Perspective

Consultative Selling
PDNs expertise goes beyond the fundamental basics of sales. Opportunity and account planning are vital and a core part of what we provide but are not enough to ensure results. We train and coach sales professionals to develop the intellectual agility, dialogue and behaviours to win the hearts and minds of executive decision makers. We call this skill Consultative Selling. A key element of PDN's work is training and coaching clients in how to strategise and design the series of critical conversations that will make or break their biggest deals. We do this using research into consulting diagnostic tools, key influencing behaviours and the psychology of the buyer. We are happy to share this with our clients and to provide examples of good and bad practices. Top ten best practices
We have identified best practices to achieve breakthroughs in sales performance, based on our experience of building powerful business development engagement approaches with more than 120 clients. 1. Prove credibility by developing insight and foresight that is plausible, relevant and original 2. Identify and prioritise accounts that are not only profitable but game changing 3. Identify the best practice competencies and behaviours that distinguish good from great consultative sales professionals 4. Embed a rigorous consultative approach and set of tools to provide a common language and consistency across the team 5. Develop a broader set of Key Performance Indicators and values that go beyond short term revenue and focus on skills, behaviours and managing critical client conversations 6. Strike a balance between recruiting top talent from outside and recruiting slightly lower level talent which can be developed at a lower cost 7. Ensure sales professionals have compelling value propositions. Most opportunities for building credibility fail within the first two minutes because 'elevator pitches' are undifferentiated 8. Ignite the team with a bold new vision 9. Create an atmosphere of teamwork, trust, respect and a willingness to innovate, experiment and learn 10. Develop an aligned sales team who coach each other and become committed to each other's success

Who is PDN?
PDN is a team of consulting and professional services leaders who bring best practice skills and experience to Professional Services firms and the Global 500. All PDN team members are former partners and principals of consulting firms. We deliver tangible increases in revenues, improved margins in consulting engagements, and groundbreaking services and practices in our clients chosen markets.

How CXOs assess value

Our latest research with CXOs from US and Europe on how they assess value tells us that: Senior Executives do not want to feel sold to. They want a dialogue with a thought provoking professional who can take ownership of the client's needs, has clear insight, a passionate desire to genuinely contribute and can demonstrate capabilities not just speak about them Executives make a judgment around credibility within the first few seconds and they rarely alter it Executives expect a series of conversations that address the irrational, emotional and political interests. If a sales professional does not recognise and address these emotional needs the client will not buy Because sales professionals are unaware of these conversational hurdles they get excluded from opportunities A strong company brand is helpful but only when coupled with a compelling value proposition. Most sales professionals do not prepare their value proposition rigorously enough

1
PDN Ltd 2011

Unfortunately, trust with product and service providers is diminishing and sales professionals must be more skilled in demonstrating trustworthiness.

PDN programmes
PDN programmes are customised for each of our clients based on the following workshops:

Consultative Selling Case studies and testimonials

Over the last twenty years, 85% of PDN clients have gained revenue of at least ten times their investment in the first year alone. Over the last six years (when we introduced more rigorous coaching to our work), our clients have gained between 11x and 1400x their investment in the first year of applying PDN's consultative approach. The return continues over the next few years as behaviours become embedded in the organisation. The software division of global engineering firm won the largest deal in its history ($165m) as a result of PDN's approach (previously their largest deal was $40m) A UK Telecoms firm needed higher margin business and client engagements at more senior level. PDN recruited, trained and coached new consultative sales professionals to win 12.5m of new services business in six months and their largest deal in Europe that year The first day after a five-day programme of role playing sessions, our client won an additional $20m and eight projects in a sales situation where they predicted they would lose the deal completely An IT services firm used PDNs consultative selling approach to build one of the largest global services organizations in the world and increased the size of product deals tenfold Over a fourteen-month period, PDNs client displaced its most significant competitor and won its largest global account. Previously the account CXO was opposed to doing any business with the client PDN trained and coached a twenty-man strategic account sales team for a client to win $1.3bn of new business from scratch

Consultative Selling - Live Opportunities Engaging the Chief Executive & Other Board Members Negotiation and Objection Handling Leading Pursuit Teams Becoming the Trusted Advisor Selling into the Organisation Hunting & Farming Strategies Managing the Opportunity Portfolio Ousting the Incumbent Breaking into an account

If any of these ideas strike a chord, please contact us: contact@pdnltd.com

2
PDN Ltd 2011

PDN Ltd, The City Arc, 89 Worship Street, London EC2A 2BF Tel: +44 (0)845 680 6608 www.pdnltd.com