Mastering Technical Sales: The Sales Engineer's Handbook,9781580533454

Mastering Technical Sales: The Sales Engineer's Handbook

by ;
ISBN13: 9781580533454
ISBN10: 1580533450
Format: Hardcover
Pub. Date: 2002-10-01
Publisher(s): Artech House
List Price: $95.55

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Summary

Sales Engineers' Handbook covers all of the key areas of selling high-technology products, including detailed action plans to establish personal excellence in key performance drivers in technical sales. This comprehensive volume teaches you how to be more successful as an individual contributor, helping to better ensure promotion within your sales organization, or advancement elsewhere within your company. The book gives you the practical guidance you need to sharpen your skills in sales and technology. Moreover, for the technical manager it explains how to build an infrastructure to support continuous high sales growth.

Author Biography

John Care is the regional technical director at Business Objects Americas in New York. He received his B.Sc. (Eng.) Honours in chemical engineering from the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, England Aron Bohlig is a self-employed sales and marketing management consultant. He received his B.S. from the joint business/computer science program at the University of Puget Sound, Seattle, Washington, and also completed a second major in English (professional writing). He is currently earning his M.B.A. at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xvii
Introduction: Why Study Sales Consulting?
1(6)
An Overview of the Sales Process
7(8)
Definition of the Market
8(1)
Marketing Campaigns
8(1)
Mailing Lists and Outbound Calling Campaigns
8(1)
Partners
9(1)
Trade Shows and Seminars
9(1)
Lead Qualification
9(1)
Request for Proposal
10(1)
Discovery and First Customer Engagement
10(1)
Propose and Demo
11(1)
Presentation
11(1)
Demonstration
11(1)
Proposal
11(1)
Evaluation (Optional)
12(1)
Negotiations: Close or Lose-Getting the Deal
12(1)
Ongoing Account Management: Upsell Opportunities and Postsales Support
12(1)
Summary
13(1)
Skill Building
14(1)
Lead Qualification
15(14)
Lead Quality
17(3)
Lead Ratings
17(1)
Qualification Criteria
17(3)
Effective Lead Qualification
20(3)
Competitive Implications of Technical Qualification Criteria
20(1)
You Can Get Leads Too
21(1)
Making the Decision to Say No
21(1)
Defending Your Position When the Sales Rep Disagrees
22(1)
Low-Cost Fallback Strategies
22(1)
Internal Roles in the Lead Qualification Process
23(2)
Sales Representative
23(1)
Telemarketer/Lead Development
23(1)
Sales Management
24(1)
SC
24(1)
Care and Feeding of the Telemarketing Team
24(1)
Lead Qualification in Action: Three Common Scenarios
25(2)
The Process with Solicited Leads
25(1)
The Process with Unsolicited Leads
25(1)
The Process with a Current Project or Recommended Lead
26(1)
Summary
27(1)
Skill Building
28(1)
The RFP Process
29(10)
Creation of an RFP
29(1)
Basic Rule of RFPs
30(1)
The Go/No-Go Decision
31(2)
Handling Deadlines
33(1)
Strategies for Avoiding an RFP
34(1)
Completing the RFP
35(1)
Presentation and Follow-Up
36(1)
Summary
37(1)
Skill Building
38(1)
Needs Analysis and Discovery
39(20)
Overview
39(1)
Why Discovery Is Critical
40(1)
The Seven-Step Needs Analysis Approach
41(12)
Identify Needed Information
41(3)
Build the Perfect Pitch
44(2)
Explain the Needs Analysis Process
