Formation à la vente Archives - Page 2 of 3

Objection Handling | Overcoming Common Objections

Objection Handling - Top Question from Google

What is Objection Handling?

Objection handling is a critical part of the sales process. It involves a salesperson’s response to objections raised by the buyer. These objections can arise at any stage, from initial prospecting to closing the deal. The goal is to alleviate the buyer’s concerns, build rapport, and ultimately move the deal forward.

Objection Handling Playbook

Empower your Sales Team to turn Objections into Opportunities

Proven Response Frameworks

The Psychology Behind Objections

Battle-Tested Scripts

Advanced Strategies

COMPLETE WITH FREE VIDEO TUTORIAL

1. Understanding and Anticipating Objections

Objections are a natural part of the sales process. They are simply a prospect’s way of expressing their concerns or doubts about your product or service. While objections can be frustrating, they are also an opportunity to build rapport with your prospect and address their needs.

There are two main types of objections:

Genuine objections: These are valid concerns that your prospect has about your product or service. For example, your prospect may be concerned about the price, the features, or the benefits.
Spurious objections: These are objections that your prospect is using to stall or avoid making a decision. For example, your prospect may say that they need more time to think about it or that they want to talk to their boss.

It is important to be able to distinguish between genuine and spurious objections. Genuine objections can be overcome by providing more information or by addressing the prospect’s concerns directly. Spurious objections can often be overcome by simply asking for the sale.

2. Mastering Objection Handling Techniques

Here are some tips to help you master objections from your prospects:

Do your research. Before you meet with a prospect, be sure to do your research and learn as much as you can about their business and their needs. This will help you to anticipate their objections and to develop effective responses.
Pro-actively raise objections. Whilst this can seem counter-intuitive raising the most common objections in advance compels the prospect to discuss them. Alternately, they may be thinking them but not want to raise them with you.
Listen carefully. When a prospect raises an objection, listen carefully to what they are saying. Try to understand the root cause of their objection.
Acknowledge the objection. Let the prospect know that you have heard their objection and that you understand their concerns.
Ask questions. Ask the prospect questions to help you better understand their objection. This will also help you to develop a more effective response.
Address the objection directly. Once you understand the objection, address it directly and honestly. Do not try to ignore it or to brush it aside.
Use positive language. When responding to objections, use positive language and focus on the benefits and value that your product or service delivers.
Be confident. Be confident in your product or service and in your ability to address the prospect’s concerns.
Be prepared to negotiate. Be prepared to negotiate with the prospect in order to overcome their objections.
Follow up. After you have addressed the objection, follow up with the prospect to see if they have any other questions or concerns.

By following these tips, you can learn to understand and anticipate objections, and you can use them as an opportunity to build rapport with your prospects and close more deals.

Practical Strategies to Overcome Objections

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3. Advanced Objection Handling Strategies

Most buyers are turned off by glib one line responses to their objections. We developed a more consultative approach to handling stalls and objections that focuses on creating a conversation with prospects.

We created the CARES method to make it easy to adopt and remember. It’s really flexible and is a vital part of our consultative sales training.

Clarify: Begin by seeking clarification of the objection. Make sure you understand precisely what the prospect is concerned about.

Acknowledge: Show empathy and acknowledge the prospect’s objection. Let them know you appreciate their honesty and understand their perspective.

Respond: Provide a well-thought-out response that addresses their objection. Offer data, examples, or case studies to support your response.

Educate: Share relevant information or insights that can help the prospect see the value in your solution. Educate them on how your product or service can overcome their objection.

Suggest: Offer a specific solution or suggestion that aligns with their needs. Propose a way forward that benefits both parties.

The CARES Method emphasizes empathy and education, helping you handle objections while building trust and providing value to the prospect.

Here’s the CARES method in action for the most common objection, “Your too expensive“:

Clarify: Seek clarification. Ask questions to understand precisely what aspect of the solution they find expensive. Is it the upfront cost, ongoing fees, or something else?
Acknowledge: Show empathy. Let them know you appreciate their honesty and understand their perspective. For example: “I understand that budget is a concern for you.”
Respond: Provide a well-thought-out response. Highlight the value your solution brings. Share data, case studies, or examples that demonstrate a positive return on investment (ROI).
Educate: Share insights. Explain how your product/service can address their pain points effectively. Educate them on long-term benefits and cost savings.
Suggest: Offer a specific solution. Propose a customized package or payment plan that aligns with their needs. Emphasize the value they’ll receive.

Remember, the goal is to create a conversation, build trust, and provide value.

4. Top 7 Most Common Objections and How to Respond

4.1 Too Expensive

Here are three different ways to respond to the common B2B sales objection: “It’s too expensive.”

Copper¹:
- Recommended Response: “Allow a few seconds of silence. Being silent might not seem like a great sales strategy, but the world’s best salespeople and negotiators know that it’s indispensable. Take a breath and give your prospect 3–5 seconds of silence. You might be surprised by the information you get without saying anything. Once the silence has passed, move on to other tactics.”
Revenue.io²:
- Recommended Response: “I know there’s an initial investment, and that can seem daunting. But let’s talk long-term. Let me show you how much revenue you will actually gain over the next year by using our product.”
Close.com³:
- Recommended Response: “Focus on value: Remind them of the pain their problem is causing and how much value you create by solving it. Testimonials, case studies, or other social proof can help reinforce this.”

4.2 We Don’t Have a Budget

Here are three different ways to respond to the common B2B sales objection: “We don’t have a budget.”

HubSpot Blog¹:
- Recommended Response: “Establish the cost of their challenges. Before you determine their budget, you first need to establish the value of your solution – and that begins with learning the cost of your prospects’ challenges.”
- Additional Tip: Roll with the punches and don’t give up. If all else fails, give a budget range.
Vendux²:
- Recommended Response: “Don’t give up after the initial ‘No Budget’ response. Maintain regular contact, providing additional information, case studies, or updates on how your product or service can benefit their business. Persistence will pay off because often, the client’s circumstances change.”
Proposify³:
- Recommended Response: “And who were you doing business with prior to them? And when was the last time you did a comparison with another provider? Well then, it’s a good idea to at least get another opinion/quote of services just so you know that you’re not only still getting the best deal and service, but also so you’ll know who to reach out to should you need additional help. Could I at least do a no-cost/no-obligation comparison quote for you?”

4.3 We’re Happy with our Current Provider

Here are three different ways to respond to the common B2B sales objection: “We’re happy with our current provider.”

Mr. Inside Sales¹:
- Recommended Response: “How long has that been? And has it been that long since you’ve compared prices and services with another provider? You know, a lot has changed in that time; it sounds like this would be a good time to at least get another opinion/quote of services just so you know that you’re not only still getting the best deal and service, but also so you’ll know who to reach out to should you need additional help. Could I at least do a no-cost/no-obligation comparison quote for you?”
Lushin²:
- Recommended Response: “I appreciate you have a good relationship with your current provider. However, have you taken the time to benchmark their services with another provider?”
SalesBuzz³:
- Recommended Response: “And who were you doing business with prior to them? And when was the last time you did a comparison with another provider? Well then, it’s a good idea to at least get another opinion/quote of services just so you know that you’re not only still getting the best deal and service, but also so you’ll know who to reach out to should you need additional help. Could I at least do a no-cost/no-obligation comparison quote for you?”

4.4 I need to talk to my boss

Here are three alternative ways to respond to the objection “I need to talk to my boss” from other B2B sales websites:

Mr. Inside Sales recommends: “No problem, and are you going to recommend this to them?” If the prospect answers affirmatively, you can say, “Great! Then I’ll hold on while you check with them…” or “Great! And as you mentioned earlier, they do usually go with your recommendation, right?”¹
FasterCapital suggests: “To overcome this objection, you need to create a sense of urgency and show them how your product can offer them more value, better results, or a competitive edge.”²
Selling Signals advises: “To overcome this objection, tell the lead you understand they can’t talk right now, and then ask for a different time frame when they might be more available. This takes care of the timing issue. To also attend to any priority problems, consider hinting at your value proposition so they know why they should make time for you.”³

Here are three alternative ways to respond to the objection “We don’t have time right now” from other B2B sales websites:

ActiveCampaign suggests: “To overcome the time objection, simply set up a “five-minute exploratory call” as soon as possible. Use this time to find out if they are a legitimate lead and are a qualified customer. If both of these conditions are not met, it may be better to part ways. If they are, while you are on the call, uncover why your prospect wants to wait.” ¹
Selling Signals recommends: “To overcome this objection, tell the lead you understand they can’t talk right now, and then ask for a different time frame when they might be more available. This takes care of the timing issue. To also attend to any priority problems, consider hinting at your value proposition so they know why they should make time for you.” ²
Growbo advises: “According to Demand Gen, 56% of B2B buyers are concerned about how long it takes them to deploy your product and its ease of use. So if you’re met with a “we don’t have time” sales objection, then it probably means your prospect finds your offer a little convoluted. Perhaps you need to try to explain it again in simpler terms.” ³

Certainly! Here are three alternative ways to respond to the objection “We’re already working with a competitor” from other B2B sales websites:

HubSpot suggests: “That’s good to hear – [competitor] is a great company. In fact, we share a lot of mutual customers. Companies that use both of our offerings often find that our product makes accomplishing [X goal] much easier, since it has [unique benefit #1] and [unique benefit #2].” This response lets you differentiate your product from the competition without slinging mud. Plus, it opens the door for another conversation down the line. Once you’ve won the prospect’s trust, you can start talking about a switch if that’s in the buyer’s best interest ¹

Procore recommends: “At this point, I’m not asking you to rip anything out. I’d just like the opportunity to show you how we’re different and how we’ve provided additional value to our customers. I can present some use cases of other companies like yours who work with us and with Competitor X. When is a good time to schedule a follow-up call?” This response will give you the opportunity to prove what your product does differently and ultimately show the prospect why they need it ²

Business By Phone advises: “Got it. Can I ask what type of evaluation process you go through to be sure you’re getting the best service available?” You need to plant doubt in the prospect’s mind before they’ll ever consider changing vendors. They probably haven’t thought about their decision to use the competition since they signed the contract – this question will have them wondering whether it’s still the right choice ³

Here are three additional ways to respond to the objection “I need to think it over”:

SalesHacker suggests: “When you hear this objection, it’s important to understand what’s really going on. Ask questions to uncover the real reason behind their hesitation. For example, you could say, ‘I appreciate that. Can you help me understand what specifically you need to think about?’”
Close recommends: “Acknowledge their need to think it over, but also create urgency. You can say, ‘I completely understand. While you’re thinking it over, let’s schedule a follow-up call for next week. That way, we can address any additional questions or concerns you might have.’”
SalesScripter advises: “When you hear this objection, respond with, ‘I appreciate that. What specifically would you like to think about? Is there something specific that’s causing hesitation?’” This approach helps you uncover the underlying concerns and address them directly.

4.8 We’re not interested

Here are three alternative ways to respond to the objection “We’re not interested”:

Mr. Inside Sales suggests: “That’s fine, and many people I speak with tell me the same thing as well. And as they learn more about this and see what this can really do for them, they were glad they took a few minutes to listen. One thing that would be a good fit for you is…” (Continue on with your pitch, briefly, and then ask a qualifying question like, “Do you see how that would work for you?”) ¹
5 Percent Institute recommends: “Politely let them know that’s completely OK.” Sometimes prospects say they’re not interested because they feel you’re going to pitch them or they don’t perceive immediate value. Acknowledge their response and maintain a courteous tone ²
SalesScripter advises: “Instead of trying to resolve or overcome the sales objection, try to focus on just keeping the conversation going. When they say, ‘I am not interested,’ they are trying to end the conversation. Don’t try to make them interested, just try to keep the conversation from ending.” ³

4.9 I’m locked into a contract

Here are three ways to respond to the objection “I’m locked into a contract” from other B2B sales websites:

ActiveCampaign suggests: “This objection usually means your prospect has their hands tied. This is an excellent opportunity to empathize with them and position your company as a better alternative to your competitor. Be direct in asking them about the contract terms while analyzing their relationship with their vendor.” ¹

UpLead recommends: “Your customer may be reluctant to switch to a different provider out of loyalty or due to the hassle associated with transitioning. To counter this objection, you should fully understand the customer’s situation and explain why your product is still worth the switch.” ²

HubSpot advises: “Figure out if your prospect truly has an existing vendor relationship or is simply not interested. Keep them engaged in the conversation long enough to show them the value of working with you (even if they’ve already purchased a competing solution).” ³

5. Overcome Objections, Close More Deals: The Ultimate Objection Handling Playbook

Tired of objections derailing your sales conversations? Frustrated with prospects who seem resistant to your value proposition? It’s time to equip your sales team with the tools they need to transform objections into closed deals: The Ultimate Objection Handling Playbook.

This comprehensive, action-oriented playbook is designed to empower your team with proven strategies and tactics to tackle any objection head-on. Inside, you’ll discover:

The Psychology Behind Objections: Understand the root causes of common objections and why they arise.
Proven Response Frameworks: Master proven frameworks like LAER and Feel-Felt-Found to address objections strategically.
Battle-Tested Scripts: Access adaptable scripts and talking points for every objection category, from budget concerns to trust issues.
Advanced Strategies: Navigate complex objections involving multiple stakeholders and deeply-rooted concerns.
Industry-Specific Insights: Get tailored responses for the unique objections your prospects face in your industry.

Don’t let objections stand between you and your sales goals. The Ultimate Objection Handling Playbook is your comprehensive guide to turning challenges into triumphs. Empower your team, build confidence, and close more deals with ease.

Invest in Your Sales Success:

Order your copy of the Ultimate Objection Handling Playbook today and witness a transformation in your team’s performance. This is the resource your sales team has been waiting for.

Empower your team, turn objections into opportunities.

Objection Handling Playbook

Empower your Sales Team to turn Objections into Opportunities

Proven Response Frameworks

The Psychology Behind Objections

Battle-Tested Scripts

Advanced Strategies

COMPLETE WITH FREE VIDEO TUTORIAL

Fundamentals of Key Account Management

by Iain Swanston

Key Account Management - Top Question from Google

What is Key Account Management?

There’s a new way to deliver sales growth…

Don’t buy Sales Training until you’ve watched this video…

1. Understanding Key Account Management

What Is Key Account Management?

Key Account Management (KAM) is a strategic approach that focuses on nurturing and maintaining strong relationships with a select group of high-value clients. These clients, known as key accounts, contribute significantly to an organization’s revenue and long-term success. Key Account Management aims to create mutual value by aligning the goals of the supplier (seller) with those of the key account (buyer).

Why Is Key Account Management Important?

Strategic Importance: Key accounts often represent a substantial portion of an organization’s revenue. By prioritizing these accounts, companies can maximize profitability and growth.
Long-Term Relationships: Unlike transactional sales, KAM emphasizes building enduring relationships. Trust, collaboration, and understanding are crucial for sustained success.
Customized Solutions: Key accounts have unique needs and challenges. KAM involves tailoring solutions to address these specific requirements.

Key Components of Key Account Management

1.1 Identifying Key Accounts

Before implementing KAM, organizations must identify their key accounts. Here’s how:

Revenue Contribution: Analyze which clients contribute significantly to overall revenue. These are likely to be key accounts.
Strategic Fit: Consider whether the client aligns with your organization’s long-term strategy, goals and values.
Complexity of Relationship: Evaluate the depth and complexity of the client relationship.

1.2 Segmentation

Once key accounts are identified, segment them based on criteria such as:

Revenue Tier: Classify accounts into tiers (e.g., platinum, gold, silver) based on their revenue contribution.
Strategic Fit: Assess how closely the account aligns with your business strategy.
Potential for Growth: Identify accounts with growth potential.

1.3 Developing a KAM Strategy

A robust KAM strategy involves:

Account Planning: Create detailed account plans for each key account. Understand their business, challenges, and goals.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Involve various departments (sales, marketing, customer service) to provide holistic support.
Value Proposition: Define the unique value your organization brings to each key account.

1.4 Relationship Building

Building strong relationships is at the core of KAM:

Regular Communication: Maintain open lines of communication. Understand the account’s pain points and aspirations.
Face-to-Face Meetings: Arrange in-person meetings to deepen the relationship.
Problem-Solving: Be proactive in addressing issues and finding solutions.

1.5 Measuring Success

KAM success is measured through:

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Metrics like revenue growth, customer satisfaction, and retention rate.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): Assess the long-term value of key accounts.
Feedback and Reviews: Regularly seek feedback from key accounts to improve the KAM process.

Key Account Management is not just about sales; it’s about building lasting partnerships. By understanding the unique needs of key accounts and aligning your efforts with their success, organizations can thrive in today’s competitive landscape.

KAM is an ongoing journey, and consistency and continuous adaptation is key to its effectiveness.

2. Identifying Key Accounts

Identifying the best Key Accounts

Key accounts are your organization’s most valuable customers. They play a pivotal role in driving revenue, referring prospects, and enhancing your business’s credibility within their industry. However, identifying these key accounts requires a strategic approach.

2.1 Collaborate for Alignment

The first step is to collaborate across your organization to align goals and responsibilities. Key account programs involve more than just sales; they require contributions from various teams. Consider the following:

Cross-Functional Involvement: While sales initiates the process, other functions (marketing, product, finance, supply chain, service) contribute to delivering value to key accounts. Each function must understand its role and allocate resources accordingly.
Organizational Alignment: Clearly define who owns the relationship with the customer. B2B sales often involve multiple stakeholders, so early collaboration ensures consistent messaging and expectations.

