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Business Development Training
Our Business Development training program is designed to enable field and inside sales staff to understand and practice the process of revenue generation.
Though marketing strategies will define the areas of business that will yield the greatest opportunities, both through customer retention, and acquisition, businesses need to have the awareness and skills to win new clients and to maximise the revenue from existing ones, so long as they are the clients you want to keep.
Typically, we find that our clients have similar needs and issues:
- Inexperienced sales teams, sometimes not skilled enough to engage in effective revenue generation.
- An understanding of how to develop relationships with clients which are more commercially oriented.
- An understanding of the steps in the sales pipeline process from activity to revenue.
- A need to understand the selling process – lead generation, obtaining meetings, expanding the sale, and gaining commitment.
- A need to use evidence-based sales techniques to win business
- Over time, there is a need for a common language for dealing with bigger and more complex clients.
- ·Sales teams need to adapt and learn and how to engage prospects at a more senior level – ideally at Chief Exec and MD.
- There is a need to build up a healthy pipeline of prospects in order to manage the business expectations going forward.
- There is a variety of products each with a different sales process – The team need to understand how to sell value and a range of deliverables, whilst not depending on their historical comfort zone.
There may be specific requirements that you have before undertaking bespoke training, we like to discuss with you the specific emphasis you wish to put on the program and spend some time in the field with a member of sales team and with your inside sales team.
Overview
This three-day program, will be based around the content listed below, with a degree of flexibility to adapt the delivery to suit the learning needs of this group. 12 delegates is the maximum size Our pricing is per course, so the best value is generated by having more people attend, up to the maximum.
It is applicable to revenue generating staff, support staff and management, especially as our courses contain a significant amount of practical role play, in which delegates have the chance to play a customer.
Program outline
This program of learning is designed to teach participants how to seek and develop revenue opportunities. It is centred around the four-point meeting model, and is aimed at enabling students to explore an account for larger revenue potential, longer relationships, and higher value.
The emphasis will be on the verbal skills, but will also contain elements to enable the process of selling to be understood as well as the management of the sales process.
How to engage with the right people
The initial part of the course will focus on Breaking-in - the language and process of engaging with clients – often for the first time – the right things to say to secure meetings at the highest level.
Many people shy away from this task, but it is the essence of winning revenue – picking the phone up and arranging meetings with the right people.
We will teach both a process and set of skills to make people comfortable with this very basic and essential requirement. Once we have secured a meeting, we then need the skills and process to manage the discussion to a successful conclusion.
For those not previously targeted to generate business, these verbal skills and process will enable them to follow a common road map.
The four elements of the sales model:
Need Creation. We teach and enable students to practice the skills required to get to the Unrecognised Needs of the customer, and not to dive-in with short term solutions and quick wins. This takes us away from price based selling and increases the value of each sale and customer.
Giving Evidence. Once the needs have been extracted, we need to match our capabilities to the client’s need. Too little and we lose the sale; too much and we lose the customer. We teach a compelling method of providing evidence through story telling.
Qualification. There are two parts to this activity. Firstly the techniques required to analyse an opportunity and to make tough decisions on which business we are going to be able to win and which are profitable for us. It is a powerful method of discarding business we don’t want without damaging the relationship. Secondly, to identify the agenda for future meetings (the agenda items) and what commitments we need to progress the sale to a conclusion. Managers will find this especially valuable as it delivers a consistent judgement ofn the quality of the Pipeline.
Gaining Commitment. This is the project management of the sale, giving the customer a road map to buy from your business in the easiest possible way, extracting commitments from them which secure the revenue.
“Selling is not a problem; it is a process. When it is not a process, then it is a problem.” We deliver sales management guidance within each module to teach managers what to measure within the sales process. Most managers tend to monitor results, which tends to be too late and often confrontational.
Benefits to you
Benefit accruing from our courses can be measured in a number of ways. In truth, the greatest benefits can be in the cross-fertilisation and motivation within the group of delegates who attend, who bring evidence and enthusiasm for the business that they represent.
On a practical basis, we improve the efficiency and conversion rate of the sales people, enabling them to eliminate time spent on lost causes. We deliver a common language of selling, and a clear process for management to follow and inspect. This common language enables delegates to understand why they succeed, and for the less successful to have a road map to emulate the higher achievers.
We emphasise patience, as this typically enable's sales people to extract higher value and longer-term relationship business from their customers. We help them to understand the process of selling, and the importance of a healthy pipeline of business. The need to address all aspects of the sales process all the time – research, prospecting, opening calls, developing needs, maintaining relationships, closing and keeping in touch.
Knowledge
Participants will gain the knowledge of how to win meetings and then how to sell. They will learn the language and the processes. This knowledge will help delegates assess their existing approach and help them diagnose those areas where they can improve.
Sales Managers will be able to inspect the sales pipeline and the sales process. We are all different. Some are good at getting meetings, others at securing commitment, and then there are those who excel at negotiation. Knowledge helps you to identify which part of the process needs attention within your sales function.
Ability
The training content of the course will improve the delegate's ability to implement their new found knowledge.
There will be three role plays during this course, designed to allow the students to practice the questioning and verbal skills we teach.
The format is non-threatening, and gives all attendees the opportunity to see the sales process as salesperson, observer, manager and customer.
Sales tools
During the program, participants will learn to use the Four Point Sales Meeting Model noted above. This is augmented by a series of memorable phrases and descriptors. There are four main activities in a sales meeting
- Need Creation
- Giving Evidence
- Qualification
- Gaining Commitment
Each element has specific behaviour patterns associated with it. For example, at the Qualification stage, participants will be taught to use the SCOTSMAN mnemonic which lists a number of criteria to inform whether or not you would want to commit resources to the sale, and how to manage the situation it if they do not – to withdraw gracefully!
All attendees leave the course with a comprehensive notes folder which contains the course content, but also a large amount of supporting material and further reading.
This is an invaluable sales tool and is often used in customer meetings to re-enforce learning and engage the customer in the process.
Meaningful learning
Our knowledge programs are tailored to meet your specific requirements, with content bespoke to your industry, company and role. Delegates understand how the training relates to their jobs.
Subject expertise
At Vision Consulting we have over 20 years experience in building and growing B2B and B2C Sales Teams
Bridging the capability gap
When C-Level sponsors do not believe that their incumbent Sales Management team have the skills to deliver the required changes we recommend, we are often asked to manage the sales function on a interim basis
At Vision Consulting we have over 20 years experience in building and growing B2B and B2C Sales Teams, we don't only provide support to organisations regarding the people elements of the sales process; selection, training, coaching and mentoring but we also offer advice regarding Sales Channel Transformation and management
Our Performance Management training program highlights that effective performance management is more than simply conducting regular One on One performance related discussions.
Our expertise & experience
Our current training programs include:
- Sales Management
- Lead Qualification
- Telesales
- Customer Experience
- Coaching - Using the GROW model
- Understanding contact centres
- Leadership
- Motivating your team to achieve
- Time Management
- Mentoring
Our consultants have carried out Sales Management or Sales Improvement assignments for:
- Sharp Electronics
- Cutting Edge Services
- Findel
- Santander
- Mortgage Trust
- Vodafone
- National Lottery
- Britannic Assurance
- Direct365
- GLS Educational Supplies
- Monarch Airlines
- Monarch Holidays
- Hope Education