Mastering Technical Sales
The Sales Engineer's Handbook, Second Edition
1st Edition
Published on 1. January 2008
340 pages
978-1-59693-340-8 (ISBN)
Description
Take your career to new heights by adding powerhouse sales and presentation skills to your technical background. This newly revised and expanded edition of Mastering Technical Sales: The Sales Engineer's Handbook offers invaluable insights and tips for every stage of the selling process, explained step-by-step by a pair of technical sales pros with decades of eye-popping, industry-giant success under their belt. The second edition features nearly 40% new material, including how to make the most of Webcasts and remote demonstrations, how to give impressive "e;snap"e; demonstrations, and how to use CRM/SFA systems effectively. This indispensable sales tool shows you the ropes of lead qualification, the RFP process, and needs analysis and discovery, and explains how your technical know-how can add invaluable leverage to sales efforts at every step. You learn how to plan and present the perfect pitch, demonstrate products effectively, build customer relationship skills, handle objections and competitors, negotiate prices and contracts, close the sale, and so much more - including how to avoid the critical selling mistakes so often made by technical pros who jump to sales. The book also addresses key career management and team-building topics, and includes detailed case studies, concise chapter summaries, and handy checklists of skill-building tips that reinforce all the career-boosting skills and techniques you learn.
More details
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
08/2008
2nd Edition
Artech House Publishers
€104.32
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Content
- Intro
- Mastering Technical Sales
- Contents v
- Acknowledgments xvii
- 1 Introduction: Why Study "Technical Sales"? 1
- New SE 4
- Experienced SE 5
- Sales Manager or Sales Trainer 5
- Sales Representative 6
- Marketing and Product Management 6
- Technical Consultant 6
- 2 An Overview of the Sales Process 7
- Definition of the Market 8
- Marketing Campaigns 8
- Customer Events 9
- Trade Shows and Seminars 9
- Mailing Lists and Outbound Calling Campaigns 9
- Partners 9
- Lead Qualification 10
- Request for Proposal 10
- Needs Analysis, Discovery, and First Customer Engagement 11
- Presentation, Demonstration, and Proposal 11
- Presentation 11
- Demonstration 12
- Proposal 12
- Evaluation (Optional) 12
- Negotiations: Close or Lose-Getting the Deal 12
- Postsales Support and Ongoing Account Management 13
- Summary 13
- 3 Lead Qualification 17
- You Can Get Leads Too 19
- Lead Quality 19
- Lead Ratings 19
- Qualification Criteria 20
- Budget 21
- Time Frame 22
- Fit: Do the Prospect's Needs Match Your Solution? 22
- Acute Organizational Pain Can Trump Budget, Time Frame, and Fit 23
- Effective Lead Qualification 23
- Competitive Implications of Technical Qualification Criteria
- Making the Decision to Say No 24
- Defending Your Position When the Sales Rep Disagrees 24
- Low-Cost Fallback Strategies 24
- Internal Roles in the Lead Qualification Process 25
- Sales Representative 25
- Telemarketer/Lead Development 26
- Sales Management 26
- SE 26
- Care and Feeding of the Telemarketing Team 27
- Lead Qualification in Action: The Process with Three Common Scenarios 27
- Solicited Leads 27
- Unsolicited Leads 28
- Current Projects or Recommended Leads 28
- Summary 29
- 4 The RFP Process 31
- Basic Rule of RFPs 32
- The Go/No-Go Decision 33
- Internally Scoring the RFP 34
- Handling Deadlines 35
- Strategies for Avoiding an RFP 36
- The Alternate Response Tactic 37
- Completing the RFP 38
- Presentation and Follow-Up 39
- Summary 40
- Appendix 4A 42
- 5 Needs Analysis and Discovery 43
- Overview 43
- Why Discovery Is Critical 44
- The Seven-Step Needs Analysis Approach 45
