Creating Client Value
A practical, proven and tailored approach
to consultative, value-based selling
Commercial Acumen Sales Manager Programme Negotiating Client Value
Strategic Account Management Sales Coaching
Are your salespeople world class?
What makes a great salesperson, account manager or client developer? It’s hard to differentiate on product alone, so great salespeople create value by identifying needs more clearly, designing solutions more creatively, and facilitating the customer’s decision process more skilfully than the competition.
Poor salespeople, on the other hand, destroy value. Not just through the wasted time and costs of unproductive meetings, but through the hidden costs of leaving real needs unmet. These salespeople struggle to get meetings, fail to grow accounts, and suffer from long sales cycles.
Imparta’s sales methodology, “Creating Client Value” (CCV), has been helping salespeople to drive revenue growth for over a decade. CCV was developed in a unique collaboration between Imparta and Neil Rackham, the author of SPIN® Selling and arguably the world’s
leading researcher into sales effectiveness.
Imparta has been ranked among the top three global sales training companies for the depth and effectiveness of our solutions by US-based consultancy ES Research Group.
CCV is not just a course. It is part of a
Capability Building System that has generated hundreds of millions of pounds in incremental revenue, by providing insights, skills and tools that support and influence the customer’s decision process.
Recognising where the customer is in that process lets you support and influence them through each stage of that process, which is why CCV is built on a model of the buying decision known as the Buying Cycle.
Awareness A chie vem ent As se ssm e n t of Risk Alleviation De cision of Needs o f Res ults of A lte rna tiv es
The Buying
Cycle
“I attended the Imparta CCV programme last week and have to say that I was totally stunned by the quality of the work that both Imparta and [the internal team] have done.”
The issues... and how CCV addresses them
Awareness of Needs stage
During this first stage of the Buying Cycle, the buyer realises the need to change from the status quo. CCV will help you addresses these common problems:
• Weak sales pipeline. CCV includes
advanced techniques for referral and lead generation, combined with highly effective account entry strategies;
• Long cycle time. CCV’s sophisticated
approach to navigating complex buyer roles finds the pressure points in the organisation and the questions that will build momentum behind the decision;
• Low share of wallet/average account size.
Participants develop solution selling skills that identify a broad set of business issues and KPIs across the customer’s organisation, then map your capabilities onto those needs in a process of structured creativity;
• Low conversion rate from suspects into
concrete opportunities. CCV improves conversion rates by teaching salespeople to quantify the case for change.
Assessment of Alternatives stage
At this stage, the customer has decided to act and is evaluating competing alternatives. Typical issues include:
• Low win rates. CCV tools uncover the criteria that customers use to assess competing solutions, and help develop strategies for dealing with them. One client recorded a 3x increase in win rate. What would that do for your business?
• Discounting to win business. CCV focuses
on what client’s value, offering more levers to win pitches than price alone. CCV also focuses on how to work effectively with
Alleviation of Risks stage
At this stage, the customer has a solution, but begins to worry about the personal and business risks involved. The pitfalls include:
• Stalled opportunities. CCV will teach your teams to identify when risks are blocking progress, and to uncover specific risks at the strategic, tactical, political and personal levels;
• Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
CCV improves conversion rates through three main approaches to risk alleviation, and interpersonal skills tailored to each type of risk.
Decision
Decisions flow more naturally when CCV is applied, helping to unblock the process. Additional skills are covered in the companion programmes Negotiating Client Value and Commercial Acumen.
Achievement of Results stage
In this final phase, while the solution is being implemented, issues include:
• Failing to deliver the value that has been promised. CCV provides insight into the phases of implementation that follow a sale, and tools to make sure you deliver the promised value;
• New opportunities not identified. CCV
builds the right behaviours to extend your reach within each account.
“I was extremely impressed with every aspect of the training and software and the incredible value that can be leveraged out of it. I believe that Imparta has positioned itself as a standard bearer for the industry.”
Who needs It?
