About Us
What’s Unique about Sales Innovation
Chief executive officers and sales managers work with Sales Innovation as a trusted advisor on their company’s leadership team. They want the proven combination that only Sales Innovation offers:
- University affiliations for academic integrity
- Preliminary needs assessment at no cost
- Consultation to prioritize critical performance benchmarks
- Performance measurement tools and resources for continuous improvement
- Quality customized sales training in classes and online
- Instructors who are seasoned sales professionals
- Adult learning techniques that energize participants at every experience level
- Web 2.0 technology for Sales 2.0 effectiveness
- Practice in actual sales situations
- Post-program continuous reinforcement
Sales Innovation creates a sales performance improvement program that is customized precisely to the company’s requirements and current employee skill levels. A Sales Innovation program develops the skills and systems that will have the greatest impact on performance, then shows the return for the time and dollars invested.
University affiliations for academic integrity
Employees are receptive to sales training through an academically excellent institution they know and respect. Quality college-level coursework and materials have credibility with participants who may be eager to add the experience to their credentials. A university certificate will be awarded upon completion of certain courses. All that we do for our customers is transparent to the university faculty oversight committee, keeping us 100% accountable for academic integrity and results.
Preliminary needs assessments at no cost
Without charge to the company, Sales Innovation reviews the company’s internal environment, including their leadership philosophy, culture, organization, existing sales processes, prior training performance measurement and compensation systems, and use of technology. We learn about the company’s competition and customers. We evaluate the current and desired skills and practices of the sales force and sales management.
The assessment provides the company with a valuable third party, objective review of its strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities. It is the basis of our proposal if the needs assessment shows the company is ready to benefit from a consulting and training program.
Consultation to prioritize critical performance benchmarks
We consult with the company’s executives and sales managers, looking at their company holistically and identifying how their organization can meet the 10 critical and interdependent benchmarks of world-class sales organizations:
- Fostering a customer-driven culture through top-down leadership
- Selecting sales talent with the right set of competencies
- Training, development and ongoing coaching for continuous skill improvement
- Segmenting customer markets for strategic focus
- Implementing best practices in formalized sales process.
- Maximizing use of information technology to support the sales and learning processes
- Integrating sales with marketing, operations, and customer support.
- Aligning management and leadership
- Measuring performance to achieve desired behavioral change
- Aligning compensation and reward systems with goals and objectives
We help the company prioritize among these benchmarks so their time and money will be invested only in the programs that will lead to sales performance improvement.
Performance measurement tools and resources for continuous improvement
Based on the needs assessment and consultation, Sales Innovation prepares a formal proposal describing the sales performance modules that will meet the company’s needs. The proposal defines what changes in employee behavior the company wants: set more appointments, qualify prospects accurately, cross-sell to more customers, etc. Performance measurements are taken before and after training. Changing behavior through training and measuring the outcome makes the sales force more productive which leads to financial results.
Every sales performance improvement program ties in directly to the company’s sales process. Sales managers are trained to be mentors, coaching employees to use their new skills on the job. With continuous support, employees gear their performance toward meeting the company’s goals.
Sales Innovation reviews the metrics and results at 30, 60 and 90 days with the CEO and sales manager. Changes in employee behavior measured at regular intervals lead directly to financial results, no matter what’s happening in the marketplace. Such metrics help sales managers forecast sales with accuracy and show the company the return on investment in sales training.
Quality customized sales training in classes and online
Sales Innovation is sensitive to the concern that every minute of sales training takes employees out of the field and what that costs the company. To minimize opportunity costs, the program supplements classroom work with online training. Participants can complete some of the training on their own schedules using the online course management system. Class time led by the instructor is for interactive training in group discussions, role-playing and breakout sessions. Sales Innovation places a very strong emphasis on the transfer of knowledge for lasting impact on employee behavior.
Instructors who are seasoned sales professionals
Every instructor comes to the classroom with practical experience and a history of sales success. Before joining Sales Innovation, our instructors spent years in sales. Participants learn from a peer who has been in their shoes.
Adult learning techniques energize participants at every level of experience
The programs actively engage participants at every phase of their careers. The company’s most experienced sales people sharpen their own skills and show their co-workers how to improve sales performance. In group discussions and role-playing exercises, participants demonstrate their grasp of the concepts covered in readings and lectures. It’s a lively, collaborative environment that uses adult learning techniques to successfully transfer knowledge.
Web 2.0 technology for Sales 2.0 effectiveness
We use the latest software for training content, e-learning applications, online collaboration and knowledge sharing. Every customer has secure access to a private client portal via the Internet. During training programs, our course management functionality gives participants 24/7 access to learning content, schedules, assignments, Webcasts and more. It also supports e-learning outside of the classroom.
Web 2.0 internet communities and collaborative tools, such as weblogs and wikis, are changing the way people interact and work together. Through the Sales Innovation client portal, customers can apply Web 2.0 capabilities specifically to sales, a trend known as Sales 2.0. Online communication and collaboration tools reinforce adult learning through action-based applications.
This technology also allows Sales Innovation to capture competitive and market intelligence so a company’s sales people can easily access and refer to this data for future sales situations. During training sessions, participants talk about their company, products and services, value proposition, competitors, customer success stories and much more. This knowledge is collected and stored securely online for their company to use for pursuing new business and additional training.
Practice in actual sales situations
Research on adult learning shows that practical application is the key to retaining knowledge. During and after their sales training, participants are given multiple opportunities to apply the concepts they learned in actual prospect meetings. They practice with their sales managers, pair up with other sales staff and get their feedback. They present their results in a formal capstone presentation to the company’s senior management. The conversion rates for prospects that are part of these capstone projects have been extremely high.
Post-program continuous reinforcement
Coaching and mentoring are integral to the Sales Innovation sales training program. Beginners learn from the company’s most successful sales people. Sales managers are mentors who help them all to take the organization’s sales performance to the next level. Sales stars and novices alike can access the Sales Innovation online knowledge network to hone their performance after the formal program ends.
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