Selling in today’s hyper-competitive business environment forces sales teams to gain and maintain new capabilities. Sure, basic Sales 101 is required.  If a sales person doesn’t possess those basic skills they are not going to perform to expectations.  But the problem doesn’t stop there.  A sales person with excellent basic skills pursuing business against another sales person with the same basic skills will not have any competitive advantage. ES Research’s ongoing research based on our work with companies across many industries in many geographies has yielded some potential areas for significant competitive advantage.  ESR now recognizes that there are three skill areas that can be significantly leveraged for a greater degree of performance, depending on the industry.

1. SMMConnect presents a complimentary webinar
Why Sales 101 Doesn’t Work Anymore
Dave Stein, CEO and Founder of ES Research Group, Inc.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
10 AM / 1:00 PM Eastern (60 Minute Session)
REGISTER or VIEW RECORDING:
http://bit.ly/RhR8Ce

2. Session Description:
Selling in today’s hyper-competitive business environment forces sales teams to
gain and maintain new capabilities. Sure, basic Sales 101 is required. If a
sales person doesn’t possess those basic skills they are not going to perform
to expectations. But the problem doesn’t stop there. A sales person with
excellent basic skills pursuing business against another sales person with the
same basic skills will not have any competitive advantage.
ES Research’s ongoing research based on our work with companies across
many industries in many geographies has yielded some potential areas for
significant competitive advantage. ESR now recognizes that there are three
skill areas that can be significantly leveraged for a greater degree of
performance, depending on the industry.
REGISTER or VIEW RECORDING:
http://bit.ly/RhR8Ce

3. 1. Financial and business acumen. Due to the significant demands for cost and
value justification and the tremendous resistance of corporate procurement
organizations, salespeople need to be better prepare to present their solutions
in financial terms to finance people and business managers.
2. Political selling (leveraging corporate politics) Although vendor evaluations
and selections appear to be unbiased and fair, post-mortems on lost business
reveal that decisions are often made for political reasons, then justified with
logic. Sales professionals with the ability to understand and leverage political
situations fare far better than those who don’t.
3. Competitive strategies and tactics. Competing today isn’t just about what
you sell. It’s about how you sell it, and protecting yourself from competitive
attack, understanding the competitor’s selling strategy, and having an
unbeatable sales plan are what helps win the million dollar deals (and smaller
ones as well) REGISTER or VIEW RECORDING:
http://bit.ly/RhR8Ce

4. During this session we will explore these three areas of competitive selling
advantage and discuss how to assess a sales team’s needs for these capabilities.
Specifically you will:
· Learn the 2 flavors of corporate politics and the risks and rewards associated
with each
· Discover the 10 political selling competencies
· See why effective political selling will yield as many as 8 significant outcomes
· Learn what financial acumen is and 8 areas of leverage it will provide
· Understand what specific competitive strategies and tactics are and 5 critical
competencies
· Be provided with a tool to assess your sales team’s advanced selling
capabilities.
REGISTER or VIEW RECORDING:
http://bit.ly/RhR8Ce

5. About Dave Stein
Dave Stein, CEO and Founder of ES Research Group, Inc., is recognized as the
world’s leading independent expert on sales training. His research and
advisory firm profiles, evaluates, and compares sales training programs
and the companies that provide them. His blog is widely read by both
sales training providers and sales training buyers worldwide.
REGISTER or VIEW RECORDING:
http://bit.ly/RhR8Ce