46(2)
Interview Key Customers
48(2)
Observe Current Processes-Get to Know the End User
50(1)
Synthesize Information
50(1)
Prepare and Present Summary
51(1)
Wrap-Up
52(1)
Customizing the Discovery Process
53(3)
Getting the Economics Right
53(1)
Adapt Your Questions to Your Audience
54(2)
Summary
56(1)
Skill Building
57(2)
Successful Customer Engagement
59(12)
First Contact
60(3)
Remember What They Want from You
61(1)
Dissecting Project Dynamics
62(1)
Back the Strongest Faction
62(1)
Identify the People You Need to Know
63(2)
Use Your Intuition
63(1)
But Don't Forget to Use Your Brain
63(1)
Covering the Whole Team, Including the Minor Players
64(1)
Coaches
65(4)
Where to Find Coaches
66(1)
What If There Are No Obvious Options?
66(1)
How to Get to Potential Coaches
66(1)
Developing the Coach
67(1)
The Unconscious Coach
67(1)
Maintaining the Relationship
68(1)
Credibility
69(1)
Maintaining Credibility
69(1)
Losing Credibility
69(1)
Trying to Regain Credibility
69(1)
Summary
70(1)
Skill Building
70(1)
The Perfect Pitch
71(14)
Nonverbal Delivery Skills
72(2)
Verbal Delivery Skills
74(2)
Developing a Focused Message
76(2)
Focus the Message
77(1)
Brainstorm for Ideas
77(1)
Organize the Ideas
78(1)
Transfer to Paper
78(1)
Strategize
78(1)
Special Situations
78(3)
Very Large Audiences
78(2)
Presenting via Conference Call
80(1)
Around the Conference Room Table
81(1)
Using Humor
81(1)
Using Nervous Energy to Your Advantage
81(2)
Summary
83(1)
Skill Building
83(2)
The Dash to Demo
85(14)
Why Does the Dash to Demo Occur?
87(1)
What Is ``The Product''?
87(1)
Failing to Plan Is Planning to Fail
88(2)
Logistical Implications
90(1)
The Agenda
91(1)
Preparing the Way
91(1)
The Audience
92(3)
Entertain the Audience
92(2)
Segment the Audience
94(1)
Dealing with Mixed Audiences
94(1)
Checkpoint Charlie
95(1)
Summary
96(1)
Skill Building
96(1)
Appendix 8A: Sample Agenda
97(2)
Evaluation Strategies
99(20)
Developing the Strategy
99(2)
Conducting an Evaluation: How Did We Get Here?
99(1)
Negotiating Engagement in a Trial
100(1)
How Do You Define Success?
101(1)
How to Win: Determining the Success Criteria
101(3)
How to Ensure Success: Evaluating the Success Criteria
102(1)
Intellectually Closing the Deal
103(1)
Working Backward from the Definition of Success
104(1)
Running a Trial
104(8)
Trial Phases
105(3)
Basic Trial Organization
108(2)
Training
110(1)
Documentation
111(1)
Equipment
111(1)
Networking and Access
112(1)
Anticipating Your Competitor
112(3)
Put Some Spin on the Ball
112(1)
Playing Dirty During Trials
113(2)
Avoiding a Trial
115(2)
Does the Customer Do Trials?
115(1)
Are They Paying for the Pilot?
115(1)
Using References
116(1)
Summary
117(1)
Skill Building
117(2)
Contract Negotiation and Pricing
119(4)
An Introductory Approach
121(1)
Creative Ways to Say Nothing
121(1)
An Advanced Tactic
121(1)
Summary
122(1)
Skill Building
122(1)
Sanity After the Sale
123(16)
Developing the Transition Plan
124(1)
Ongoing Engagement Plan
124(1)
Customer Meetings: Project Kickoff
125(2)
During Deployment
125(1)
After Rollout
125(2)
Leveraging the Sales Team
127(1)
The Inside Sales Team
127(1)
Executives
127(1)
Having a Fallback Strategy
127(1)
Personal Benefits of Postsales Support
128(1)
Personal References
128(1)
Maintain Relationships for Add-On Sales
129(1)
Major Account Requirements
129(3)
Keep Your Reservoir of Customer Stories Full
130(1)
