704.817.9540
We offer time and materials (T&M), project and retainer based services on a range of topics including but not limited to:
Workstream Definition and Implementation
We help you get the workstreams right by integrating best practices with your unique business model to define and execute a manageable roadmap
Sales Tools and Job Aids
We help develop and refine a set of tools to help sellers generate interest, advance the sale and bring opportunities to closure
Sales Process Definition and Training
We help clients develop their own definable, repeatable, differentiated sales process to aligns with how your buyers buy
Pipeline and Opportunity Coaching
We help sales leaders and individual contributors assess and increase the quality of their pipeline and increase the chances of closing specific deals
Hiring and Compensation Modeling
Using a combination of management insight and external data points, we help determine and implement compensation plans that will maximize performance
Meeting and Event Facilitation
There is often no better way to wrestle a topic to the ground than to get the right people in the room with the right agenda and knock it out
Sales Management Training
We help sales management establish a cadence around opportunity coaching, pipeline management, mentoring, forecasting and talent acquisition
Lead Generation, Inside Sales
We help clients create dedicated resources, processes and tools to either populate the pipeline or to close opportunities remotely
Performance Metrics
We help companies define and drive the right KPIs in the context of external data points and the unique business
Go to Market Planning, Territory Management
We help companies determine their unique pace in the market and the best way to maximize coverage with limited resources
CRM, Automation
We help clients evaluate and implement the most appropriate technologies for their needs. This includes everything from business process reviews to training
Sales Messaging
We help develop, test and refine a differentiated narrative for sales, marketing and potential investors, along with the associated outputs and materials
Consulting Services
Great Eight Sales Tools
This program allows a company to start the collaboration, documentation and execution of, "this is what we do and how we do it." It leverages the learnings of how the early key players have been successful within the context of proven sales tools and job aids. This is the set of tools that starts the sales playbook that you hand the new sales person during onboarding!
CRM Quickstart
Many CRM horror stories begin with, "we set it up ourselves and thought we had a handle on what to do" or "the person that set it up isn't here any more so no one really uses it." This program is designed to help clients proactively get a CRM tool up and running fast, right, and with one eye on the future. Components of the program, which can vary in duration based on the client's unique needs, include a solution design workshop, best practice recommendations, application configuration and end user training.
The Narrative Deck
We help develop (or refine) a conversational presentation that strikes the right balance between providing information and evoking the prospect to want to learn more. As a result, we help you sell the curiosity and credibility so needed to start a sales cycle! This program is also great for developing materials for fund raising.
We offer Start Here! Foundation Programs to help companies early in their evolution of scaling beyond key players. They provide the building blocks for bringing on new sellers and setting the tone for the company's sales identity and growth.
Start Here! Foundation Programs
A Sales Training Workshop Built For SMB Sellers
All it takes is a quick search of the web to find the well known training brands that serve the enterprise sales masses. While they offer good content, great research and their own version of "customized" programs, their business model typically doesn't lend itself to getting intimate with the unique needs of a growth company. Large training companies make their money by putting "cheeks in seats" and licensing their intellectual property. Most growth companies don't have hundreds of cheeks...
Growth Companies need more!
Training needs should be defined and satisfied based on specific skill and knowledge gaps, not by the limited training breadth of the internal team or by how training vendors make their money.
The Narrative Sale focuses on five components unique to a growth company:
1. Establishing The Team Identity
A collection of talent needs an identity and a "shared destination mission." Will the team be grinders, detail detectives, solution architects, relationship sellers, major account penetrators, subject matter experts, up-sellers, solution providers, networkers, challengers, metrics drivers, demo kings? Buy-in to the team identity sets the stage for enhanced learning and performance.
2. Training Core Skills
The agenda and content are driven by 1) the known behavior of current successful reps 2) external best practices and research and 3) the goals of the VP of Sales. Core modules include buyer alignment, prospecting, managing the sales cycle, qualification, challenging the buyer, selling to buyers who are already educated on your product or service, negotiating, territory coverage, business writing and closing.
3. The Power of the Narrative
The elevator pitch is not enough! Sellers are taught the power of telling the company's story - and their own - throughout the sales cycle in a manner that aligns with and encourages the buyer to share more. The seller uses tools and techniques to shift focus to the buyer's narrative allowing for a more open dialogue. The narrative approach redefines and differentiates the company's identity and creates the opportunity for larger deals.
4. Incorporating Context, Approach
The most overlooked and arguably most important factor in driving sales effectiveness is context and the incorporation of the workstreams during preparation, delivery and reinforcement. No training program can maximize the learning opportunity if there isn't a larger curriculum that incorporates an intimate understanding of the coverage model, sales tools, comp plans, external data points, the personas of the buyers, etc. Using the "barbell approach" we place additional emphasis on the inputs before training and the proper management cadence to reinforce behavior after the event.
5. Driving the 3 Cs
At every step of execution, we teach sellers to pursue and display:
Credibility - The ongoing exemplification of applicable knowledge and expertise to evoke trust and confidence. The buyer regularly reaches the conclusion, "this person gets it, understands our world and adds value"
Curiosity - Consistently positioning the narrative in a manner that stimulates the prospect to want to learn more
Caring - Consistently and consciously going above and beyond in the interactions with prospect to strengthen confidence and the personal relationship
The Narrative Sale©
Investor Services
Sales due diligence provides clarity into a candidate’s sales environment and future potential. While specifics can vary, analysis and benchmarking is broken into three categories:
Historical assessment of wins, loses, sales process, current customers, lead sources, pricing considerations, cycle length, personnel, account penetration, customer satisfaction and recurring revenue
Current state examination of pipeline, forecasting model, goals, KPIs, personnel, team structure, sales enablement and support, strategy, CRM/technologies, sales management, compensation plans and any additional, relevant workstreams
Future state exploration of infrastructure, go to market plan, cross/up sale opportunities, projections, org structure and additional, relevant workstreams
The engagement results in a Report of Findings and accompanying recommendations.