Successes

A few of success stories from our clients…

Chris shifted a customer “block” into a $540,000 deal.

Chris is one of over 100 technology reps that went through “phase one” of sales  training sponsored by his company last year. At the end of the four day process he came to me seeking advice about a proposal he was writing.

He had come up against a road block. The customer was not responding to his requests for further information and Chris was concerned this would seriously hamper his likelihood of submitting a winning bid.

I had two questions for Chris.

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Where is the customer in the sales cycle? And where are you?

The light bulb went on immediately. Chris realized that he was out of sync with his customer. The customer was at a completely different stage of the sales process. Chris needed to step back to align with his customer. He returned to his office and refocused his time and energy on the activities that would build trust and gain critical information from this important customer – earning himself a powerful win worth $540,000

To quote Chris… “My victory over the other company was not justified on price as we were more expensive… I have to admit I owe much of this success to your approach… It put more work on my plate because I kind of had to start over, but based on the outcome it was far more than worth it….Your class was of great value to me and I hope you get to do more.”

A simple shift and Alex improved his access rate by 66% in under a month.

By most people’s standards Alex is already a highly successful sales manager. Selling a relatively new online media product to a very traditional market he was averaging four new meetings from ten telephone calls. An enviable access rate for many, but Alex wanted to do better.

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Following a short coaching call he shifted his thinking about, and his approach to, prospecting – and as a result he was hitting four appointments from just six calls.

What contributed to his success?

  • Replacing the traditional “numbers” mentality with a mindset of “focus and leverage.”
  • Diligently doing the “right homework” prior to each call.
  • Shifting the focus of his message to get the immediate attention of each prospect.
  • Understanding his customer’s perspective through emphasis on discovery.

Debbie closed a $40,000 deal at the first meeting with a new client.

Debbie is the account manager with a Canadian corporate event planning company. She was preparing for a meeting with a new US-based client who was sourcing a local expert to assist with the grand opening of their first Canadian office/showroom location.

She brought this opportunity to class and we used it as a working example. She uncovered a critical “blind spot” and as a result she had a very different dialogue with this important customer. And she ended up signing the deal on the spot.

What contributed to Debbie’s success?

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  • Diligent preparation and reviewing her call plan in the class ahead of time
  • Realizing there was a “gap” in terms of one critical and unanswered customer-centric question.
  • Dedicating time to explore this question with the client in the meeting so that the customer took away a powerful insight about her situation.
  • The client coming to her own conclusion (as a result of this exploration) that she needed Debbie’s company on her team

Peter shifted his thinking, and immediately increased revenue from his client by over 300%.

A 17 year veteran in newspaper advertizing sales, Peter was skeptical coming into the three days sales training. He has been selling to many of his customers for 17 years. He knows them, knows what they want, and knows how they buy. He has a strong sales track record. What would he learn?

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The training shifted his perspective and he returned to the field with a personal commitment to applying the lessons learned. He approached one customer, whose business had been flat in recent years, with “a fresh set of eyes and ears.” Rather than pitching his recommendation he took a step back and prepared for a different kind of client meeting. He opened up a new area of opportunity that represents a 323% revenue increase over the previous year, with a further revenue upside of more than 200% the following year.

Peter’s comments on the outcome, “The obvious advance that I made in the sales process was this: Before, I was just another sales representative to them. Now I am a media partner and valued consultant to their business. The fact that this is a large corporation is irrelevant. By applying the same technique for all of my customers, I am confident that I will grow my business with existing advertisers and get the largest benefit possible from any new advertisers.”

“Jill’s “Prospecting” course this year was very valuable to me as a person responsible for developing new business. Technique, Mindset, Ideas, networking, and more…were all part of the course, and I would recommend this to any manager of sales people to take their staff to the next level. Thanks Jill!”
Account Manager – Gorrie Marketing

To see more customer success stories
contact SalesSHIFT today.

RAVING FANS

“potential2performance was selected as the Hilton Canada national sales training partner in 2004 and has been working with Hilton Canada for the past four years.
The combination of sales training, reinforcement clinics, coaching initiatives, coupled with Jill Harrington’s contribution as a speaker at our national sales and marketing conferences has raised the bar within our team…. We have moved away from being task oriented sales people to becoming a strategic sales team. The sales planning and support tools were critical in the continuance of our learning and application of training after the sessions were completed. Overall, we became a better sales force as a result of this partnership”.
Managing Director of Sales, Hilton Hotels Corporation, Canada

“Your ears must have been burning on Sunday afternoon. There was nothing but positive comments about your session. Attendees were able to take away valuable information and it certainly was a contributing factor to the success of the conference. Thank you so much for coming to Calgary.”
Director – Special Education Projects, Greater Calgary Chapter MPI

“Jill is Rock Solid in her delivery and an expert in her field. The content is not only educational but extremely entertaining as well. If you are interested in improving sales in your organization, you owe it to yourself and your company to talk with Jill.”
Account Executive, Softchoice

“… this will let you know how you are perceived in the eyes of many of those you teach and it will allow me to give you feedback that I have been wanting to give you for some time. I can say without a doubt that you are the BEST facilitator that I have ever had for any course I have ever taken. You are smart, incredibly energetic, extremely organized and articulate and you are phenomenal at keeping everyone and everything on track.
My reps are really looking forward to taking the course and I am really looking forward to working with them once they have had this training.
National Sales Manager, Les Affaires/Affaires Plus/Commerce/PME

“Jill has years of experience in sales and it shows! She is an outstanding speaker and a crack when it comes to hospitality sales of the 21st century… I was really impressed with what she had to say and the way she said it. She is not only a qualified sales executive; she is also a compelling speaker.”
Director of Sales, Hilton Garden Inn

“Excellent content! Great presentation! You rock!  Great life skill to have / improve upon…”             Account Executive, Xerox Business Services