John Wagner
Vice President Field Service Americas
Intuitive Surgical, Inc.

“We had such great success with Pretium at my former company, that I brought them in to work with my new team during the past 2 years. Their Value Assessment Sales Methodology and phased approach to learning has made a significant difference in my team’s ability to converse with customer executives and articulate the business outcomes we can create for them.  There’s no doubt we’ve won a lot more business because of it.

Ricardo Leitao
SVP, Global Consulting Services
Software AG

“We’ve always felt we could be better at articulating our value, and often wondered if we had the right people in the right sales roles.  Pretium’s predictive analytics for talent management in combination with their value assessment methodology has provided actionable insights into sales team alignment and development, and has dramatically improved our ability to sell value and win more business!”

Katie Cook
Senior Vice President
Cyient

“Pretium’s holistic approach to our sales challenges combined with their deep dive into our organization, lead to a customized, multi-phased initiative that really moved the needle forward for us. We’ve had many sales people close more deals as a result, and we’re continuing to use Pretium to drive even further sales improvement.”

Sanjay Dutt
SVP and Head of Capability Development
EXL Service

“In the fall of 2015 we went thru Business Outcome Selling workshop. The course helped to realign the way we think about demonstrating value to our customers in a very compelling way.  The materials and frameworks have helped us close 2 multi-million dollar deals with Fortune 50 Aerospace customers in the time since.  I would highly recommend Kyle and Bill to help focus and train any sales team despite their choice of alma maters.”

Christopher Bouthiette
Senior Director Business Development
Cyient

“There is no question that using Pretium’s value assessment methodology helped us secure these orders, and many others. Without the focus on selling high with a value-based approach, we would have been stuck low in the organization wondering about our future with two of our long time customers”

Jeff Tremaine
Vice President US Field Service
ABB

“As an extremely technical sales organization, we were accustomed to detailing every possible process outcome. We lacked the ability to drive value through a financial model based on what matters to our customers. Pretium Partners delivered. We are now armed with the framework to ask questions outside our engineering expertise. We are now able to tie core engineering abilities with the business outcomes today’s customers demand.”

Jim Egan
Director, North American Sales
General Kinematics

“We brought in Pretium for business value training at my former company, and everyone agreed it was the best sales program they had ever gone through. Fast forward 5 years – I dusted off the Pretium methodology and used it with my team to close out 2017. We targeted our top 10 opportunities, each over 1M in revenue, and won 9 out of 10!  There’s nothing quite like killing it at the end of the year!  My entire team is now hooked on Pretium’s Value Assessment Methodology!”

Rick Weishar
Director Business Development

“Thanks to Pretium, value has become the foundation for evaluating all of our client pursuits. This has caused us to take a healthy look at how we project value to clients and has definitely improved the success rate of our business development executives.”

Erik Golz
President and COO
ADS Financial Services

“We have worked with Pretium for over nineteen years. Their experience in the technology market and services, combined with their value focused selling approach is a perfect fit for us. They invest the time to understand our business, and their sharp focus on our behavior change requirements has enabled us to significantly increase new account penetration and customer retention. We need solid ROI from our training initiatives, and Pretium delivers!”

Craig Wallace
President
Cranel Inc.

“Since taking the Pretium Partners, Selling Solutions course two years ago, I can equate roughly $600,000 of revenue income directly to the techniques I learned through this course. Considering my annual quota of 2 Million, that’s substantial.”

John Chapin
Diebold Incorporated

“When people ask me what impact the Pretium program had on our business, I tell them it fundamentally changed our behavior and approach to winning business. Exercising the disciplines embodied in Pretium’s programs has forced us to: find and articulate value for our clients, eliminate unqualified candidates from our pipeline faster, and better coordinate our selling efforts.”

Erik Golz
President and COO
ADS Financial Services

“Many of my 10+ year experienced sales professionals commented to me that this was the best sales training they had ever received. They left the training feeling confident that they could execute on the knowledge gained to win business at the executive level.”

Mike Solomon
Vice President Sales and Marketing
NCR IT Infrastructure Services

“Pretium Partners developed and facilitated an impactful training session that helped me structure my sales delivery. Specifically, they provided the tools and underlying logic to help move client prospects through the sales pipeline toward executed contracts. Kyle brings to each session an extremely high level of commitment and delivers the entire program with a remarkable passion for learning and teaching.”

