Microsoft Partners and the Essence of Selling Solutions

Course Description

Microsoft Partners and the Essence of Selling Solutions

Participants: pre-sales, sales, sales-management, marketing, general management
Duration: 2 days

Subject Overview

This 2 day interactive sales training course introduces participants to key concepts associated with effectively selling solutions.

Suitable for both experienced and new sales resources, the course focuses on identifying business opportunities BEFORE the prospect even realises there is an opportunity – thus improving the ability to control the sale and minimise competition.

The course focuses on the early stages of the sales process ie:

• researching the market to identify opportunities
• prospecting to uncover new (latent) opportunities
• meeting with prospects
• recognising customer pain
• obtaining customer commitment

and places heavy emphasis on ensuring the prospect “buys in” to the process.

To cement concepts learnt, there are a number of practical activities, including individual and group exercises, and role plays.

Tools and templates are also provided in relation to:

• strategising on sales opportunities already created by competitors
• offering proof of capability
• ensuring buyer commitment
• justifying value.

Course elements are designed to link into the Microsoft Solutions Sales Process (MSSP).

Objectives

Course objectives include:

• understanding why uncovering latent opportunities is a superior approach to simply responding to customer requests for quotation
• knowledge of and ability to follow a sales process – linked to MSSP – to uncover and convert latent opportunities within a prospect
• knowledge of and ability to use a number of templates and methodologies associated with mapping customer pains to product solutions, identifying prospects, pre-planning a call, holding a structured customer meeting, obtaining customer commitment, offering proof of capability and justifying value
• practicing and reinforcing key course concepts in role play situations

Target Audience

This session is designed primarily for business development resources – but is well suited to other roles within the Partner that are involved in the sales process, including pre-sales, sales management, marketing management, general management.

Prerequisites

There are no mandatory prerequisites for this session.

Useful but optional prerequisites include:

• some direct experience in the sales process.

Content Overview

Key topics covered during Day 1 include:

• a new philosophy of selling (ie find new opportunities based on customer pain)
• world wide research into weaknesses in the Microsoft Partner community’s sales approach
• overview of demand generation processes specifically designed to uncover customer pain
• different levels of buyer need
• a flexible process to effectively sell solutions
• prospecting
  • research and planning
  • calling on prospects to obtain meetings
  • getting qualified prospects to call you
• prospect meetings/sales calls
  • necessary preparation
  • structure of a sales call
  • assisting prospects to form a buying vision
• different types of buyers and their key drivers
• gaining buyer commitment
• handling buyer concerns
• selling in partnership with Microsoft.

Key topics covered during Day 2 include:

• revision and practice - key concepts from Day 1
• dealing with opportunities previously identified by competitors
  • developing a strategy to “hijack” and win the opportunity
  • modifying the opportunity to suit your unique capabilities
• obtaining and documenting buyer commitment
  • the “Roadmap to the Deal”
• offering proof
  • writing stories of Evidence
  • justifying value – writing a business case

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