John provides much more than just "theory" but works with particpants to apply strategies to their specific products/services. Here, John works with the "Feature and Benefit Translator" to build powerful motive questions that will connect "emotionally" to the prospect/customer.
John is presented a plaque for being a valued partner of the EERASRA. John presented his "Value Translation Model" program at their fall meeting in Daytona Beach, Florida.
John takes advantage of a "photo op" with part of the Medline Sales Team from Mexico, recently participating in Phase I Training.
Medline sales representatives work on taking product features and benefits and translating them into "motive questions". Prospects feel less threatened by questions and will more openly provide you with the information you need to help them (and yourself!).
Medline field trainers and Home Health Care team get ready for "role play!" Talk about "mass confusion"! Multiple participants eliminate much of the "discomfort" role playing creates and demonstrates how easy it is in joint calls to "get off track".
Getting ready for team "role play". John regularly uses team roles plays to help particpants link theory to real world situations. Creating a team also limits a lot of the discomfort people feel when role playing and also helps to demonstrate the importance of the "team leader" concept when making joint calls.
On a break and gaining sustenance for an upcoming session with John. This program focused on helping the Field Trainers gain expertise in using the "Sales Mastery" selling model to coach their new recruits.
John Hirth reviews the RFP, RFQ strategy with the Medline Field Trainers and Home Health Care Team. This strategy helps "filter" the good opportunities fro the bad and saves time spent on responding to RFP's that end up being "column fodder"!
John works with the Rehrig Team on "entry point" strategies. Getting in to new accounts often takes "a different " approach and John works with sales teams to create a "differentiated value" approach.
John addressed the issue of the cost of changing technology. No change will be made until the customer realizes that the cost of "staying the same" will be higher thatn the "cost of change.
Thermo Fisher Scientific offers an extensive line of fluid handling products and are recognized as a world-class innovator in the engineering, design, manufacturing and distribution of fluid handling and flow control equipment. They also offer specific solutions for Process Fluid Handling.
John works with the audience to learn to "translate" value from intellectual theory to emotional drivers.
Maintaining the integrity of high purity liquid flows depends on pumping systems that provide sterility and precision at all times. Masterflex® peristaltic pumps employ clean pump technology to provide a totally closed system for contamination-free aseptic/sterile flow. Not having the ability to fulfill this function can create huge downside risk to pharma manufactureres.
John presented at the Thermo Fisher VAR meeting in Las Vegas, Neveda. Hopefully, what the group learned will not "stay in Vegas" but assist them throughout the year in their selling efforts.
John discusses how best to manage the prospects decision making process with the ReproMax sales team. Most sales people have been instructed to ask questions that pressure the prospect and end up getting bad information.
John reviews one of the motive questions created to translate value for the DFS product suite.
John works with members of the ReproMax sales and managment team and discusses the power of "motive" questions. Understanding the driving "motives" that create change is critical to sales success and the beginning of the "value translation" process.
ReproMax has created tremendous value in their DFS document management system. Through well crafted "Motive" questions, the ReproMax sales team can successfully manage a consultative selling process designed to "create value" to differentiate their offer.
Rick Bosworth, President of ReproMax prepares the conference for John's message. ReproMax has engaged John Hirth and Selling Dynamics to provide cutting edge sales technologies to better prepare their members sales teams.
Here, John addresses the Akzo Nobel/Interpon powder coating sales team, instructing them on the custom prepared prospecting model. Telephone prospecting is an art and the standard, "I'm Bob with Akzo Nobel and I'd like to talk with you about powder" will quickly get you back to purchasing. Calling high is imperative to succeeding in translating value (strategy) but you have to know what to say (tactics) to get an audience with the right people. Now they know!
Role playing is an integral part of getting from the "conceptual understanding" stage to the "practical application" stage. Here the "sales team", in the role play exercise, experiences the difference between "understanding" and "practise". What is easily learned is not always easy to practise!
In role playing the model, particpants play both the sales team as well as the prospect team. Being on the "other side" provides perspective and a greater understanding of how the procees works. Here, Joe and Tom play the prospect role and represent a company with lots of "pain" and economic consequences. This one was a "lay down"!
John works with Akzo team members to explain how to "create value" even with commodity products. Much of the value that you wil create is derived from not the "product" but rather from the "process" that you use to sell the product.
Led by the capable hand of "Roberto", the South American sales team works to create the tactical implementation for the "Value Translation" strategy, introduced at the National Sales Meeting in Nashville. In this exercise, particpants identify common problems their prospects/customers are likely to have and then build a model to identify and quantify the impact those problems have on the customers business. The goal in this portion of the "Motive" step is to help both particpants (sales person and prospect/customer) to fully understand the problem. To many sales people "rush" to the solution without full understanding of the problem!
John recently presented to the Chicagoland Sheet Metal Contractors Association. The group was presented John's "RFP, RFQ" strategy which helps determine the likelyhood of winning or losing these time and resource consuming acitivities.
John was asked back to address this group again because of the positive feedback provided by participants of past programs. Helping the group identify that "status quo" will not get them to their goals, John presented some new strategies to help save both time and money, while helping attending members find ways to "differentiate" how they approach thier prospects.
The Medline Phase III "survivors" completed the three phases of Medline "Sales Mastery" training with John Hirth. After an intense discussion on dealing with the "price question" the team is ready and equipped to handle price buyers. They understand that price is only a "cover" for what their customers are really after... and the recording of John doing a "price buyer" role play will equip them to be effective and remind them of how to use the concepts discussed!
