Software, Technology & IT Sales Training

Selling the digitally transformative technology solutions of today demands new skills. Technology, IT, telecommunications, and software sales professionals need a training programme that empowers them to position differentiated value across a complex channel partner ecosystem. This challenge intensifies as tech companies elevate this strategy by moving beyond their core markets in search of new revenue opportunities. Traversing this steep incline means selling technology requires sales professionals to navigate challenges like:

• Bringing existing products into adjacent or emerging verticals to drive predictable revenue
• Customising positioning strategies to each individual customer with specialised needs
• Engaging post-merger customers who possess greater negotiation leverage

Tech sales training programmes must respond to these emerging factors. At Richardson Sales Performance, our programmes have helped many Fortune 500 technology companies do so by:

• Creating a scalable strategy to increase referral networks
• Identifying equitable trades in the negotiation process to drive mutually beneficial outcomes
• Presenting pricing strategies and proposals that address the procurement professional’s needs

Developing these specialised selling skills requires customised technology sales training that directly addresses everyday challenges. We create this relevancy by interviewing sales leaders before designing any training content. The details learnt in these conversations guide our curriculum design. In many of these conversations, we have learnt about the leadership’s challenges in positioning intangible, digitally transformative solutions like cloud services.

“[The tech sales training programme was the] right balance between theory and practise. Role playing is important. Also, we are able to look at customer engagements in a structured way.” - Red Hat training participant

Selling the Cloud

The cloud has dramatically impacted the way businesses buy software. As the cloud layers have matured from IaaS through PaaS to SaaS, it has transformed the playing field for providers along the way.

The most critical implications of maturation to cloud services sales teams are two-fold:

• The increased proliferation of services being provided at each layer within the cloud
• The commoditization of infrastructure services as buyers now expect to consume straight to SaaS

Sales organisations that make the adjustments necessary to successfully navigate through this changing landscape will have the ability to capitalise on a significant market opportunity. Learn more about cloud selling in our white paper: Selling the Cloud: 10 Best Practises for Sales Execution.

Our Customised Approach to Technology Sales Training

We develop tech sales training programmes that speak to the details of the business. To do so, we draft a comprehensive analysis of the current state of the organisation. We examine what is working and what is not. Using this dimensional picture, we begin to build a training programme that empowers sales professionals in the technology industry with skills that can be directly applied to opportunities in their pipeline.

Throughout this process, we interview sales leaders, learning leaders, marketing team members, and sales professionals. Together, these responses allow our instructional designers to build technology sales training content that supports the organisation’s existing strategies, competitive approach, and value proposition.

Training Programmes for Technology Sales Professionals

SPRINT SELLING™

Technology sales professionals need to be agile as they move in parallel alongside the customer’s shifting needs. These changes are frequent because technology buying decisions have implications for nearly every aspect of the businesses especially as IoT and SaaS solutions rise in prominence. With our Sprint Selling Programme, participants learn to sell technology using an agile framework consisting of proven selling activities that drive momentum, agile skills backed by behavioural science, tools to increase effectiveness and efficiency, and progress measurement to elevate deal strategy and coaching.

SPRINT PROSPECTING™

Effective sales prospecting in the technology industry requires agility because targeting the right customers, creating compelling, contextual messaging, and seeking engagement are all iterative processes. Sales professionals must have the agility to track customer changes and redevelop their understanding of the prospect’s business. This fluid movement has never been more relevant to the technology industry than it is now because customers across industries are aggressively pursuing digital transformation strategies. Our Sprint prospecting programme gives sales professionals the skills to deeply engage leads, market themselves, and access underlying customer needs.

SPRINT NEGOTIATIONS™

Reaching the negotiation phase of a sale requires enormous cost and effort. Therefore, sales professionals need to be fully equipped with the right negotiation skills to ensure the deal closes and without any loss to its full value. Richardson Sales Performance’s Sprint Negotiations Programme provides sales professionals with the dialogue skills to shape perceptions of value, protect the scope of the sale, overcome objections and ultimately win the deal. The result is a mutually beneficial outcome that paves the way for future business and an ongoing relationship.

How Richardson Sales Performance Improved Selling Outcomes for a Fortune 500 Computer Manufacturer

A Fortune 500 computer manufacturer needed to improve direct sales for their multiple division call centre by increasing close ratios, capitalising on cross-selling opportunities, and building better long-term relationships. Doing so meant earning full managerial support to reinforce change across the call centre culture.

The company partnered with Richardson Sales Performance. After extensive interviews, Richardson's instructional designers created a combined instructor-led and online learning solution.

The training prepared participants to:

• Keep the dialogue customer-focused to identify needs and position solutions
• Upsell and cross-sell systems components and peripherals
• Identify the decision-making process
• Identify and maximise customer “buying signals”
• Resolve tough customer questions and objections

An internal level four evaluation on training effectiveness created by the client indicated that for every $1.00 spent on Richardson Sales Performance training, they experienced a return of $321.00 in revenue.

A recent internal evaluation found that, after participating in Richardson Sales Performance sales training, there was an increase in average weekly margins of 10%. The client reported that this translated into $5 million in overall margin increases. The head of global sales training credits the Richardson Sales Performance training as being instrumental to their success in this measure.