2.2 Establish Key Account Criteria

To keep the number of key accounts manageable and relationships meaningful, you should use objective criteria for qualification. Look past the obvious criteria of:

Revenue Contribution: Key accounts don’t necessarily mean the highest revenue clients. Evaluate accounts based on their current and future revenue potential. Strategic Fit: Assess alignment with your current and future business strategy and long-term goals. Growth Potential: Consider accounts that have room for growth.

We recommend you gather detailed information about each account on your target list such as:

Financial Metrics: Understand their financial health, historical spending patterns, payment terms and growth trajectory.
Industry Insights: Research industry trends, challenges, and opportunities relevant to each account.
Stakeholder Mapping: Identify decision-makers and influencers within the account. How easy are they to access?

2.3 Develop a Strategic Account Plan

Create a customized account plan for each key account:

Goals and Objectives: Define clear objectives for the relationship.
Value Proposition: Understand what unique value your organization provides to each account.
Action Steps: Outline specific actions to nurture the relationship and address challenges.

2.4 Monitor and Measure Performance

You should regularly monitor key account performance and swap key accounts out where necessary. Use objective metrics such as:

Account Growth: Track revenue generated from key accounts over time.
Customer Satisfaction: Gather feedback and assess satisfaction levels.
Retention Rate: Measure how well you retain key accounts.

Successful key account management isn’t solely about profit margins; it’s about building long term partnerships. Longevity and mutual value creation matter more than occasional discounts. By identifying and nurturing key accounts effectively, your organization can thrive in today’s competitive landscape.

3. Building Strong Client Relationships

Building Strong Relationships Across the Organisation

Key Account Management (KAM) isn’t just about closing deals; it’s about fostering enduring partnerships. KAM focuses on building strong, long-term relationships with a company’s most important clients—those strategic accounts that significantly impact revenue growth and overall success. These key accounts are not merely defined by transaction size; their strategic importance to the organization sets them apart.

Why Strong Client Relationships Matter

Maximizing Lifetime Value: Key accounts contribute a substantial portion of an organization’s revenue. By nurturing these relationships, companies can maximize customer lifetime value. A loyal key account is more likely to stay with you for the long haul, leading to sustained revenue growth.
Referrals and Testimonials: Satisfied key accounts become brand advocates. Their positive experiences lead to referrals and glowing testimonials, enhancing your company’s reputation and attracting new business.
Strengthening Bonds: Trust is the bedrock of client relationships. When key accounts trust your organization, they’re more likely to collaborate, share insights, and weather challenges together.

Strategies for Building Strong Client Relationships

3.1 Reliability and Consistency

Be There Through Thick and Thin: Key accounts want more than a chatbot to handle emergencies. They seek a dedicated team that stands by them through good times and bad. People buy from people.
Consistent Communication: Don’t just be responsive, be pro-active. Regularly engage with key accounts. Understand their pain points, aspirations, and evolving needs.

3.2 Customization and Personalization

Tailor Solutions: Key accounts have unique requirements. Customize your offerings to address their specific challenges.
Personal Touch: Go beyond transactional interactions. Remember birthdays, milestones, and other personal details. Show genuine interest in their success.

3.3 Collaboration and Co-Creation

Partnership Mindset: Position yourself as a partner, not just a vendor. Collaborate on joint initiatives, co-create solutions, and align goals.
Shared Success Metrics: Define success together. What does a win look like for both parties? Set measurable goals.

3.4 Proactive Problem-Solving

Anticipate Needs: Understand key accounts deeply. Predict their pain points and address them before they escalate.
Quick Response: When challenges arise, respond promptly. Show agility and commitment to resolving issues.

3.5 Face-to-Face Interaction

In-Person Meetings: Whenever possible, meet key accounts face-to-face. Nothing beats the personal touch.
Relationship Building: Use these meetings to strengthen the relationship, not just discuss business.

Building strong client relationships is the heart of successful key account management. By being reliable, personalized, collaborative, proactive, and investing in face-to-face interactions, you’ll create lasting bonds that drive revenue and elevate your brand.

4. Creating Value for Key Accounts

Value in Key Account Management

When it comes to key accounts, value extends beyond monetary transactions. It includes trust, collaboration, and customized solutions that address the unique needs of these clients.

Why Creating Value Matters

Long-Term Partnerships: Key accounts are not short-term wins. They represent enduring partnerships. By consistently delivering value, you build loyalty and longevity.
Beyond Discounts: While discounts play a role, value creation goes deeper. It involves understanding the client’s pain points, aspirations, and business challenges.
Upselling and Cross-Selling: When you create value, key accounts are more receptive to upselling and cross-selling. They see the benefits of expanding their engagement with your organization.

Strategies for Creating Value

4.1 Customized Solutions

Needs Assessment: Regularly assess the evolving needs of key accounts across all of their departments. What challenges do they face? How can your products or services address those challenges?
Tailored Offerings: Customize solutions based on their specific requirements. One size does not fit all.

4.2 Strategic Insights

Industry Trends: Stay informed about industry shifts. Provide insights to key accounts on emerging trends, regulatory changes, and competitive landscapes.
Benchmarking: Compare their performance against industry benchmarks. Identify areas for improvement.

4.3 Collaboration and Co-Creation

Joint Initiatives: Collaborate on projects or initiatives. Involve key accounts in product development, process improvements, or market research.
Value Co-Creation: Work together to create new value propositions. Understand their goals and align your efforts accordingly.

4.4 Proactive Problem-Solving

Anticipate Challenges: Be proactive in identifying potential issues. Address them before they impact the client.
Continuous Improvement: Seek feedback and iterate. Use their insights to enhance your offerings.

4.5 Education and Training

Product Knowledge: Ensure key accounts understand your products or services thoroughly. Train their teams if necessary.
Best Practices: Share industry best practices and success stories. Position yourself as a valuable resource.

The best Key Account Managers are a cross between a Thought Leader, a Subject Matter Expert and a Trusted Advisor.

Value isn’t just about what you sell—it’s about the impact you make.

5. Practical Strategies for Implementing Key Account Management

1. Formalize Key Account Management

Begin by formalizing the KAM process within your organization. Clearly define guidelines, roles, and responsibilities. Ensure alignment across departments, including sales, marketing, and customer service. KAM is in essence team selling and everyone should know and understand their responsibilities.

2. Define Key Accounts

Not all clients qualify as key accounts. Establish criteria for identifying them. Consider factors such as revenue contribution, strategic fit, and growth potential. Quality matters more than quantity; start with a manageable number of key accounts and gradually expand.

3. Start Small and Expand Gradually

Implement KAM incrementally. Begin with a pilot group of key accounts. Learn from this initial experience, refine your approach, and then scale up. Starting small allows you to fine-tune your strategies and adapt to specific client needs.

4. Understand the Full Context of Key Accounts

Go beyond transactional knowledge. Dive deep into the context of each key account. Understand their industry, challenges, competitive landscape, and growth prospects. This contextual understanding enables you to tailor your solutions effectively.

5. Don’t Push Products, Sell Solutions

Key accounts seek solutions, not just products. Focus on addressing their pain points and providing holistic solutions. Understand their business objectives and align your offerings accordingly. Position yourself as a problem-solver rather than a mere vendor.

6. Meet with Key Accounts Regularly

Schedule face-to-face meetings with key accounts whenever possible. Use these opportunities to deepen relationships, discuss progress, and identify areas for improvement. In-person interactions build trust and enhance collaboration.

7. Define Sales Manager Roles Properly

Assign dedicated sales managers to key accounts. These managers should understand the unique needs of each account and act as strategic partners. Their role goes beyond sales—it involves relationship-building, problem-solving, and value creation.

8. Ensure Account Coaching Is Provided

Invest in coaching and training for your account managers to equip them with the skills needed to excel in KAM. Sales Coaching has a proven ROI and should be a priority for your sales manager.

6. The Role of the Key Account Manager

A Key Account Manager plays a pivotal role in an organization’s success by nurturing and maximizing value from its most important clients. As with everything in sales, the execution is critical and the responsibilities, skills, and behaviors of an effective KAM will define your success.

Responsibilities of a Key Account Manager

Building Long-Term Relationships:
- A KAM’s primary responsibility is to cultivate enduring partnerships with key accounts. They aim to transform buyers into strategic business partners.
- By nurturing relationships over time, KAMs ensure that top customers remain loyal and continue to contribute to the organization’s revenue growth.
Understanding Client Needs:
- KAMs acquire an in-depth understanding of key customer needs and requirements. This involves active listening, asking probing questions, and conducting thorough assessments.
- By grasping the unique challenges and aspirations of each key account, KAMs tailor their strategies accordingly.
Strategic Planning:
- KAMs must take a long-term view. They develop strategic account plans that align with both the client’s objectives and the organization’s goals.
- These plans outline how to maximize mutual value, retain the account, and drive growth.
Customized Solutions:
- Rather than pushing generic products, KAMs propose tailored solutions. They address specific pain points and provide value beyond transactional interactions.
- Customization ensures that key accounts receive the attention and support they deserve.
Negotiation and Problem-Solving:
- KAMs negotiate contracts, pricing, and terms. They find win-win solutions that benefit both parties.
- When challenges arise, KAMs proactively address them. Their problem-solving skills are crucial for maintaining trust.
Dedicated Resources:
- KAMs allocate dedicated resources to key accounts. This may include specialized support teams, personalized communication channels, and priority access.
- The goal is to make key accounts feel valued and well-supported.
Periodic Meetings:
- Regular face-to-face meetings are essential. KAMs use these interactions to deepen relationships, discuss progress, and identify growth opportunities.
- In-person meetings build trust and allow for candid conversations.

Skills Required for Key Account Management

Excellent Communication:
- KAMs must communicate clearly, persuasively, and empathetically. They listen actively and adapt their communication style to each client.
- Strong written and verbal skills are essential for creating compelling proposals and maintaining rapport.
Strategic Thinking:
- KAMs think beyond immediate transactions. They analyze market trends, competitive landscapes, and industry shifts.
- Strategic thinking helps them anticipate client needs and position themselves as trusted advisors.
Negotiation Skills:
- Effective negotiation ensures mutually beneficial outcomes. KAMs balance assertiveness with flexibility.
- They understand the value of concessions and know when to push for favorable terms.
Empathy and Active Listening:
- Empathy allows KAMs to understand clients on a deeper level. They recognize emotions, concerns, and motivations.
- Active listening helps uncover hidden needs and build stronger connections.
Time Management:
- Juggling multiple key accounts requires efficient time management. KAMs prioritize tasks, set deadlines, and maintain focus.
- They avoid spreading themselves too thin.
Organizational Skills:
- KAMs handle complex account details, contracts, and documentation. Organizational skills prevent oversights and ensure smooth operations.

Behaviors of Successful Key Account Managers

Accountability:
- Successful KAMs hold themselves accountable. They take ownership of outcomes, whether positive or challenging.
- Accountability extends to their team and the client relationship.
Consistency and Clarity:
- KAMs maintain consistent communication. They document interactions clearly and avoid ambiguity.
- Clarity builds trust and ensures alignment.

In summary, a skilled Key Account Manager combines strategic thinking, relationship-building, and problem-solving to create lasting value for both the organization and its key accounts. By mastering these skills and embodying the right behaviors, KAMs contribute significantly to business success.

“A fantastic learning experience”

Amanda – Account Manager

Maîtriser l’art de demander la commande

by Iain Swanston

demander la commande - Top Question from Google

Comment demander la vente aux clients ? (La réponse courte)

N’oubliez jamais que les gens n’aiment pas qu’on leur vende quelque chose, mais qu’ils adorent acheter. Dans cette optique, la meilleure façon de demander l’ordre est de ne pas demander l’ordre. Si vous adoptez une approche de vente consultative, le client se rendra compte par lui-même qu’il y a une bonne adéquation entre ce que vous vendez et ses besoins. Les meilleurs professionnels de la vente n’ont jamais besoin de demander une commande. Ils créent simplement les conditions propices à l’achat.

Si vous utilisez une approche commerciale traditionnelle dans les ventes interentreprises, il existe plusieurs façons de demander aux clients de vendre, en fonction du contexte et de la relation que vous entretenez avec eux. Voici quelques exemples :

Si vous êtes dans un environnement professionnel et que vous avez déjà établi une relation avec le client, vous pouvez demander une vente en présentant les avantages de votre produit ou service et en expliquant pourquoi il répondrait à ses besoins. Par exemple, vous pouvez dire : “Il a été prouvé que notre produit permet d’améliorer l’efficacité et de gagner du temps, ce qui, je pense, serait utile à votre entreprise. Souhaitez-vous discuter d’un achat ?”
Si vous faites du démarchage téléphonique ou si vous contactez des clients potentiels pour la première fois, il est important d’être poli et respectueux. Commencez par vous présenter et présenter votre entreprise, puis expliquez comment votre produit ou service peut les aider. Par exemple, vous pouvez dire : “Bonjour, je m’appelle [Name] et je suis avec [Company]. Nous proposons un site [Product/Service] qui peut aider [Benefit]. Puis-je prendre rendez-vous pour discuter de la manière dont votre entreprise pourrait en bénéficier ?”

Dans l’ensemble, la clé pour demander une vente, ou même n’importe quoi, est d’être poli, respectueux et informatif. Montrez la valeur de votre produit ou service et soyez prêt à répondre à toutes les questions qu’ils pourraient avoir.

Il existe une nouvelle façon d'augmenter les ventes...

N’achetez pas de formation à la vente avant d’avoir visionné cette vidéo…

1. Pourquoi est-il important pour les vendeurs de demander la vente ?

Tout le monde ne connaît pas ou n’utilise pas une approche de vente consultative . C’est pourquoi il est très important pour ceux qui utilisent des méthodes de vente traditionnelles de demander la vente. La demande de vente est la dernière étape du processus de vente et c’est elle qui détermine en fin de compte si le vendeur réussit à conclure une vente.

En demandant la vente, le vendeur prend l’initiative et met la décision entre les mains du client. Cela peut être un moyen efficace de persuader le client de faire un achat, et cela peut également aider le vendeur à conclure l’affaire plus efficacement.

Outre le fait de gagner plus de ventes, demander la vente est également un élément crucial pour construire une carrière commerciale réussie. La vente est une profession qui exige de la persévérance, de la confiance et la capacité de faire face au rejet.

Demander la vente aide les professionnels de la vente à développer ces compétences, et peut également les aider à se forger un palmarès de réussite. La capacité à demander la vente a un impact direct sur les performances de votre équipe de vente.

2. Pourquoi le fait de demander la vente peut faire perdre l'affaire aux professionnels de la vente

La demande de vente est une étape importante du processus de vente, et elle est essentielle pour réussir une vente. Cependant, si vous ne le faites pas de la bonne manière, vous risquez de perdre l’affaire en demandant la vente. Voici quelques raisons pour lesquelles cela peut se produire :

Le client n’est pas prêt : Si le client n’est pas prêt à prendre une décision, demander la vente peut être prématuré et le faire fuir. Il est important d’évaluer soigneusement le niveau d’intérêt et de préparation du client avant de lui proposer la vente.
Le client a des objections : Si le client a des objections ou des préoccupations, demander la vente sans aborder ces questions peut être contre-productif. Il est important d’écouter les objections du client et d’y répondre avant de demander la vente.
Le vendeur est pressant ou agressif : Le fait de demander la vente de manière insistante ou agressive peut décourager le client. Les vendeurs doivent être directs et clairs dans leur demande, mais aussi respectueux et professionnels.
Le client est mécontent : Si le client n’est pas satisfait du produit ou du service, ou de la performance du vendeur, il peut être vain de demander la vente. Dans ce cas, il peut être préférable de répondre à l’insatisfaction du client et d’essayer de résoudre les problèmes avant de demander la vente.

Dans l’ensemble, demander une vente est un élément essentiel du processus de vente, mais il est important de le faire d’une manière adaptée à la situation et au client.

3. Comment la peur du rejet empêche les professionnels de la vente de demander la vente

La peur du rejet peut définitivement empêcher les vendeurs de demander la vente. Demander une vente est une position intrinsèquement vulnérable, qui exige du vendeur qu’il se mette en avant et qu’il risque d’être rejeté. Cela peut être intimidant et il est naturel que les vendeurs aient peur d’être rejetés.

Cependant, il est important que les vendeurs surmontent cette peur et demandent quand même la vente. Le rejet est un élément naturel du processus de vente, et c’est quelque chose que chaque vendeur expérimentera à un moment ou à un autre de sa carrière. En acceptant que le rejet est une possibilité et en développant les compétences et les stratégies pour y faire face efficacement, les commerciaux peuvent surmonter leur peur du rejet et mieux réussir dans leur carrière.