CCV will help anyone involved in selling or managing accounts where:
• The decision processes are complex; • Deals tend to be high value;
• The client wishes to buy in a consultative way, or
• You need to differentiate through your sales approach.
CCV is modular and is tailored and configured to specific sales roles, while maintaining a common philosophy and language. These roles include:
• Executives involved in selling • Sales Leaders and Sales Managers • Key/Global Account Managers
• Channel Managers
• Sales Support and Service Staff • Marketing Staff
• Proposition Development and Product Training teams
• Business Development Managers/ Account Managers / Salespeople
• Retail Sales Advisors • Store / Branch Managers
We can deliver CCV on a global basis.
Sales Manager coaching is vital to ensure the uptake of any new skill- set. Ask about our Sales Coaching Programmes for Managers.
The Sales Performace System – making it stick
Training on its own is rarely enough – you need solid reinforcement and coaching to get salespeople to change their behaviour. Adults learn best from a combination of experience, reflection and
experimentation supported by coaching, so a CCV programme typically includes:
These steps ensure significantly more impact than training alone. They are a sub-set of the Imparta Sales Performance System, which allows you to tailor the change programme to your specific needs. The following diagram shows this System in more detail:
• Pre-assessment against agreed competencies;
• Training for managers to model new behaviours and coach salespeople; • On-line pre-work combining theory and practical real life application; • A highly experiential CCV workshop;
• Manager- or Imparta-led coaching to help apply CCV;
• Account and opportunity planners that can be linked to your CRM system;
• Reconnect workshop to embed behaviours, review application and gather impact data; • Measurement of ROI and impact via an agreed methodology, e.g. re-assessment, coaching
The Imparta Sales Performance System
What does a typical CCV workshop cover?
The CCV Workshop combines interactive case studies, practical application to real accounts, and multiple role-plays and exercises to embed learning. Your assigned Principal Content Developer oversees the needs analysis and tailoring. This is an efficient process that ensures your business issues and processes are embedded deep into the programme. Our tailoring process places a minimal strain on your staff, and includes well-defined client sign-off points to make sure that the result meets your objectives.
The most common format is an initial two-day workshop followed by a reconnect day, which can be conducted virtually. During the initial workshop, attendees work on a blend of case studies and current real account situations that they have brought to the workshop.
The reconnect session, follows up on the attendees’ own sales situations and leverages the group experience to analyse and provide feedback on interim assignments. Day three
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R ein fo rceLearnAccelerateing Chang e Commu nicat e Busine Need ss s Me asure & Repo rt
“I used need assessment yesterday with a customer and it opened their eyes to a lot of “PAIN”. It was totally amazing... heck, it opened my eyes too.... Splendid!”
’I have some great news. I used the pain and gain strategies and the discussion was phenomenal.! The client identified an opportunity ($5m) that ca n deliver twice the impact of what we expected. They have just been CCV’ed-Consultative Selling. I Love it.’’
Day One
Activity Objectives
Pre-work Review and
Introduction to CCV Identify core capabilities to succeed in a consultative sale. Understand where CCV fits within the learning journey.
Diagnostic Simulation &
Debrief Benchmark skills in the first stage of the clients Buying Cycle through an interactive diagnostic business simulation.
Awareness of Needs:
Scanning for Opportunities Introduce the differing types of people you will interact with (Buyer Roles) and how the tools within Awareness of Needs phase of the Buying Cycle will help navigate the client organization.
Tools: Value Chain and
Capability Matrix Identify organisation capabilities and explore opportunities by analysing the various departments you will interact with and their Key Success Factors
Role-plays Create a strategic approach to account entry and account development.
Tool: Value Opportunity
Planner Combine the Value Chain with your capabilities and knowledge of potential client issues to locate potential ‘value sweet-spots’. Awareness of Needs:
Building Momentum Build value with problem owners and use Pain and Gain questions to motivate the need for change.
