Sales Primer 101 – Part I of II

I recently gave a presentation to The Digital Corridor http://www.charlestondigitalcorridor.com/, to an audience of representatives from various knowledge-based companies in the Charleston area. It was exciting to address a diverse audience with the same goal in mind – optimizing sales performance.

The discussion – “Sales Strategies Primer” – focused on establishing a firm foundation on which to build any Sales and Marketing agenda. Only by laying consistent and solid groundwork can any one of us ever hope to be successful. Yet the fundamentals are often overlooked in favor of trendy, gimmicky, “of the moment” strategies. As one of the audience members put it during the Q and A session, “It is amazing that with all the advancements in technology and otherwise, what truly makes a company successful really has not changed over the years.”

I agree.

As a speaker and as a consultant, I thrive off of developing new and innovative solutions to business issues. Yet there are times when it makes more sense to simply put a fresh perspective on the tried and true. This circumstance was one of those times. And, while the audience was comprised of many seasoned professionals, this opportunity to spend a little time re-analyzing our foundations was time well-spent. After all, the cracks at the top often start at the bottom.

I split the discussion into two parts:

• Product / Solution Management


• Sales and Management Best Practices

I will cover the first part in this blog (stay tuned for part II later this month).

The first section of the speech, Product / Solution Management, encouraged the audience to analyze the who, what, where and when of the sales and marketing cycle. Understanding what it is you are selling, to whom are you selling it, and at what value to the consumer are all integral to success.

Can you articulate your sales and marketing strategy? If not (or worse yet), you don’t have one, the following questions and thoughts should be quite helpful.

Internally Focused Questions:

• What are you selling – a product, service or a solution?
• What problem does your offering solve?
• Where are you in your organization’s life cycle? (i.e. Are you just entering the market Trying to move upstream? Migrating down market?)
• Where do you fit on the competitive landscape? What are you doing to differentiate yourself?
• How is your product priced? Is any part of your pricing methodology a barrier to sale?
• What is the ROI of your solution (perceived or otherwise)? Can you quantify it?

Externally Focused Questions:

• Who is your ideal customer?
• How large is the potential market? (see Market Pyramid example below)
• Is there a specific market segment where you are best suited? What is their buying cycle?
• What position within the company does the person you are approaching hold?
• What is the market discipline of the companies to whom you are selling? (Organizational Excellence? Customer Intimacy? Product Leadership?)

Market Pyramid - Gauging the size of your potential market

So how did you do? If you were able to articulate the responses to each of the above questions quickly, clearly, and concisely, then congratulations; you probably have a well-crafted strategy and are well on your way….but remember, a plan is only a component, sales execution is what really establishes success.

With that in mind, let’s move on to Part II…