- Step 1: Identify Needed Information 45
- Preparation Before Customer Engagement 45
- Engaging the Customer 45
- Step 2: Build the Perfect Pitch 48
- Step 3: Explain the Needs Analysis Process 50
- Reviewing Existing Information 51
- Step 4: Interview Key Customers 52
- Step 5: Observe Current Processes-Get to Know the End User 54
- Step 6: Synthesize Information 54
- Step 7: Prepare and Present Summary 55
- Wrap-Up 56
- Customizing the Discovery Process 57
- Getting the Economics Right 57
- Adapt Your Questions to Your Audience 58
- Summary 60
- 6 Successful Customer Engagement 61
- First Contact 62
- Remember What They Want from You 63
- Dissecting Project Dynamics 64
- Back the Strongest Faction 64
- Identify the People You Need to Know 65
- Use Your Intuition 65
- But Don't Forget to Use Your Brain 65
- Covering the Whole Team, Including the Minor Players 66
- Coaches 66
- Where to Find Coaches 68
- What If There Are No Obvious Options? 68
- How to Get to Potential Coaches 68
- Developing the Coach 69
- The Unconscious Coach 69
- Maintaining the Relationship 69
- Credibility 70
- Maintaining Credibility 70
- Losing Credibility 71
- Trying to Regain Credibility 71
- Know What You Don't Know 71
- Summary 72
- 7 The Perfect Pitch 73
- Developing a Focused Message 74
- Start with the Structure 74
- Do a Data Dump to Identify Solution and Proof Points 75
- Organize the Ideas 76
- Focus the Message 76
- Transfer to PowerPoint 76
- Nonverbal Delivery Skills 77
- Verbal Delivery Skills 79
- Strategize the Start 81
- Special Situations 82
- Very Large Audiences 82
- Presenting Via Teleconference 83
- Around the Conference Room Table 83
- Feature and Function Presentations 84
- Using Humor 84
- Using Nervous Energy to Your Advantage 84
- Finish Strongly 86
- Summary 86
- 8 The Dash to Demo 89
- Why Does the Dash to Demo Occur? 91
- "The Product" Becomes "The Solution" 91
- Risk Mitigation 92
- Failing to Plan Is Planning to Fail 92
- Logistical Implications 94
- The Agenda 96
- Preparing the Way 96
- The Audience 98
- Segment the Audience 99
- Dealing with Techincal and Business Audiences 99
- Checkpoint Charlie 100
- Summary 101
- Appendix 8A: Sample Agenda 102
- 9 Snap Demos 105
- Scoping the Snap Demo 106
- Structuring the Snap Demo 107
- Exhibit 9.1: Sample Snap Demo Structure 107
- Keep the Demo Snappy 108
- Wrapping the Snap Demo (Tell Them What They Saw) 109
- Snap Demos for Executive Audiences 109
- Closing the Demo and Establishing Next Steps 110
- Snap Demo Considerations 110
- Summary 110
- 10 Remote Demonstrations and Webcasts 113
- The Basic Premise 113
- Advantages and Disadvantages of the Remote Demonstration 114
- Best Practices in Preparing for a Webcast 116
- The First 3 Minutes are Critical 118
- Effectively Constructing and Delivering PowerPoint for a Webcast 119
- Some Really Bad Habits to Avoid 120
- Engaging the Audience 121
- Prime Time for Webcasts 121
- The Wrap-Up 122
- Summary 123
- 11 Evaluation Strategies 125
- Developing the Strategy 125
- Conducting an Evaluation: How Did We Get Here? 125
- Negotiating Engagement in a Trial 126
- How Do You Define Success? 127
- How to Win: Determining the Success Criteria 127
- How to Ensure Success: Evaluating the Success Criteria 128
- Intellectually Closing the Deal 129
- Working Backward from the Definition of Success 130
- Running a Trial 130
- Trial Phases 130
- Basic Trial Organization 134
- Training 136
- Documentation 136
- Equipment 137
- Networking and Access 138
- Anticipate and Outdeliver Your Competitor 138
- Avoiding a Trial 139
- Does the Customer Do Trials? 140
- Are They Paying for the Pilot? 140
- Using References 141
- Summary 141
- 12 Contract Negotiation and Pricing 143
- An Introductory Approach 144
- Creative Ways to Say Nothing 145
- Understanding the Quote 145
- An Advanced Tactic 145
- Summary 146
