Account Planning Form For Existing Accounts – Page 4 of 4
Account Name__________________________ Date Prepared ___________
1st Quarter 2nd Quarter 3rd Quarter 4th Quarter
Account Growth Plan
- New products to propose
Contact Growth Plan
- Existing accounts - New contacts - New locations Business/Executive Review & Growth Planning
Introduce New Products and Technologies
Executive Involvement
Social
Entertainment
Customer Service Reviews
IDEAS TO ESTABLISH THE MOST POSITIVE ENVIRONMENT FOR YOUR INDIVIDUAL "SALES REP ACCOUNT PLANNING SESSIONS" – Page 1
1) Positive to have more than the sales rep present.
- Great time to have any sales reps sitting in so they know what is happening in the rep's territory (and how they can help).
- Also a great time for others in management to attend to learn more about what is happening with this rep's selling activities and direction.
2) Be sure and provide positive feedback and congratulations on positives.
3) Be sure and utilize the concept of the "love sandwich" if negative feedback needs to be provided.
- "Love sandwich"
1st– State something positive about the person and their efforts.
2nd– State the negative or what you are concerned about.
3rd– State something positive about how hard the person is working or the potential you know they have to do better and how important they are to your team.
4) Each person in attendance should have a pad of paper for any assigned "ToDo's" that come out of the discussions.
5) Remind all in attendance that this is a positive coaching session meant to help the sales rep to be more successful and for others to better understand how they can
support the selling efforts of the rep.
6) The more negative the comments are to the sales rep then the less effective, and helpful the coaching session will be.
- Overall performance negatives need to be handled at another meeting and time.
- This is not a meeting for you to be a "Drill Sergeant" or to hammer them.
IDEAS TO ESTABLISH THE MOST POSITIVE ENVIRONMENT FOR YOUR INDIVIDUAL "SALES REP ACCOUNT PLANNING SESSIONS" – Page 2
7) Work to keep the meeting "tactical" and "strategic" focused vs. being bogged down in
"operational" details.
8) Work to keep the meeting more "future focused" than "history/today" focused.
9) Confirm in advance the agenda and overall goals of this coaching session.
- Identify what accounts you want to discuss in detail.
- Ask them what accounts they want to go over.
- Identify starting and ending times (and stick to them).
- Eliminate the less important accounts if the coaching session is going long.
- Critical to still cover the personal employee issues at each coaching session.
10) Important to conduct ongoing reviews of the monthly coaching session plans every time you ride with a sales rep or have any quiet time with a rep.
WHAT IS YOUR TEAM'S "ID TO CLOSE" MULTIPLE-STEPPED NEW BUSINESS SELLING PLAN?
- Majority of sales people have no defined multiple-stepped new business selling plan
- The "Define your new business selling process" test
- Most of your sales reps have been selling for your company for several years but cannot define the steps they go through to sell new business to a new company (or new business to an existing customer)
- Drawing this visual, ask each sales rep to write down the steps or plan they follow from the time they identify a new prospect or selling opportunity until the time they close on the sale (even though the relationship will continue)
- Expect few to give you any kind of response or defined selling plan
- Tactical multiple-stepped coaching and leading reps through account planning are critical components of successfully leading a sales team
YOU CAN ALWAYS SELL MORE – HOW TO IMPROVE ANY SALES FORCE How to Manage, Coach and Lead Your Sales Team
Section IV - Class #13 – “How to Improve New Business Selling Skills”
SUGGESTED TACTICAL "BUSINESS TO BUSINESS" SELLING PLAN
- Identify potential "selling success factors" for each selling step that, if achieved orunderstood, will increase your team's chances of winning
- Examples - Getting samples, plant tour or meeting with a senior manager Step 1 – Set up, positioning and establishing an appointment
- What job title is the best initial contact at a new prospect?
Step 2 - Initial sales call, plant tour & ID of “next best” application to promote - Position your buyer’s evaluation/decision process by recommending they ask all
vendors (including you):
1. What’s my total cost?
2, Can you support me?
3. How much risk am I taking doing business with you?
4. How will you help me improve my business?
- What step are you on as an organization?
1st – Decide pain / 2nd decide direction / 3rd decide solutions / 4th decide vendors / 5th decide process
Step 3 - Do more research/positioning and get “higher wider & deeper”
Step 4 – Validate your working relationship
- What does your buyer most want from you and your company?
- If an existing customer remind them of your past service and quality
- If a new company prospect share your references and past proof of success - Review how you support a customer and what level of service they can expect Step 5 - Proposal positioning & delivery
- Never deliver a proposal to a buyer that contains new information or surprises
- Review major proposal points and pricing in advance so you can defend or adjust
SUGGESTED TACTICAL "BUSINESS TO BUSINESS" SELLING PLAN - Continued
Step 6 – Justify your “higher price – lower total cost” philosophy
- Walk your buyer through the ROI (Return on Investment) of buying from you Step 1 – “Apples to apples” (Talking the same products and specs?) Step 2 – Prove “Hard Savings” (Can be quantified and validated)
Step 3 – Prove “Soft Savings” (Not as quantified and harder to validate)
Step 4 – Explain your “Insurance Policy” (Can’t quantify or prove the savings of this point…but it is important to the buyer)
Close is to say…”For only $xx/month (or unit or assembly) you get all of this extra support, coverage and protection”
Step 7 – Post sale support to identify and position your next application solution
- What can your team do to so impress and amaze this buyer that they want to do more business with you in the future?
Step 8 – Evaluate, adjust & prepare for your next sale
- How does the multiple-stepped plan or supporting tools need to be added or adjusted to improve our chances of winning in the future?