Les vendeurs peuvent surmonter leur peur du rejet de plusieurs façons, dont les suivantes :

Adoptez une attitude positive : Une attitude positive peut aider les vendeurs à rester motivés et concentrés, même en cas de refus. En croyant en eux-mêmes et en leurs capacités, les vendeurs peuvent conserver un sentiment de confiance et de résilience, ce qui peut les aider à surmonter leur peur du rejet.
Pratiquez une gestion efficace du rejet : Les commerciaux peuvent apprendre à gérer efficacement le rejet en utilisant des techniques telles que le recadrage, le recentrage et la réorientation. Ces techniques peuvent aider les vendeurs à considérer le rejet sous un angle plus positif et à passer à autre chose rapidement et avec confiance.
Cherchez du soutien : Les commerciaux ne doivent pas affronter seuls leur peur du rejet. Rechercher le soutien de collègues, de mentors et de pairs peut apporter des encouragements et des conseils précieux et aider les vendeurs à se sentir plus confiants et plus compétents.
Tirez les leçons du rejet : Au lieu de considérer le rejet comme un échec, les vendeurs peuvent en tirer des leçons et en faire une occasion de s’améliorer. En analysant les raisons pour lesquelles une vente particulière n’a pas abouti, les vendeurs peuvent identifier les points à améliorer et développer des stratégies pour surmonter des objections similaires à l’avenir.

En adoptant ces stratégies, les vendeurs peuvent surmonter leur peur du rejet et réussir leur carrière.

4. Comment donner confiance aux vendeurs

Voici quelques conseils pour donner confiance à une équipe de vente :

Assurez la formation et le développement : Une équipe de vente bien formée et bien équipée avec les connaissances et les compétences dont elle a besoin pour réussir est plus susceptible d’avoir confiance en ses capacités. Investissez dans des programmes de formation et de développement des ventes qui fournissent aux professionnels de la vente les outils et les ressources dont ils ont besoin pour réussir.
Encouragez la pensée positive : La pensée positive est un outil puissant qui peut aider les professionnels de la vente à prendre confiance en eux et à surmonter les difficultés. Encouragez les professionnels de la vente à se concentrer sur leurs points forts et à croire en leur capacité à réussir.
Fixez des objectifs réalisables : Fixer des objectifs ambitieux mais réalisables peut aider les professionnels de la vente à éprouver un sentiment d’accomplissement et à renforcer leur confiance en eux. Créez un cadre de fixation des objectifs qui fournisse des repères clairs et des récompenses en cas de succès.
Apportez votre soutien et vos encouragements : La vente peut être une profession difficile et exigeante, et les professionnels de la vente sont souvent confrontés au rejet et à la déception. Soutenez et encouragez les vendeurs pour qu’ils restent motivés et concentrés, et pour qu’ils prennent confiance en eux au fil du temps.
Célébrez les succès : Reconnaître et célébrer les succès des vendeurs peut contribuer à renforcer leur confiance et à consolider les comportements et les stratégies qui mènent au succès. Veillez à célébrer les succès individuels et collectifs et à reconnaître publiquement les réalisations exceptionnelles.

En mettant en œuvre ces stratégies, les directeurs et responsables commerciaux peuvent aider les équipes de vente à prendre confiance en elles, à améliorer leurs performances commerciales et à mieux réussir leur carrière.

5. Pourquoi les vendeurs se sentent-ils mal à l'aise lorsqu'il s'agit de demander la vente ?

Demander une vente peut être inconfortable pour un vendeur, car il peut craindre d’être rejeté ou avoir l’impression d’être insistant ou agressif. En outre, certaines personnes ne savent pas comment demander une vente de manière polie et respectueuse, ou n’ont pas confiance en leur produit ou service. Voici quelques raisons pour lesquelles un vendeur peut se sentir mal à l’aise à l’idée de demander la vente :

La peur du rejet : Demander une vente, c’est se mettre en avant et risquer d’être rejeté. Cela peut être intimidant et inconfortable, en particulier pour les personnes sensibles à la critique ou qui ont une faible estime d’elles-mêmes.
Inquiétude quant à l’impression d’insistance ou d’agressivité : Certaines personnes peuvent craindre que le fait de demander la vente ne les fasse passer pour des personnes insistantes ou agressives, ce qui peut être décourageant pour les clients. Cela peut être particulièrement vrai pour les personnes qui sont naturellement réservées ou introverties.
Incertitude quant à la manière de demander la vente : Demander une vente est une compétence qui demande de la pratique et de la finesse. Si un vendeur ne sait pas comment le faire efficacement, il peut se sentir incertain et mal à l’aise.
Manque de confiance dans leur produit ou service : Si vous ne croyez pas en votre produit ou service, il peut être difficile de persuader les autres de l’acheter. Ce manque de confiance peut vous mettre mal à l’aise lorsque vous demandez une vente.

Dans l’ensemble, demander la vente peut être inconfortable pour de nombreuses personnes, car cela implique de surmonter ces peurs et ces doutes. Cependant, avec de l’entraînement et un bon état d’esprit, vous pouvez apprendre à demander la vente d’une manière confiante et persuasive.

6. Quelles sont les techniques de clôture des ventes ?

Les techniques de clôture des ventes sont des stratégies que les vendeurs utilisent pour persuader un client potentiel de faire un achat. Ces techniques peuvent prendre de nombreuses formes, mais elles ont toutes pour but d’aider le vendeur à surmonter les objections du client et à faire avancer la conversation vers une vente réussie. Parmi les techniques de clôture des ventes les plus courantes, citons l’essai de clôture pour évaluer le niveau d’intérêt du client, la demande de vente directe, l’offre d’une remise ou d’une offre spéciale, et l’utilisation de la rareté ou de l’urgence pour créer un sentiment de besoin. Les techniques de clôture des ventes peuvent être efficaces, mais il est important que les vendeurs les utilisent de manière éthique et transparente.

Exemples de techniques de clôture des ventes :

La conclusion de l’essai : Il s’agit de poser au client une question qui aide le vendeur à évaluer son niveau d’intérêt pour le produit ou le service. Par exemple, le vendeur peut dire : “D’après ce que vous m’avez dit, il semble que ce produit puisse répondre à vos besoins. Ai-je raison ?”
Demander directement la vente : Il s’agit d’une approche directe dans laquelle le vendeur demande simplement au client s’il souhaite effectuer un achat. Par exemple, le vendeur peut dire : “Voulez-vous passer votre commande aujourd’hui ?”.
Offrir une réduction ou une offre spéciale : Il s’agit d’offrir au client une incitation financière à l’achat. Par exemple, le vendeur peut dire : “Si vous décidez de passer commande aujourd’hui, je peux vous offrir une remise de 10 % sur votre achat”.
Utiliser la rareté ou l’urgence : Il s’agit de créer un sentiment de besoin ou d’urgence pour persuader le client de prendre une décision rapidement. Par exemple, le vendeur peut dire : “Cette offre n’est valable que pour une durée limitée, donc si vous voulez en profiter, vous devez agir maintenant”.
Dans certaines circonstances, comme la vente de produits ménagers tels que les cuisines et les fenêtres, il peut être utile d’introduire un carnet de commande ou un formulaire de commande pour aider à saisir les détails de la commande du client. L’introduction visible du pavé de commande peut inciter l’acheteur à aller de l’avant.

Il est important de noter qu’il ne s’agit que d’exemples et que chaque vendeur doit utiliser les techniques de clôture les plus appropriées à sa situation spécifique et à ses clients.

7. Traiter les objections dans la vente

Les objections des prospects sont fréquentes, car ils essaient de prendre la meilleure décision d’achat pour eux-mêmes. Cependant, dans la plupart des cas, il ne s’agit pas d’objections, mais simplement d’une façon pour l’acheteur de dire qu’il a besoin de plus de détails. Néanmoins, l’incapacité à gérer les objections coûtera cher au vendeur et à l’entreprise en termes de ventes perdues. Voici quelques conseils pour traiter les objections dans le domaine de la vente :

Écoutez attentivement l’objection : Il est important de comprendre exactement ce que dit le client et pourquoi il émet une objection. Posez des questions plus précises et soyez attentif à leur langage corporel et au ton de leur voix pour mieux comprendre leurs préoccupations.
Reconnaissez l’objection : Montrez au client que vous comprenez ses préoccupations et que vous prenez ses objections au sérieux. Cela peut contribuer à instaurer un climat de confiance et à établir un rapport avec le client.
Répondez à l’objection : Une fois que vous avez compris l’objection du client, donnez-lui une réponse qui réponde à ses préoccupations. Il peut s’agir de fournir des informations supplémentaires, de proposer une solution ou de répondre aux idées fausses que le client peut avoir.
Demandez la vente : Après avoir répondu aux objections du client, il est temps de demander la vente. Soyez direct et clair dans votre demande, et soyez prêt à répondre à toute objection supplémentaire que le client pourrait avoir.
Assurez le suivi : Si le client n’est toujours pas prêt à effectuer un achat, relancez-le à une date ultérieure. Cela permet d’entretenir la conversation et d’augmenter les chances de conclure une vente à l’avenir.

Il est important de se rappeler que le traitement des objections est un processus continu et que chaque vendeur doit être prêt à traiter les objections à chaque étape du processus de vente.

8. Qu'est-ce qu'une déclaration de transition des ventes et comment l'utilisez-vous ?

Les formules de transition sont des phrases qui vous permettent de passer en douceur d’une partie d’un entretien de vente à une autre. Ils peuvent être utilisés pour introduire un nouveau sujet, demander une vente ou surmonter des objections. Voici quelques exemples de la manière dont vous pouvez utiliser les déclarations de transition de vente :

Introduction d’un nouveau sujet : “En plus de [current topic], il y a un autre aspect de notre produit que je pense que vous pourriez trouver intéressant. C’est [new topic].”
Demander une vente : “D’après ce dont nous avons discuté, je pense que notre produit répondra parfaitement à vos besoins. Êtes-vous prêt à passer à l’acte d’achat ?”
Surmonter les objections : “Je comprends votre inquiétude à propos de [objection]. Permettez-moi de vous assurer que [reassurance/solution to objection].”

Pour utiliser efficacement les déclarations de transition de vente, assurez-vous qu’elles sont fluides et naturelles. Évitez d’utiliser un langage qui semble trop vendeur ou insistant, et concentrez-vous sur les besoins et les préoccupations du client. En utilisant ces phrases pour passer en douceur d’un sujet à l’autre, vous pouvez orienter la conversation et, en fin de compte, persuader le client de faire un achat.

9. Quelles sont les phrases de conclusion les plus courantes ?

Les phrases ou questions de clôture des ventes sont utilisées pour conclure un entretien de vente et persuader le client d’effectuer un achat. Voici quelques-unes des phrases les plus populaires pour conclure une vente :

“Êtes-vous prêt à passer à l’acte d’achat ?
“Puis-je compter sur vous pour acheter aujourd’hui ?”
“Si vous êtes satisfait de tout ce dont nous avons discuté, pouvons-nous commencer ?
“Sur la base de ce que nous avons discuté, je pense que notre produit répond parfaitement à vos besoins. Qu’en pensez-vous ?”
“Je suis convaincu que notre produit vous aidera à [achieve goal/solve problem]. Êtes-vous prêt à vous engager ?”

Il est important de se rappeler que ces phrases ne sont que des suggestions et que la meilleure phrase de clôture des ventes varie en fonction de la situation et du client. L’essentiel est de trouver les bonnes questions ou les bonnes phrases qui semblent naturelles et authentiques, et qui vous aident à conclure la conversation de manière à persuader le client de faire un achat.

10. Pourquoi l'approche consultative est-elle importante dans la vente moderne ?

L’approche consultative est importante dans la vente moderne pour plusieurs raisons. Tout d’abord, elle permet au vendeur de mieux comprendre les besoins, les objectifs et les défis du client et d’adapter ses solutions à ces besoins. Cela peut contribuer à créer un argumentaire de vente plus personnalisé et plus efficace, ainsi qu’à instaurer une relation de confiance avec le client.

Deuxièmement, une approche de vente consultative est davantage axée sur les besoins du client que sur les objectifs du vendeur. Cela peut contribuer à créer une relation à long terme et mutuellement bénéfique avec le client, plutôt qu’une vente transactionnelle ponctuelle.

Troisièmement, une approche de vente consultative est plus adaptable et plus flexible que les approches de vente traditionnelles. Dans l’environnement commercial actuel, qui évolue rapidement et constamment, les vendeurs doivent être capables de s’adapter rapidement et de fournir des solutions qui répondent aux besoins changeants des clients. Une approche consultative de la vente permet aux vendeurs de le faire plus efficacement.

Dans l’ensemble, l’approche consultative de la vente est importante dans la vente moderne car elle permet aux vendeurs de fournir des solutions plus efficaces, d’établir des relations plus solides avec les clients et de s’adapter plus facilement à l’évolution des conditions commerciales.

“Une expérience d’apprentissage fantastique”

Amanda – Responsable de compte

How to Build an Outbound Sales Team

by Iain Swanston

How to Build an Outbound Sales Team – Top question from Google

What is outbound sales?

Outbound sales is the process of a sales team or salespeople initiating engagement with potential and existing customers. This could encapsulate trying to secure new customers, up selling to existing customers, or general account management. In contrast, inbound sales relies on a company’s marketing strategy to drive customer interest, and customers will contact the company to enquire about their services. This blog post will tell you how to build an outbound sales team.

Preparing to go Outbound

In the rush to go outbound many companies either overlook or pay little attention to the core foundation of every successful outbound sales campaign – their value proposition. Without this most campaigns will fail at best, at worst, they will fail you will lose market traction. you will lose your best sales people and you will also lose a lot of money.

A Proven Value Proposition

Many companies make the mistake of trying to scale their sales operations without a proven value proposition with disastrous effects. Whether you chose to build your own outbound team or to subcontract to a specialist you need a proven value proposition. The more time and money you invest on proving your value proposition will be returned ten fold in your results. This does not just apply to Startups. Those that believe they have already proven their value proposition can equally benefit by refining and fine tuning what they have.

Words Sell

Whilst most of us would accept the importance of words in the world of Business to consumer few people in B2B dedicate sufficient time and energy to finding the right words to describe our products and services. Ask and Pay per click specialist who is restricted to 30 characters for the headline and 90 for the description of the importance of word choice. That’s characters not words.

Technology

We are blessed in the modern sales world with lots of great outbound technologies which makes the outbound process both easier and more productive. From intent data, to auto diallers, to call recording and artificial intelligence there are a plethora of great tools to choose from that will help your outbound team be successful. Be sure to invest the time and budget to arm your sales team with the technology they need.

Sales Leadership

An often overlooked area of business is sales management. Many sales managers have come from a sales background and were at some stage a top sales rep. Unfortunately the skills required for modern sales management are very different to just selling and the position of sales manager is a key hire for any business. Without a great sales manager your best sales reps will leave and the worst reps will stay which is the exact opposite of what you want to happen. Company culture is hugely important in any business and no more so than in an inbound and outbound sales team.

In short, without a proven value proposition and good sales management, you will spend more money and take much longer to get where you want to go. These three areas are an essential component for a scalable outbound process.

Building an Inhouse Team or Outsourcing

When developing an outbound sales team, sales managers and company owners have two choices. They can build an in-house sales team or they can outsource the process to an external agency or group of salespeople.

Each option has its own positives and negatives, and sales managers and company owners should consider these carefully before making any changes.

Through outsourcing their outbound sales operations, companies can hire people with a proven track record of success that they might not otherwise be able to afford.

Outsourcing can be more economic for some companies, as they do not have to resource staff training or office space for them. It can also provide more cost flexibility, as the salespeople will not be tied down to long-scale contracts.

In-house sales teams are much more likely to develop excellent product knowledge over time, which they can convey to prospective clients. Outsourcing can also result in a lack of control of the sales process, and the company cannot guarantee that the leads generated are of a sufficient quality until much later.

There are also concerns that an outbound sales team may not be as “bought into” your product, company or company ethos, and this could be purveyed to prospective clients.

Remember, a poor outbound experience is the fastest way to destroy your brand. Badly executed outbound calls will have a negative impact on your brand and could lose you valuable market traction.

Outbound prospecting particularly cold calling, is very different to responding to inbound sales leads. Your sales team and lead generation strategy should be built with this in mind.

What are outbound sales activities?

Outbound sales requires salespeople to go to the potential clients. In contrast, inbound sales where potential clients come to the company, either for more information or to buy their product/service.

Therefore, traditionally outbound sales does not include any marketing or product development tasks.

Outbound selling can be very labour intensive, and in the case of cold calling it needs a high volume of calls to have a meaningful impact on sales. This is because:

80% of cold calls go straight to voice mail – Sales Intel

It takes an average of 18 attempts to reach a technology buyer – Gartner

In addition to being labour intensive, outbound sales has a high churn rate in terms of staff. Many companies struggle to retain the people they have, let alone build a high performing team of SDR’s.

Lead generation is the starting point of an outbound sales process. Some company’s will have a dedicated in-house lead generation team, whilst others leave it for their general salespeople to handle.

In most cases when outbound sales is left to general salespeople it simply doesn’t happen. Sales people have a skill of always finding something “more important” to do than lead generation.

Outbound sales is a contact sport, pure and simple and requires salespeople to contact prospective customers. This could be by telephone, email, LinkedIn or face to face, however predominantly this is done via phone and email.

From our own experience SDR’s who use a multichannel approach are much more successful than those who are only using the telephone or email.

Often as part of the outbound sales role SDR’s will undertake what is known as sales qualification process. This involves a salesperson determining whether or not the lead is likely to become a customer or not.

Once the leads have been qualified, leads are typically then passed to a Business Development Rep whose responsible for any form of product demo and closing the deal.

In more traditional sales organisations this may include setting appointments for the companies field sales reps. The length of the sales process will depend on the target market, the industry and the customer.