- 13 Sanity After the Sale 149
- Developing the Transition Plan 150
- Ongoing Engagement Plan 151
- Customer Meetings: Project Kickoff 151
- During Deployment 151
- After Rollout 151
- Leveraging the Rest of the Sales Team 153
- The Inside Sales Team 153
- Executives 153
- Having a Fallback Strategy 153
- Personal Benefits of Postsales Support 153
- Personal References 154
- Maintain Relationships for Add-On Sales 155
- Keep Your Reservoir of Customer Stories Full 155
- Potential for Customer Satisfaction Objectives 155
- Good Way to Build Skills 156
- Benefit to the Customer: Free Consulting 156
- Justifying Engagement with Your Management 156
- Where to Draw the Line 156
- Troubleshooting the Handoff 157
- Major Accounts Have Special Requirements 157
- Customer Skimps on Training 158
- Customer Tries to Do It Themselves 158
- Working With System Integrators 159
- Summary 159
- Appendix 13A: Record-Keeping Forms for Postsales Information 161
- 14 Getting Started 163
- The Ramp Process 163
- Setting Goals with Your Manager 164
- Find Out What You Need to Know to Succeed 164
- Boot Camp 166
- Why Use Benchmarking? 166
- Develop a 30-/90-/180-Day Plan 167
- Example Plan 1 168
- Example Plan 2 169
- The 30-/90-/180-Day Structure 169
- Qualities of a Good Plan 170
- Ready to Go 170
- Tips on Making the First 6 Months a Success 171
- Find a Mentor 171
- Read the Manual-Really! 172
- Watch the Video 172
- Master the Technology 172
- Master the Product 172
- Boot Camp Training Contacts 173
- Work in the Factory 173
- Face Time and Relationships 173
- Practice, Practice, Practice 173
- Learn About Key Customers and How They Actually Use Your Product 174
- Understand the Financials of Your Value Proposition 174
- Learn the Math
- Don't Just Memorize the Answers 174
- Understand Content, but Don't Feel Overwhelmed 175
- If You Can Use Your Product in Everyday Life, Do So 175
- Get Feedback-from Everyone 175
- Review Your Plan Weekly 175
- Summary 176
- 15 Objection Handling 177
- Before You Start 177
- Categorizing Objections 178
- A Valid Objection 178
- A Competitive Objection 178
- The Seymour Objection 179
- The Coaching Objection 180
- The Hostile Objection 181
- The Generic Objection 183
- Basic Techniques of Objection Handling 183
- Basic Technique 1: Listen 183
- Basic Technique 2: Coordinate 184
- Basic Technique 3: Clarify 184
- Basic Technique 4: Restate 184
- Basic Technique 5: Answer 185
- Working With Consultants 186
- Follow Up Leads to Closeout 186
- Summary 186
- 16 The Executive Connection 189
- What They Think of You 189
- Keep It Simple 190
- Plan the Meeting 191
- Setting the Stage 191
- Following the Dollars 192
- Determining the Goal of the Meeting 193
- You Are the Expert 193
- Execute the Meeting 194
- Education Versus Selling 194
- Presentation Ideas 194
- Presentation Technique 195
- Follow Up After the Meeting 196
- Building a Relationship 196
- A Rational Decision 196
- The Informal Executive Connection 196
- Summary 198
- 17 The U in Technical Sales 199
- Me, Myself, and I 200
- What Are Your Goals? 200
- Your Personal Value Proposition: Self-Branding 201
- Internal Branding 202
- External Branding 202
- Communicating Your Personal Value Proposition 203
- Delivering on Your Value Proposition 204
- Put Together the Plan 204
- Put Your Plan Into Action 204
- Career Progression and the PVP 206
- Benchmarking 206
- Ethics in Sales 207
- Summary 208
- 18 Selling with Partners 209
- Partnership Defined 209
- Defining Account Ownership 211
- Working the Relationship and Building the Infrastructure 213
- The Dangers of Dealing with Partners 215
- Summary 217
- 19 Competitive Tactics 219
- Identify the Competition 220
- Develop a Competitive Strategy 220
- Know Thine Enemy 222
- The Art of Competitive Analysis 224
- "Tell Me About Your Competition" 224
- Using Product Benchmarks 227
- Summary 228