Potential for Customer Satisfaction Objectives
130(1)
Good Way to Build Skills
131(1)
Benefit to the Customer: Free Consulting
131(1)
Justifying Engagement with Your Management
131(1)
Troubleshooting the Handoff
132(2)
Customer Skimps on Training
132(1)
Customer Tries to Do It Themselves
132(1)
Working with System Integrators
133(1)
Summary
134(1)
Skill Building
135(1)
Appendix 11A: Record-Keeping Forms for Postsales Information
136(3)
Getting Started
139(14)
The Ramp Process
139(4)
Setting Goals with Your Manager
140(1)
Find Out What You Need to Know to Succeed
140(2)
Boot Camp
142(1)
Why Use Benchmarking?
142(1)
Develop a 30/90/ 180-Day Plan
143(4)
The 30/90/180-Day Structure
146(1)
Qualities of a Good Plan
146(1)
Ready to Go
146(1)
Tips on Making the First 6 Months a Success
147(5)
Find a Mentor
147(1)
Read the Manual-Really!
148(1)
Master the Product
148(1)
Boot Camp Training Contacts
148(1)
Work in the Factory
149(1)
Face Time and Relationships
149(1)
Practice, Practice, Practice
149(1)
Learn About a Few Key Customers and How They Actually Use Your Product
150(1)
Understand the Financials of Your Value Proposition
150(1)
Learn the Math, Don't Just Memorize the Answers
150(1)
Understand Content, But Don't Feel Overwhelmed
151(1)
If You Can Use Your Product in Everyday Life, Do So
151(1)
Get Feedback-From Everyone
151(1)
Review Your Plan Weekly
151(1)
Summary
152(1)
Skill Building
152(1)
Objection Handling
153(12)
Before You Start
153(1)
Categorizing Objections
154(5)
A Valid Objection
154(1)
A Competitive Objection
154(1)
The Seymour Objection
155(1)
The Coaching Objection
156(1)
The Hostile Objection
157(1)
The Generic Objection
158(1)
Basic Techniques of Objection Handling
159(2)
Basic Technique 1: Listen
159(1)
Basic Technique 2: Coordinate
159(1)
Basic Technique 3: Clarify
160(1)
Basic Technique 4: Restate
160(1)
Basic Technique 5: Answer
160(1)
Working With Consultants
161(1)
Follow-Up Leads to Closure
162(1)
Summary
162(1)
Skill Building
163(2)
The Executive Connection
165(10)
What They Think of You
165(1)
Keep It Simple
166(1)
Plan the Meeting
167(3)
Setting the Stage
167(1)
Following the Dollars
168(1)
Determining the Goal of the Meeting
169(1)
You Are the Expert
169(1)
Execute the Meeting
170(2)
Education Versus Selling
170(1)
Presentation Ideas
170(1)
Presentation Technique
171(1)
Follow-Up After the Meeting
172(1)
Building a Relationship
172(1)
A Rational Decision
172(1)
Summary
173(1)
Skill Building
173(2)
The ``U'' in Technical Sales
175(12)
Me, Myself, and I
176(1)
What Are Your Goals?
176(1)
Your Personal Value Proposition: Self-Branding
177(3)
Internal Branding
178(1)
External Branding
178(1)
Communicating Your Personal Value Proposition
179(1)
Delivering on Your Value Proposition
180(3)
Put Together the Plan
180(1)
Put Your Plan into Action
180(2)
Career Progression and the PVP
182(1)
Benchmarking
182(1)
Ethics in Sales
183(2)
Summary
185(1)
Skill Building
185(2)
Selling with Partners
187(10)
Partnership Defined
187(1)
Defining Account Ownership
188(3)
Working the Relationship and Building the Infrastructure
191(2)
The Dangers of Dealing with Partners
193(2)
Summary
195(1)
Skill Building
196(1)
Competitive Tactics
197(10)
Identify the Competition
198(1)
Develop a Competitive Strategy
198(2)
Know Thine Enemy
200(2)
``Tell Me About Your Competition''
202(2)
Product Benchmarks
204(1)
Summary
205(1)
Skill Building
206(1)
Crossing over to the Dark Side