Kevin Loftus
EXL Service

“I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed our training session. I don’t think I realized how much I was learning at the time, but when I discussed with my manager what we had accomplished, I was surprised how much new information I had acquired. Sometimes, well-seasoned sales people such as myself are in danger of becoming cynical and complacent with our old patterns of sales calling and planning. Thanks for all the great insight!”

Norma Meissner
Philips Medical Systems

“We chose Pretium because they specialized in outsourcing and knew our business. Our overall sales and margins have increased as we are now able to relate our fees to the value received. Because we can more quickly and accurately qualify opportunities, we have improved our sales productivity and our propose-to-close ratio.”

Jim Cote
Vice President of Sales
Advanced Technology Services, Inc.

“In my former company, I rolled out ‘Selling the Business Impact of Your Solutions’ to over five hundred field sales people and managers. It addressed our challenges involving gaining access, engaging executive buyers and closing more deals at that level. The program has consistently received rave reviews and the ROI on this significant investment was realized many times over! The sales tools that Pretium provided are extremely valuable and practical. My confidence in Pretium and their systematic, no-nonsense approach to sales improvement is such that I am bringing them to my new company and sales force!”

David Levesque
Vice President, Global Learning
SonoSite, Inc.

“After 17 years in sales and sales management, last week’s ‘Selling the Business Impact of Your Solution’ was one of the best ‘rubber-meets- the-road’ classes I’ve ever taken.”

Sales Professional
Philips Medical Systems

“Many of the recommendations and tactics identified during the ‘Selling Business Value’ class were utilized during my latest sales process, resulting in a $3.6 million win.”

Sales Professional
Teradata

The post Selected Client Testimonials appeared first on Pretium Partners.

It’s only natural for customers to be skeptical of a seller’s business case. It’s instinct. It’s their job. It also serves them well. Overcoming their skepticism requires much more than skilled objection handling. Build your defense early and protect your business case! Here are a few tips to Sharpen Your Edge:

1. Create Co-ownership: enlist the customer to participate in any way possible – in the business case design; collaboration on benefits, approach to quantifying them, and especially…

2. Assumptions: You absolutely, positively need customer input and agreement on assumptions.

3. Build cross-functional support early: most solutions have a primary area of impact and benefits, but related business processes, owned by different managers, may have direct or indirect benefits as well. Build support wherever you can.

4. Key Assumptions: Emphasize assumptions that are most important to the predicted results; ensure understanding and agreement.

5. Key Success Factors: Identify what must be done or not done, by you and by the customer, to bring about the predicted results. Not just in the business case but throughout the entire sales process. This builds credibility for you by acknowledging that success isn’t automatic and everyone has accountability.

6. Leverage Experience: demonstrate wherever you can that the approaches used in the business case are confirmed by experience.

7. More Co-ownership: if it fits, have a customer participate in the business case presentation.

Don’t forget that an executive’s attempts to shoot down your business case may even be a positive sign since they wouldn’t bother if they weren’t interested. All the more reason to prepare early and defend effectively!

Don’t lose your Edge – Good luck and good selling!

The post 7 Ways to Protect Your Business Case! appeared first on Pretium Partners.

This fast growing robotic surgery company needed to be more effective in service contract renewals, selling the right contracts to optimize surgical operations for each unique customer and their predicted future environment.  They were also having way too many pricing conversations that needed to become value conversations.

Sales Challenges

Selling value and business outcomes was a big challenge. The field team needed to have some difficult conversations with customers, some around pricing and others ensuring customers knew they would no longer be receiving free services outside contract hours.  Articulating the business outcomes that the right contracts bring to the customers’ surgical operations in financial and strategic terms was a critical component.

Solution

Pretium designed a custom program for the services management team that really hit the mark. That success lead to a program specifically customized for the field engineers’ role in the customer interaction process that covered business value articulation and other softer conversational skills, and all work was based on regional customer opportunities the teams were familiar with. This consistent, consultative approach was rolled out to the entire global team, receiving the best reviews ever generated at any of their global events.

Results

Contract renewal rates and customer satisfaction with service have increased dramatically, and well beyond initial expectations.