As an outbound sales person you will be expected to do the following:

Research leads
Generate new sales leads
Qualifying inbound sales leads and build a sales pipeline
Setting appointments with potential or existing customers and follow the sales process
Follow up proposals
Cold and warm calling
Cold and warm emails
Social Selling
Customer service calls, with a view to upselling
Product demos
Account Management

Outbound prospecting is especially vital for companies with little or no marketing budget. This is this because in these circumstances, prospective customers are unlikely to come to the company in great numbers, and as such the company will have to go to the potential clients.

Outbound sales strategy

Having a great team of outbound sales reps important, but if they don’t have a good sales strategy to follow, they are unlikely to be successful. Creating a sales strategy should be one of your first tasks when establishing an outbound sales team.

A good outbound sales strategy requires the right sales playbook (script, methods etc.) and the right methods to measure success. Opinions on sales scripts vary, but if you develop a good sales script, it ensures a consistent approach and can help new sales reps get up to speed faster.

Our research here at Klozers, find that sales teams with playbooks are 33% more likely to be high performers. If a sales script is used, preparation should be used so the salesperson will appear to be talking as naturally as possible.

Different sales methods should be explored to see if they will result in more successful sales. For example, consultative selling could result in an increase in sales.

Preparation is key for a successful outbound sales strategy. Salespeople should have all of the data, scripts and tools they need before they start calling. They should also have an excellent knowledge of the products or services.

Whatever sales strategy is used, it is important that there are processes in place to monitor its success. If certain aspects of the strategy haven’t been successful, then either the sales strategy can be amended, or extra training and coaching should be organised.

Data can be used to monitor the most successful times to make outbound sales calls. For example, if the data shows that outbound calls are more successful on a Wednesday afternoon, then greater focus should be placed on this time, and team meetings should be avoided at that time.

Outbound and Inbound Sales Support

At Klozers the inbound and outbound sales process that we teach in our sales training is based on the success we have had in our own business. We will show you exactly the sales strategies and outbound methods that we use every day to target customers, qualifying leads, make a sales call, cold calling, cold emailing and drive customer engagement.

Furthermore, if you would like to optimise your inbound and outbound channels we can teach you how we use content marketing combined with search engine optimisation, to turn our website in to a lead generation machine.

We have a number of ways we support SaaS companies. From advice on recruitment and value proposition development, through to telesales, social selling training and strategy training, we can help you win more business, grow your business. and have more fun along the way.

Klozers has been selected among the Top Lead Generation Companies by Designrush

Consultative Sales Training | How Customers Want to Buy

by Iain Swanston

Consultative Sales Training – Top question from Google

What is a Consultative Sales Approach?

Consultative selling is very different to more traditional forms of selling, as it doesn’t actually focus on selling. Instead, it focuses on building relationships with customers, listening to their problems and only then, offering them solutions to their problems.

Asking open-ended questions and active listening are key components of any consultative sales approach. This approach works because potential buyers are more motivated to buy products or services that meet their own needs, rather than the needs of the sales professional.

A consultative selling truly puts the buyer first. Instead of just selling any old product, or what happens to be on promotion that month, sales professionals using the consultative sales approach will look to sell products and services that match the exact needs of their buyers, which makes for more productive business development results and satisfied customers.

Instead of a scripted sales pitch, sales teams can use conversational skills and listen to their buyers personal and business needs. Only then do they provide advice and guidance, which includes being adaptable to the different challenges buyers may face.

Consultative selling is highly effective and can lead to far greater results for your business and better long term customer relations. Using other sales techniques typically results in salespeople chasing leads that are not a good match for the buyer. Whilst they may well win a first order, if the product isn’t right for the buyer and their customers, it is unlikely that they will build long term relationships.

However, using the consultative approach, the sales rep needs to listen to the customer needs and provide meaningful solutions, meaning your new customer can come back time and time again for your product or services.

It has become increasingly popular in recent years as sales professionals and sales managers managers have realised that traditional sales techniques have become less effective, because buyers have become wary of sales pitches. Instead of being sold a product, people prefer sales professionals to take a genuine interest in them as a person and their business.

If your product or service matches the criteria below you should consider using consultative selling:

Direct route to market
Low volume of sales but high profit margins – less popular but still relevant with transactional sales
Requires high level of industry knowledge with experienced sales people
Higher cost to employers, with lots of training required
Medium to long length sales cycles

Consultative selling requires a change in mindset. Instead of going out to sell, salespeople will need to have a conversation with potential buyers, in a structured and reputable manner. Building trust first with any potential buyer is just one fo the key selling skills required.

Initially, many sales professionals struggle to adapt to the consultative sales method, as they are almost hard wired to sell products and services via the traditional features and benefits method. However, if you choose to adapt a consultative sales approach, it is important to stick with it, as modern buyers have become more resistant to being sold product.

Steps involved in Consultative Selling

1. Research potential buyers thoroughly before contacting them

Before engaging with potential buyers, it is important that the salesperson researches the potential customer, thoroughly and effectively. If the salesperson is used to a more traditional fast-paced sales environment, taking the time at the onset of the sales process to research may seem like an alien process.

However, first impressions matter, and considering the consultative selling method prides itself on expert knowledge, you need to make sure that you have done enough research. Similarly, consultative selling involves asking probing questions, and without enough research it can be difficult or almost impossible for salespeople to ask probing questions.

2. Define the Symptoms – What are the symptoms of the problem the potential customer is facing?

During this first step the salesperson will try to get an understanding of the issue at hand. Here the salesperson will play a role of expert consultant, where their expertise of the industry can be used to discuss the issues.

It is likely that the buyer may only have a surface-level knowledge of the symptoms, therefore the expertise of a consultative salesperson is vital.

At this stage, it is vitally important that the salesperson doesn’t revert to a more traditional techniques and try to sell products or services. This is because, it is very early in the process, and it is unlikely that the salesperson will have formed a fully rounded understanding of the issues at hand, and could recommend the wrong solution.

3. Root cause analysis – ask the buyer questions to understand and diagnose the underlying causes.

During this stage, the salesperson will need to dig deeper into the problem, and find out what is causing it.

By digging deeper into the problem, the salesperson can use their knowledge to generate powerful questions that will reassure the buyer that they are dealing with an expert in the field, and that they can use their expertise to offer solutions to their problem.

This step can be a really powerful tool to build the buyers confidence in the salesperson.

4. Business impact – Ask how the issue is impacting on the business. Does it impact on morale, performance, profitability or all three?

At this stage, the salesperson and the buyer have agreed on a diagnosis of the issue, and they will now begin to understand how this impacts on the business.

If the issue has very little impact on the business, in terms of profitability or revenue, then it is very unlikely that the buyer will look to make a significant contribution (either financially or with their time) to finding a solution.

If this is the case, or if the salesperson knows that their product or service isn’t the solution to the buyers problems, then the salesperson should cut their losses here.

5. Financial Impact – Find out how much the problem will cost the business if they do not fix it.

Identifying the financial impact of the issue is another major milestone in the consultative sales method. This can be easier to measure in objective measurements, such as monetary values, rather than subjective measurements such as staff morale or culture, which are far more difficult to monitor.

If the financial impact runs into the hundreds of thousands of pounds each year, and the solution only costs £10,000 then this could be a very attractive proposal for the buyer. Alternatively, if the solution costs £100,000, and it would only save the company £10,000 each year, it will be a much less attractive proposition to the buyer.

6. Personal Impact – Find out how the problem affects the buyer personally – how does it affect their day to day job?

Potential buyers are far more likely to be convinced by a solution, if the issue directly impacts upon them. This is why when using the consultative selling skills, it is vitally important to make sure that you are speaking to the right person.

If the salesperson and buyer are involved in a complex sales solution, it is likely that the 6 step process above may need to be repeated. It may also need to be repeated with different departments and stakeholders. Whilst this inevitably adds to the time taken to sell a product or service, patience is an important aspect of consultative sales.

What do you need to be a good consultative salesperson?

Consultative selling requires some key selling skills which aren’t necessarily associated with more traditional selling methods. This includes:

Active Listening – traditionally salespeople aren’t renowned for their listening skills, but under the consultative selling method, using active listening is a key requirement. Not only does it help understand the buyers issues, it also helps you stand out from the crowd. As buyers are being turned off by hard sales pitches, if a buyer needs to choose between two similar products, they may choose for the one with the sales person that genuinely listened to their issues.

Emotional intelligence – This covers peoples ability to evaluate, perceive and control emotions. Buying and selling remains an emotional process, and it is important for salespeople to respond to the buyers emotions.

Expertise – Because consultative selling requires the salesperson to really delve deep into issues, it is important that sellers are experts in their field. However, no one wants to be overawed with information, so the salesperson will need to communicate their expertise efficiently.

Domain knowledge – Similar to expertise, salespeople will need to have a specialised knowledge of the whole domain. Not only do salespeople need to know what their customers want, they need to know what their customers’ customer want.

Self-awareness – Consultative salespeople will need to understand and manage our thoughts and the impact that can have on people.

What questions to ask?

Asking the right questions is probably the most important part of consultative selling. Asking aimless questions or having an unstructured conversation with a potential buyer, is unlikely to either build rapport or project confidence. Whilst consultative selling doesn’t involve hard selling, salespeople can still funnel a conversation one way by using structured and well designed questions. Using specialised questioning techniques when combined with active listening and the required expertise can be a winning combination.

There are several types of consultative selling questions. They are:

Open ended questions – These are used to gather further information

Closed questions – Should be used for confirmation

Summary questions – Sales professionals should will summarise or paraphrase the prospective buyers statement and turn it into a question. These are used to confirm the correct understanding of issues.

Funnelling questions – These channel the conversation through a particular area.

Redirect questions – Sales Professionals should use these questions to control the conversation and move the sales process forward.

Opposing redirect – These questions is answering a question with a question back to the buyer.

Presumptive questions – Presumptive questions are questions when the salesperson knows or presume the prospective buyer does not know the answer.

Which Products and Services are best suited to Consultative Sales Techniques?

The great thing about Consultative sales techniques are that they can be used in almost any industry, or with any product or service. Our own clients sell a wide range of services from Waste Management through to Aircraft Manufacturing each using a consultative sales approach.

Furthermore, once you have mastered the system it can be as flexible as possible. We have clients using a consultative sales approach and closing deals on one inbound sales call, and we also have clients using the exact same consultative approach to close large enterprise deals through a six month sales cycle.

What is Consultative Sales Training?

Consultative selling requires a change in mindset and as such effective training is vitally important. As a specialist sales provider we offer training in consultative sales, and a range of courses from giving people a solid baseline understanding of the method through to those seeking to master the sales techniques.

As an international training provider we believe that sales teams learn better if they are doing the task, rather than reading text books or watching a presentation, and as such part of our training includes role place sessions. Consultative sales training also cover all aspects of the sales process, including social selling techniques.

It is also important to remember that consultative selling requires ongoing reinforcement training, so you should consider booking in several sessions, to ensure that your sales team do not revert to their natural selling habits.

Outside of training, under any sales technique it is important that sales professionals have enough support and encouragement. This is even more important under the consultative selling technique. Sales coaching from a sales manager between training sessions, can be a vitally important resource.

You can check out our course on consultative sales and book online here.

Klozers Sales Training

More than just sales training, we train salespeople the essential sales skills that turns them into a top performer. We work with your sales team taking them on a journey from Business Development and winning new customers, through to creating long term relationships.

Consultative Selling is more than just asking probing questions, it’s also when and how to ask them in a way that fosters and builds trust.

We help you identify the key areas that your sales team needs to uncover customer needs, become problem solving gurus, and close more deals.

Meilleures pratiques en matière de démonstration SaaS – Comment faire une bonne démonstration SaaS ?

by Iain Swanston

meilleures pratiques en matière de démo saas

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Selling Information Technology Services | Everything you need to Know

by Iain Swanston

How to sell IT services?

Selling it support services is very similar to selling other intangible services.

Build your brand and make it as attractive as possible
Develop a detailed ideal client profile and create a niche for yourself
Link your intangible services to tangible deliverables that are important to your customer
Lear as much about your products and services as possible and how they impact your customers
Develop your relationship building skills and your emotional intelligence

As a business owner selling technology, managed services or custom development client satisfaction plays a key role in your long term success. Clients expect Rolls Royce service at competitive prices as competition in the technology industry is fierce.

1. Building your brand

As you would expect building a Brand in a competitive market like IT is not an overnight job. There are however, many companies who have successfully entered the market and gained rapid market share by being more agile than existing brands.

For example, the introduction of Microsoft Office 365 allowed new players to enter the Microsoft Channel while the existing partners continued to focus on Small Business Server sales.

New companies specialising in Cloud services and SaaS have disrupted the market by starting off with very niche services and expanding out as they grew.

In our experience the best way to build a brand is to first focus on your Inbound Sales Channel which inevitably will raise your awareness in the market and start to generate inbound sales leads.

For more information on developing your Inbound Sales Channel or any of our other consulting services please get in touch with one of our coaches via the contact us page.

2. Ideal Client Profile – who are you selling to?

Success in selling technology will require in depth research and creating your ideal client profile. This is something that most companies either forget or fail to see the importance of. The result is – if you’re trying to sell to everybody, you will end up selling to nobody”.

Taking time to thoroughly research your target market and identify the business pains they have that you intent to help them solve is one of the most important parts when selling information technology services.

At Klozers we use both an Ideal Client Profile which is focussed on the types of companies we sell to and a Perfect Prospect Profile which is targeted at the individuals within the ideal client profile that we sell to.

You can access the template below and many more via the SaaS Sales Playbook contained within our Resources section.

3. Your Value Proposition – what makes you different?

The reality is that many IT service companies appear the same – one Microsoft Partner can look the same as many others. Yes, it’s possible to differentiate with the area within the Microsoft stack that you focus on, such as SharePoint or Teams, however, what makes you different to all the other Partners focussing on those same technologies.

How you differentiate your value proposition is key because, unless you get this right, you will be seen as a “me too” player which means that you will end up competing on price. The best way to discover how you differentiate your business is to research both your target audience and your competition and find the gaps.

Initially these gaps may seem too small to build an empire, however, they are there as starting points as your brand will evolve over the years.

In addition to your differentiation you should also ensure that you have a strategy to make your entire team Subject Matter Experts.

Your company and your people should be seen as Thought Leaders and be the first to market talking about new products, services and trends. You don’t even have to deliver these new services, just talking about them puts your personal and company brand out there.

4. The Complex Sale

It’s important when selling technology services to remember, in nearly every case there will be multiple people in your customers decision making unit.

Studies show that most technology sales fall into the category of the Complex Sale meaning they will have anything between 14 and 23 potential people involved with 80% of them having senior roles.

The addition of extra decision makers elongate the sales cycle and further complicates the sales process. Many of the decision makers will be in different departments and often have competing priorities.

For example, when looking for Marketing Automation software the marketing department will typically want what they perceive to be the best marketing solution.

The decision makers from sales may want an automation platform that integrates with their existing CRM system.

5. Stages of the Sales Process

As with any complex sale it’s important to have a strong sales process that both your team can follow and works for your customers.

Nearly every organisation has their own unique sales process, however, it’s worth noting, any process is only as good as those implementing it and detail and consistency are king.

If you are selling to large enterprise organisations it’s important to understand these companies will not change their buying process to match your sales process. The vendor needs to first understand what the Enterprise Buying process is and then align their internal process with this.

Whilst having a sales process is important, what’s equally important in our experience is understanding:

What “qualifies” a prospect to move from one stage to the next?
What soft skills do I need to move a prospect from one stage to the next?

My first experience of this was with the 10 stage Microsoft Solution Selling Process (MSSP). This was not necessarily a bad sales process but little thought had been given at the time as to how you could move prospects through the process.

Microsoft have since invested heavily in their whole sales process and sales enablement and have some of the best training and support available.

6. Selling a product vs selling a service

Before the advent of the cloud and SaaS solutions, IT was predominantly a product sale. “Shifting boxes” and “selling tin” were common phrases among IT Sales Professionals. Selling servers and IT hardware were predominantly products, and the solutions were mostly the mixing and configuration of the different types of hardware with some custom development software thrown in for good measure.

SaaS has changed this forever as fewer and fewer companies have on premise hardware or software. With everything now hosted in the cloud, many companies now only have Laptops, a printer and a modem on premise.

This move from what was largely a transactional and tangible sale of a product, to a more solution orientated, intangible sale, has proven difficult for many sales professionals as one is

Most people find selling a product much easier than selling a service because your prospects get to see, touch and experience a product. Human beings communicate through our five senses and these are extremely important in selling. Next time you’re walking past a coffee shop or your local bakers I’m sure the aromas will be trying to entice you in the door.

Car salespeople love getting potential buyers to sit inside a new car as the small of the new car, the feeling of the leather seats and comfort of sitting down creates a desirable experience for most of us.

Compare these scenarios with Insurance or Pensions or cloud based technology solutions where the five senses are rarely engaged by the “product”.

7. Technology Sales Models

When it comes to Technology Sales Models there are many different models to choose from:

SPIN Selling developed by Neil Rackham in the late 80’s focussed on S – situation, P – problem, I – implication and N – need or payoff. This is still hugely popular, however, some people believe this SPIN is much better suited to simple transactional sales with few buyers, rather than the complex technology sales of todays market.

