Overview/Description
Can you imagine trying to sell a product or service to a customer you know nothing about? You probably wouldn't succeed. The better you know your customer, the higher your chance for success. In this course, you'll learn about the first major component of the strategic account sales (SAS) approach: research. You'll start by learning about the key areas to research using the SAS approach and where to find business information sources about your client. Next, you'll explore researching your customer's business and key players and applying what you learn to the process of account planning. And finally, you'll gain an understanding of the business fit and how you and your customer can both achieve your desired business objectives.
Target Audience
Individuals responsible for sales, sales support, business or account development, and sales management activities with major, national, or global sales accounts
identify the five questions that are critical to your success and drive your customer research.
match the five strategic account sales (SAS) search elements used in customer research with the characteristics of those elements.
match business information sources with the types of information found in those sources.
Researching Your Customer's Business
recognize the benefits of researching a customer's business profile and direction.
match the categories of questions to ask when researching customer profile and direction to examples of questions in those categories.
match the categories of questions to ask when researching departmental profile and direction to examples of questions in those categories.
research business information sources and determine the correct information to include in the corporate profile and departmental profile parts of the SAS account planner in a given scenario.
Researching Your Customer's People
recognize the value of researching a customer's organizational structure and key players.
match buying roles to descriptions of those roles.
match the categories of questions to ask when researching customer organizational structure to examples of questions in those categories.
match the categories of questions to ask when researching key players to examples of questions in those categories.
research business information sources and determine the correct information to include in the organizational structure and key player profile parts of the SAS account planner in a given scenario.
match the four elements of an organizational chart to descriptions of those elements.
Researching the Business Fit
recognize the benefits of determining the business fit with the customer.
match the steps for determining the business fit with the activities related to those steps.
determine the correct business fit statements for a customer in a given scenario.