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This company improves manufacturers’ efficiency and productivity by offering manufacturing maintenance solutions and IT services. They believed they were delivering more value than customers were willing to pay — yet they struggled to clearly explain the business value they create for customers. They needed to increase their own operating profit.

Sales challenges

Too many sales cycles dragged on while prospective customers were trying to understand if it was a good deal for them. And there were too many unqualified opportunities in the funnel that couldn’t be identified early enough. Their propose-to-close ratio was way too high.

Solution

Pretium was selected because of their specific focus on value assessment and because of their familiarity with the outsourcing business. These two areas of expertise proved to be effective when training their sales force and marketing management.

Results

The company had the confidence to increase prices and were able to justify them. Operating profits increased by over 500%. The sales force has become much more productive. By using a preliminary business case to outline business value, non-qualified prospects were dropped from the funnel before resources were committed to time-consuming activities such as due diligence, statements of work, and proposals.

The post Manufacturing Services Outsourcing Company appeared first on Pretium Partners.

In 2006 ABB US Field Service’s strategy is to achieve significant growth targets by selling bundled service solutions that have a clearly defined ability to create business value.

Sales Challenges

The sales people must position their services to senior management and develop business cases, both practices they are not accustomed to. Further, the marketing team was working to define new solutions and their value proposition. The marketing work had to be aligned with the sales strategy.

Solution

The need to ensure alignment between sales and marketing required a series of interviews with key ABB executives and members of the service sales team. During this time Pretium also helped the marketing team become much stronger at positioning their service solutions as addressing business problems of their clients, while ensuring the approach was consistent with Pretium’s Value Assessment Methodology that was to be implemented. The customized workshop that resulted from this work was delivered to a cross functional group of Service Account Managers, marketing and operations managers in 2Q, 2006.

To ensure the improvements documented below continue within ABB, Pretium continues to reinforce and coach the methodology through periodic web meetings and opportunity management.

Results

In the weeks that followed the implementation of Pretium’s Value Assessment methodology, ABB has been reporting great success in their ability to have meaningful executive dialogue, create business cases that describe value for the customer and win more business. The following two examples are typical.

ABB Wins Order with Large Ethanol Producer

ABB did not have relationships with a large ethanol producer. ABB’s Service Account Manager, SAM, understood that calling on executive management was the best way to introduce ABB to the company but needed to offer business reasons for the introductory call. In order to earn a meeting with a customer executive, ABB’s SAM appealed to the CEO that there may be ways to address production challenges presented by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the decline of MTBE use. In his meeting the sales person logically linked ABB services to helping the customer manage these mandates. The CEO brought the Plant Manager into the process and subsequently evaluated a business case for an ABB solution. ABB cites that the Value Assessment process saved them time and money, accelerated the sales process, and provided the framework for the business-value discussion they had to have.

ABB Wins Contract with Chemical Manufacturer

This chemical manufacturer had a very large installed base with an ABB competitor. Repeated attempts to upgrade an existing ABB system were unsuccessful and ABB was concerned that their system would be replaced by a competitor. The win came when they changed their approach. Instead of trying to convince the technology managers that they should upgrade, they approached plant executives and developed a business case that explained the value of a service solution. A solution that will continue the return on the existing ABB assets, beyond the point in time the customer expected to keep the system operational. The ABB Service Account Manager said his business case had to focus on risk mitigation and financial results. The business case helped him both communicate with the Plant Manager and helped the customer project team build their internal justification.

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Over the previous two years, this company had acquired numerous companies that, when meshed together, enabled them to bring much larger and more expensive solutions to the table. They finally had the solution to get to the top, they just needed to know how.

Sales challenges

Positioned too low in customer organizations, while competitors were positioned at the top, selling above the clinical level, selling broader more expensive solutions than in the past, losing “at the last minute.”

Solution

The customized workshop taught them to gain access, conduct successful first meetings, and build the business case that advocates their solution from a competitive business perspective. Part of the post-workshop activity is a CEO Roundtable, which provides the opportunity for them to ask anything they desire of a hospital CEO.

Results

Since the workshop has been in deployment for over three years, more than 600 sales professionals have made great strides in behavior change. After the workshop, one salesperson decided to target and meet with the CEO of a hospital who was about to close a deal with a competitor. With that meeting he was able to turn that deal around resulting in a $1.5 million dollar win, which in turn lead to two more orders from affiliated hospitals, totaling $4.5 million dollars.

