A Communispond Case Study Summary
When you need your salespeople to become effective listeners
A leading player in the financial industry
Fleet Bank had hundreds of salespeople across the organization
who needed to connect with their audiences, build lasting relationships,
differentiate themselves from the competition, and increase individual
sales. They knew that the answer to this need was skill-based sales
training, but Fleet's training director realized that successful
sales training is part of a process, not an event. The training
itself, while a vital starting point, can only be viewed as a success
if the skills learned are demonstrated where they matter most—in
front of the client. Furthermore, the skills must be honed and coached
consistently over time until they become habit.
To ensure relevance, Communispond used both a bottom-up and a top-down
plan to roll out the program. Starting with the participants themselves,
Communispond conducted phone interviews with each participant to
identify skill gaps and desired outcomes.
Then the Regional VP got involved, making it clear that this program
was supported from the top and that there would be reinforcement
and follow-up after the program. There was no doubt in participants’
minds that the entire organization was behind this effort.
Reinforcement from Day One
On the day after the program, class participants were shadowed on
sales calls. Using checklists and job aids to capture what was happening
on the calls, they were provided immediate feedback and coaching
to determine the answers to these questions:
- Were the skills taught being used properly (or at all)?
- Were salespeople talking less and listening better?
- Were they linking their features and benefits to their customer’s
needs, or were they pitching features and benefits?
Fleet’s commitment went even further than that. Participants
were not considered official graduates of the program until they
could report to their coaches or managers at least one instance
in which they had used the skills on a sales call and seen tangible
results.
The expectation that the skills were to be used, as well as the
discipline to follow up, enabled Fleet to track the results. Using
a sample of 106 salespeople, 14 of whom were Socratic Selling graduates,
Fleet tracked their sales over the next two months. One month after
the training, the control group showed a sales increase of 27%.
The Socratic Selling graduates increased their sales 58%.
During the second month, the control group increased sales by 29%,
and the Communispond graduates, a whopping 89%. Over two months,
the group that learned and practiced Socratic Selling increased
their sales an average of 73%.
Solid Concepts, Taught Effectively
What did Socratic Selling offer Fleet Bank?
- Emphasis on the dialog skills needed to create relationships
- Questioning and probing skills to uncover opportunities
- Videotaped role-plays so participants see and hear what the
prospect sees and hears
- Easy-to-use coaching tools to reinforce skills from day one
The Success Continues
Fleet Bank has gone on to train more than 600 people in multiple
divisions and countries in the Socratic Selling program. When you
can trace the kind of results Fleet salespeople achieved to a single
training event, you stick with it.
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