CSSP - Course and Direction

IMPAX is a leading sales consulting and training company that is committed to helping its clients improve their sales, account management, and sales leadership efforts. IMPAX has worked with thousands of sales professionals to achieve their business objectives in the field and in the classroom throughout North America and abroad.

Q: In your book, Beyond Selling Value, you describe some really effective techniques for avoiding commoditization. Can you outline the most important?

A: Commoditization is currently a big issue in most industries, due to competition, the economy, and more demanding customers. When we think about the key techniques, the first one is that we have to think differently about how we sell. We have to see that we can control the way we approach an account and that we can have an impact.

When most people talk about commoditization, they talk about it as if it is something done by the customer alone. This is usually not true. Commoditization doesn't happen unless the seller is a willing participant. So it's important to remember that the outside world is not entirely to blame for this problem, that we have helped to create the problem ourselves. Obviously, we have to create the solution, too. And that means we have to take responsibility for the interaction with the customer.

There has been so much emphasis on price and terms, but we have to remember that how we sell — and who we are selling to — will affect whether we get commoditized.

Another key point is that we have to change what we know about our prospect, so we have to broaden our research of our customers' business. This is not just superficial data on the industry — which you should also know. You need to know about the customer's company, it's culture, vision and challenges. You need to find out who the key players are in the company -both informally and formally.

We have to do this out of a fundamental belief that we are going to sell to people differently. There are fewer people who can buy value than ever before, and they tend to be the more senior people in organizations. You have to target senior level decision makers who can buy the value you are selling.

Q: How does strategic planning help you with your approach to sales?

A: We are working with a printer who is doing strategic planning. Printers basically have to re-think their industry right now. Technology helps, but ultimately you need to think about your strategy. In doing this, you need to say how we sell has to change in order to adapt to how we do business. Strategic planning will often lead to the realization that the sales operation needs to be aligned with new directions.

Strategic thinking is very useful when thinking about accounts as well. Salespeople today need to think about their customers' strategies when planning how they will work with an account.

Because Simplified Strategic Planning is research-based, there can be an excellent link between research for the strategic planning process and research to build a more thorough understanding of customers.

Q: How can companies using the IMPAX method of sales get the most out of their strategic planning?

A: In strategic planning, companies can do a great job of determining where their priorities are, what markets they will focus on, etc. If they are using IMPAX process, they can use the process to leverage the decision to focus on a specific market. The sales process — if you are willing to invest the time to do it right — will give you much better odds

Q: Thinking about CSSP clients, being small to mid sized companies, could someone say "Well, that applies to big companies and not us?".

A: In the end, we know that it doesn't matter how big or small you are, or what industry you are in. There really isn't a type of company for whom strategic planning and "how we do business" don't matter.

It's tough out there. Global economic conditions are something that we aren't going to change on an individual basis. We have to come to the realization that we need to sell our way out of this mess. Do we factor sales into our strategic planning? Absolutely. It's coming down to how we sell and how we do business.

Q: Can your company be too small to sell strategically?

A: These concepts apply whether we are selling over the phone, face to face, or through distribution. It applies across the board. Not that you should sell every customer face to face, etc., but we should recognize that the same principles apply, no matter what sales channel we choose.

Q: Any closing comments?

A: It dawns on us that people ask themselves what are their greatest assets? We feel that right now, more than ever, your greatest asset is your sales force. How can we get the most out of this asset? This is a critical question we all should be asking.

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