Sales Methodology

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Preamble: this article is inspired by the “challenger sales” methodology. Other methodologies treat certain topics from a different angle.

Using a sales methodology is a key success factor.

It improves:

• The definition of high priority deals by better qualifying opportunities;
• Forecast accuracy by better identifying deals at risk;
• The collaboration between reps (sales, presales, channel, etc.) by providing a common framework;
• The win rate by increasing the consistency of the sales process execution;
• Coaching the reps by identifying opportunity weaknesses.

It should include the following components:

• Sales process
• Qualification
• Stakeholders
• Value of the proposed solution
• Close Plan

Sales process

The sales process should mirror the client buying process. The table below is a classic example of the main stages.

The sales process identifies the necessary stages and steps the sales team should follow. The sales reps save time identifying the next step and the management can be brought up-to-speed quickly.

Qualification

The sales team should qualify opportunities based on a consistent set of criteria. They can understand the strengths and the risks of their opportunities, and they can prioritize the opportunities they should pursue or abandon.

The qualification process ensures the sales team has the information they need to win.

It should focus on validating the following points:

Client’s need	Project with an executive sponsor Approved budget Compelling event
Client’s time frame	Urgency, pain or issue Decision and an approval process
Criteria to win	Link between the client’s strategy and the issue they are trying to solve Position of the solution compared to the competition
Value of the solution	ROI of the solution compared to the issue solved Buy-in of the executive sponsor
Plan	Position compared to the competition and compared to the status quo Plan to win the decision

Note: usually the most dangerous competitor is the status quo (i.e. do nothing). The sales team should compare the proposed solution to the competitors, including the status quo.

The criteria can include:

• The technical solution;
• The time to value;
• The price;
• The position of the competitor.

Stakeholders

The sales team should identify the individuals influencing the decision process and classify them based on criteria:

• Role: economic buyer, executive sponsor, approver, evaluator, influencer, champion;
• Preference: prefer our solution, prefer a competitor, neutral;
• Interest: strategic, technical, financial, relationship, etc.;
• Relationship with our sales team.

The sales team should cover contacts with an operational influence (evaluator, influencer, procurement) but also with a strategic, financial or political influence (executive sponsor, economic buyer).

Value of the proposed solution

The sales team should understand the client’s business and ensure the proposed solution is aligned with the client’s strategy and how it is solving issues.

The value should ultimately be one of the following items:

• Increasing the revenue;
• Cutting costs;
• Being more compliant.

The sales team needs to understand:

1. The Client Goal, Strategies and Expected outcomes;
2. The Client Issues and Impact (i.e., consequence of not fixing the issue);
3. The Compelling Event;
4. How the Proposed Solution is aligned with the client’s strategy and how it is solving the client’s issues;
5. How long, after purchasing the solution, does the client break even?
6. How the items are linked to the stakeholders listed in the previous step;
7. What is the sales team strategy to win each stakeholder’s vote.

Note: selling the “value” of the proposed solution limits the risk of a hard negotiation around its price/cost.

Close plan

The sales team should have a plan to ensure the deal close on time. The Close plan should be share with the client.

The close plan is not limited to actions performed by the sales, it should include actions to be performed by the client, including but not limited to the following topics:

• Decision process
• Value proposition;
• Proposal review;
• Procurement process;
• Contract, legal process;
• Purchase Order;
• Project go-live.

The earlier the Project go live, the earlier the client will receive value.