Day Two
Activity Objectives
Role-play: Building Pain
and Gain Practise skills and strategies to evolve and confirm potential opportunities and build importance and urgency around each. Value Proposal and
Stakeholder Map Identify to financial impact of the proposed solution and create a compelling proposal to persuade client to agree to the need for change. Evolve strategy
to obtain necessary buy-in.
Identifying Value Criteria Help client identify and prioritize the criteria the will use to make a buying
decision. Understand how our proposal stacks up against these criteria.
Role-play: Criteria Uncovering and ranking key Value Criteria.
Value Map Create strategies for influencing different types of Value Criteria.
Presenting Value
Effectively Create a structure to ensure value is presented in the most compelling way given the customer’s metrics and culture.
Alleviation of Risk Uncovering and address client concerns via prevention and cure strategies.
Reconnect Day
Activity Objectives
Review: Buying Cycle and
Tools How the concepts worked in the real world – facilitating the application process. Impact
Presentations Presentation to a panel of Managers and peers. Receive feedback from Manager and peers.
Decision: Unblocking and
Negotiating To understand the approaches to negotiation and be able to adapt approach accordingly during the decision making phase to maximize margin
Achievement of Results:
Planning Techniques to create (or contribute to) accurate and robust implementation plans that includes clear goals and take account of likely barriers. Achievement of Results:
Delivering Value A review of techniques to make the most of the Honeymoon, Disenchantment and Success phases. Reinforcement,
Resources and Learning Transfer
Plan actions for making CCV business as usual.
Why CCV?
• The CCV programme combines researched content with a deep understanding of how adults learn, and how to overcome barriers to change.
• The CCV methodology has been continuously refined over the last ten years, reflecting changes in the market place and our ongoing research into what really works in value-base, consultative selling.
• CCV is currently available in 12 languages and we can deliver globally.
• CCV covers sales skills as well as tools and strategy. Many courses focus on one at the expense of the others.
• We use CCV ourselves – and as a result grew throughout the recent recession. We’re one of the few sales training companies that take our own medicine.
• A major CCV-enabled Sales Academy has measured:
• Audited increased sales of £60m linked to
• Increased success in competitive situations from 10% to 29%.
• An increase in coaching activity of 400% • The top 10% of salespeople by competency
improvement are on average 30% HIGHER against their revenue target than bottom 10% • Another client generated £150 million in
incremental sales from just 5 contract wins that they attributed to CCV.
• The learning approach behind CCV is highly experiential and uses a range of sophisticated tools such as simulations to ensure that the learning sticks.
• We tailor the tools, processes and training to different sales teams (e.g. account managers vs. new business developers and pre-sales) • We place a great deal of emphasis on judging
the cultural and experiential fit between the trainer and your staff (a process we call “casting”).
Why Imparta?
• Imparta has been ranked among the top three global sales training companies for the depth and effectiveness of our solutions by US-based consultancy ES Research Group.
• Our clients include some of the world’s leading organisations, including GE, O2, Lloyds TSB, HP, Alcatel-Lucent and the WPP Group.
• Because we cover sales, marketing and service, we are able to provide the “glue” that aligns those teams (e.g. sales-enabled product training) as well as in-depth
expertise in each field.
• We have a dedicated Client Impact team that can help you roll out a single workshop, or a sophisticated Sales, Marketing or Service Academy covering reinforcement, application, coaching, measurement and accreditation.
Next steps
Please feel free to contact one of our Client Directors on +44 (0)20 7610 8800,
via clientenquiries@imparta.com or via http://www.imparta.com/about/contact_us
“I used Risk Alleviation questions the day after the course. Not only did we secure the contract, but the client actually said “Thank you, that part of the meeting really added value for me.”
Sales Person, IT “I had a major client that was completely stalled. CCV
suggested they might be concerned about risk and helped me to think about how to handle it. Two days later we got the deal.”
Creating Client Value Commercial Acumen Sales Manager Programme Negotiating Client Value
Consultative Selling Skills Strategic Account Management Sales Coaching