Solution Selling as the name says focusses on selling a solution rather than a product and is widely used among technology sales professionals. Solution Selling involves much more time in the early stages of the sales uncovering the prospects needs and pain points and uncovering the underlying problems that are causing the pain. Furthermore, solution selling is better suited to selling technology services as it also helps uncover different decision makers and stakeholders within the business.

Consultative Sales Methodology is very similar to Solution Selling, however, where Solution Selling is based around selling a technology Consultative Selling is more focussed on the pre-sales consulting stage and building relationships through empathy.

Whilst choosing the right sales methodology is important these are all things that can be learned. What’s more important, are the values and work ethics of your team.

8. Selling Software as a Service (SaaS)

SaaS Sales Campaign in a BoxTraditionally software was sold as an on premise solution and was often customised to the individual company’s requirements. The advent of SaaS has changed this dramatically and reduced the amount of custom software development undertaken in house.

The Custom Development of software was expensive, time consuming and in some cases took so long that the original requirement had either changed or was no longer required by the time the software had been built and deployed.

SaaS software is essentially a switch on and switch off service allowing greater flexibility with the added benefit of lower entry costs as the software or platform is being resold multiple times. No more high up from capital costs with SaaS providing the perfect Op Ex solution.

Selling SaaS solutions are different to selling technology services. Whereby most SaaS sales are focussed on the software, features and benefits and demos these things are sometimes never touched on when selling managed services.

SaaS companies also have a slightly different methodology with most using MEDDIC or even CHAMP.

MEDDIC is probably the best known SaaS sales process with M standing for Metrics, E standing for the economic buyer, D stands for Decision making criteria as in why choose you. The next D stand for Decision making process, I stands for Identification of the pains and lastly C stands for Champion, who will help you sell internally.

CHAMP – is a simpler version with CH representing Challenges, A standing for Authority, M standing for Money and P standing for Priority.

9. Selling IT Managed Services

Managed Services or Managed IT Services are what we would describe as the Business as Usual IT services that a business needs to keep the doors open.

As a services business very large part of your market will be SME’s and you will be dealing with the Business Owner who may have little or no knowledge around technology.

As always when selling technology risk avoidance for these clients is key as they will need reassurance certain disaster scenarios are covered.

Whereas historically these would have included a lot of hardware sales the modern Managed Services contracts predominantly involve delivering services such as licensing, patch updates, remote monitoring, technical support and advice, deployment and possibly configuration of SaaS software.

The outsourced managed services model is particularly popular with Small Medium Enterprise (SMEs) organisations who typically are not large enough to have their own in house IT Department and therefore outsource the IT function in their business via a Managed Services contract.

The alternative to outsourced managed services is sometimes referred to as a break-fix contract where the customer is simply charged on a form of pay as you go.

Break-fix contracts now seem to be very rare as most services businesses prefer to sell the security of a Managed Services contract whereby the clients know the costs every month and can plan around this.

Many larger organisations will also outsource part of their IT function but often retain some specialist IT staff to manage the contracts and deal with specialist IT projects unique to their organisation.

10. IT Professional Services

Selling information technology services may involve what’s called IT Professional Services. These are typically intangible services based around:

Fault Diagnosis and Problem Solving. Let’s pretend that you’re organisations IT system develops a fault and no one internally is capable of identifying the root cause of the problem an fixing it. You may choose to approach an external contractor who provide IT Professional Services and they will supply a specialist to find and fix the problem.
Consulting. With technology moving so rapidly it’s almost impossible to keep up with everything. Your organisation may choose to hire an IT Professional Services firm to benchmark where you currently are from an IT perspective and then make recommendations based on your current and future requirements. Examples of this could be moving from On Premise to the Cloud or some form of Business Process Automation.
Bespoke Solutions. Some organisations require completely bespoke solutions designed and built for them. This may require business analysts, project managers in addition to the technologists in order to achieve the outcomes the client desires.

Both Professional Services and Managed Service contracts are classed as Business to Business (B2B) Sales. Largely speaking, Professional Services sales tend to be to larger enterprise organisations, with Managed Services contracts more suited to SME and Mid Market companies who have a limited IT Department.

11. Turning your IT Product Knowledge into powerful sales questions

Product knowledge when selling technology services as you can imagine is hugely important, however, it’s not for the reasons you may be thinking.

Everyone has heard the saying “when you’re telling you’re not selling”. Modern selling regardless of which sales methodology you are using is based around intelligent questioning. The value of any sales professional is not in the information they give, but in the information the gather.

Technology sales people have previously earned a reputation of talking “bits and bytes” which left the non-technical buyers even more confused.

The most successful Technology Services reps now focus on selling business solutions that solve business problems. The technology in many cases is completely irrelevant to the user, its what the technology enables them to do that is important. Those are the reasons people will buy.

Product knowledge in any sale has only two benefits as follows:

The product knowledge should be turned into powerful sales questions that make the prospect stop and think: “wow what a great question”, “wow, why didn’t I think of that”, “wow this sales rep has done this before”, “wow this sales rep really is a subject matter expert”, “wow I wished my sales reps were as good as this one”.
The product knowledge should provide the self confidence the sales rep needs to go into any board room and not be intimidated or fearful. The product knowledge should allow the sales rep to say to themselves “this company may be great at abc but they need me because I am an expert in xyz. Without confidence in the boardroom sales people will be outmanoeuvred by both their competitors and savvy buyers.

12. CIO’s and other Buyers you need to target.

In many cases the CIO or Head of IT is at the very least involved in the decision making process when selling technology services if not the final decision maker. This has however, changed for line of business applications over the years, with the advent of SaaS or cloud-based software.

In some cases where companies have developed very specific SaaS solutions that will only be used within the one department the “Line of Business Head” would fulfil the role of the CIO.

For example, purchases of a SaaS solution such as Digital Signature software that will be used to allow the companys sales people to get contracts signed digitally would typically not involve the CIO.

It’s also worth noting that studies show 93% of B2B buyers will require a business case before they can make a decision. In general a Business Case usually means that something is going to require board approval which takes us back to the complex sale.

CIO’s are highly valuable buyers and they know this. With many being introverts they often keep a low profile on social media and are difficult to start relationships with.

With this in mind it’s important to be armed with research, data, insights and case studies to demonstrate the value.

As previously mentioned these clients expect and require in depth research before approaching them, a track record of successfully delivering services in their niche with a high level of client satisfaction.

Exhibition Sales Training – how to maximise your investment

by Iain Swanston

Exhibition Sales Training - maximising your investment

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11 Steps to Create Sales Battlecards that Win More Deals

by Iain Swanston

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Sales Prospecting Training Course | Start Filling your Pipeline Now!

by Iain Swanston

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Formation à la vente virtuelle | 5 techniques de vente à maîtriser

by Iain Swanston

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Comment élaborer un manuel de vente SaaS ? (avec modèle GRATUIT)

by Iain Swanston

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Sales Training and Consulting for B2B Companies

by Iain Swanston

Why invest in Sales Training and Consulting?

There are normally two reasons companies invest in our Sales Training and Consulting services. Firstly, they are often in a hurry to find sales growth and are looking for a short cut, a growth hack.

Often these companies would eventually find the right strategies and tactics themselves, but they may be keen to capitalise on their first mover advantage or satisfy the needs of external investors.

For these companies we provide a shortcut, we help them avoid the pitfalls and roadblocks that every growing business experiences.

When you engage with Klozers your team has access to over 70 years experience in B2B sales and marketing.

Our sales training can help you get the best out of your team, alongside our consultancy services that will help you deploy the changes identified by our consultancy

Let’s take a closer look at why it makes so much sense to use sales training and consulting services together.

1. Why sales consulting compliments your sales training?

Many companies make the mistake of rushing into training as the solution to improving sales performance.

Indeed, training may be part of the solution, but it is never the whole solution. Before any training takes place it’s important to understand the root causes of the challenges within the sales department and only when we truly understand the problems can we prescribe the best possible solution.

By rushing into training we would be assuming that everything else that affects sales is 100% perfect, and that is simply never the case.

As with anything, the greater the investment upfront in terms of the diagnosis, the more effective the training will be.

This is because the training can then be customised to meet the exact needs of the business which makes it much more impactful.

2. Why is Sales Training so effective?

Sales training builds both skills and confidence, and those are simply unbeatable in front of a customer.

The best salespeople are like athletes and they are hungry to learn more and stay at the top of their game.

The reason they are so good is that they are constantly looking for an edge, an advantage, and this keeps driving them forward.

These are small but important things that make the difference and gets more deals over the line. Our training is designed to keep your team at the top of their game and help them benefit from the very latest insights and industry best practice.

Our sales trainers work hard to keep your team engaged and motivated during training sessions, using a range of mediums to maintain their attention and inspire them.

Your sales trainer will help your team sell more effectively whether that be over the phone, in-person or online.

They can help them improve their lead generation, closing and account management skills, and provide indispensable mentoring services.

3. What happens before training takes place?

Before your training sessions begin, it’s important to identify what you want to get from them. As a sales training provider we offer bespoke services that are based on your specific needs and challenges.

We can provide a full sales consultancy service in advance of any training. This would typically include an evaluation of your current sales unit in relation to sales maturity and best practice.

We can also provide full training needs analysis so you can gain a better understanding of your requirements before staring any training course.

For sales training to be effective, they need to be delivered in a way that maintains your teams’ attention, which means your sessions will include a great deal of interactivity.

Our sales training sessions include a range of demonstrations, exercises, games and roleplay.

4. What is the aim of Sales Training

Our goal as a provider is not to deliver sales training, but to deliver results.

Therefore we believe the goal of Sales training is to help you meet a range of sales goals faster than you would if you were to continue without any intervention.

Not every company’s needs are the same, but businesses often invest in sales training because they want to improve their staff’s sales skills, close more deals, create more conversions, make their staff feel more supported, improve morale and boost the average value of their sales.

However, ultimately all of these lead to one overall benefit – an improvement in results. Some companies invest in training because they have identified a particular problem that needs addressing which is being caused by a skills gaps within their businesses.

Training may also benefit your team if they seem to be lacking direction, or are feeling unmotivated. A lack of motivation can often occur because staff are unclear on what their roles are, or because the current strategies they are using are not working.

In many occasions this is why Sales consultancy is a perfect fit alongside sales training as it can also help you identify and deal with additional challenges.

5. How can a Sales Consultant help our business?

A sales consultant will help your business by taking a close look at your current situation, identifying strengths and weaknesses, and helping you make positive changes to drive revenue growth.

If you are not currently meeting your sales targets, our sales consultants can help you find out why this is happening and develop strategies to address the issues.

Our experienced consultants can help with optimising your sales processes and ensuring you get the maximum conversion ratios from the leads you are generating.

With our years of experience in B2B sales our sales consultants can introduce you to specific resources that will support your business.

These can include lead generation, marketing, sales tracking, and training programmes and software that will give you a better insight into how your sales team are performing.

6. Adding Sales Experience to your Leadership Team

When you are immersed in the day-to-day running of your company, it can be hard to assess your situation objectively.

It’s often impossible to find anyone around you who is not objective as your team all have a role which in some way will make them subjective.

Our sales consultants aren’t just there to identify problems that you weren’t previously aware of, we are completely hands on and happy to work alongside your team to implement any solutions.

Where applicable we will highlight your strengths and help you make the most of the resources that you currently have. In most cases this revolves around the creation of a sales plan, which we work with you to develop and if required are happy to help with executing against the plan.

Our consultants will work with you to help you improve relationships between departments and colleagues. For instance, we are often called upon for detailed advice on aligning sales and marketing departments so you’re delivering coherent messages to your customers.

Indeed aligning sales and marketing is one of our most popular services.

7. Which Companies benefit the most from Consulting Services

We typically have two types of customers of our consulting services. The first are larger organisations who already have a Sales Plan in place.

They need help executing and delivering against the plan as they simply lack the internal resources to do this themselves.

The second group are those looking for external and objective advice. In some cases they have seen a substantial decline in sales recently or aren’t meeting their targets they need to reach and hence are reaching out for support.

These businesses hire us because we have a track record of turning companies around. Alternately you may need external support if you have experienced changes in your industry and you’re struggling to keep up with your competitors.

Companies also may hire us because they feel missed sales targets are starting to affect morale and staff retention rates.

By investing in training and consultancy services, you can show your team you’re determined to improve and start achieving more.

8. Build a Selling System

It’s also common for companies to invest in sales consultancy services because their sales processes are confused and unclear, with team members pulling in different directions.

We are a huge advocate of having a selling system. Finance has a system, operations have a system so why not sales. Building a repeatable scalable selling system is simply a must for any business.

By mapping this out we can help your salespeople to understand how and where they can influence buyers and sell to people on different parts of their journey, helping you secure more sales.

Our consultants can also help you gain a richer understanding of the data available to you, from both your marketing automation and CRM platforms.

In many cases our clients either don’t have enough data or they are overwhelmed by data, and miss out on the most important parts. Either way we can help.

In Conclusion

Sales is an ever changing environment and more and more businesses are improving their performance, staff retention rates and workplace morale.

For most of use this means competition is tough and by investing in our sales training and consultancy services we can give you that edge you need to not just compete, but win.

Sales consultants and trainers can provide invaluable mentorship, help you identify and eradicate weaknesses, and help you make the changes that you need to not only survive but prosper.

Our team can breathe new life into your organisation and inspire people throughout your company. Whether you’ve been missing your targets or are simply ready to build upon recent success and take your business to the next level, there are many great reasons for hiring sales training and consultancy professionals.

If you are ready to hire a sales trainer, sales consultant or both, come and talk with us.

Sales and Service Training Courses

by Iain Swanston

If your business is typical, up to 80% of next years revenues will come from this years customers. Despite this many organisations give little or no thought to customer service, viewing it merely as a cost to the business.

In many cases customer service is a cost to the business, however, survey after survey shows customer service as a core component of your brand. In certain cases some brands who understand the commercial value of great customer service, use it as an opportunity to cross sell and upsell, thus driving additional revenue into the business.

There are so many great statistics for investing in sales and service training once you look into it, it’s difficult to ignore. As an example studies show that 82% of customers leave because of a poor experience and of those 73% leave because of a reaction to rude staff.

Structured and well supported training can help your team meet your customers expectations and even exceed them. The right sales and service training can make your team more adept at winning customers’ trust, whilst boosting your teams confidence.

The best sales and service training programmes are designed to help companies move away from customer service and towards customer experiences.

How can Sales and Service Training help my team?

Often the biggest challenge in business is winning new customers. Given that’s the case it surely makes sense to do everything possible to not only keep those customers, but to maximise the revenue from them.

Most service issues have a simple root problem, for example, 55% of customers are leaving because of delays in resolving a dispute and 51% are leaving because of poor staff training. What’s possibly most important to note, is that all these problems can be easily remedied.

Sales and service training can give your team a system to measure, track and consistently improve your customer service and sales. This will help change the mindset of your team, enabling them to make a real impact by being able to identify what matters most and take action to improve.

When done correctly training can enhance your workplace culture substantially and provide your sales team with additional skills that can benefit them personally throughout their careers.

Why Sales and Service Training is Important — Sales and Service Training

Close More Deals and Learn New Skills

Most companies are unaware of the potential sales opportunities they have with existing customers. With repeat customer spending up to 67% more, sales and service training is more than just handling complaints and returns.

A big part of resolving customers problems should be finding new solutions to the problems customers encounter. In most cases the problems that customers experience are actually the best opportunities for cross selling and upselling.

Training can introduce your team to new strategies and tactics that they may simply never come across before. In addition to external input, there are often great lessons that can be shared internally, and these should be captured and documented for the benefit of others.

Training will help your team become more familiar with your own company’s best practices. In a well structured sales and service training programme, your staff will not only learn new techniques, but also find out why they are so effective and which situations they should be deployed in.

Benefit from External Sales Specialists

Often a key benefit of sales and service training is that it gives your team a chance to take onboard new ideas and strategies from outside the business. In many cases they are more open to learning from external facilitators with an in-depth knowledge than from internal colleagues.

Sales and service specialists can give your team more than just the skills they need to engage potential customers in meaningful conversations. They can help you explain on your customers terms why your products and service may be a good fit for them.

Sales and service training will help your team use the product knowledge and information that they have about your products and services, and turn this into powerful questions that make the buyer want to buy rather than them having to sell to them.

Retain the Best Staff

Many companies are now switched on to the fact that it’s easier to retain quality staff when you invest in training courses for them.

If your team members feel you aren’t investing in them, there’s a high possibility that they will move to a company that will. Investing in training shows your employees that you are eager to help them improve.

When staff receive quality training, they tend to feel more supported, which in turn boosts their confidence. Recruitment costs to replace team members can be incredibly expensive and take up an inordinate amount of management time.

It’s therefore important to try and keep hold of the employees that you have already invested in and continue to develop them.

benefits of sales and service training — Sales and Service Training

Should Managers attend Sales and Service Training?

Sales Managers are responsible for the day to day activities and performance of those activities for members in their team.

Your Managers set the bar in terms of what is acceptable performance and what is not. With this in mind, it’s important that sales managers attend every sales and service training along with their staff so they can hear the information first-hand.

When managers know exactly what’s covered and agreed during training, they can ensure their staff apply this knowledge to real-life scenarios and coach them if they are struggling.

Sales training often includes an element of goal-setting, which is yet another reason why it’s so important for managers to attend. It’s important for the managers to set realistic, yet achievable goals, rather than targets that are out of your team’s reach.

