Improve your Sales Process with River Heights Consulting
It’s not “garden variety” sales training
Google “Sales Training” and you will find over 3 million returns; each promising to improve your sales numbers. Some carry prestigious sounding names, others rattle off statistics and some broadcast client lists so diverse, you have to wonder what they have in common. I don’t know about you, but I don’t believe selling in our industry is the same as selling waterbeds, storm windows, cell phones or banking services. Our business is different. I call it the “Knowledge-based Sale.” We provide a little piece of “what we know” with every box that goes out the door. I don’t mean to demean my friends who work in other industries, I just want to establish how the selling process in our lives is different.
How is knowledge-based selling different?
For one thing, the sellers know more than the standard features and benefits of days gone by. It’s not enough to know our product; we must spend time understanding our customer’s application of our product. Rather than detail the product, we advise our customers on how to solve their problems. For our best customers, we understand the financial implications of our solution. All of this takes time and effort, so we need to carefully select the right customer early in the process.
We have more to worry about than just getting an order
Make the wrong decision, select the wrong customer type, and you risk losing money. In my mind, the worst mistake that we can make is to allow someone to commoditize our offering. When a salesperson races back to the office and says, “They told me I can have the order. All I need to do is match the lowest price on the planet and still deliver our world class value.” You lose! Knowledge-based sellers must spend time building processes that grow their profits, not just their top line sales. Our unique approach enforces this critical point.
River Heights Consulting takes a different approach
No two sales training sessions are the same. Our individual approach helps to better understand the issues ahead of the class. We invest in your team before we set foot into a conference room.
Prior to each session:
- We conduct a detailed interview with your team
Learning about issues in advance is important. Interviews helps discover what is working and what needs improvement. Building rapport with your team also helps us learn about individual personalities and how to better coach them.
- We learn about your customers
Who are your customers? What issues are they facing? Why do they come to you for solutions?
- We compare notes with the sales leadership.
Your sales leadership has their own thoughts on issues at hand. We compare things like future direction, targets customers, major competitors and sales partners.
Our sessions are smaller. Classes are limited to no more than 12 people. While large “stadium act” training has its place, individual attention is impossible. We want time to answer questions, lead meaningful discussions and create total buy-in.
Our training is more than a one-time event. A series of follow-up calls is scheduled with each attendee. We hold them accountable, we coach, we work through issues and reinforce the skills taught. Our work is never done. We encourage those who attend our sessions to pick up the phone and call – even months after the formal training.
Does all this take longer – you bet. But, it’s worth it.
Here’s a list of possible topics covered
While your specific topics will vary, this list will give you an idea of the possibilities:
- Prospecting – Generating Leads
- Targeting – We don’t have time to do everything for every prospect
- Initial Contact – How to build powerful first-time calls
- Building a Network of Customer Coaches
- Gathering Customer Specific Information
- Identifying and Monetizing your Value
- Planning for Crucial Customer interactions
- Handling Objections
- Dealing with Gatekeepers
- Purchasing (How to avoid the Skunks)
- Closing the Sale
- Negotiations
- Crafting a win-win deal
- Building a Long-Term Relationship
- Follow-up
- Service after the Sale
A bit about Frank Hurtte and River Heights Consulting
Frank Hurtte brings years of “in the trenches” selling experience. He has led and developed sales teams for dozens of companies. These teams had one thing in common; they were knowledge-based sellers. If asked, many of River Height’s clients wouldn’t consider themselves to be “sales people”. Instead, they might tell you they are engineers, technicians, mechanics and software developers who help customers make the right decision.
Frank Hurtte is the author of The Distributor Specialist: Customer Champion, Profit Generator!, Tele-Sales Prospecting, Target Driven Sales, The Distributor’s Annual Planning Workbook, aThe Distributor’s Fee Based Manifesto, Plan on Breaking Through: Customer- Based Strategic Planning for Sellers. As a thought leader in the selling world, he has appeared in Customer Think, The Electrical Distributor, Marketing Profs, Industrial Supply Magazine, The Electrical Wholesaler, Distribution Channel Magazine, Progressive Distributor and scores of other publications.
Give us a no obligation phone call
The best way to get started is to give us a no obligation phone call. We would love to chat about your team and your current situation.