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Q. What is your relationship with Microsoft?

A. We are a Registered Partner and work closely with Microsoft's Partner Management in the Microsoft District offices in the United States and Canada to meet the sales training needs of local District Partners.

Q. Are there any cost advantages because of your relationship with Microsoft?

A. Yes. The costs of the one day Telephone, Solution Selling and Presentation  Workshops are approximately half the cost of the same training provided to non-Microsoft Partners. 

Q. Is the Workshop material the same?

A. The content is the same. The exercises and examples are all based on selling Microsoft Solutions to make it as real-world and better prepare you when you are in the field.

Q. How long are the workshops?

A. We have designed the workshops to be one-day (8:30 AM to 4 PM). They are fast-paced, so be on time and ready for action when you get there. 

Q. Who are the workshops targeted to - new sales reps, experienced, consultants, managers?

A. All of the above-everyone that comes in contact with your customer should attend-it will transform you to a customer-centric sales organization-exactly what's needs in today's business environment. The cost and brevity of the workshops make it possible to send you entire team without putting a dent in your training budget or affecting productivity. If you are starting a group of new employees, contact us to discuss a customer program targeted to their specific needs.

Q. What is Sales Acumen methodology, what is the basis of your training? 

A. Our sales training enables participants to be successful in the real-world - no glib one-liners, no psycho-babble, no tricks. Sales acumen combines timeless sales  principals and latest knowledge of how people and companies make buying decisions.  Participants gain a business perspective by going through what amounts to a mini-MBA program. The training is highly customized to meet the exact needs of participants and is led by a facilitator with successful sales and sales management careers because salespeople want to be trained by people they respect - the best of the best.

Q. How do I determine what training is needed? 

A. By using a modular training curriculum and experienced  facilitators, we are able to customize the workshop materials to the exact needs of the participants. To determine the needs, we will conduct a conference call with sales management to identify the issues, desired results and value they expect to get from the achieving the results. We will also have a brief conversation with one or two of the participants to get their input and validate the information provided by the sales management. The benefit of this approach is that the training has maximum impact by working on the specific skills needed, the workshop time is shortened (less time away form selling) and the costs are lower. 

Q. What is the suggested sales training for new salespeople?

A. It depends on the needs and skill gap analysis of the individuals. Generally, we would recommend that the salespeople participate in a 3 day Solution Selling Workshop, followed by a 1 day Telephone Skills Workshop. We also recommend that management spend 1 day becoming skilled using the Sales Management System.

Q. We do internal training. What do you offer that we can't do ourselves?

A. There are several advantages to using an outside firm for development of the sales team:

• Salespeople learn better in an environment with less pressure. 

• Frequently in-house training is oriented to the companies products or services. Sales Acumen is focused on customers and their issues. Both are necessary. Few internal organizations can separate them adequately and end up providing mostly product training at the expense of building sales skills.

• Having a third party expert often provides the objective credibility, fresh ideas, a new approach that salespeople find rejuvenating.

• Outside trainers can provide the training at a lower cost. When you factor in the cost of preparation (materials, logistics, etc.) and lost productivity of the internal people that are doing the training (unless they re dedicated trainers) is usually higher than the cost of the trainers.

Q. We have a CRM system. How does the Sales Acumen training and Sales Management System work with it?

A. Both sales and sales management training programs are complimentary with CRM. In sales training, CRM is emphasized in collaboration and qualification development. In management training, the Sales Management System is integrated with your CRM system so there is no redundancy in reporting and forecasting.

Q. How does Sales Acumen impact PROFIT, common-knowledge is to keep salespeople focused on sales only.

A. We do train salespeople to be focused on sales, but we work on 2 important skills that have a dramatic impact on profit. Learning how to qualify an opportunity will increase productivity by decreasing the sales cycle and increasing the win rate, decreasing the cost of sales. Learning how to listen will enable salespeople to build a value proposition that will increase margins, and profits. 

Q. Is the management training needed if we train our salespeople?

A. The management training is a stand-alone course. If you do not have a sales management program in place, we highly encourage you to have your sales management trained. They will be better equipped to reinforce the new behaviors from the workshops. 

Check our upcoming training calendar for a sales training workshop in a Microsoft city near you, or email or call (714) 612-1511 to discuss your situation further.