- 20 Using the CRM/SFA System 229
- Why CRM Is Your Best Friend 230
- Time and Resource Prioritization 232
- The Art of Repeatability 233
- Gain Advantage by Tapping Organizational Knowledge 233
- Look at the Numbers 235
- Annual Review Time 235
- Summary 236
- 21 Crossing Over to the Dark Side 239
- What Is Your Motivation? 239
- Positioning for the Change 240
- What You Should Expect 242
- How to Make It All Work 243
- Summary 245
- 22 The Hybrid Sales Specialist Position 247
- The New Role of the Account Manager 248
- Introducing the Hybrid Technical-Sales Position 248
- Parallel Sales Forces 249
- Complexities of the PSR Model 253
- Compensation 253
- Communication 254
- Cross-Selling 255
- Summary 256
- 23 Organizational Structure 257
- Structure 258
- Structure 1: Separate SE Structure 259
- Structure 2: Strong Branch Management 260
- Roles in the SE Organization 261
- Training 261
- Demonstration Preparation 261
- Bid Support 262
- Mentoring and Skills Development 262
- Motivation 263
- Product Expertise 263
- Point of Escalation/General Management Support 263
- Review of Sales Support Functions 264
- SE Manager 264
- Trainer 264
- Lead SEs 265
- Infrastructure Support Groups 266
- Overlay Sales/Market Executives 266
- Field Marketing 267
- Advanced Topics: Five Models for SE Organizations 267
- Ratios: 2 to 1 or 1 to 1 268
- Model 1: A New Organization-Five SEs and $0 to $20 Million in Annual Sales 268
- Model 2: Getting Off the Ground-20 to 30 SEs and $50 to $100 Million in Annual Sales 269
- Model 3: Economies or Diseconomies of Scale-100 to 200 SEs and $350 Million in Annual Sales 270
- Model 4: Over $500 Million in Annual Sales-Splitting the Business Unit 271
- Model 5: Differences in the SaaS SE Organization 272
- Making the Models Work in the Real World 272
- Summary 273
- 24 Building the Infrastructure 275
- A Little Philosophy 276
- Training Techniques 277
- Initial Corporate Training 277
- Initial Technical Training 278
- Follow-Up/Update Training 279
- Demonstration and Equipment Support 280
- Knowledge Management and Retention 281
- Key Requirements for a Simple Knowledge Management System 282
- Implementation Suggestions 282
- Engineering and Technical Support 284
- General SE Processes 284
- Summary 285
- 25 Hiring Winners 287
- The Job Description 288
- Using the Hiring Profile 289
- Dealing with Recruiters 291
- Screening Candidates 292
- The Interview 293
- Setting Expectations 293
- Be Prepared 293
- Questions and Answers 295
- Judging the Candidate's Performance 296
- Hiring 296
- Summary 297
- 26 Time Management for SEs 299
- Fixed Time and Infinite Demands 299
- Running Your Schedule Like a Business 300
- The Procrastination Problem 301
- Prioritization 301
- Qualification 301
- Quantification 302
- A Simple Structure for Managing Your Time 302
- Importance 303
- Impact 303
- Timeliness 303
- Prioritizing the Tasks 304
- How to Run Your Day 306
- The Daily Close 307
- Designing Graceful Fallback Plans 308
- Get a Little Help from Your Friends 308
- Apply the 80/20 Rule 308
- Attaching Caveats 309
- "Be Prepared" Prioritization Tactics 309
- Long-Term Time Management 310
- Negotiating Work Levels with Your Manager and the Sales Rep 311
- Personal Commitments 311
- Working in Abusive Environments 312
- Summary 312
- 27 Managing by the Metrics 315
- Managing by the Metrics for the Individual 316
- Managing by the Metrics for the Manager 316
- Weighting the Metrics 318
- Managing-by-Metrics Bonus Compensation Versus MBO 318
- Rolling Out Metrics-Based Management to Your Organization 319
- Avoiding the Pitfalls 320
- Summary 320
- 28 Final Words 323
- Be Passionate 323
- Keep Work and Personal Lives in Balance 324
- Consistently Outperform Expectations 324
- Build and Maintain Relationships 325
- Set and Achieve Goals 326
- Continually Challenge Yourself 326
- About the Authors 327
- Index 329
