Webinar Your Salespeople Are Afraid Of Heights: How To Hire And Develop Executive-Level Sellers

1. Webinar Your Salespeople Are Afraid Of Heights: How To Hire And Develop Executive-Level Sellers Peter O’Neill, Vice President, Research Director Mark Lindwall, Senior Analyst October 21, 2014. Call in at 10:55 a.m. Eastern time

2. Agenda • Executives need new and improved salespeople. • Identifying critical seller attributes • Rep hiring and development require precision. • Do your existing salespeople need software upgrades? • Next steps

3. Executive buyers need new and improved salespeople

4. More decisions involve executive buyers than in the past

5. Executives know what makes a valuable conversation Source: November 22, 2013, “What Do Executive Buyers Find Valuable?” Forrester report

6. Common meeting agendas of sellers Source: Forrester’s Q4 2013 Global Executive Buyer Insight Survey

7. Salespeople are misaligned with executive buyers Source: Forrester’s Q4 2013 North America And Europe Executive Buyer Insight Online Survey

8. Salespeople are misaligned with executive buyers Source: Forrester’s Q4 2013 North America And Europe Executive Buyer Insight Online Survey

9. How to identify the most important seller attributes UNDERSTAND AND ALIGN TO EXECUTIVE NEEDS

10. It’s all about empathy Empathy: the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another

11. Six criteria to align sellers with buyers

12. Six criteria to align sellers with buyers Experience — capability derived from learning and applying knowledge required to connect capabilities to buyer goals Acumen — analysis, decision-making, problem solving, leadership, risk mitigation, and solution formulation abilities Rapport — the level of comfort in a relationship based on elements like shared interests, experience, common values, or knowledge Navigation — the ability to accurately determine the path to engage with multiple stakeholders in an agreement network for a decision Knowledge — understanding of the buyer’s role, business, and need or problem, which informs how to successfully meet the buyer’s goal Cadence — the steps, sequence, and timing of interactions between the seller and buyers during and after the decision process

13. Salespeople fit within four seller archetypes Executive sellers Source: September 29, 2014, “Why Buyers Don’t Want To Meet Your Salespeople And What To Do About It” Forrester report

14. Resource to download from Forrester.com

15. Attributes of sellers who primarily help executives solve process problems Experience Has deep personal experience with the risks and implications of a customer’s business problem Acumen Has strong critical thinking skillsto help buyers diagnose process problems and distinguishes between symptoms and root causes Rapport Asks relevant diagnostic questions, listens well, and clearly and efficiently identifies the core issues Navigation Understands the roles and responsibilities of relevant process owners, wallet holders, and other stakeholders and collaborates to get buy-in Knowledge Uses process improvement methods (i.e., Lean) and assembles tailored solutions to solve a problem Cadence Methodically engages with stakeholders and develops detailed project plansto achieve an objective

16. Attributes of sellers who primarily help executives solve process problems Experience Has led transformation efforts requiring significant organizational change that led to strong financial results Acumen Fluent in the business disciplines of strategy, finance, planning, governance, change management, and program management Rapport Understands the roles of people across many business functions and altitude levels (i.e., executive committee) Navigation Engages with many leaders and team members — both customer’s and internal — to lead complex change Knowledge Understands proven transformation methods a client organization can accept and confidently adopt Cadence Uses a program management approach with road maps and a portfolio of projects and guides the client to avoid risks and pitfalls

17. Sales hiring requires more precision USE THE SALESPERSON HIRING TOOL

18. Hire the salespeople executives need THE FORRESTER SALESPERSON HIRING TOOL Interviewguide 1) Hiring manager completes manager assessment to determine the seller archetype that needs to be hired and informs the team. Hiring manager 4) Candidate responses are entered into the salesperson hiring tool. 6) Interviewers use the interview guide for tailored structured questions based on candidate responses and the salesperson archetype required. 5) Manager prints out interview guides for interviewers (customized for each candidate). 3) Candidates complete and return self-assessment that determines their seller archetype fit. 2) Hiring manager provides candidates with self-assessment. 7) Hiring teams make more accurate decisions on the right candidates. Candidates Source: October 17, 2014, “A Guide To Hiring More Effective Salespeople” Forrester report

19. Hiring resources to download from Forrester.com

20. Hiring resources to download from Forrester.com

21. Hiring resources to download from Forrester.com

22. Do your existing salespeople need software upgrades? Use the salesperson development tool to identify gaps, coach and develop salespeople

23. Develop sellers’ executive buyer needs

24. Identify executive selling constraints Comfort zones Gaps in characteristics, skills, or knowledge

25. Develop executive-level salespeople THE FORRESTER SALESPERSON DEVELOPMENT TOOL Individual reports 1) Hiring manager completes manager assessment to determine attributes of sales team members. Sales manager 4) Assessment responses are entered into the salesperson development tool. 6) Sales managers use the individual report for development planning and coaching with each salesperson. 2) Sales manager provides salesperson self-assessment. 3) Salespeople complete and return self-assessment that determines their seller archetype. 5) Manager prints out individual reports for each salesperson. 7) Sales managers more effectively develop their salespeople. Salespeople Source: September 22, 2014, “Do Your Salespeople Meet Your Buyers’ Needs?” Forrester report

26. Development resources to download from Forrester.com

27. Development resources to download from Forrester.com

28. Development resources to download from Forrester.com

29. Development resources to download from Forrester.com

30. Forrester’s sales training solution framework Sales training request Who are your buyers? Who are your sellers? Analysis What are the targeted selling objectives? What content is needed? What is the best delivery approach? Design Sales training delivered Source: July 14, 2014, “Elevate Your Sales Training Impact With A Strategic Framework” Forrester report

31. Training resources to download from Forrester.com

32. Marketing resources to download from Forrester.com

33. Next steps Send a note to mlindwall@forrester.com, and I’ll send a Sales Force Development Kit so you can: • Read “Why Buyers Don’t Want To Meet Your Salespeople And What To Do About It.” • Read “Do Your Salespeople Meet Your Buyers’ Needs?” • Download the three workbooks for “The Forrester Salesperson Development Tool.”

34. Next steps (cont.) Send a note to mlindwall@forrester.com, and I’ll send a Sales Force Development Kit so you can: • Read “A Guide To Hiring More Effective Salespeople.” • Download two workbooks for “The Forrester Salespeople Hiring Tool.” • Schedule inquiries to get help with implementing them (inquiry@forrester.com).

35. Mark Lindwall +1 617.613.8886 mlindwall@forrester.com Twitter: @MarkLindwall Peter O’Neill +49 69.9592.9839 poneill@forrester.com Twitter: @poneillforr