The post Global Medical Technology Company appeared first on Pretium Partners.

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Buyers have so much information available to them today that they are well down the path to a buying decision before they even contact the sales person. Various sources place it anywhere from 50% – 90% into the buying cycle. (Forrester has a blog post on this topic.) Where does that leave you? Is the salesperson relevant? If you don’t embrace this new dynamic, you won’t be.

In order to add value to the customer’s buying decision, ask yourself what they still need to know in order to make a decision. What is going on in their head when you have finally engaged them? Selling Power editors say, when discussing this dynamic in what they call the Sales 3.0 era: “…a salesperson’s ability to sell value will likely be the defining factor of his or her success…” Here are some tips to Sharpen Your Edge.

1. Never has it been more important to NOT focus on features and capabilities. This is an old advice, but apparently sales people need even more reasons to change their behavior! This is a great one. The customers are better educated than ever about the capabilities; they need help understanding the best application of solutions that drive business outcomes.

2. Design a sales strategy that reveals the customer’s business drivers for their investment and position yourself as an authority on addressing them. Use high-leverage questions (such as  executive dialogue questions) that demonstrate your understanding of their business and reveal key business issues. You have more experience in applying your solutions than they do so be assertive about how to advance their business priorities. Make them WANT you involved in the buying process.

3. Competitively differentiate in a meaningful way. Executive buyers are frustrated with sellers that can’t help them make a decision. Absent other criteria to differentiate, they fall back on a lower price. Sharpen your differentiation message. Emphasize your attributes that are BOTH important to the customer AND create value. And be able to validate it. The list is probably shorter than you think. That’s ok, offer fewer differentiators that are more impactful.

4. As Forrester points out, with so much customer education happening before sales teams are involved, marketing is now responsible for a much greater piece of the lead-to-revenue cycle. Accordingly, marketing messaging must focus on business value creation and clear and relevant differentiation. Marketing and sales must be aligned on the critical messaging.

Speaking of differentiating, if you follow this advice, you will stand out from your competition and help the customer’s decision making. You’ll be the relevant one.

Don’t lose your Edge – Good luck and good selling!

The post Are You Even Relevant Anymore? appeared first on Pretium Partners.

As companies find it necessary to sell more professional services, many are experimenting with consultants that both deliver and sell.  At Technology Services World (TSW) in San Diego last week, we spoke on that subject. The format was not your typical presentation, but a “workout”, where we frame up the discussion, share industry benchmark data, then pose a problem statement followed by a series of questions that we work out with the audience. The hundreds of years of experience represented equated to meaningful insights.

We discussed topics such as: organizational barriers to integrating delivery into the sales motion, specific elements of that integration, sales and services structure for the new model, additional skills needed for delivery personnel, hiring and onboarding for the new dual sales and delivery role, altering the current delivery team to adapt, management challenges and more. A fast-paced hour for sure!

Are you looking to move to a dual role sales and delivery model with your consultants? Here are some tips to Sharpen Your Edge:

• It’s a common perception, especially among sales leaders, that adding delivery to the sales motion can slow down the sales process. Ensure you’re focusing on the total customer value delivered by tying solutions to business outcomes.
• Most consultants did not sign up to sell, and many think of selling as demeaning. Just as great consultants gain customer trust and focus on creating great outcomes, ensure they understand that great sales people do exactly the same thing. And through their behavior, they are always “selling” themselves.
• Compensation is often mismatched between product and service sales, and some companies compensate delivery for selling while others don’t. Industry data here produces a mixed bag, so you’ll likely experiment to see what works best in your organization.
• Proper messaging is crucial. Delivery consultants are more prone to be focused on the detailed aspects of the solution, and providing value messaging that will help them have business discussions and articulate business outcomes will go a long way toward their success in the sales part of the role.
• Knowing which of your delivery consultants have the aptitude to sell can be difficult. You should start with those who want to give it a try, followed by an assessment that identifies selling competencies that are natural to them.
• Selected consultants should be provided with a career path roadmap and appropriate training/coaching on necessary sales skills.
• There is no clear data on how to migrate a delivery only team to a dual role team, but as more companies forge this path forward, data will certainly emerge.

