define Buyer Roles – Approver, Decision Maker/Final Recommender, High or Low Influencer, or Observer?

•Evaluate “SOA” Is each contact Supporter, Open or Against?

•Complete a “Development Plan” for each Contact

•Evaluate Your Position – Go/No Go Decision

Obstacles & Solutions

Find Solutions to Critical Obstacles•Identify the Obstacles• Customer history and previous satisfaction/dissatisfaction• Geographic limitations impacting account contact, service,

response, deliveries• Long-term vendor personnel personal relationships• Product competiveness and pricing• Terms and Conditions• And many others …

•Define Criticality

•Create Solutions

•Identify Needed Resources

•Evaluate Your Position – Go/No Go

360 opportunity Management

Value Principles

Beating the Price Tra

p

Competitive Sellin

g

Why of the Buy &

V3 Personal Value Propositi

on

Review 360

Opportunity Management

Eliminate the “Leap of Faith”

Eliminate the “Leap of Faith”Prove the Value

21st Century Product Sales Training

Workshop

What makes my product valuable?

Who

Gather Your Product Sales Training Data

The Answers Market Wealth Features, Benefits &

Value Analysis Competitive Analysis Contact Analysis Proof Index Support Directory How it Works 10 Questions

Three Questions1. What makes my

Product Valuable?2. Who will most likely

find it valuable?3. How do we tell the

story so that customers will understand, believe and value my product?

Market Wealth

Write a Paragraph that describes in general terms the market for which this product is intended. What product is serving it now? Why is this product a good/better fit? What is the problem this product solves, etc.?

 

  Write a Paragraph that defines the size of the market. What is the total

market size? How many units would we have to sell to be successful? What is our market penetration goal? Is there a dynamic in the market that makes this a good time for our product? Etc.

 

  Now be much more specific. Define the exact profile of the customers

most likely to purchase the product. If the market is Power Generation the specifics might be coal fired plants with GE generators installed in the 60’s.

 

  Describe the specific applications/problems that the product addresses.

Include why the product is a good fit.

Features, Benefits & Value Analysis

What Provide a clear description of the feature you plan to discuss and the problem it is meant to solve.

Proof Reference any and all sources of Proof to support the Value created by this Feature.

How & Why So What What Next

This is an important writing assignment. You must explain logically – step-by step exactly how and why the feature stated above provides value to the customer.

The salesperson and the customer do not have the detailed understanding of the product that you do. Your goal is to eliminate any “LEAP OF FAITH”.

Your goal is to provide a complete explanation of why this feature is important, unique and compelling

Here you must explain clearly the value the customer should expect to derive from the feature you stated above. Think of this as the economic conclusion drawn from the “How & Why”.

The most important “So What’s” are the ones that provide Economic Value and that value should be Quantified when possible, i.e. 20% faster, 50% better mtbf, etc.

Some values may be more subjective, i.e. latest technology, lowest risk, first of its kind, etc. .

Here is where you discuss specifically how to position the feature stated above.

•Which buying influence is likely to find it important and why.•Which competitor will be most vulnerable and why.•What personality traits of buyers or companies will make them most attracted.•What are specific “Competitive Blocks” that can be derived from this feature.

1

2 3 4

5

Competitive Analysis

Blocks

For each Feature that you have analyzed and determined that it has Unique and Compelling Value as compared to the competition describe a Block (strength) that could be set with a customer:

1.) Describe the Block.

2.) Name the Competitor(s) who would be susceptible.

3.) Name the Buying Influence(s) who would have an interest in this particular Block.

For each potential Block (strength) that you identify describe the most likely counter that the competition will present to offset that block.

 

Counters

Identify potential Blocks (strengths) that the competition might set against us:

1.) Describe the block in as much detail as possible

2.) Identify the competitor(s) who might use this particular Block

3.) Name the Buying Influence(s) who would be most susceptible to this particular Block

For each potential Competitive Block (strength) that you identify describe our best offset against this block.

Contact Analysis

Complete a form for each potential Buying Influence

Function

Name the Function of the buyers most likely to be involved in the sales cycle for this product: Plant Manager, Process Engineer, Operator, Technician, Maintenance, etc.

 

Role

Name the Role(s) each of the Functions will possibly play: Decision Maker, High Influencer, Approver, Low Influencer, and Observer

 

Buyer Type

Name the Buyer Type(s) each Function will likely be: Economic Buyer, Technical Buyer, or Directed Buyer

 

Which Product Function(s) will this buyer most likely value and why?

Proof Index

To complete a successful sale the customer must UNDERSTAND, VALUE and BELIEVE the information presented about the product. A proof is any objective data that gives the customer reason to believe that value will be derived from owning the product. The best Proofs come from the customer base. Every company should have a process to identify, document and maintain Proofs for every product. Proofs can be Performance Test, References, War Stories, Demonstrations, Documented Evidence, etc. The best proofs illustrate quantifiable results that the customer should expect.

Define every available Proof for this product

Feature:

Proof description and location:

Feature:

Proof description and location:

Support Directory

Define specifically how support is obtained for this product. Include names, phone numbers, email addresses etc. when possible:

Application questions:

Product demonstrations:

Configuration Assistance:

Proposal Review:

Pricing and Terms:

Order entry and delivery:

Warranty:

How it Works

The contents of this page will vary depending on the product and the information available. In most cases it will be a list of links directing the salesperson to the appropriate information. However in some cases it may require a detailed explanation of the technology behind the product.

Technical Training:

Techs and Specs:

Sales Literature:

Application Notes:

Etc:

10 Questions

These questions will be the basis of an interview with the subject matter expert (SME). They should capture the value propositions that a customer must understand, believe and value to be comfortable owning the product. Here are some sample questions. Of course the most important part is the clear and concise answers that will help prepare the salesperson for success

Question 1: What is the primary problem you were addressing with the development of this product?

 

Question 2: What is the profile of the customers who will find this product most valuable?

 

Question 3: Exactly what do you see as the major advantages over competitive products?

 

Question 4: Which of our competitors do you see as most vulnerable to this product?

 

Provide Situational Access

Hybrid Controller

•Product Marketing Interview•Value Proposition•Market Wealth•Competitive Position•Why of the Buy•Features, Benefits and Values•Proofs•How Does it Work•Support

Cost-Effective Platform Combining Loop and Logic Control

21st Century Product Sales Training by Catalyst Performance Learning

Product Sales Training Index

Product Marketing InterviewValue PropositionMarket WealthCompetitive PositionWhy of the BuyFeatures, Benefits and ValuesProofObstacles and solutionsHow does it workSupport

Cost-Effective Platform Combining Loop and Logic Control

Catalyst Performance Automation CPA1000 Hybrid Controller

Next Step … Integrate the Process What if:

Your Product Training was integrated into your CRM system?

Your Opportunities linked directly to Product Training?

You had contextual real-time access to Product Sales Training based on the: Sales cycle? Buying influence? Specific competitor? …