» Establish a process and common language so your team can function smoothly as a real team.

» Effectively manage complex, big dollar deals.

» Improve the integrity of your forecasting…and much, much more.

» Sales Reps

» Account Managers

» Telesales and Telemarketing Reps

» VP’s of Sales and Marketing

» Sales Managers

» Pre-sales Tech Support Reps

» Consultants

» Project Managers

… from Software, System Integration, Communications, Engineering, Biotech, Defense, Automation, and High-Tech Manufacturing Firms.

No matter how good your product or service is relative to your competitor's, the sale goes to the better sales person every time. That's just the reality of the business world.

Steve Kraner is NOT a natural salesman. But he discovered the Sandler Selling System and skyrocketed to become a top rep. Steve entertains as he enlightens, combining colorful personal experiences to give you a fresh, unflinching perspective on the sales process. His delivery is generously spiced with humorous and relevant stories garnered during a colorful, 17-year software sales and sales management career. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Engineering from West Point and an MBA from Loyola College. He is a nationally published author on the topic of software sales and negotiating.

Investment (per person): $1295

What you will receive:

» 14 hours of interactive, entertaining and challenging training.

» A course manual, which will serve as a reference after the program.

» An audio recording of the program for future review of the material.

» Continuously updated client resources at our Web site.

» TopLine Tips: Ongoing sales and sales management tips.

Day One

A model for optimum performance

» Techniques are not enough: Hidden barriers to success in selling high-tech solutions, and how to overcome them.

» The three factors that dictate your success or failure in a sales role: Essential secrets from consistently successful technology salespeople.

» Exercise: Access your selling style - Are you closing as many deals as you could?

The art of mutual agreement

» Understand how to lead the buyer/seller dance – Participate in a humorous look at why traditional sales practices leave your prospects cold.

» Learn why 20% of technology sales people make 80% of the sales.

» Discover the tricks employed by savvy buyers and how to avoid getting trapped.

» Stop wasting time sending literature that isn’t read, preparing proposals that can’t win and doing tons of free consulting.

» Learn how to formulate a plan. It’s a battle of the plans – the buyer has a plan. Do you?

» Learn how to customize a sales plan for each call and how to adjust it on the fly.

New science for creating a climate of trust and gaining solid commitment from your prospect at the beginning of the sales cycle

» While many professionals will balk at the idea, style is literally more important than substance. Research results illustrate the importance of the emotional impact we have on other people and how it influences their acceptance of our messages.

» Learn tactics to build rapport – most sales people put 99% of their effort into the 7% factor. The other 93% deals with building credibility and trust quickly.

» Understand how to create effective Up Front Contracts – a low-key way to seize the initiative and take leadership of the buyer/seller dance.

» Find out exactly what to listen for in the buyer’s initial reactions – and how to respond.

» Earn your toughest prospect’s respect from the first minute.

» Exercise: Set your own Up Front Contract

Buying motives and how to uncover them

» Discover why prospects are often reluctant to share the information you need to help them.

» Learn questions to uncover your prospect’s personal hot buttons.

» Develop skill and comfort in getting to real issues and business drivers.

» Understand the food chain of value and how to position yourself as a consultant in your customer’s eyes.

» Learn how to help prospects to see your products and/or services as a high-value solution to their business problem.

» Grasp how to conduct a business dialogue with senior executives, outside of the MIS department.

» Exercise: The Pain Funnel

When and how to talk about investment issues

» Learn why high-tech sales people leave money on the table.

» Understand why most people are uncomfortable talking about money.

» Discover how to get budget information early in the process.

» Find out who really controls the purse strings.

» Hear how to turn ‘price’ and ‘cost’ conversations into ‘value’ and ‘ROI’ conversations.

» Gather common negotiating ploys used by trained buyer and how to counter them.

» Learn how to say “NO” and keep the deal alive.

Co-building the decision process

» Discover how to use the information you uncover to co-build solutions with your customer.

» Find out how to create solutions that maximize perceived fit and value.

» Create the single most effective barrier to competition.

» Learn how to use ‘mini-contracts’ to stay in control of every step of the process.

» Receive strategies for measuring the customer’s commitment to advance the sales cycle.

» Most sales professionals ask about decision-making authority, but in a way that’s sure to trigger the ‘Gatekeeper Response.’ Learn a high probability way to uncover the true decision process and to gain access to decision-makers.

» Hear how to drive consensus in multiple decision-makers scenarios.

» Obtain a fail-safe way to make your forecast accurate and reliable.

Day Two

State-of-the-art closing tactics that work

» Learn how to know when to close.

» Establish ways to close users vs. managers vs. financial decision-makers.

» Discover closing tactics when selling to committees.

» Hear how to beat end-of-quarter pressure.

How to keep customers from using other software, hardware or service vendors to squeeze you

» Uncover a prospect’s likelihood of deflecting to the competition.

» Receive techniques to avoid feature-to-feature combat.

» Make the buyer see your solution as a custom fit.

» Learn how to know if you’re being used to get a better deal with someone else.

» Gather strategies for dislodging prospects from a fixation on larger, more entrenched competitors.

Non-traditional tactics that give you the edge

» Discover a fresh set of tactics that put you in control of the process, without sounding like a salesman.

» Learn how to handle the toughest high-tech sales situations.

» Assess your current responses to your most common objections, stalls and put-off’s.

» Break old habits and make new ones that are sure to pay off.

» Gauge your listening skills.

» Find out why questions are the answer and answers aren’t.

» Incorporate a tactic to create a role reversal and get your prospect convincing you.

» Firm up any agreement you reach with your prospect.

» Learn how what you know can hurt you - how product knowledge is abused and how to use it effectively.

» Exercise: Stump the Trainer - Bring your toughest and most frustrating questions and hear how a seasoned sales pro handles them with ease.

What to do when it all goes wrong

» Discover a test to determine when ‘No’ means ‘Maybe.’

» Learn a tactic to handle even hostile prospects – when under attack, fall back.

» Find out how to regain control of a sales call that’s not going well.

» Understand how to get the attention of prospects who won’t call you back.

» Learn what to do when deals get struck, and you’re missing your forecast.

» Exercise: The Firing Range - Apply the new tactics you’ve learned and hone them to your products and services.

Techniques to fill your pipeline with good leads

» Define the target market.

» Learn about efficient entry point selection (a strategic decision).

» Discover how to warm up cold calls – a higher pay-off, researched based model for outbound calls.

» Find out how to build your own optimized first call approach.

» Discover methods of access and influence.

» Receive four tricks to use voicemail and gatekeepers to your advantage.

» Eliminate peaks and valleys in your pipeline.

» Realize how to prioritize opportunities – 90-day warrior vs. elephant hunter.

» Understand how to get buyers interested, even when they say they aren’t.

» Follow up on fresh leads with hyper efficiency.

» Exercise: Develop your own ‘Sales Readiness Pain/Gain Toolkit.’

2009 Dates January 12-13 March 2-3 May 4-5 June 8-9 July 9-10 September 3-4 November 5-6 December 3-4

Location Training Room Metro Offices Dulles Corner Center 2325 Dulles Corner Boulevard, Suite 500 Herndon, Virginia 20171 Call for custom programs! 703.689.0439