207(8)
What Is Your Motivation?
207(1)
Positioning for the Change
208(2)
What You Should Expect
210(1)
How to Make It All Work
211(2)
Summary
213(1)
Skill Building
214(1)
Organizational Structure
215(18)
Structure
216(3)
Structure 1: Separate SE Structure
217(1)
Structure 2: Strong Branch Management
218(1)
Roles in the SE Organization
219(3)
Training
219(1)
Demonstration Preparation
220(1)
Bid Support
220(1)
Mentoring and Skills Development
220(1)
Motivation
221(1)
Product Expertise
221(1)
Point of Escalation/General Management Support
221(1)
Review of Sales Support Functions
222(4)
SE Manager
222(1)
Trainer
223(1)
Lead SEs
224(1)
Infrastructure Support Groups
224(1)
Overlay Sales/Market Executives
225(1)
Field Marketing
225(1)
Advanced Topics: Four Models for SE Organizations
226(5)
Ratios: 2-to-1 or 1-to-1
226(1)
Model 1-A New Organization: Five SEs and $0 to $20 Million Annual Sales
227(1)
Model 2-Getting Off the Ground: Twenty to Thirty SEs and $50 to $100 Million Annual Sales
227(1)
Model 3-Economies or Diseconomies of Scale: One Hundred to Two Hundred SEs and $350 Million Annual Sales
228(1)
Model 4-Splitting the Business Unit
229(1)
Making the Models Work in the Real World
230(1)
Summary
231(1)
Skill Building
231(2)
Compensation
233(12)
Components of a Plan
233(6)
Fixed (Base) Salary
234(1)
Variable Pay
235(3)
Stock Options
238(1)
Other Plans
239(1)
Leveraging the Plan
239(2)
Building an SE Compensation Plan
241(1)
Summary
242(1)
Skill Building
243(2)
Building the Infrastructure
245(12)
A Little Philosophy
246(1)
Training Techniques
247(2)
Initial Corporate Training
247(1)
Initial Technical Training
248(1)
Follow-Up/Update Training
249(1)
Demonstration and Equipment Support
249(2)
Knowledge Management and Retention
251(2)
Key Requirements for a Simple Knowledge Management System
251(1)
Implementation Suggestions
252(1)
Engineering and Technical Support
253(1)
General SC Processes
254(1)
Summary
255(1)
Skill Building
256(1)
Hiring Winners
257(12)
The Job Description
258(1)
Using the Hiring Profile
259(2)
Dealing with Recruiters
261(1)
Screening Candidates
262(1)
The Interview
263(3)
Setting Expectations
263(1)
Be Prepared
263(1)
Questions and Answers
264(1)
Judging the Candidate's Performance
265(1)
Hiring
266(1)
Summary
267(1)
Skill Building
267(2)
Time Management for SEs
269(16)
Fixed Time and Infinite Demands
269(2)
Running Your Schedule Like a Business
270(1)
The Procrastination Problem
271(1)
Prioritization
271(1)
Qualification
271(1)
Quantification
272(1)
A Simple Structure for Managing Your Time
272(4)
Importance
273(1)
Impact
273(1)
Timeliness
273(1)
Prioritizing the Tasks
274(2)
How to Run Your Day
276(2)
The Daily Close
277(1)
Designing Graceful Fallback Plans
278(3)
Get a Little Help from Your Friends
278(1)
Apply the 80/20 Rule
278(1)
Attaching Caveats
279(1)
``Be Prepared'' Prioritization Tactics
280(1)
Long-Term Time Management
281(1)
Negotiating Work Levels with Your Manager and the Sales Rep
281(1)
Personal Commitments
282(1)
Working in Abusive Environments
282(1)
Summary
282(1)
Skill Building
283(2)
Final Words
285(4)
Be Passionate
285(1)
Keep Work and Personal Lives in Balance
286(1)
Consistently Outperform Expectations
286(1)
Build and Maintain Relationships
287(1)
Set and Achieve Goals
287(1)
Continually Challenge Yourself
288(1)
About the Authors 289(2)
Index 291

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