Selling To Major Accounts: A Strategic Approach

Length: 3 days

Calling on major accounts is time-consuming and risky. Develop the account strategy that will get you the best return on your investment!

You can no longer afford to expend energy on account development without a plan or focus. Major-account selling requires a long cycle and a big investment of resources. That’s why today’s successful sales professionals are more than just tactical pros...they’re strategic experts. Now, learn how to develop a strategic selling plan that will save you time, money and hassles by identifying the right account and project, why your offer matters to them, what it takes to assure their long-term relationship and how to move them along the pipeline quickly.

Who Should Attend:

Sales professionals, including account managers, sales representatives and sales executives-as well as sales managers and directors of sales and marketing who are seeking best-practice techniques used in major-account selling today. A minimum of three years of sales experience is recommended.

How You Will Benefit:

·         Enhance sales performance while expending less energy

·         Gain customers’ loyalty by understanding their needs

·         Increase the business from existing accounts

·         Shorten the sales cycle by identifying and removing internal and external bottlenecks

·         Sell only to prospects predisposed to buy from you

·         Become more efficient at account maintenance

·         Create a clear sales plan that keeps you organised

·         Learn ways to get referrals from existing customers

What You Will Cover

·         The changing environment: the salesperson as strategist

·         Developing the strategic plan: thinking “big picture”

·         Establishing goals, objectives and indicators to enhance major-account performance

·         Skills needed for selling to major accounts

·         Qualifying your best opportunities: your likeliest sources for ROITEM (Return on Investment of Time, Effort and Money)

Extended/Detailed Seminar Outline

Learning Objectives

·         Identify Your Best Prospects and Persuade More of Them to Take Action More Quickly

·         Spot Prospects with a Poor Prognosis for Success, and Avoid Them

·         Shorten the Sales Cycle

·         Earn More with Less Effort

·         Improve the Sales Process to Improve Results

·         Enhance Your Ability to Communicate, Persuade, and Influence Others

·         Apply the Concept of ROI—Return on Investment of (Sales) Time, Effort, and Money—to Get More out of Your Activity

·         Manage Your Performance to Improve It Continuously

Thinking Strategically

·         Address the Challenges Associated with Selling

·         Differentiate between Strategy and Tactics

·         Apply the Concept of RTEM to Your Efforts

·         Know the Four Elements of Your Selling Strategy—What, Who, Why, and How

What Have You Got to Sell?

·         Sell the Strengths of Your Offerings

·         Define Your Ideal Customer, and Find Prospects That Match the Profile

·         Identify Their Needs, Desires, Preferences, and Corporate Values

The Selling Process

·         Manage the Sales Process More Effectively

·         Create Process Milestones Based on the Five Key Prospect Actions

·         Define Results Indicators to Improve the Sales Process

Key Strategic Selling Skills

·         Harness Your Personal Style to Improve Customer Relationships

·         Gain and Maintain Rapport

·         Manage Objections

·         Close the Deal

·         Obtain Referrals from Prospects and Customers

Identifying High ROI Opportunities

·         Improve Your Ability to Qualify Opportunities

·         Choose Opportunities with the Best Prognosis and Invest in Them

·         Identify "Non-starters" and Avoid Them

Managing Relationships

·         Act with the Authority of the Relationship Manager

·         Define the Selling Timeline, Yours and Your Prospect’s

·         Distinguish between Business Development and Account Maintenance

·         Manage Your Priorities

Presenting the Solution

·         Know When and If You Should Make a Formal Presentation

·         Improve Your Chances by Recruiting the Prospect’s Support

·         Present Value to the Prospect

Managing Your Pipeline

·         Understand Mathematical Assumptions about Your Pipeline

·         Spread Your Risk by Managing the Pipeline

·         Manage the Non-Sales Demands on Your Time

·         Use Leverage to Produce Referrals

·         Emphasise Results over Activity

Tracking Performance for Continual Improvement

·         Use the Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle to Improve Continuously

·         Develop Meaningful Performance Targets

·         Manage Your Sales Pipeline Strategically

·         Create and Maintain Action Plans That Keep You Focused

Committing to Action

·         Know What Elements of This Program Work Best for You

·         Plan a Course of Action to Adopt the Learning

·         Develop Habits to Lock in New Skills