Insight

Selling value is essential to today’s sales professional. We speak to President of Capmatic, Alioscia Bassani to uncover his tried-and-tested techniques for selling value to the C-suite. This sales process uncovers the CEO’s critical business needs and develops value solutions that address the long-term business challenges of concern to senior executives. Ask Alioscia Bassani what business he’s in and his… 

Three easy-to-remember quotes from buyers will help get you on their wavelength. Let’s be honest: nobody likes being “sold to”. We like to think that we are controlling the buying cycle, whether it’s a personal purchase or a corporate procurement. If we experience “blatant” or “clumsy” sales tactics, then we react badly; but, if we feel the salesperson is contributing… 

In an original project submitted for his Doctor of Professional Studies qualification, Phil Squire asked: How can a “client-centric values” approach to selling lead to the “co-creation” of a new global selling mind-set? Here’s what he found out. In 2002, I conducted an interview with the Chief Information Officer of IMS Health, a large, global, pharmaceutical company. The subject of… 

Based on anecdotal evidence, personal observation and experience, the authors examine the challenges still being faced by some of the UK’s leading financial institutions in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis – specifically, their need to navigate high standards of ethicality in the way their sales operations are organised and executed while also maintaining their effectiveness. In the… 

The old saw states that a poor workman blames his tools. These days, it could also be said that a successful sales manager credits his tools for guiding his success, but to use the tools available to them, sales managers need help. Manual systems for managing commissions and other sales processes don’t capture data in a form that allows fast… 

Can the forthcoming apprenticeship programme for B2B sales catalyse a new era of professionalism? If anything underlines why we so desperately need the new Level 6 Degree Apprenticeship, it is the sustained effort a dedicated group of sales leaders and educationalists have had to put into educating government about business-to-business sales as a career and to convince the “powers that… 

Nick Lee on… Statistical significance testing List time around, I explained the concept of endogeneity bias, and how it might influence how much trust you can have in the results of studies you see reported in the media, and also research projects and white papers you might read yourself. This time, I’m going to deal with the other major problem… 

The precise proportions vary a little depending on which researcher you listen to, but the general conclusion is remarkably consistent: the majority of meetings with salespeople generate little meaningful value for the potential customer. They often turn out to be a complete waste of their time. A big part of the explanation can be found in studies which conclude that… 

Are sales force incentives linked to drug sales volumes the best way to motivate individual reps? With the performance of the sales force directly linked to the bottom line, ensuring representatives are well motivated and incentivized is a critical ingredient in any company’s financial health. Yet, with the huge amount of change reshaping the pharma landscape – from digital to… 

How do we achieve a balance between input and output measures to manage sales performance effectively? Lucy is what many people would call a “high achiever”. She had always been focused on delivering the best service for her clients and always supportive of her colleagues and her organisation. Lucy always looked forward to Christmas time. It typically marked the completion… 

Surprisingly little research has been conducted to uncover the major challenges for KAM implementation in professional service firms. Here, the authors discuss how to identify and address them. Professional Service Firms (PSF) provide specialised advice to their customers, and are characterised by knowledge intensity, low capital intensity (in fixed assets), and a professionalised workforce, which makes them distinct from companies… 

Managing sales talent effectively through robust hiring and development processes is only half the story; we need to align these daily processes with company strategy… and we should be developing sales talent far earlier. Hiring and developing salespeople is costly – there is absolutely no doubt about that. According to a recent blog by Chally Group , while a low… 

For the past few columns, I introduced critical issues in designing your own research, with a special focus on how to design experiments. For the next few columns, I’m going to build on those pieces to some extent, to explore a set of issues that I see as perhaps even more important – and especially so in today’s world. Specifically,… 

Bob Apollo on Building Scalable Businesses Long ago and far away, there was a time when “selling to the C-level” was a credible and often effective strategy. Dozens – maybe hundreds – of sales books were written on the subject. If you could successfully sell to the top, so the authors claimed, sales success would surely follow. Now, there’s no… 

The truth may hurt, but being a good loser is a key strategy for future success. Business has been using client feedback to sharpen performance since the year dot and Loss Reviews have long been part of the competitive sales cycle. But the process fell out of favour with many corporates because the information it provided wasn’t valued – why… 

Pressure on the sales function has placed the salesperson in the uncomfortable position of dealing with complex, unrelenting ethical dilemmas on an almost daily basis. The sales department has never been more important to the organization. Given clearly established metrics and direct revenue contributions that connect to financial performance, coupled with an essential role in creating customer value, it is… 

How to prepare, execute, and learn from a new way to listen Last issue, we shared with you our thinking around “The Art of Discovery” (International Journal of Sales Transformation, September 2016/Issue 2.3). We discussed a nearly universal problem faced by salespeople: that “selling” is equated with “pitching.” Day in and day out, it involves a process that includes: a)… 

Hiring, developing and retaining salespeople have been something of a dark art. It’s often expensive and inefficient, but new talent-management techniques are bringing us into the 21st century. Skilled professionals have credibility with customers, and you can’t afford to compromise the credibility of your brand by sending second-best into the field Dr Beth Rogers In their 2015 Harvard Business Review… 

For the past couple of columns, I’ve been discussing various issues around how to think scientifically and do experiments. In this column, what I want to do is bring a close to this series by presenting a couple of basic designs that could be used to generate knowledge of what works and what doesn’t in sales forces, including a “not-quite-experimental”… 

Jim Collins’ Good to Great has been the inspiration for many CEOs who are determined to elevate their companies from run-of-the-mill to lasting greatness. There are many lessons to be learned from the book but one of the most significant is the idea that, before organisations can stand a chance of realising their potential, they must get the right people…