Failure to do this will simply harm the confidence of the team and demotivate them.

Increase your Customer Satisfaction Ratings

Training like everything else in your business needs to deliver a return on your investment. Whilst not everything should be judged by customer service scores, any service training should ultimately improve your customer satisfaction ratings.

Customer expectations are arguably higher than they have ever been and today’s customers expect to receive high-quality service more than ever before.

If they have a bad experience with a member of your team, they’re likely to make their opinions public and Social Media can amplify bad news like never before.

Customer Service training will not only teach your team to deliver the best customer experiences possible, but also turn your happy customers into advocates for your brand, thus generating new business referrals.

Omnichannel Customer Support

Modern customer service training often starts before your customers have even made a purchase. In most cases your customers first interaction with your brand is either your website or social media pages.

It’s important to include these as part of your wider customer experience strategy. This is supported by many statistics for example, using three channels instead of one for marketing campaigns results in a 287% higher purchase rate.

Providing Omnichannel customer support helps your team keep your clients happy across a range of channels and mediums. It can help them communicate with your customers better not only over traditional channels like the phone, but also via live chat, email, social media, SMS and other platforms.

The most successful customer service teams around today adopt an omnichannel approach with research showing that companies with an omnichannel approach experience a 23 fold increase in customer satisfaction.

We believe it’s really important to include these areas in your service programme. Many companies are failing to meet their customers’ expectations which makes it easier for you and your team to stand out from the crowd and win business from them.

Sales and Service Training Course — Sales and Service Training

Build Expert Product Knowledge

No matter the industry customers want to deal with experts and not agents who are simply following a call centre script.

Sales and service training encourages your team to get to know your products inside out so they can answer any and every relevant question they might be faced with.

If sales reps don’t have the knowledge that they require, they are more likely to leave customers feeling frustrated, with the customer going on to air their feedback publicly.

The more your reps know about your products and services, the better they can address customer pain points and explain why your solutions are the answer to their problems.

Enhance Customer Loyalty

Repeated studies show that customers tend to be much more loyal to companies that offer outstanding customer service. Many of today’s customers say that customer service is more important than price when they’re deciding who to do business with.

By investing in sales and service training, you can attract and retain more customers and gain a real edge over your competitors. Part of your overall programme should include how you plan to collect and share customer reviews.

With 70% of people taking action based on customer reviews this is an essential component of every sales and customer service training.

Resolve Disputes Quickly

Delays when resolving complaints can often be the straw that breaks the camels back with 55% of people leaving a brand because of delays in resolution.

Sales and service training can help your reps resolve complaints quickly which is important when dealing with angry and frustrated customers.

Training can help them show tactical empathy when they are dealing with an angry customer and enable them to steer the conversation in the right direction, no matter which medium they are communicating on.

Understanding active listening skills can turn your team into better, more helpful listeners that pay close attention to what your customers have to say and then use the skills and information they have to deliver the best outcome possible.

Why Customers stay after sales and service training — Sales and Service Training

Customer Service Training

Unlike traditional customer service training courses, Klozers provides the latest in business simulation software, that allows your team to experience a 2 year customer experience transformation program in 1 day.

Our state of the art business simulation goes way beyond basic communication skills and helps your sales team understand customer expectations, sales process, and what truly drives sales performance across the organisation.

Designed specifically as a holistic cross departmental our customer service courses are designed to engage everyone from your front line sales team, product and services teams and company management.

The customer service training includes two options as follows:

Enterprise Customer Service Training

SaaS Customer Success Training

Please contact us for further information.

In Summary

How important is retaining your existing customers?

How valuable would the extra revenue be if your customer service team were actively cross selling and upselling throughout their day?

Investing in sales and service training will make your staff and customers much happier. If you look after your staff they will in turn look after your customers.

If you feel you need to make improvements in these areas, please give us a call. We would love to work with you and make the sales and service goals you have in mind a reality.

12 Critical Objectives of Sales Management

by Iain Swanston

The Objectives of Sales Management

There are many objectives and goals for sales management and the importance of each will vary from business to business.

Business to business sales can be complex, with many variables and whilst the obvious objectives of revenue, profitability and growth are important it’s easy to argue a case for the plethora of other objectives such as customer satisfaction, team morale, employee retention.

Effective sales management is the key to running every successful sales team. When sales management is executed correctly, the rest of your enterprise benefits.

Sales managers are responsible for inspiring teams, leading by example, maximising profits and providing customers with the best experience to make sure they return for more.

We’ve resisted the urge to include the all to common piece around smart goals, because we assume your past all that and looking for something more meaningful.

So, we’ve listed below what we believe to be the main objectives of sales management, enjoy.

1. Sales Plan

We’ve listed sales plan at the very start because of it’s importance. Without a plan it’s difficult to track progress, meet or exceed your goals and align your sales team around those goals.

Quite simply, the sales plan ensures that not only is everyone on your company boat rowing in the same direction, it ensures that the boat itself is going in the right direction.

As with any objective or goal, the sales manager should be measured on the execution of the sales plan.

For some reason the majority of companies do not have a sales plan and miss out on the many benefits they bring.

2. Sales Strategy

Strategy is listed in the dictionary as “an approach” and although it sounds simple coming up with the best approach or strategy to how you gain maximum market penetration with the budget available to you is never easy.

At best if you nail your sales strategy sales will take off and at worst you will find that sales become like wading through treacle. An eternal hardship that consumes any profits you dreamed of as it sucks the life from your business.

Once you’ve agreed on a strategy you need to review this on a monthly basis and adjust as required.

Beware however, of changing your strategy before it has had a chance to mature or you might just end up going round in circles.

Once you’ve decided on your sales strategy the next challenge is aligning all your resources including the sales team and executing on that strategy.

3. Reporting and Metrics

Before you start to implement and share your strategy and sales plan you will need to give some thought as to how you are going to measure your progress.

Data is the new oil and Sales reporting is an essential part of the modern sales managers day to day activities.

Your reporting system should tell you everything from how well your reps are performing on a daily basis, to the cost of customer acquisition on your latest sales campaign.

Reports will tell you which areas you are succeeding in and areas need your attention. You should draw up a list of baseline sales metrics and then from there you can measure progress towards your targets.

In almost every scenario, you will be asked to generate Management Reports for your board and these will include things like your current sales funnel/sales pipeline which will provide information such as how many live deals you currently have in your funnel, the average size of each deal and the average length of the journey through the funnel.

It’s critically important that you not only can generate the right reports, but that you can interpret the results in a meaningful way.

4. Sales Performance

There is no one individual who has as much influence over sales than the sales manager.

Every day the Manager sets the bar between what is acceptable and what is not, in terms performance from their team.

They are responsible for not just managing, but also the training, coaching and development of the sales team.

Every salesperson wants to sell, every salesperson wants to be part of a winning team and the sales managers that succeed are those that focus on 2 things:

They do everything they can to help salespeople sell more
They do everything they can to develop their salespeople.

Unfortunately, as the manager has the power to make everything a success, they can also be architects of their own failure.

5. Key duties of the Sales Manager

Sales managers are tasked with developing sales teams, coordinating all operations within sales departments and identifying and implement the right sales techniques to deliver success.

Although the aim is to meet sales targets, it’s not uncommon for these aims to be surpassed.

The right sales management processes can give you a substantial edge over your competitors and ensure your company is thriving rather than simply surviving.

As a minimum the sales manager should address the following areas in their plan. Strategy, Process, People, Channels, Technology, Customers and Leadership

6. Team Morale

Morale is extremely important when it comes to building a winning sales team. The more inspired and confident your team are, the more they will achieve.

This is why it’s so important to ensure each member of your team feels listened to and respected. The easiest way to do this is by including them in the sales planning wherever possible.

Provide real-time information on as much as possible including things like the exact costs to the business to employ them, the profitability of your sales and how many deals they need to close to breakeven in terms of their own cost to the company.

Transparency is essential, so make sure each member of your team knows how well you’re currently performing.

What’s also important in terms of morale is being completely fair and not having any personal favourites in the team.

It’s normally easy for managers not to have favourites, however, many find it more difficult to deal with disruptive sales reps and often ignore them rather than look to resolve the problem.

Often times the most disruptive sales reps can be a top performer but you will still need to let them go if you feel they are damaging the overall morale and productivity of the team.

It’s incredibly important to foster a positive workplace culture where workplace friction is addressed as soon as it arises.

7. Setting realistic but ambitious targets

When it comes to setting your sales targets it’s vital to strike a balance between being ambitious and being realistic.

If your targets are unrealistically high, your sales team and your sales team fall so far behind that they don’t believe they can hit those targets, they will quickly become demotivated.

We recommend that you include your sales team as part of the planning process to help you set your sales targets.

By doing this you are much more likely to get buy in from the sales team and as the manager, you can still guide the team to create targets that are challenging.

Unrealistic targets will only serve to damage morale substantially and in turn, this will lower the overall performance of the team.

Managers should guide and coach their team members through the entire period of the targets to help ensure they remain on track and re-motivate them if they begin to lose confidence.

Managers typically have lots of experiences and skills that they can draw on from when they were a salesperson that will support their sales reps.

8. Building a sales funnel

Creating a sales funnel that continually is topped up with new, high quality sales leads is one of the most important objectives of sales management.

A sales funnel, also known as a pipeline is used to outline each step a customer takes throughout their journey towards making a purchase.

In B2B sales the salespeople are responsible for moving the deals or opportunities through the sales funnel.

There is nothing more demotivating to sales reps than the struggle to fill the sales funnel with new leads. It’s therefore important that you work with your marketing team to ensure a continuous flow of good quality sales leads.

If you are using Sales Development Reps (SDRs) to generate their own sales leads then you must give them the strategies and tactics to generate those leads.

Tactics like cold calling and cold email campaigns do work but they on their own it is a slow way to scale your business. As the sales manager it’s your responsibility to break the entire sales process down into easy, manageable stages.

Sales funnels enable salespeople to remain organised and in control, especially when used in conjunction with a good CRM system.

With the right CRM dashboards in place Sales reps can easily see the progress they have already made towards their sales targets.

This in turn will inspire them to continue focussing on moving deals through the sales funnel.

9. When can I expect results?

In our experience every overnight success has taken years of hard work to get there. With that said, you should see early indications of success in months, not years.

It’s important to manage expectations and collectively agree what success looks like in the initial phases.

This is why we are such advocates of creating a sales plan that everyone can align themselves behind.

Your sales plan should identify what we call the lead indicators rather than the lag indicators for success and you can start tracking them immediately.

It’s unlikely your sales management will deliver exceptional results immediately but with planning, patience and persistence you will slowly turn the ship around.

Trial-and-error can play a big role in helping you create the right sales process for you.

Even when you start seeing the results that you’ve been aiming for, you should always be prepared to make amendments as customer behaviours and requirements, technology and markets change.

10. Motivating your Sales Team

As a sales manager, you will be tasked with overseeing things like data, technology, processes and sales pipelines which you may or may not find easy.

However, often the biggest challenge is people management and listening to your team is very important.

It’s essential to ask your team what drives them and what their personal goals are and then tie them into your own business objectives.

Not every member of your sales team will be motivated by money alone, so try to find out what else drives them and why they were interested in a career in sales in the first place.

It’s also essential to deliver additional support for those members working remotely during any lockdown period.

Some team members will be comfortable working from home, whilst others will prefer to be out in the field visiting customers and working in a busy office environment.

11. Do great salespeople make great sales managers?

One problem many companies encounter is that not all great salespeople make a fantastic sales manager.

Being a sales manager requires a whole host of different skills not required by salespeople, and it may take time to start seeing success once you’ve moved from making sales to overseeing them.

Most of the key tasks assigned to sales managers are strategic versus the tactical skills required by salespeople.

For example, data analysis is hugely important for every sales manager, as is planning, strategy and people management.

In addition, identifying realistic goals, hiring the right salespeople, creating incentives, arranging ongoing training and learning and matching the right kind of guidance to specific individuals in your team are all important.

12. Learning & Development

It’s easy to overlook training as a Sales Manager because there never seems to be any free time for developing your team or indeed yourself.

Training falls into the category of important/not urgent and because of this it often gets overlooked. In nearly every case the salespeople who don’t want training are those that need it the most.

Learning and development starts by hiring the right salespeople and only recruiting those who are driven and determined with great people skills.

The team that you inherit may be very different from this and it’s your objective as the sales manager to improve the team that you’re working with over the coming months or years.

It’s also important to seek out coachable people as these people are great learners and will continuously improve given the right support.

You will encounter people that already have good sales skills but seem unwilling to continue learning or taking feedback and this can become a problem.

These people not only don’t want to learn but they don’t want others to learn either and can sabotage and undermine your leadership.

Under these circumstances, as long as you have done everything possible to try and support these people if they still refuse then you will have no alternative to letting them go.

If you’re able to offer real-time information that you can display in the workplace, you should certainly do this as this creates incentives and keeps your salespeople’s eyes on the ball.

Transparency is essential, so make sure each member of your team knows how well you’re currently performing.

In conclusion

Sales managers are arguably the single most important part of your sales team and the right manager will help you achieve outstanding results when they build an exceptional and focussed team that they take the time to support.

They will ensure the organisation has the right people, structures, technology and sales processes in place progress which can be tracked and clearly visible for all the stakeholders.

By ensuring team members remain willing to learn and committing to learning more themselves, sales managers can deliver real success, even in the most competitive markets.

Sales Negotiation Training

by Iain Swanston

Key Negotiation Skills – Introduction

There is a common misconception that sales negotiation skills are only required towards the end of the sales process. The part in every sales process where costs and terms are agreed. Whilst this is undoubtedly true, it’s also true that the best salespeople are negotiating all the way through the sales process. In fact every Professional salesperson negotiates, every single day which is why it’s an important part of any training programme.

From negotiating with their children on what to have for breakfast, to negotiating with a Partner on where to go for dinner. In between times they will negotiate workloads with their line managers, negotiate meeting times with co-workers, negotiate dates & times for appointments with prospects and lastly negotiating sales contracts, project delivery and aftercare contracts. In short, Negotiation is actually unavoidable, and the ability to Negotiate is a core skill for every Salesperson.

Planning for Sales Negotiations

Like most things in life when it comes to Negotiation knowledge is power. The more information you have and better prepared you are then the more likely you will achieve a successful negotiation. Follow the information below to discover how to research and plan your next negotiation.

Sales Negotiation Goals

These are the needs, wants and desires of the parties involved in the negotiation. In business this can be complicated as not only may both sides have differing goals, but parties within each side may have differing and even conflicting Goals.

Goals can be subjective for example “We need to increase the confidence of our people.” or they can be more objective like “We need to reduce our overheads by 10 this quarter”. Either way it’s important to know both your own Goals and that of the other side. Important questions you must ask are:

Have we identified all the Goals?
What are the Prioritised Goals?
What are the Business Goals?
What are the Personal Goals?
Are there conflicting Goals?

Business Goals Examples	Personal Goals Examples
Strategic	Security
Change	Satisfaction
Growth	Peer Pressure
Improvement	Financial Gain

Please note Goals are NOT the same as outcomes.

Example:

Goals – George is 65 years old and would like to retire (Goal). In order to fund his retirement he needs to sell his business but no one wants to invest a large sum of capital. Mike would like to buy a business (Goal) but does not have any capital to invest.

The Outcome is the Negotiated agreement that they come to.

Negotiation Options

These are all the possible solutions that satisfy the goals of both parties. They are all possibilities that both parties agree or say Yes to.

By investing time to explore all the Options then you are more likely to find:

Alternative solutions
Enable both parties to achieve their goals
Reach the Best Possible Agreement (BPA)

Example:

Goals – George is 65 years old and would like to retire (Goal). In order to fund his retirement he needs to sell his business but no one wants to invest a large sum of capital. Mike would like to buy a business (Goal) but does not have any capital to invest.

Option – George can sell his business to Mike but rather than invest a lump sum he agrees to pay George on a Monthly basis from the profits for the next 5 years and hence fund his retirement.

Criteria for Negotiation

Criteria are the “terms” of any possible Option

Example:

Option – George can sell his business to Mike but rather than invest a lump sum he agrees to pay George on a Monthly basis from the profits for the next 5 years and hence fund his retirement.

Criteria – George needs to guarantee a minimum payment every month regardless of the profitability of that month. Mike needs to ensure ensure he will not be liable for any warranty, liability or compensations claims from the period before he take responsibility/ownership of the business.

Get expert Sales Negotiation Training from our Sales Coaches

Sales Negotiation Coaching — Sales Negotiation Training

CNA – Cost of No Agreement

Not all Negotiations end in an agreement, it is therefore vital before entering into any Negotiation that you first work out what the Cost of No Agreement is for both parties. The costs of no agreement can be both Objective and Subjective.

Example:

Option – George can sell his business to Mike but rather than invest a lump sum he agrees to pay George on a Monthly basis from the profits for the next 5 years and hence fund his retirement.

CNA – George does not have the financial resources to retire (Objective) however he has been trying unsuccessfully to sell his business for three years and is now desperate (Subjective) for a solution. Mike is keen to buy a business (Objective) but knows there are hundreds of businesses for sale and he is pretty relaxed (Subjective) if this deal doesn’t go through another one will come along.

The Subjective Cost of No Agreement can be more powerful than the Objective ones as people make decisions emotionally and then justify their position intellectually afterwards.