Members of Medline Industries Canandian team work on the "Value Translation" exercise at the Canadian two day Sales Academy. This exercise looks at features and benefits and translates them into "motive questions". Through questions we can assess with less risk what part of our value proposition is important to the customer. Through questions we can also lower the "threat meter" by maintaining the non selling posture.
John with Medline Canadian Team discusses how to "manage" the tender process. Tenders, as they are called in Canada, are synonomous with RFP's and RFQ's. They are often a big time waster and need to be "filtered" with the RFP, RFQ process.
Doug is in "John's Corner" while he discusses how to identify "emotional drivers" with the "Feature Benefit Translator". This exercise is a real eye opener and really helps to connect sales people with their "true value".
Vance Publishing Corporation is a leading publisher of Business to Business publications serving a wide variety of agricultural and manufacturing industries. The Protein Group is part of the food 360 division and includes Dairy Herd Magazine, serving dairy producers, Pork Magazine, serving the Pork producing industry, Bovine Veterinarian Magazine, serving veterinarians and consutlants to the Pork industry and Drovers Magazine serving and leading the beef industry for over 130 years. John works with the sales and managaement team and has focused on sales strategies that will increase revenue and profitablitiy as well as maximizing the effectiveness of the companys selling resources to lower selling expenses.
Selling Dynamics approaches the development of top selling professionals from three perspectives to create a "holisitic" approach to Sales Force development. We focus on "Attiude", "Activity" and "Application Skills". Ignoring any of these three critical components will limit the growth and performance of the sales team. (creating effective
"hand shadows" during power point presentations was an unexpected bonus!)
IBM team discusses "managing to win" and building strategies that better manage internal technical resources to lower cost of sales. Setting up strategies and tactics to avoid "cloning" will help limit "margin erosion" and help to eliminate wasted time on poorly qualified opportunities.
John kicks off a program for the IBM team at Meridian IT. Not only are they an IBM business partner but they also hold "Gold Status" as a Cisco Partner. John discusses the importance of tactics in context with strategy.
Here, John suggests through a somewhat "trademarked" gesture that the response suggested by the group could be interpreted as an "up-yours". Effectively communicating can take many forms!
Participants of the General Line Phase III class at Medline. Josh seems to be saying "are you sure about that"? After some discussion an agrrement was reached that building "motive" and finding "pain" is the suuccess formula to glove evaluations! Not to mention getting "pain" fron the right people!
Did wearing surgical gowns help with product knowledge or was it just because the training room was cold? Participants learn in Phase III how to "sell to the committee" and handle multiple decision makers.
John working hard trying to get new concepts "accepted". Part of the challenge is trying to identify what needs to change and then working hard to change "old behavior".
Part of not only keeping attention but also effectively translating new ideas is using humor and "body english" to make the concepts come to life. LeasePlan participants enjoyed John's animated style and appreciated the "energy" he brings to the meeting.
Footnote: Not recommended on sales calls or for people with back problems!
John starts the meeting by setting expectations and clearly defining the objectives. Change is inevitable and the "Status Quo" will no longer work!
John delivered a custom designed "Selling Strategy" to the LeasePlan retention and acquistion sales teams. One of the fundamental concepts is "reframing" how your prospect thinks about what you deliver.
John talked about getting higher in the organizations Meridian calls on and created specific strategies to get through to "C" level decision makers. "You get about 15 seconds to connect with them and telling them what you "sell" won't work!" Having been asked back for a third consecutive year John's message has clearly connected with this High Value provider.
John's work in providing strategies to "translate value" has paid off for Meridian. Price is "always the issue" in the absence of a complete understanding of your value.
Meridian Partners with IBM, Cisco Systems, Avaya, Microsoft and other premium technology partners to deliver high value and cost effective IT solutions. Along with their leasing division they are a full service IT provider.
John Hirth Addresses the International Sales Team of The Meridian Group. Translating Value and new business generation were the focus of the meeting.
Meridian Group provides complete and effective technology solutions to both large and small businesses, representing a wide variety of industries. As a single-source provider of IT products, services, and financing, Meridian Group has the means to design and implement the technologies that best meet customer specific needs.
After a comment "that's a risky strategy", John contrasts the strategy they currently use and how it is actually much riskier than the recommendation made. Risk taking is a fundamental element of being successful in sales and most people in sales are guilty of not risking enough or not understanding the bad risks in their current process.
"I'm not sure I'd do that..."or at least that's what the expression seems to be saying! John works with the Wes-Tech Automation team reviewing strategies to "shorten the cycle".
Wes-Tech Automation is a plant automation integrator and manufacturer that sells and designs automated systems to manufacturing companies. They focus on both large and small manufacturers including both tier one and tier two automotive manufacturers.
John is presenting the Selling Dynamics "Sales Mastery" model at a recent Medline LTC meeting in Chicago. This discussion of the "financial step" has been "tailored" to the LTC program due to the unique cost/benefit outcome to the customer.
Deanne Hennessee, Vice President of Training at Medline Industries, elequently and flawlessly delivers a role play of the LTC discussion guide during a recent LTC training session. Her expression suggest "it's easy..." but don't be fooled. Execution of this tool takes skill and practise but the hard work will pay off in increased sales, profits and customer satisfaction.
Group discussion on tactical changes based on the content of the meeting. Status quo is no longer an option!
" ...are you sure about that?" With some skepticism, participants in a recent program for USi listen intently to suggestions on handling RFP's and RFQ's. After reviewing their current "hit rate" it becomes painfully obvious that not changing is not an option!