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Sales Foundations: Value Selling, Buyer Behavior and General Sales Skills Sample Agenda
Sales Foundations: Value Selling, Buyer Behavior and General Sales Skills Sample Agenda
Sales Foundations: Value Selling, Buyer Behavior and General Sales Skills Sample Agenda
Foundations: Value Selling, Buyer Behavior and General Sales Skills Sample Agenda
Day 1 timing Day 1 topics
8:30 Introductions and overview
9:00 Developing a Customer Focus
This section of the basic course will define customer orientation and identify what buyers expect
from the salesperson. Salespeople will understand what it means to be “customer‐oriented” and
how to convey that to the buyer. The internal organizational implications of firm and salesperson
being customer oriented will also be discussed.
Relationship mapping exercise—part 1. A key tool for developing and implementation a customer‐
focused sales strategy will be presented and practiced in class exercises using participants’ own
accounts.
10:30 Break
10:45 Understanding Value and Value‐Based Selling
The concept of value will be fully explained with a concrete definition and communications approach
in widespread use across ISBM member firms. Tools for calculating customer value, perceived value,
and effectively communicating the value of complex offerings will be developed and explained.
Value word equations exercise: A key tool for developing and communicating customer‐specific
value will be presented and practiced in class exercises using participants’ own accounts.
12:00 Lunch
12:30 Understanding the Sales Process
After completing this section, salespeople will understand the stages in the sales process model and
appropriate sales activities that take place at each stage. Further, they will understand how to take
the most effective action – from a range of possible actions ‐‐ for that stage of the sales process.
Customization of sales process exercise: Participants will apply the general sales process to one of
their own accounts, identify key leverage points, and develop actions to address leverage point
issues and opportunities.
2:00 Break
2:45 How Sales Relates to the Buying Process
After completing this section, salespeople will have a full understanding of the buying process
model, the tasks buyers undertake at each stage in that process, and how the sales process model
overlays onto the buying process model. They will also understand how the salesperson can
influence the buying process at each stage and how to respond when encountering a buyer at any
stage of the process.
Relationship mapping exercise—part 2. Participants will return to their map of their own account
and add classifications and develop implications.
4:45 Day one wrap up
Sales Foundations: Value Selling, Buyer Behavior and General Sales Skills Sample Agenda (con’t)
Day 2 timing Day 2 topics
8:30 Day one review exercise
9:00 Communication and Listening Skills
Listening is the key skill underlying the entire sales process. This section will assess the listening
skills of each participant and offer suggestions about how to enhance listening skills. Superior
listening skills make salespeople much more effective in their interactions with customers.
V.1 Investigative Questioning
This section examines the importance of asking the “right” question, listening to the
answer and then formulating the next question.
V.2 Investigating Buyer Needs: Creating Value from the Customer’s Perspective
This section builds on the skills that salespeople obtain in the Investigative Questioning
section of the course. In this section, salespeople will learn how to use questioning
techniques to get customers to clearly identify aspects of the product/service offering that
are vitally important and which ones are of little or no importance.
V.3 Responding to Customer Concerns
The process of responding to customer questions and objections is the topic of this
section. Salespeople will learn how to react to customer concerns and how to provide
useful, satisfactory responses to those questions.
Break
Asking for Agreement
In this module salespeople will further develop their ability to gain customer agreement on the
10:30 “next step” to be accomplished in the sales process – whether it is another sales call or getting a
signed contract. We will examine this issue from the buyer’s perspective. Appropriate and
10:45 inappropriate approaches will be identified. Class members will participate in role playing exercises.
Lunch
Dealing with Unhappy/Dissatisfied Customers
Dealing with unhappy customers provides a challenge for all salespeople. This section will provide a
12:00 model to help salespeople deal with angry customers. It will provide them with a set of skills that
will help defuse buyer anger, and build resolution in their areas of concern.
12:30
Difficult conversations exercise: A template for dealing with difficult conversations will be
presented and applied by particpants.
Break
Ethics in Selling
The importance of ethical behavior in sales encounters cannot be over‐emphasized. Upon
2:00 completing this section, salespeople will be able to identify ethical actions that can help build
customer relationships, as well as equity in the customer relationship for the supplier firm. Various
2:15 methods of assessing ethical behavior will be presented.
Giving Voice to Values exercise: Participants will identify a value they think is important that their
work circumstances make it difficult to practice and develop practical ways to “give voice” to that
value.
Workshop wrap up
Participants identify the ideas they found most valuable and develop 30, 60, and 90 day plans to
apply these ideas
4:40