With the need to sell more professional services, it’s clear that using the product sales team just doesn’t move the needle enough. Utilizing consultants in a dual role that includes both delivery and selling sounds like an easy solution, but in practice, the complexities can be overwhelming and far reaching.

How are you navigating these waters? Let us know!

Don’t lose your Edge – Good luck and good selling!

The post Consultants as Sellers appeared first on Pretium Partners.

The new software will generate over 200% ROI!

We project 120% ROI for our solution!

These proposals look like a no-brainer, right? Maybe, but be careful! Carelessly projecting big ROI figures can get a sales person in hot water.

Buyers expect a provider to overstate the benefits and understate the costs, thereby inflating the ROI. Address it head on. And here are 5 tips to Sharpen Your Edge:

ROI = (Net Benefits/Investment Costs)*100%

1. The Numerator:  Are the benefits you claim directly, and only, a result of the solution? Sometimes this is clearly “yes” but often it’s not. We have clients in the telecomm equipment and services industry and much of what they sell will decrease end user churn rate. But many factors influence churn so the benefits are difficult to isolate.

Tip #1: Project a figure, even if it’s for illustration purposes (“…a churn reduction of only 0.1% means $X to you”), and defend it logically. But also acknowledge the influence of other factors. This protects your credibility.

2. The Denominator: Have you factored in all of the investment costs? Your proposal costs are obvious, but what about other costs incurred by the customer? Understate the costs and you inflate the ROI. A shrewd customer will easily recognize this. But can you really ever model these costs completely? Some customers may have sophisticated cost models and may even share them with you. But often you are not going to capture these costs adequately.

Tip #2: Acknowledge the limits of the costs you can identify and offer examples of other cost categories that may be a factor. This, too, builds credibility.

3. The time period of evaluation will cause ROI to vary greatly. The table below shows the ROI at the end of each year for five years. It’s easy to see that the ROI gets bigger with each year so simply choosing 5 years could be seen as inflating the result.  What’s the right time period?

Tip #3: Develop your own logic for a time period for your solutions (useful life, etc). Ask the customer if their analyses are based on certain time periods. Make sure the time period accompanies the ROI figure (e.g. “a 3 year ROI of 51%”) and offer sound reasoning behind it.

4. ROI Projections are just that – projections. We all know that you don’t simply implement your solution and – voila! – benefits happen! Actions must be taken, decisions made, processes followed and more.

Tip #4: Identify the key success factors – things that must be done or not done – by the customer and by you in order to maximize the probability of achieving projections. This sets expectations about the outcome and establishes both parties’ accountability for results.

5. There is an underlying theme in the above points:

Tip #5: Establish logic! Use logical assumptions whenever certainty is not possible and collaborate with the customer so they are vested in the logic and the outcomes. As a CFO once told us: “In a business case, math errors are acceptable, logic errors are not.”

Don’t lose your Edge – Good luck and good selling!

The post 5 Tips to Surviving ROI appeared first on Pretium Partners.

How many sales executives do you know that would enthusiastically rehire all or even most of their incumbent sales people? And feel that each of their sales regions are balanced and strong? There’s no doubt that’s a small number.

Just yesterday we were talking with a prospective client whose salesforce was very inconsistent across their North American geographies. This inconsistency typically results from sales managers valuing different attributes in salespeople. They look for dissimilar qualities and hire based on their own biases, ultimately resulting in too many poor hires. This leads to lost sales, reduced productivity, greater unplanned turnover and more.

How can you hire better sales reps more consistently? Here are a few tips to Sharpen Your Edge:

• It may sound silly, but understand the role you are hiring for and the skills required to be successful in that role. And interview people that fit the role. Most sales people who fail don’t fail because they can’t sell, but because they are in the wrong role for the natural abilities.
• Know the difference between skills that differentiate (skills typically present in top performers only) and table stakes skills that are present in both top and bottom performers.
• Force a consistent interviewing process across all regions. Since the role is the same, the questions that uncover potential and performance for each desired skill should be fairly standardized. This keeps each manager from hiring based on “favorite” questions or skills.
• Incorporate predictive analytics. Assessments that can identify potential to perform the skills necessary to be a top performer adds clarity and objectivity to what is often a subjective process.
• Perform thorough background and reference checks. Within the law, make a concerted effort to really understand past performance.
• Make sure there is good cultural fit. Pretty self-explanatory.

