Sales Training Success: Using CustomerCentric Selling®, a Materials Handling Company is able to find and secure the right champions.

Business Problem
The profiled company (name withheld by request) sells materials handling equipment throughout the US and Europe. Although higher priced than its nearest competitor, they enjoy a well earned reputation for innovative and highest quality products.

The senior sales representative for this company sells product directly and through reseller channels, with a specialization in Cold Storage Distribution Centers. His challenge was to meet his quota, call at higher levels, and create a compelling business case using the CustomerCentric Selling® (CCS™) process while working with resellers who had not been yet trained.

Their end user's goal was to increase the efficiency of goods flowing in and out of the distribution facility, located in upstate New York. This needed to be accomplished without any redesign of the existing warehouse, which had very narrow aisles. These aisles made it nearly impossible for any other manufacturer to supply equipment. The opportunity represents long awaited inroads into a new vertical market for this client, and significant additional business within the next six months.

The champion at this site knew the salesperson from a previous experience. He knew the sales rep to be thorough, professional, trustworthy and competent. These characteristics encourage the champion to recommend the salesperson.

The CustomerCentric Selling® Solution
The salesperson used the CustomerCentric Selling® sales training process, as he had with the champion during a previous transaction. Credibility had already been established and the process helped to differentiate him by the way he sells, not so much what he sells.

In addition, the salesperson now documents telephone calls in letters to prospects, containing mutually agreed upon milestones so prospects can be more readily qualified.

A Sequence of Events is negotiated with the prospect, defining the road map to a successful transaction. After the class, unsolicited RFP's are scrutinized carefully; interviews with key decision makers are requested as a prerequisite to creating a response.

 

Prior to implementing the CustomerCentric Selling® process, 36% of the time this salesperson was able to call comfortably at the higher levels and create a compelling business case. After implementing the process, he calls at the champion level successfully 88% of the time.

The client also measured how often the salesperson was able to meet with the champion more than once, and use resources wisely (resources were defined as Support Engineers, demo equipment, travel and expense budget). Within the first 90 days of implementing the process, this client experienced a 75% increase in the number of second meetings held and a significant drop in the cost of additional resources (less demos, less indiscriminate spending of travel dollars).

Lastly, prior to the class, there was no Cost Benefit Analysis that was developed with end users. Within the first 90 days, that number increased to 25%.

Client Benefits:

• Increase in cost-benefit to 25%
• 75% increase in second meetings
• Successful champion calls 88% of the time

Read more sales training success stories in our Customer Showcase.