John Barrows – Filling The Funnel And Driving To Close

FILLING THE FUNNEL

LAY THE FOUNDATION

In this session we lay the foundation for prospecting success by outlining the mentality, approach and specific activity numbers necessary to excel. You will walk away with:

• The key to staying relevant in Sales as the profession continues to evolve and automate
• How to apply the fundamental process of sales (AIDA) to prospecting
• A specific equation that breaks down your unique numbers to success

IDENTIFY THE TARGET

In this session we dive into the importance of client segmentation and the nuances involved in identifying which clients are worth spending our time on. You will walk away with:

• A process to segment and refine your account list into Tier1, Tier2, and Tier3
• How to effectively balance quality and quantity prospecting activities
• How to create your Tier1 Hit List and what to do with it

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

In this session we look within our target accounts to find the executives we need to connect with and how to speak their language to maximize our chances of a response. You will walk away with:

• A definition of the Power Line and the characteristics of a true Champion
• Specific words, phrases and approaches to avoid and use when e-mailing or calling executives
• The top 3 priorities of all C level executives in 10 core industries

FIND YOUR REASON

In this session we identify the business triggers that are most relevant to our targets and how to find them, leveraging research and social tools to make relevant connections. You will walk away with:

• A list of business triggers to listen for specific to the value your solution provides
• Where and how to find business triggers for your target accounts
• How to get information and triggers on your accounts

DEVELOP YOUR MESSAGE

In this session we learn how to develop messaging that focuses on getting the attention of the key executives we want to connect with and earning the right to continue the conversation. You will walk away with:

• Why the traditional Elevator Pitch fails
• How to develop multiple attention-grabbing statements that can be used in calls or e-mails
• How to create a Messaging Matrix based on triggers and priorities

DELIVER YOUR MESSAGE (PHONE)

In this session we focus on delivering your message through phone with a specific structure and best practice approach. You will walk away with:

• How to develop and deliver the “Winning Call”
• Specific weak introductions to avoid and powerful introductions to use when making calls
• How to leave a voice mail that focuses them to listen to your value proposition before hanging up.

DELIVER YOUR MESSAGE (EMAIL)

In this session we focus on delivering your message through e-mail with a specific structure and best practice approach. You will walk away with:

• How to write the “Why You, Why You Now” e-mail that drives a 15-20% positive response rate from executives.

YOUR CONTACT STRATEGY

In this session put all the learnings from the previous sessions together to create a contact strategy to drive consistent, effective prospecting. You will walk away with:

• How to implement a multi-touch contact strategy that focuses on saying something different and adding a different piece of value on each touch
• The difference between your Tier1 and Tier2 account contact strategy to maximize time management

INTEGRATE SOCIAL SELLING

In this session we talk about how to integrate social selling into your process to help drive results and build your brand. You will walk away with:

• A clear definition of the two main components of social selling and how to do both
• What tools, technologies and resources to use to maximize your social selling activities
• How to build social selling into your daily routine

MANAGE YOUR TIME

In this session we address how to improve your time management skills while also figuring out which prospecting approaches work and which ones don’t. You’ll walk away with:

• How to define your different approaches and split test them to see which ones work
• How to focus your time while tracking and measuring results
• The key to consistent improvement

DRIVING TO CLOSE

OBJECTIVE NEGOTIATIONS

In this session we discuss the main goal of negotiations, when to negotiate and the importance of objectivity and equality throughout the entire process. You’ll walk away with:

• The ultimate goal of negotiations and when to negotiate
• The difference between Quid Pro Quo and the Rule of Reciprocity in negotiations
• How to create a Scorecard to objectively measure the health of any opportunity in your pipeline and improve forecast accuracy

THE PERFECT MEETING

In this session we walk through a process for how to prepare for meetings with the Perfect Meeting structure with the goal of elevating our questioning and the engagement level of the client. You’ll walk away with:

• Why most meetings are a waste of time based on the approach we take as sales professional
• How to elevate your engagement by developing the Perfect Meeting questions starting with the client’s Industry and moving down to the specific Project you want to talk about
• Why we should focus our presentation on the 20% of our solution that aligns with the client’s priorities

PROACTIVE OBJECTION HANDLING

In this session we explore why objections are so challenging for most sales reps to deal with and how to put ourselves in the best position possible to handle them effectively. You’ll walk away with:

• The reason the client usually wins when it comes to objections
• Why it’s so important to be proactive when dealing with objections compared to reactive
• The main objection handling techniques including how and when to use each of them

CLOSING IT OUT

In this session we talk about the challenge of closing and why it’s important to not only think of closing at the end of the sale process. Closing happens at every stage of the sales process and we need to practice and use the various techniques to be successful. You’ll walk away with:

• The reasons closing is so difficult
• The two categories of closing (Hard and Soft)
• The main closing techniques including how and when to use each of them