Sales Training Success: Network security company sets sales records by embracing and leveraging CustomerCentric Selling®.

Business Problem
This venture-backed, growth stage, network security company (name withheld by request) develops and markets a hardware/software solution that improves network security, but the market for the solution remained in the earliest stages of development. Frequently, potential buyers were not familiar with the technology and demanded the company submit to resource intensive evaluations as a condition to purchase. Unfortunately, potential buyers often delayed purchase decisions even after completion of successful evaluations, extending sales cycles.

Security engineers were responsible for a great deal of the interaction with prospects during evaluations. The company wanted to provide these sales engineers with a process, messaging and tools to focus prospects on quantifiable success metrics and business value measures.

The CustomerCentric Selling® Solution
In short, the company wanted to increase revenues while shortening sales cycles. Specifically, the company wanted the sales team to:

• Better qualify prospects, especially those desiring evaluations;
• Identify specific metrics to measure value and the related criteria for determining the success/failure of an evaluation;
• Gain prospect commitment to a defined set of actions and approvals that culminate in a sale; and
• Help prospects quantify value so as to create urgency for purchase and implementation.

CustomerCentric Selling® worked with the VP of Worldwide Sales to help the company's sales staff, engineering and marketing personnel to use a common language and methodology to identify, qualify, process and close new business.

Specifically, sales engineers and marketing staff used diagnostic questions, conversational roadmaps and related tools (including a Sequence of Events) to separate buyers from shoppers, establish an agreed path to a sale, define evaluation objectives (including value measurement), and use value to increase a prospect's desire to move from evaluation to contract.

 

By applying CustomerCentric Selling® sales training methods and tools to existing evaluation cycles, the company helped prospects quantify value and justify a purchase, resulting in shorter sales cycles and a 100 percent increase from the prior year in quarterly revenues for new business.

The company was able to reduce average sales cycle from seven to four months; and achieved record quarterly revenue results with new clients sold in a single quarter, within ninety days of implementation.

Finally, the company recently closed the largest deal in company history with a four month sales cycle.

Client Benefits:

• Reduction in average sales cycle from 7 months down to 4 months
• Set quarterly revenue records with new clients sold in a single quarter
• Closed largest opportunity in company history within a 4 month sales cycle

Read more sales training success stories in our Customer Showcase.