Facilitating a new product launch event
The Client
A leading global provider of integrated information solutions.
The Aims
The mission was to ensure that every member of the global sales team was familiar with a new product launch, its likely competitors, its potential customer base and its applications.
Issues
This was a widely dispersed sales team operating in several languages covering a global customer marketplace. The sales team was used to selling a portfolio of related products but had limited knowledge of the full range of products. The new launch was designed to pull together this portfolio into a single product offering. The client wanted the sales team to build better relationships with their customers in order to increase sales and build long term relationships. In addition the client wanted to diversify sales approaches to influence all parts of the decision making network.
The Solution
In order to achieve the objectives the following priorities were identified:
• Develop questioning skills
• Improve understanding of customer needs
• Understand complex buying networks
• Enhance knowledge existing of the existing product range and learn how it fits together
A 7 day programme was designed to meet these needs while maintaining enthusiasm during the event. The event was broken into 26 short workshops covering market and customer knowledge, product knowledge, competitor intelligence, sales techniques and presentation skills.
Prior to the event experts from with the company were briefed and coached to conduct short input sessions. These sessions became the skeleton around which the event was built. After each expert’s session participants worked in small groups to reinforce and explore the application of learning.
In order to test knowledge and maintain commitment through throughout the event a written exam was devised. In video role-play sessions participants were encouraged to experiment with new techniques in safe environment.
Feedback Evaluation
The workshops received excellent feedback. The final exam, in particular attracted positive feedback. Despite initial apprehension, participants commented that it allowed them to focus and proved motivational when they saw how much they had learned. The practical sessions proved to be a very effective mechanism for addressing specific individual applications of learning.
Follow up
To ensure that the levels of enthusiasm and learning from the event are kept up, the client is conducting a series on one to one role-play sessions. These aim to reinforce knowledge; test and improve skills; gather customer feedback and deal with individual sales issues.
