Launching Solutions with Impact

www.kickstartall.com

Launching Solutions with Impact - Part #1
KickStart Your Sales Momentum

by Alison Chandless

We all know that to win deals, Sales must be able to explain to a customer why they will benefit more from your product than any other solution. To build strong sales momentum for your new solution, your sales tools must capture the customer knowledge that resides in the accumulated experience of your Sales and Marketing organizations.

Unfortunately, launch teams often focus their tools and training on communicating product knowledge and features, rather than communicating a solution’s strategic value to your customer. These narrowly designed launch materials may prepare your Sales team for calls on a technical buyer, but they fail to equip them for campaigns across an enterprise. Your launch loses impact.

Maximize the Impact of your Sales Launch

You’ll get maximum launch impact when you provide your Sales channels the right information at the right time. The challenge is providing solution-focused tools and training in sales language; otherwise, they’ll waste time translating product information into selling messages (sometimes the right ones, sometimes not).

Will your launch plan meet the challenge, and pass the “impact” test? Use the checklist below to measure your success in arming your sales organization for a quick ramp time.

Launch Effectiveness Checklist

Your Sales tools and solution training are customer-oriented and produce sales teams that know how to sell your product to all stakeholders—not only the technical buyer.
Top-tier sales players (Reps and SE’s) have contributed to your launch training. Their customer knowledge and sales strategies have been documented and communicated.
Direct sales teams and partners can locate and access critical information whether they are on the road, in their home office or at a customer site.
Sales teams are armed with sales tools for every stage of your sales process: identifying suspects, qualifying prospects, generating interest and acceptance, creating proposals and closing deals.
Every customer-facing organization is prepared to introduce your solution. Customer Service, Professional Services, Accounts Receivable and other administrative staff can articulate your products’ value.

Make Sure Sales is Armed and Ready

To reduce non-selling time and increase the quality of their customer interaction, arm your Sales channels for the entire sales process—start to finish. Our launch checklist is a good starting point, but engage your Sales team to create yours. Your sales team is ready when:

Sales reps know how to find and gain entry into target accounts. They have tested scripts and/or content for email campaigns.
Discovery questions are provided to uncover customer problems and identify opportunities. Sales channels understand the opportunity those problems present.
Sales channels can describe how your product or service solves identified customer problems. Your demos support your claims and illustrate solutions to your customers’ problems.
Sales tools bolster your sales efforts. For example, customer references and case studies, sales presentations with scripts, proactive proposal and RFP response content, and an ROI analysis.
Your sales team can explain your pricing in customer terms and can differentiate the uniqueness of your solution as compared to that of the competition.

Use KickStart to Build Momentum
If you don’t have resources to build the most effective launch tools, let KickStart Alliance create your customized, sales-ready tools and training. Our Sales and Marketing experts can build the plans, design tools and create the required content to ensure your sales channels get up to speed quickly.

Contact Alison Chandless at alisonc@kickstartall.com or 650.341.6164 for more information or to request a Product Launch datasheet.

Everyone Can Sell!

by Alison Chandless

Not everyone can succeed as a sales rep, but everyone with customer interaction can strengthen your sales effort. Recruit influential members of customer-facing organizations to contribute their own creative ideas. We’ve listed a few creative ideas for widening your sales reach; email us with yours!

Post banners, posters, table art and brochures throughout your company—especially in the lobby—to raise company awareness of your product’s introduction and positioning.
Use your phone system to advertise to customers waiting for support or telesales (carefully avoid becoming intrusive or repetitive).
Provide a clever e-mail salutation that includes your product’s tag line and web site link. Request all employees to use it.
Educate your Accounts Receivable and other administrative staff on your product’s value and target customer. You never know when they will uncover an opportunity.
Customer Support or Technical Support personnel can be your best, and most subtle, sales organization. Make sure they feel comfortable articulating the value and functionality of new solutions.