Most sales managers tell us their success rate for hiring successful sales people is less than 50%. Many say less than 40%. That’s painful and costly.  Ensuring consistent hiring practices will yield a much better result!

Don’t lose your Edge – Good luck and good selling!

The post Consistently Hiring High Performance Salespeople appeared first on Pretium Partners.

As companies examine new ways to prove greater value to the customer, time to value has become more important than ever. In fact, it’s becoming a competitive differentiator.  At Technology Services World (TSW) in Las Vegas last month, we spoke on that subject.

The discussion was framed up around the services view of the Professional Services (PS) and software/solution sale and implementation, which Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA) terms PIMO: Plan, Implement, Monitor, Optimize. This lines up perfectly with the sales view of the sale and implementation, termed LAER: Land, Adopt, Expand, Renew.

We shared industry benchmark data and worked in small groups to identify “best practices” around sales and PIMO alignment. The hundreds of years of experience represented equated to meaningful insights.

If you are looking to drive decreased time to value in your sales process and articulate that to your customers, here are some tips to Sharpen Your Edge:

• As long as your company considers itself to be in the business of driving successful customer journeys with fast time to value, high adoption of the technology and customer renewal, then moving PS sales into the Plan phase is critical
  • Research has shown that having dedicated PS sales in place shortens new project sourcing times
  • Lesson learned: PS needs to be well-integrated into the solution sales motion to drive effective Land, and by extension, Adopt, Expand, Renew
• The Implement phase is the traditional zone and key strength of PS, and some practices that increase the efficiency, effectiveness and time to value in the Implement phase are:
  • Documented sales to delivery handover
  • Formal customer management, overall delivery, and project management methodologies
  • Dedicated Project Management Office and Results Management Office
  • Documented scope and risk processes
• Monitor has not traditionally been a conversation in which the PS organization actively participates, however, that is changing with the increasing frequency of, among other things, fee-based resident engineer (RE) or technical account manager (TAM) programs that are packaged and delivered out of the PS organization
  • Such offers contribute significantly to the ability of the PS organization and the company in general to monitor the consumption, adoption and value realization of technology solutions in customer environments
  • TAM or RE offers tend to be highly profitable and increase overall utilization
• Optimize is a part of the customer value journey to which PS is more accustomed, and it also corresponds to the “Adopt” phase in TSIA’s LAER model
  • Opportunities for PS in the Adopt phase clearly remain a challenge, but PS can, and in some contexts, definitely should, play a role in driving customer adoption and optimization
  • The opportunity is clear, especially within tech companies that lack a customer success function that owns customer adoption: grow your adoption services!

The role of PS in selling continues to grow. We hope this insight into how PS plays a sales role in PIMO and LAER to drive decreased time to value will provide some nuggets that can help you move the needle in your organization. Reach out to us with questions, and we can also connect you with the right resources at TSIA. Special thanks to Dr. Bo DiMuccio, Vice President of Professional Services Research, TSIA, for his keen insights!

Good luck and good selling!

The post Optimizing Time To Value With Professional Services appeared first on Pretium Partners.

As a software company that supports primarily F500 companies, they compete with all of the largest consulting companies on a regular basis, and get consistent pushback on consulting rates.

Sales Challenges

PS consultants were hired for their vertical market knowledge and delivery expertise, not their sales capabilities. They struggled with the value conversation and would often give discounts whenever the customer questioned them on their rates.

Solution

Over many years Pretium has worked with the entire consulting team to transform them into delivery consultants who can now sell their services profitably by linking their services to customer business outcomes and effectively articulating that linkage. Pretium’s multi-phased and customized approach continues to ensure that all content is relevant and learning/reinforcement is continuous.

Results

They have been much better at discovering, articulating and delivering business value created, honing their messaging and delivery around their unique value proposition and competitive differentiation – allowing them to better meet client expectations while driving their own profitable revenue.

The post Large Software Provider appeared first on Pretium Partners.

