August 31st, 2012
Monthly Archives: August 2012
When thinking about growing an account, it’s helpful to frame the sales opportunities for you to pursue in three selling modes: Respond. Shape. Create. Join Richardson’s SVP, Andrea Grodnitzky in this short video where she looks at the importance of each mode.
The Internet has forever changed the way companies interact with prospects and customers. And as Web technologies evolve, so do these interactions. Just think about what you do when faced with a buying decision. You go online to check features, prices, various vendors, and product reviews. It doesn’t matter whether you’re considering the purchase of something for the home — a TV, lawn mower, car — or for business.
August 27th, 2012
Two Levels You Must Consider for a Successful Change Initiative
Change may be a constant in business, but adoption of change within sales organizations can be a slow and often failed initiative if not approached properly. The key is to be aware of and address change on two levels: the organizational level and the individual level. This dual-level execution is essential for success and must be orchestrated systematically so the salesforce never misses a beat in delivering today’s results while also focusing on the future.
August 23rd, 2012
25 Questions to Guide Your Company through Strategic Change
25 Questions to Guide Your Company through Strategic Change
When making strategic changes in your organization, the implications can range from miniscule to far reaching depending on the initiative. The changes could be triggered by market trends or forces, technology, competition, the economy, or the simple (yet complicated) need to shake things up.
Complimentary White Paper – Six Best Practices for Leveraging Strategic Accounts to Consistently Achieve Annual Sales Success
August 20th, 2012
Aligning Sales Training with Sales Strategy
I recently read two alarming statistics that should be a wake-up call for sales leaders — and for the Learning and Development professionals they rely on to keep their sales teams well tuned and well trained.
The first comes from a McKinsey Quarterly article titled “Getting More from Your Training Programs”:
Just 25% of survey respondents said that their training programs measurably improved business performance.
Twenty-five percent? That means that 75% of the senior managers McKinsey surveyed believe that their training programs fail to contribute to the success of the business. That’s an unacceptable ROI by any measure, especially considering the money spent, time away from the job, and missed opportunities.
The second statistic comes from a study by the Executive Board’s Corporate Leadership Council:
More than half of line managers believe that shutting down the L&D function would have no impact on employee performance.
More than 50% see no value at all in L&D? This is serious and damning news, and not only for those in L&D whose budgets and jobs are at stake. It’s a big problem for sales leaders who are looking for ways to improve the performance of their sales teams … to increase sales effectiveness … and to drive business results.
What’s up with that?
Most L&D departments have never worked harder or had more learning tools and technologies available. So, where is the disconnect between capability and impact? I see two root causes.
1) Poor » Continue Reading.
August 17th, 2012
Six Reasons Sales Leaders Lose Credibility
Sales is a profession built on reputation and relationships, and both require credibility. It’s even more true for sales leaders, who must maintain credible connections with CEOs, colleagues, clients, and their circle of sales professionals.
Many factors drive businesses to change. Whether caused by economic conditions, the emergence of new technology, legislative and regulatory changes, or shifts in demographics and tastes, companies must change to seize new opportunities and stay competitive. And, when the business strategy changes in response to these drivers, sales and marketing organizations must also change to align with the new strategy.
August 13th, 2012
How to get Real Value from Win-Loss Reviews by Sharing Insight Learnings
This final step in the win-loss review process is the equivalent of the all-important follow through: whether you’re swinging a baseball bat or golf club, you don’t stop the motion once you’ve made contact with the ball. To get the best results, you continue the motion to fulfill the arc to completion.
August 10th, 2012
Essential Questions to Ask Buyers in the Win-Loss Review Process
One of the most critical components of your win-loss review process is knowing what to ask. This is a golden opportunity to connect with clients or potential clients to find out how your company is doing, including the quality of your sales reps, products, marketing, pricing, and delivery. Don’t blow it.
August 8th, 2012
7 Steps to Enable Insight Selling in Your Sales Organization
Content Marketing and Insight Selling - Companies Need to Become a Source of Ideas and Insights for their Customers to Add Value
Buyer behavior has changed, fueled not only by the economy but also the ever-available and increasing sophistication of online marketing and social media. Our clients recognize this and agree that they need to do something about it or risk not being heard by their customers.
August 6th, 2012
Capture Lessons Learned and Establish Action Plans from Your Win-Loss Review Process
If you stopped your win-loss review process after the interview, you would have spent quality time with a client or potential client gathering feedback on your business. That shows the client that you value your performance and strive to improve, as well as building goodwill toward future opportunities.
August 3rd, 2012
Overcoming CYA – Who Should Really Own the Win-loss Review Process?
Many companies manage by numbers, which are important, but far from comprehensive. What’s the story behind the data? If your sales team is winning more pitches than they lose, you might consider leaving “well enough alone.” Something’s going your way, so don’t tinker with success, right?
Wrong. Even if you have a winning success rate, you still need to know what’s working well so that you can capitalize on it. And if you’re losing, find out what needs to change in order to turn those stats around.
Growing sales and distribution capabilities into new markets is a major strategic undertaking for companies. Richardson has been working in Asia for nearly 15 years and have strong operations in the region. However, demand for our services from multinational clients working in China and large domestic Chinese companies outpaced our ability to deliver our sales training solutions from afar.
About Richardson
Richardson: Sales Training & Strategy Execution
Richardson helps leaders prepare their organization to execute sales strategies and achieve business objectives.
We have the expertise and resources to help you scale your initiative quickly and confidently across your entire sales force and supporting functions. With you, we establish sales best practices, evaluate talent, build capability and consistency through world class training, and sustain necessary change. We ensure your solution reflects your unique culture and values, which drives rapid adoption and lasting results.
Richardson’s Selling with Insights™
Richardson’s Selling with Insights™ training program teaches your sales reps advanced preparation techniques and dialogue skills to present insights, challenge the customer’s thinking, add more value, differentiate your solution, and build credibility as a trusted business partner. Click here to learn more!
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Dario F. Priolo
Chief Strategy Officer
Even a great sales strategy will fail without effective execution. It is our mission to provide you with insight and best practices for executing your sales strategy and bringing your sales vision to life. We want to help you understand what you need to know and what you need to do to be successful.
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