The Foundation Course

These three modules consist of 4 days of training and lie at the very heart of the Academy

A participant maximum of 16 people per academy to ensure adequate attention and help from the course tutor.

The modules are of 1 day duration except Value Based Selling which is of two days duration.

Foundation Module One – Getting customers to value you.

• Efficiency versus effectiveness
• The psychology of the purchasing decision
• Decision Making Teams: process, people and roles
• Selling skills - how to influence Decision Makers perceptions of value
• Selling to your strengths and their values
• Gaining customer commitment
• Preventing objections and handling those you don't!them
• Understanding the sales funnel Prospect qualification and the art of prospecting
  **Please note that this module is of 2 days duration

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Foundation Module Two - Turn quotations to Value Propositions.

• The end of a sales process - not an isolated activity.
• Integration
• The persuasive business case
• Presenting a real business solution
• Appealing to all the decision team
• Proposal structure
• Proposal navigation
• Readability - whose language is it written in?
• How to get the customer team to actually read it

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Foundation Module Three – Get what you want, and make them believe they have!

• Understanding how negotiation fits within your current role and the sales process
• Should we negotiate on a specific deal or not?
• Why selling and negotiating are very different activities
• Preparation & Planning -also very different activities!
• Power in the negotiation
• Bargaining and leverage? What they are and how they can be applied.
• Win/lose or win/win - both have validity
• Creativity in negotiation.
• Dirty tricks - (or how to handle them!)

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Academy Plus! Modules

Depending upon your sales role and experience you may wish to attend all or possibly just one of these Optional modules, each module builds upon one or more aspects of the sales skills developed on the Foundation Course. It is planned that these modules will be launched late Autumn 2005 after the completion of the first Sales Academy.

Academy Plus! Module - Presentations that really engage customers

• Why the sales presentation is different.
• Making the presentation relevant to the customer.
• What's your style?
• The SIEVE model.
• Engaging the audience.
• Graphics - the use and abuse!
• Handling difficult audiences
• Utilising your resources
• Being meaningful and memorable
• Applying the learning to one of your presentations

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Academy Plus! Module - Strategies for dealing with competition

• Clearly understand your differentiators and ensure they are of value to your customer!
• Understand and avoid the different types of objections
• Be able to deal with objections and difficult questions in a competent and professional manner
• A technique to analyze your offerings value against your various competitors' offerings.
• Construct sales strategies to ensure your offering is better valued by the customer
• Defend your accounts against the competition
• Capture accounts from competitors

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Academy Plus! Module – Keep, and get more, from your accounts

• What is the difference between key accounts, large accounts or strategic accounts.
• Understand how to manage different types of customers/accounts to make best use of the seller's time and resources.
• Develop a sound account/customer plan which will help develop and extend business with that customer/account.
• Improve customer/account retention.
• Activities to reinforce your position in the account.
• Introducing new products

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Academy Plus! Module – Selling new products/services

• The key pitfalls.
• Know how to exploit the new offerings 'window of opportunity'.
• Understand how to make marketing collateral relate effectively to customer needs.
• Improve the sales of new products/services.
• Ensure you target the right prospects.
• Aligning launch Events to the marketing message.

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Academy Plus! Module – Selling at conferences and exhibitions

• Is this the best way to get what you want?
• Clear measurable objectives.
• Engagement strategies for visitors.
• The 'killer' question.
• Follow-up plans and strategies.
• Networking.

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Academy Plus! Module – Territory and Time Management

• Understand how to make most effective use of your time and resources.
• Improve skills and processes for developing and maintaining sales plans.
• Use sales plans to identify where help/resources are required to take advantage of opportunities and overcome obstacles.
• All the time in the world?
• What are the key drivers?
• Where is the real potential?
• Putting a tactical sales plan in place
• The essentials vs the urgent
• Overcoming obstacles and exploiting opportunities.

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