This services company serves the financial services marketplace. Growth depended on two things: growing within the existing customer base by leveraging their professional services consultants in the sales process. They needed to establish early that value would be the reason a customer would buy from them, and then be able to demonstrate that they are capable of delivering it.

Sales challenges

The consultants felt uncomfortable selling to customers with whom they had trusted relationships. The new business development team needed to focus on the early stages of the sales process. More specifically, conduct effective first meetings, identify business problems, and communicate an important message — if they couldn’t demonstrate that value could be created, then they wouldn’t write a proposal.

Solution

Pretium’s value assessment methodology was customized to place emphasis on areas addressing the sales challenges. In the same workshop consultants and new business development managers were able to work on their challenges and develop and present business cases for real opportunities.

Results

The EVP of sales and marketing said, “By basing the concepts on real client situations, Pretium was able to drive home the key points. The group could easily relate to situations directly connected to their success.”

The post Professional Services Firm appeared first on Pretium Partners.

Selling to Bigger Buyers – What Works, What Doesn’t

Recently, we moderated a virtual panel discussion for the Sales and Marketing Chapter Chair of IAOP (The International Association of Outsourcing Professionals). The topic was selling to large companies. Our panel was made of up of a provider, advisor and buyer, representing Mindtree, a mid-tier IT services firm, Alsbridge, a global outsourcing advisory firm and USAA, a F500 insurance company. While you might think the lessons of selling outsourcing are different than selling technology solutions to business buyers, think again.  There are a lot more similarities than you think!

We asked questions about getting introductory meetings with buying executives from larger companies, how the buyer/seller experience has changed over the past 5 years, what buyers value in providers, common sales mistakes, key differentiators and more. It was a fantastic conversation. Even a little predictable. Here are some tips to Sharpen Your Edge:

• Be findable – make your company and yourself visible to big buyers. That means overall market presence and solid SEO practices.
• Be pragmatic and honest.  It’s always better to tell the truth and possibly partner up for a big deal than to bite off more than you can chew.
• Be willing to do things that no one else will do in order to prove to them that you really want their business.
• Be persistent, but professional. Buyers are extremely busy. Often times they won’t respond, but if you catch their attention at the right time with a message that resonates, you’ll hear from them.
• Sales person/sales team differentiation is huge. People still buy from people. Pay attention to detail, be super responsive and articulate the unique value you provide to the customer in their terms.
• Know your competition, understand your niche and target your efforts towards those areas where a larger provider doesn’t have great capabilities.

Buyers today are increasingly willing to work with a number of smaller providers because it enables them to achieve their business objectives in the best ways possible. And because they might believe they are not getting enough value and innovation from their current provider. That’s great news for most companies! Who are you selling to?

Don’t lose your Edge – Good luck and good selling!

The post Selling to Bigger Buyers – What Works, What Doesn’t appeared first on Pretium Partners.

This start up company offered a service considered mundane by the industry but when performed well-offered exceptional value creation. Their challenge was getting their first significant engagements with large clients. This required getting executive level audiences and educating them on the value of outsourcing this activity.

Sales challenges

As with so many small companies, they did not have the luxury of hiring expensive, experienced sales executives. The core management team needed a methodology and consistent approach to position their outsourcing service.

Solution

The program that Pretium facilitated focused on analyzing their most strategic prospect. While learning the value assessment methodology, they also developed a compelling business case to present to the prospect. The participants in the program were the company’s founder, head of operations, head of marketing and head of sales. Ninety days later, and after collaboration with their key prospect, they asked Pretium to consult on the same business case and make improvements.

Results

They converted the strategic prospect to a new customer! They have strengthened their message and are more effective at getting the value proposition communicated quickly.

The post Outsourcing Provider Serving the Insurance Industry appeared first on Pretium Partners.

The financial crisis in the telecommunications industry depressed equipment sales and lead to an urgent need to grow services as a strategic business. They developed a broad family of service solutions to address a large variety of business needs. Further, as the telecom industry recovered, customers made equipment investments with renewed scrutiny, placing a high premium on investments with clear business value.

Sales challenges

The service portfolio is very broad — traditional maintenance, deployment, professional services, outsourcing — addressing a diverse set of needs. The service sales force needed to be effective at calling on senior management where comprehensive problems and solutions could be discussed. The product sales force needed to adapt to the new scrutiny sell consultatively and focus on business value.