BATNA – Best Alternative to No Agreement

Not all Negotiations end in an Agreement, it is therefore vital before entering into any Negotiations that you first work out what the Best Alternative to No Agreement is. In some cases you may well experience that the other party is so entrenched in their position that they have no desire to Negotiate. BATNA is typically but not always, an alternative course of action that can be taken if no agreement is reached.

BATNA helps you prepare for a Negotiation by:

Helps prevent you from agreeing to something you will regret
Defining your Minimum Possible Agreement (MPA)
Provides you with a Plan B
Helps prevent you from over or underestimating the your own and the other party’s position
Helps you understand where the leverage is
Identifying alternative Options

Example:

Option – George can sell his business to Mike but rather than invest a lump sum he agrees to pay George on a Monthly basis from the profits for the next 5 years and hence fund his retirement.

CNA – George does not have the financial resources to retire (CNA) and has been trying unsuccessfully to sell his business for three years and is now desperate for a solution. Mike is keen to buy a business and has spent £3,000 with Solicitors and Accountants thus far completing his due diligence on the company.

BATNA – George is in discussion with his Lawyers to explore the possibilities of a Management Buyout for the business. Mike knows there are hundreds of businesses for sale and he is pretty relaxed if this deal doesn’t go through another one will come along.

Concessions for Negotiation

A concession is something given to the other party in furtherance of the agreement. These concessions should be identified in advance and segmented for both parties in terms of:

High Value – High Cost

High Value – Low Cost

Remember – Never give anything away without receiving something of equal or greater value in return.

Example:

Option – George can sell his business to Mike but rather than invest a lump sum he agrees to pay George on a Monthly basis from the profits for the next 5 years and hence fund his retirement.

Concessions – George is prepared to spend 3 months of his time ensuring during the handover period which is Low Cost to him as he will be retired but High Value to Mike as he is new to the industry and recognises the benefit of George’s experience.

Mike is prepared to move quickly which has no cost to him however this is High Value to George as the last thing he wants is a long protracted sale.

Negotiation Strategies

Aggressive Tactics

Shoot the hostage
- This strategy is extremely aggressive as it involves an immediate offer to walk away with no deal which is designed to throw and unsettle the other party. This is often delivered in a reluctant tone “we don’t want to do this but…”,
Delaying tactics
- When time is clearly on one parties side the process can often be deliberately slowed which is extremely effective when there are cost implications if talks over run. This tactic also applies if the other party has another meeting or needs to leave. The negotiator deliberately talks around the subject to delay the real conversation and then uses time to put pressure on the other party to come to an agreement.
Poor Me
- This strategy is used to play the false victim that needs rescued by the other party.
Last Minute.com
- As the name suggests this strategy involves the Negotiator agreeing to a solution right up until they are required to sign and then withdrawing. The withdrawal is usually followed up quickly with a counter offer at dramatically reduced terms.
Misleading/lying
- Often Negotiators will make exaggerated claims or even lie so without hard data to support them you should discount these. They may also issue warnings and threats or make matters personal to unbalance you.
Missing People
- Everyone knows the importance of having all the Decision Makers in the room but Negotiators may even turn up with complete strangers. In sales some companies will remove Sales People from the final negotiations. If the Sales People have a relationship with the other party they could be more empathetic and weaker negotiators. Turning up without warning with complete strangers also unbalances the other party.

Co-operative Tactics

Agree on the Process
- Spend time up front agreeing the process and format of the Negotiations including what’s in scope and what’s not.
Win Win Agreements
- Most professional Negotiators accept that any final agreement must be fair and sustainable for the life of the time period. In most business scenarios it should never be win at all costs as this destroys relationships.
Matching Rights
- Offer the other party the right to match any solution that you receive. For example if one of two business partners decides to sell their shares to another party they may have the agreement that the other party gets first refusal if they match the offer.
Contingent Agreements
- These are simply agreements based on future events. Financial Bonus may be tied to Performance. Football transfer fees can be include Contingent Agreements that provides the selling club additional revenue if a player is sold on and or if a player is capped by their country or simply makes a certain number of appearances.
Multiple Offers
- When multiple offers are placed on the table this allows both parties to indicate preferences and encourages creativity as a winning hybrid offer can be formed. Placing one offer on the table often leads to a refusal and a stall in the process.

Sales Negotiation Checklist

1. Be prepared to walk away. Sales Negotiation is 70% Mindset and 30% Strategy and unless you are prepared to walk away, no strategy will help you.

2. It’s not what you charge it’s what your worth. Thoroughly research the market and discuss with the buyer the Value you bring to the table?

3. Take council from colleagues and external advisors and agree a pre-meeting strategy for the negotiations then PRACTICE.

4. Never give anything away without receiving something of equal or greater value in return.

5. Never enter a Negotiation without first providing your price and outline terms in advance, to anchor the prospect to a higher number and terms.

6. Where possible in high value deals do not include your sales people in Negotiations, as they will be emotionally involved in the sale and not objective.

7. Ensure everyone in your team have agreed in advance your trade-offs, your concessions, and your best alternative to a negotiated settlement.

8. You must be comfortable with silence and at most only talk 30% of the time, as the more you talk the more information you are giving away.

9. If it’s not Win Win then you run the danger of the prospect backing out or failing to implement your agreement, then the lawyers are the only winners.

10. Negotiation is between human beings, you must therefore be familiar with Human Psychology, DiSC, Neuro Linguistic and Programming.

9 Key Selling Skills for Sales Success

by Iain Swanston

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by Iain Swanston

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Comment construire un entonnoir de vente SaaS

by Iain Swanston

1. Qu’est-ce qu’un entonnoir de vente ?

Un entonnoir de vente est une séquence d’actions, d’événements ou d’étapes qu’un utilisateur traverse avant d’acheter un produit ou un service. Les entonnoirs de vente sont conçus pour permettre aux spécialistes du marketing de suivre, d’enregistrer et d’optimiser le processus de vente afin d’améliorer les résultats.

Vous pouvez en savoir plus sur notre formation à la vente de produits SaaS ici.

2. Comment construire un entonnoir de vente SaaS

Votre entonnoir de vente SaaS est un élément essentiel de la réussite de vos Apps. Si vous proposez des applications SaaS, la création d’un entonnoir de vente reproductible, évolutif et traçable est l’une des étapes importantes que vous devez franchir.

Ça semble facile ? Alors, réfléchissez-y à nouveau. L’entonnoir de vente est l’endroit où de nombreuses start-ups qui se lancent dans la génération de revenus ont des difficultés, et dans de nombreux cas, échouent.

Avant de commencer à construire votre entonnoir, il convient d’examiner où vous en êtes dans votre parcours d’application.

3. Les trois grandes étapes du développement du SaaS

Malheureusement, dans le domaine de la vente, il n’existe jamais de solution unique, et le point de départ de la construction d’un entonnoir de vente SaaS dépend de votre situation par rapport aux trois principales étapes d’une entreprise SaaS ?

Vous êtes à :
Phase 1: le début du voyage où le fondateur et l’équipe principale essaient encore d’établir l’adéquation produit/marché.

Phase 2: lorsque le fondateur et les principaux membres de l’équipe ont prouvé l’adéquation produit/marché et prouvent qu’ils peuvent mettre en œuvre des systèmes et des processus que d’autres peuvent utiliser pour vendre.

La phase 3, l’obstacle final, où vous avez prouvé l’adéquation du produit au marché, vous avez identifié et prouvé les bons systèmes et processus pour le développement et vous êtes maintenant prêt à développer vos ventes, à vous concentrer sur l’acquisition de clients et à développer votre MRR.

Les stratégies que vous utilisez pour construire un entonnoir de vente SaaS varient en fonction de ce que vous avez appris à l’étape 1 ci-dessus.

Pour les besoins de cet exercice, je supposerai donc que vous en êtes à l’étape 1. Si vous avez toujours du mal à construire un entonnoir de vente aux étapes 2 et 3, c’est que vous avez manqué quelque chose à l’étape 1 ou que quelque chose a changé et que tout ce que vous avez appris à l’étape 1 ne fonctionne plus.

4. Construisez un entonnoir de marketing avant votre entonnoir de vente

Dans toute entreprise, il est important de créer les conditions optimales pour que votre équipe de vente puisse réussir. Dans le monde du SaaS, il ne suffit pas d’avoir un excellent site Web, il faut un site qui.. :

a) vos produits et services peuvent être trouvés dans les principaux moteurs de recherche – Google, Bing, Yahoo et YouTube
b) peuvent être trouvés par les problèmes que vous résolvez dans les principaux moteurs de recherche – Google, Bing, Yahoo et YouTube
c) peut convertir le trafic web en prospects qualifiés pour le marketing

De nombreuses entreprises ignorent ce fait et se précipitent pour mettre en place une équipe de vente sortante. Le fait est que chaque prospect potentiel que votre équipe sortante parvient à intéresser se rendra ensuite sur votre site web pour effectuer des recherches plus approfondies.

Si l’expérience sur le web n’est pas égale ou supérieure à celle que le prospect a eue avec votre équipe de prospection, il se détournera immédiatement de vous.

Pour construire un entonnoir marketing, vous devez créer un “contenu convaincant pour l’utilisateur”. Il s’agit du contenu que l’utilisateur recherche activement, et non du contenu que vos équipes de vente et de marketing veulent promouvoir.

Votre entonnoir de marketing SaaS est un élément essentiel de votre stratégie de vente Inbound. Pour y parvenir, vous devez créer du contenu de haute qualité à chaque étape du parcours de l’acheteur, comme indiqué ci-dessous.

Le contenu doit subtilement raconter l’histoire de votre marque et le succès que vous avez apporté aux autres utilisateurs. Faites de vos utilisateurs précoces des héros, pas vous.

TOFU – Haut de l’entonnoir
La première partie de votre entonnoir de vente, autrement appelée TOFU, est l’étape de sensibilisation de l’entonnoir. Le prospect est conscient des problèmes qu’il rencontre et cherche des solutions.

Votre site Web doit avoir un contenu qui aborde ces problèmes et positionne votre entreprise en tant qu’expert en la matière. Le contenu le plus populaire ici serait :

Guides d’utilisation
Vidéos explicatives
Articles de blog
Aimants de plomb

À ce stade, le prospect est en mode recherche, pas en mode achat et il se contente de recueillir des informations.

À ce stade, il se peut que votre prospect ne soit même pas intéressé par des solutions, car il essaie encore d’auto-diagnostiquer avec précision ses propres problèmes. Il est peu probable que votre prospect veuille parler au service commercial à ce stade.

Nous vous recommandons d’utiliser l’automatisation du marketing pour suivre les articles/pages sur lesquels vos prospects entrent sur le site, car c’est le problème qui les préoccupe le plus. En sachant cela, il est plus facile pour les vendeurs d’avoir une conversation pertinente avec eux.

Vous pouvez également réussir à engager le prospect avec des chatbots sur votre site, mais beaucoup voudront rester anonymes à ce stade.

Milieu de l’entonnoir
Le milieu de votre entonnoir de vente est le moment où les prospects commencent à évaluer des solutions spécifiques sur la base de ce qu’ils ont appris à l’étape 1. Le contenu du milieu de l’entonnoir pourrait inclure :

Présentations
Démonstrations
Études de cas

Concrètement, ils auront établi une sorte de liste restreinte de fournisseurs potentiels, puis ils approfondiront les détails de chaque solution potentielle.

À ce stade, il est possible que le prospect ne s’engage pas avec vous, car il effectue souvent des recherches pour le compte d’autres personnes au sein de sa propre organisation et sa priorité reste la collecte d’informations.

Fond de l’entonnoir
Lorsque votre prospect a atteint le bas de votre entonnoir de marketing, il a souvent déjà “acheté” un fournisseur ou une solution en particulier.

Ils ont pris leur décision en grande partie sur la base de leur expérience de la marque sur le web, de votre message de vente et de votre capacité à vous positionner non seulement comme un leader du marché, mais aussi comme un leader d’opinion qui comprend leurs problèmes.

Le contenu de la partie inférieure de l’entonnoir comprend des éléments tels que :

Fixation des prix
Tableaux comparatifs
Témoignages
Critiques

Pour les solutions plus simples et moins chères, vous constaterez qu’ils sont prêts à faire un essai si vous leur proposez un appel à l’action (AAC) fort, tandis que pour les solutions plus coûteuses et plus complexes, ils se tourneront vers les ventes.

L’image ci-dessous montre la transition entre un entonnoir de marketing simple et un panier d’achat, et la transition entre une vente B2B plus complexe et un prospect pour les ventes.

Le succès ne réside pas dans le choix du bon modèle, mais dans la construction de votre propre modèle basé sur des données et des essais et erreurs.

Entonnoir simple de marketing SaaS — Entonnoir de vente SaaS

La plupart des logiciels de marketing suivent désormais le comportement des utilisateurs sur votre site web et peuvent utiliser le lead scoring pour avertir les vendeurs du meilleur moment pour contacter les prospects de manière proactive.

D’après notre propre expérience, le moment est presque toujours trop précoce et un programme de maturation des prospects bien défini est tout aussi efficace.

Pour ce faire, vous devez intégrer à votre stratégie de marketing au moins trois aimants différents qui vous aideront à transformer vos visiteurs en abonnés afin de pouvoir rester en contact avec eux.

5. La publicité pour remplir votre entonnoir de vente

De nombreuses entreprises parviennent à remplir leur entonnoir de vente par la publicité. La publicité numérique a atteint un niveau de maturité tel qu’elle permet un suivi et un reporting importants, vous permettant de comprendre en quelques semaines ce que seront votre taux de conversion et votre CAC.

En premier lieu, nous préconisons les “campagnes de reciblage”. Il s’agit simplement de placer des publicités devant les personnes qui ont déjà visité votre site Web.

Des études montrent que le reciblage est sept fois plus efficace que les nouvelles campagnes, c’est pourquoi nous le préconisons comme point de départ.

Cette stratégie fonctionne très bien avec une solide campagne de marketing de contenu. Le canal d’ajout le plus populaire pour le B2B est LinkedIn, mais de nombreuses entreprises ont également obtenu de bons résultats avec Facebook et Instagram.

Il va sans dire que cela sera défini par votre public. La publicité peut être utilisée dans des entonnoirs simples pour stimuler les ventes et dans des entonnoirs plus complexes pour susciter de nouvelles demandes de renseignements pour les représentants commerciaux.

Les ventes plus complexes peuvent nécessiter une séquence définie dans laquelle les utilisateurs cliquent et annoncent pour recevoir un aimant à prospects, chaque prospect coûtant 3 $.

Si vous parvenez ensuite à convertir 5 % de ces nouvelles pistes, vous pouvez alors attribuer à votre CAC 60 dollars par vente provenant de la publicité.

Vous pouvez construire une séquence ou un modèle traçable à partir de n’importe quelle activité, pas seulement la publicité. Par exemple, les événements, les webinaires et les téléventes vous permettent de comprendre quelles activités sont les plus rentables, non seulement pour remplir votre entonnoir, mais aussi pour convertir en commandes.

6. Comment construire un entonnoir de vente SaaS

Votre entonnoir de vente variera en fonction de votre stratégie de vente. Vendez-vous votre application directement ou par l’intermédiaire de partenaires ? Sur quels canaux avez-vous décidé de vous concentrer dans un premier temps ?

1. Identifiez le profil de votre prospect parfait. Il s’agit de la version des commerciaux d’un persona marketing. Il comprend tout ce qu’un persona marketing comprendrait, plus quelques informations supplémentaires qui aident les ventes à comprendre et à communiquer à un niveau plus profond avec le prospect.

2. Construisez votre message de vente. L’adéquation produit/marché consiste en partie à comprendre quel problème commercial ou personnel votre produit résout.

D’après notre expérience, les services SaaS les plus réussis sont des solutions commerciales qui résolvent des problèmes commerciaux.

Une fois que vous aurez compris le lien avec votre propre produit/service, vous pourrez commencer à élaborer votre message de vente.

Ce sont les mots et le langage nuancé que vous avez prouvé que les prospects se connectent avec. Il ne suffit pas de connaître ses propres activités et solutions, il faut aussi connaître ses clients.

Vous devez savoir exactement comment votre solution aide votre client à économiser de l’argent, à en gagner et à lui faciliter la vie.

3. Campagne de génération de prospects.

Une fois que vous avez identifié vos prospects cibles et élaboré votre message de vente, vous devez commencer à travailler sur une campagne de génération de prospects.

Il existe deux approches principales de la génération de prospects :

a) Génération de pistes entrantes. Les campagnes de génération de pistes entrantes sont celles où le prospect vous contacte en premier. Ils peuvent remplir un formulaire sur votre page web, vous téléphoner ou vous envoyer un courriel. Pour générer des pistes de vente entrantes, vous devrez recourir à la création de contenu, à des campagnes publicitaires, à des webinaires, à des programmes de recommandation ou au référencement.

b) Génération de prospects sortants. Les campagnes de génération de pistes sortantes consistent à contacter des prospects par téléphone, courrier électronique, courrier direct, événements ou marketing basé sur les comptes. Les campagnes d’appels sortants signifient invariablement que vous devez mettre en place une équipe d’appels sortants, ce qui peut être coûteux.

La majorité des entreprises SaaS utilisent une combinaison d’appels entrants et sortants, mais elles mettent presque toujours l’accent sur l’un plus que sur l’autre.

