The Situation
A large technology company with worldwide offices was seeing the size of its average deal slip. Also, its enterprise-wide licenses worth $1,000,000 or more had all gone away. Company morale was dropping and senior reps were starting to leave. The Sales VP knew the situation had to change or the company would need to “right-size” (i.e., downsize).
Analysis
We took a close look at the company’s value proposition, target audience, competition, sales process, and pricing strategy. The company had a best practices group that had put some tools together but had not rolled them out yet.
Changes Made
Working with the best practices group, we put together a three-day training workshop, which was to be delivered throughout North America. The focus was on how to talk with an executive and how to determine the value proposition and pricing effectiveness. The workshop was rolled out in two phases, with sales managers going through the training first and the sales reps next. A follow-up one-day training was also delivered to everyone four months later.
The Result
The company’s average deal-size went up an additional 15% as a result of selling a total solution-combining technology, professional services, and training. The number of enterprise-wide deals worth $1,000,000 or more went from zero to sixteen in 12 months.
The Common Mistake
The rule that applies here is “Inspect what you expect.” The company had a well-trained senior sales force, but they had gotten away from the fundamentals and it reflected in their top line. The sales managers were assuming that their people were doing all the right things, but they weren’t inspecting to make sure. This leads to a situation we call “Senior reps doing junior things.”