Solution

Pretium deployed a custom value assessment program to their services sales force in North America, EMEA, Asia/Pacific and Central and South America. The program for the product sales force placed emphasis on business case development and competitive differentiation.

Results

A North American sales vice president declared the program the best sales training he has ever had and reports that his teams are quickly implementing key aspects of the program. A sales executive claimed a large order was won because of his ability to expand the discussion of value beyond platitudes and include a clear financial analysis and business case discussion.

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This company is a leader in e-commerce software and systems. Their strategy required that they sell enterprise solutions, develop key service offerings and become a player in e-commerce outsourcing. Pretium was hired to address the outsourcing business.

Sales challenges

The sales force excelled at selling lower priced software and were unprepared for the challenges of selling complex business solutions such as outsourcing. They needed to call on executives and position the value e-commerce outsourcing.

Solution

Pretium customized and implemented Selling the Business Impact of Outsourcing. A strong emphasis was placed on gaining access to key executives and conducting effective meetings with them. The consultative nature of the methodology was key in helping them break from the transactional nature of their traditional software sales practices.

Results

The VP of outsourcing attests: “[Pretium’s] methodology provides the structure and tools for the most important aspect of closing the sale — meeting with the decision-maker and demonstrating the hard dollar value of your solution.”

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Poor stock performance over the past few years necessitated decisive action. A large part of their new strategy was to shift from a technology company to a solutions company in order to provide strategic value to their customers. This required a company wide culture change that included how their products and services were positioned and sold.

Sales challenges

Tough, low priced competition, unable to position the value of service, selling too low, not positioning services at the right time in the sales process, ineffective at bundling everything together to sell a business solution.

Solution

As an integral part of a broader sales training curriculum, we custom developed a workshop which helped them position services more effectively and define and sell the business value of their solution.

Results

A much better understanding of the language of business and greatly increased comfort in selling at the executive level. The workshop was facilitated by our client’s internal training staff and was delivered to their entire US sales force.

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This young company’s sales force was focused too much on product features and cost, and the company was perceived as a “me too” player in their market space. The belief was that they could bring more value to the table than their sales force could articulate. In order to achieve growth targets, they needed a 5 to 10 fold increase in average deal size.

Sales challenges

Getting caught in pricing games, losing to smaller competitors with lesser solutions and lower prices, urgent need to differentiate and define how their software solutions aligned with and enabled their customers’ business strategies.

Solution

Pretium was engaged to develop a customized workshop tailored to their market that would help them increase their sales effectiveness. Working with the senior executive team, we developed a hands-on intensive program that took the sales force through all elements necessary to build an executive level business case for their solution.

Results

The workshop was deployed globally with great success. The vice president of sales and marketing reported that they were closing much larger deals in extremely competitive situations.

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They were looking to expand their market beyond hardware and consumables and include both support and professional services in their portfolio. They had invested a considerable amount of money and needed a positive return on their service assets.

Sales challenges

Needed to be able to target exactly how the services they added to their portfolio impacted their customer’s operations and sell more with a value focus.

Solution

Working directly with the Vice President of Services and his key staff members, Pretium developed a customized, exercise intensive workshop to teach their service sales force how to identify and communicate the operational benefits that their services directly affect.

Results

They became better able to position services correctly in the sales process and articulate a much higher value proposition for them, resulting in a 30% increase in sales.

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Infrastructure services needed to be positioned as a strategic company offering to further differentiate them from the competition. They needed to quickly increase revenues and margins.

Sales challenges

Needed quick sales gains, getting to the appropriate levels to sell value, being seen as a valuable member of the sales team by their own product sales force.

Solution

Required Pretium to work closely with and interview dozens of people in the client’s marketing and sales organizations, and have a customized deliverable within 45 days aimed at enabling them to build a business case that justified their service solution on its business merits. Globally deployed to the entire sales force in 1Q 2003, including delivery with simultaneous translation in Asia.

Results

The changes in behavior have been dramatic. The sales force now conducts customer meetings by focusing on business drivers and benefits instead of technology. They have also become more proficient at presenting their solutions in business terms like cash flow improvements, mitigating risk, and aligning with strategy. Their management is excited and confident that this new behavior is resulting in measurable sales gains.

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