Sales & Marketing Management - March/April 2008 - (Page 31)

ally sell to retailers, they manage a retail chain. If they Time and again, sales executives say the number one sell to manufacturers, they manage a manufacturer. issue facing their reps is that they can’t build relationDuring the course of the simulation, they have specific ships with executives in their client organizations. financial targets (just like their real customers do), Their salespeople are stuck talking exclusively to techand they must execute strategies in the face of changnical buyers who are focused on price. ing trends, new demands from customers and a When you dig deeper, however, it becomes apparent that gaining access to executives is only part of the problem. The other part is that salespeople don’t actually know what to say when they do get a meeting with those executives. Their natural instinct is to have Meet in Chicago, London or Tokyo all with the same kind of conversation—features, one click of the mouse. benefits, problems, solutions—that they have with technical buyers. But executives don’t care about that stuff. Our newest collaboration tool, InterCall Web Meeting, That’s why they have the technical people is a one-stop web conferencing solution. in the first place: to worry about it for them. So when salespeople focus on technical issues with an executive, odds are good No more crowded planes or unfriendly hotel staff. they won’t be invited back. Some salespeoNow you can meet from the comfort of your own ple have been burned often enough that office! they no longer even seek the executive access their leaders want. Make your non-travel arrangements today at What executives expect in a conversation www.intercall.com/smm with a salesperson is a discussion of how the salesperson’s products or services will help the executive’s business accelerate the achievement of its desired business results. That means focusing on the customer’s key metrics and how the product or service can rip help achieve the gains the customer seeks. ng T sti It also means showing how the product or reca Fo g service can support a recently launched 008 travelin strategic initiative. It might also include an 2 s explanation of how the product or service day miles s 40 can help the customer take advantage of an m sed 300 tel roo eport eimbur emerging trend in the marketplace. Meeting Is Easier Than Ever A workout for your noodle Is there a way to build business acumen into sales training? Yes! As a matter of fact, major sales forces are doing it today. Developing business acumen doesn’t require an MBA or 10 years of experience running a company. It means being able to see your customer’s business from their perspective. One way to do that is through the use of simulations. In a simulation—which can be computer- or paper-based—salespeople run a company much like those of their typical customers. If the salespeople generwww.salesandmarketingmanagement.com o 2 h pense ro get r 1 ex days t 30 he or of t k 1 clic Canada 1.877.333.2666 mou se U.S. 1.800.820.5855 Asia-Pacific +61 2 8295 9197 U.K. Europe +44 1452 556200 Beyond Meeting Expectations MARCH/APRIL 2008 SALES &MARKETING MANAGEMENT 31 http://www.intercall.com/smm http://www.intercall.com/smm http://www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Sales & Marketing Management - March/April 2008

Sales & Marketing Management - March/April 2008 Contents Editor's Letter Brian Tracy University Sales Marketing Management Cover Story: Lessons From the Master Maximum Mobility Training Technology Incentives/Motivation Travel/Meetings Book Excerpt - Value Merchants The Way I See It - End the Discounting Habit

Sales & Marketing Management - March/April 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.