À titre d’indication très approximative, les services SaaS à faible coût et ciblant les PME sont axés sur le marketing et se concentrent principalement sur l’approche Inbound.

Les services SaaS qui sont plus expansifs et qui ciblent les entreprises de taille moyenne ou les grandes entreprises auront une approche plus axée sur les ventes via le marketing basé sur les comptes.

7. Quelles sont les étapes d’un entonnoir de vente SaaS ?

Les étapes de votre entonnoir de vente sont simplement une série d’étapes que vos prospects franchissent pour passer une commande.

Ces étapes peuvent varier considérablement et il n’existe pas d’entonnoir unique applicable à toutes les applications. Même si les étapes sont les mêmes, la méthode par laquelle vous faites passer les prospects dans l’entonnoir peut varier.

Votre entonnoir de vente est un endroit idéal pour commencer à collecter des données afin de mesurer les performances et d’apporter des améliorations au fil du temps.

En général, les prospects doivent passer le plus rapidement possible dans l’entonnoir de vente – c’est ce qu’on appelle le cycle de vente ou la vitesse du tuyau.

Mesurer la vitesse à laquelle les prospects avancent dans le cycle vous permet d’identifier les blocages dans votre entonnoir et les zones où les prospects ralentissent.

C’est sur ces points “sensibles” que vous devez chercher à apporter des améliorations.

8. Quand dois-je faire la démonstration de mon produit SaaS aux clients ?

Le timing des démonstrations d’applications SaaS dans le processus de vente a fait l’objet de discussions pour de nombreuses entreprises.

La réponse à cette question est malheureusement “cela dépend”. De nombreuses entreprises réussissent à faire une démonstration de leur application au début du processus de vente, mais elles sont tout aussi nombreuses à faire une démonstration au début du processus, puis à voir leurs prospects disparaître dans le trou noir des boîtes vocales et des courriels sans réponse.

En bref, plus la solution est simple et bon marché, plus la démo peut intervenir tôt dans le processus, et plus la solution est coûteuse et complexe, plus la démo doit être repoussée aussi loin que possible dans le processus de vente.

démos d'applications saas — Comment construire un entonnoir de vente SaaS

La réalité est que les entrepreneurs et les vendeurs ont tendance à se précipiter pour faire une démonstration de leur application, en espérant que cette démonstration convaincra le prospect de s’inscrire.

Même si le prospect est qualifié et qu’il convient, une démo sans aucune forme de diagnostic de la douleur du prospect risque de le perdre.

Votre prospect a besoin de savoir que vous le connaissez et que vous comprenez son univers. Cela ne peut se faire que par un questionnement intelligent et ciblé. Si vous voulez accélérer la vente, ralentissez-la.

La démo est généralement le principal levier du vendeur et si vous la donnez trop tôt, vous perdrez ce levier et, selon toute probabilité, le prospect.

En règle générale, repoussez la démonstration de l’application aussi loin que possible dans votre processus de vente.

Les démonstrations coûtent du temps et de l’argent, surtout dans le cas de ventes complexes où, le plus souvent, une démonstration sur mesure est nécessaire.

Toute démonstration sur mesure ne doit être présentée qu’aux décideurs de haut niveau de l’équipe d’acheteurs potentiels. Le cas échéant, vous pouvez même avoir deux démonstrations dans le cadre du processus de vente – il n’y a pas de règle, si ce n’est que si ça marche, faites-le.

La plupart des représentants commerciaux commettent l’erreur d’utiliser cette partie du processus de vente pour expliquer plus en détail les avantages du produit.

Quand tu racontes, tu ne vends pas. Utilisez des questions d’approfondissement intelligentes pour amener le prospect à vous dire comment la solution résoudra ses problèmes professionnels.

Vous devez éviter de parler de caractéristiques que vous jugez pertinentes pour eux. Si vous ne l’avez pas découvert au cours de la phase de découverte du processus de vente, il est intrinsèquement risqué d’introduire quoi que ce soit de nouveau plus loin dans le processus.

Pour les solutions plus simples et moins chères, vous constaterez qu’ils sont prêts à faire un essai, tandis que pour les solutions plus coûteuses et complexes, ils s’adresseront à un représentant commercial.

Afin de démontrer qu’ils ont fait preuve de diligence raisonnable, ils s’adresseront toujours à deux ou trois fournisseurs potentiels.

Il ne s’agit pas nécessairement d’écraser un fournisseur sur le prix, mais parfois de faire comprendre au groupe d’acheteurs plus large de l’organisation pourquoi il a une préférence.

Les essais d’applications sont également un bon moyen d’inciter les utilisateurs à s’inscrire, mais le taux de conversion des essais en ventes est généralement faible dans la plupart des cas de SaaS.

En fonction de la tarification, vous pouvez proposer un essai géré, afin qu’ils puissent évaluer votre logiciel pendant que vous les accompagnez dans le processus de vente.

Pendant un essai, le prospect peut voir comment le produit fonctionnera pour lui dans la pratique. Il est important de choisir le bon moment pour le procès et de s’assurer que vous avez convenu à l’avance de ce qui se passera si le procès aboutit.

Nous avons créé le graphique ci-dessus pour essayer d’expliquer visuellement comment cela pourrait fonctionner pour votre organisation.

Il convient de noter que, dans l’exemple, la majorité de votre CAC sera constituée par le marketing, tandis que dans l’entonnoir plus complexe, vos coûts comprendront le marketing, les ventes et l’accueil des clients.

9. Exemples d’entonnoirs de vente SaaS

Les entonnoirs de vente ci-dessous sont des exemples. Vous ne devez PAS les reproduire, sauf si elles correspondent à votre processus de vente.

Ils sont conçus pour être un point de départ pour ceux qui cherchent à développer un entonnoir de vente.

Comme vous pouvez le voir sur le graphique, il existe de nombreuses alternatives aux étapes qui composent votre entonnoir de vente, selon le type d’entonnoir que vous créez.

Pour les entonnoirs purement numériques, vous pourriez avoir :

Page d’accueil Lead Magnet – où les prospects arrivent après avoir cliqué sur votre annonce.
Page de confirmation – pour confirmer votre offre gratuite, votre essai ou votre achat.
Page de vente incitative – où les clients potentiels ont la possibilité d’ajouter des services supplémentaires ou de passer à une version supérieure.
Page de paiement – où les clients potentiels paient pour le service.
Page de félicitations ou de remerciements – où vous pouvez indiquer aux prospects les prochaines étapes à suivre.

Entonnoir de vente avec pipeline — Comment construire un entonnoir de vente SaaS

10. Mesures de l’entonnoir des ventes SaaS

En ce qui concerne les mesures, nous pensons qu’il s’agit des mesures et des indicateurs clés de performance des opérations de vente que la plupart des gens connaissent. Il va sans dire que ces indicateurs sont importants et que vous devez les enregistrer et en rendre compte.

LTT – Conversion des pistes en essais
Il s’agit du nombre de prospects qui ont été convertis en essai.

DCR – Rapport de conversion des démos
Le nombre de démos qui se convertissent avec succès à l’étape suivante du processus de vente.

TTS – Conversion des essais en ventes
Il s’agit du nombre de prospects de l’essai gratuit qui se sont convertis en clients payants.

LTV – Valeur à vie du client
Il s’agit de la valeur totale moyenne qu’un client dépensera avant de quitter le service. Ironiquement, il peut être plus difficile de mesurer l’amélioration de votre produit, car si les clients ne partent pas, vous ne saurez pas combien de temps ils restent et quelle est leur valeur totale pour l’entreprise.

Churn – Nombre de clients qui quittent l’entreprise
Les clients partiront et ce n’est pas toujours une mauvaise chose. Si les clients qui partent correspondent à votre PIC (profil du client idéal), vous avez un problème. Les clients qui partent et qui ne correspondent pas à votre PCI peuvent libérer des ressources précieuses qui peuvent être consacrées à votre PCI.

MRR – Revenu mensuel récurrent
Le revenu mensuel récurrent vous donne une vue d’ensemble de votre succès, mais ce n’est qu’une vue d’ensemble et vous devez examiner les détails des données pour obtenir une image plus précise.

RAR – Revenu annuel récurrent
Le revenu annuel récurrent donne un bon aperçu de l’activité, mais comme pour le MRR, vous devez étudier toutes les données pour obtenir une image plus précise de la santé de votre entreprise.

Cycle de vente – Le temps écoulé entre le premier contact et la conclusion d’une commande.
Ce délai est généralement court pour les solutions simples de faible valeur et plus long pour les ventes complexes aux entreprises. Par exemple, une vente à une banque de niveau 1 peut prendre 18 mois entre le premier contact et la conclusion.

CAC – Coût d’acquisition des clients
Il est important de comprendre ce que vous coûte l’acquisition d’un seul client. Dans un monde idéal, vous le découvrirez dans les phases initiales de l’entreprise, lorsque vous prouverez la proposition de valeur. Sans ce chiffre, il est impossible de mettre en place les systèmes et les processus nécessaires pour faire évoluer l’entreprise, car vous ne saurez pas combien vous pouvez dépenser pour le marketing et les ventes.

Negative Churn –
Le taux de désabonnement négatif est une mesure de croissance puissante qui indique que les recettes provenant de la vente incitative et de la vente croisée des clients existants sont supérieures aux recettes perdues lorsque les clients partent.

11. Soumission de propositions SaaS

Après la démonstration finale, vous ne devez jamais proposer d’envoyer une proposition.

Les propositions coûtent du temps et de l’argent et si votre prospect est intéressé, il vous demandera une proposition.

Si votre prospect ne vous demande pas de proposition, cela signifie qu’il n’est pas intéressé par une collaboration avec vous et que vous devez remonter le processus de vente pour comprendre où vous vous êtes trompé.

Lorsque le processus de vente s’arrête, c’est rarement à cause de quelque chose que vous avez mal fait à ce moment-là – le plus souvent, c’est quelque chose que vous avez manqué plus tôt dans le processus de vente.

Assurez-vous que tous les avantages du logiciel leur ont été clairement expliqués et qu’ils ont été évalués en fonction de leurs besoins.

Dans la mesure du possible, demandez toujours à votre chevalier blanc de vous aider à co-créer la proposition et vérifiez avec lui une version préliminaire avant d’envoyer la copie officielle.

Avant d’envoyer votre proposition, vous devez avoir une idée claire des étapes à suivre en cas de victoire ou de défaite.

Sans cela, vous risquez fort de passer les trois prochains mois à chasser les fantômes dans les boîtes vocales.

12. Fixer le prix de vos contrats SaaS

De nombreuses entreprises n’affichent que peu ou pas de prix sur leur site web, parce qu’elles ne veulent pas que leurs concurrents voient leurs prix ou parce qu’elles pensent que cela fera fuir les clients potentiels.

Vous devez être fier de votre prix et de la valeur que vous apportez. Laissez les concurrents vous sous-évaluer et mobiliser toutes leurs ressources sur des affaires non rentables.

Les gens achètent rarement la solution la moins chère, alors permettez à vos prospects d’être moins chers que vous.

Si vous êtes toujours inquiet à l’idée d’afficher vos prix sur votre site web, pensez à ce que vous ressentez lorsque vous recherchez une solution qui vous intéresse et que vous constatez que la page des prix est remplie de POA.

Si vous êtes comme la plupart des gens, vous trouvez cela vraiment ennuyeux et passez rapidement au prochain fournisseur potentiel.

Enfin, un autre avantage d’afficher fièrement vos prix est d’exclure toute personne qui n’est pas prête à investir à ce niveau.

Cela peut vous faire gagner beaucoup de temps et de ressources avec des prospects qui ont simplement un niveau de budget différent.

De nombreuses stratégies de tarification s’offrent à vous, mais, d’après notre expérience, la seule chose qui est garantie, c’est que vous changerez votre tarification.

En règle générale, si vos prix sont trop élevés pour un contrat à court terme ou une période d’essai payante, le prospect risque de ne pas profiter de tous les avantages du logiciel avant la fin du contrat et de décider de ne pas le renouveler.

Dans la mesure du possible, vous devez récompenser les prospects pendant la période d’essai pour avoir ajouté des informations et utilisé le service.

Par exemple, proposez une période d’essai plus courte et incitez les utilisateurs à compléter leur profil ou leur compte.

Offrez une période gratuite supplémentaire pour les encourager à utiliser le produit, par exemple s’ils téléchargent des données dans le système.

L’idée est d'”embarquer” vos nouveaux utilisateurs étape par étape et de rendre votre produit aussi collant que possible.
Si le prospect veut aller de l’avant, vous devez utiliser des contrats avec signature numérique pour accélérer le processus de vente.

N’envoyez jamais de contrats par courrier électronique ou de liens vers des contrats numériques, car ils peuvent être facilement ignorés.

Arrangez-vous pour avoir le prospect au téléphone et discutez du contrat avec lui. Une fois qu’ils ont accepté tout ce que contient le contrat, demandez-leur simplement de le signer pendant que vous les avez au téléphone.

De cette façon, vous gardez le contrôle du processus de vente.

13. Pourquoi l’entonnoir de vente est si important pour les fournisseurs de SaaS

De nombreuses entreprises ont échoué après avoir eu du mal à mettre en place un entonnoir de vente. La commercialisation et la vente de produits SaaS peuvent s’avérer extrêmement difficiles, et il y a de fortes chances que vos clients cibles soient déjà submergés par les offres de fournisseurs de logiciels concurrents.

Réfléchissez à la partie du budget existant de l’acheteur à partir de laquelle vous allez gagner des revenus. À quels concurrents directs ou indirects allez-vous enlever du budget ?

Vous pouvez être en concurrence avec certaines des marques les plus grandes et les plus puissantes du monde qui proposent des solutions génériques aux mêmes problèmes que vous.

Cela signifie que vous devez offrir quelque chose de distinctif dont vos clients ont réellement besoin.

Selon une étude de CB Insights, 42 % des start-ups SaaS échouent parce qu’elles proposent des produits dont leurs clients cibles n’ont pas besoin.

Il est essentiel de convaincre les clients potentiels que votre logiciel offre une véritable valeur ajoutée.

14. Gérer les attentes des prospects

Créer un entonnoir de vente, c’est construire un parcours qui va du visiteur web à l’abonné, en passant par les démonstrations et les pistes, pour aboutir à la signature du contrat.

Votre entonnoir de vente doit mettre l’accent sur chacune des étapes clés que vos prospects franchiront pour parvenir à un accord.

Soyez ouvert, franc et partagez à l’avance les étapes du processus avec vos prospects.
Vous devez prêter une attention particulière à tous les points de friction qui peuvent survenir lors du parcours de vos prospects dans votre pipeline de vente.

Cela vous donnera l’occasion d’apporter des améliorations à votre entonnoir pour l’avenir.
Le plus important est d’enregistrer tous les points de données de votre entonnoir de vente.

Cela vous aidera à prendre des décisions en vous basant sur des faits plutôt que sur votre instinct. Il faut parfois du temps pour que votre entonnoir de vente devienne pleinement efficace, et il se peut que vous deviez apporter plusieurs améliorations avant d’avoir un entonnoir de vente réellement optimisé.

De nombreux clients n’ont pas une idée précise de ce dont ils ont besoin lorsqu’ils vous rencontrent pour la première fois. Proposez des solutions et pas seulement des produits en aidant les prospects à faire le lien entre les deux.

Il est également vrai que les utilisateurs achètent souvent ce qu’ils veulent et non ce dont ils ont besoin.

C’est pourquoi il est si important de poser des questions ciblées afin de déterminer avec précision leurs besoins et de positionner votre logiciel de la manière la plus favorable.

Ces questions vous indiqueront également dans quelle mesure ils sont proches ou éloignés de la prise de décision.

15. L’essor des solutions SaaS

Il semble que tout dans le monde soit désormais alimenté en ligne par des applications SaaS. De Netflix et Amazon Prime à LinkedIn et Microsoft M365, nous sommes désormais entourés de solutions SaaS d’une description ou d’une autre.

D’un point de vue financier, le SaaS est intéressant, car il permet d’éviter de lourdes dépenses d’investissement initiales et de dérisquer la solution.

Après tout, si cela ne fonctionne pas, vous n’êtes généralement engagé que pour une durée maximale de 12 mois. Parmi les autres avantages du SaaS, citons le fait qu’il est normalement rapide à déployer et ne nécessite aucune maintenance de la part du client.

Les mises à niveau sont normalement fournies automatiquement, les clients se voyant généralement proposer des niveaux de service garantis.

Les sauvegardes et la récupération des données sont généralement effectuées pour le compte du client, qui peut ainsi se concentrer sur ce qu’il fait de mieux, sachant que tout est géré par les développeurs de logiciels eux-mêmes.

Lockdown a mis le turbo sur le SaaS
Le travail à distance était déjà en hausse avant même la pandémie, et le fait que les produits SaaS permettent aux individus de travailler et de collaborer depuis n’importe où n’a fait qu’ancrer encore plus profondément le SaaS dans notre vie quotidienne.

Des milliers de nouveaux produits SaaS sont développés dans tous les pays du monde, la concurrence est donc féroce. Cependant, l’appétit des consommateurs et des entreprises pour les solutions SaaS ne semble pas s’arrêter.

Un entonnoir de vente cohérent peut faire la différence entre un succès viral et un retour à la case départ.

Formation à la vente en groupe – tout ce que vous devez savoir

by Iain Swanston

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