Craft sales strategy by thinking ahead and reasoning back | Sales ...

Craft sales strategy

Large organizations are not just big little organizations. They possess a higher level of complexity that makes them qualitatively different. That?s why navigation in a larger organization is difficult and why it is relatively easy to ?get lost? when you are engaged in major account selling.

It?s the reason why top performers in complex sales don?t just plan one call at a time. Instead, they think ahead and estimate where they want to go and then reason back as to the steps they need to take in order to get there.

They think strategically. They also recognize that in major accounts strategy is constantly a work in progress; hence, they are constantly readdressing strategic questions such as:

• Who are the players in the decision process and what role are they playing?
• What are the solution specifications for making the buying decision?
• What is the competitive picture looking like?
• Are changes occurring in the business environment that will impact the buying decision?
• Are there additional ways to leverage our competitive advantages?

Selling in major accounts is not simply about doing more of what it takes to succeed in territory accounts ? it is about doing something different.

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?2012 Sales Horizons, LLC

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For more than 30 years Dr. Richard Ruff and Dr. Janet Spirer - the founders of Sales Horizons - have worked with the Fortune 1000 - such as UPS, Canon USA, Smith & Nephew, Boston Scientific, Owens & Minor, Textron - to design and develop sales training programs. Janet has followed two different, yet complimentary paths. First, as a B-School Professor she taught marketing, sales, and business strategy courses. She also managed a consulting practice focusing on sales productivity and marketing ? working with a variety of clients ranging from Xerox to IBM. She translated those experiences into a book ? ?Parlez-Vous Business? ? that helps sales people develop the business savvy to sell successfully. Since co-founding Sales Momentum? in 2000 with Richard Dr. Spirer received her Ph.D. from The Ohio State University, an M.P.A. from The University of Texas at Austin, and a B.A. in Economics from Brooklyn College. She holds the appointment of Professor Emeritus at Marymount University.

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