domingo, 24 de abril de 2011

ADVANCED COMMUNICATION AND NEGOTIATION SKILLS: The Pillars of Value-Creating Business Relationships

We have always stressed the enormous importance of a Value-Based Sales approach in the context of the slow recovery of the markets and the increasingly tough competition. However, this only is one of the ingredients for sales success. The other critical ingredient is the ability of the sales executive to understand and manage the unconscious communication patterns that facilitate the development of close and intimate relationships with customers and business partners. 


There are four approaches that lead to a surprising new dimension in the field of communication:
  • Neuromarketing: Creating effective messages based on latest neuroscience research
  • Character and NLP: Knowing the keys of your customer’s mind
  • Towards a Rhetorical Negotiation: Finding the right words
  • Body language and non verbal communication: Dimensions behind words


The Value Search Team has developed a 2 days course that aims to train business owners, leaders and sales managers in the use of advanced communication, influence and negotiation techniques. The content of this course is based on more than a decade of experience supporting international ICT companies in the development of value-based sales practices, and the application of the most revolutionary marketing, negotiation and communication techniques.

During the course we combine presentations, group discussions and practical exercises, and additionally, participants who have completed the training grant access to an online platform, where they get reference material and a set of complementary services that help them deepen and put into practice the knowledge acquired.

This training is offered in Spanish, English and Portuguese and has been delivered in open format (sponsored by business associations) and private format (internal/customized company training). The number of participants vary from 10 up to 30.

Here you can take a look at the Agenda of our training.


For additional information, please contact me at catala@valuesearchteam.com

miércoles, 17 de noviembre de 2010

UN PUÑADO DE VALIENTES

A estas alturas que está claro que España no sale la crisis ni en 3 ni en 5 años,  lo que se echa en falta es una visión consensuada de lo que se aspira a ser como país en por lo menos 15 años. Esto permitiría enfocar los esfuerzos, recursos e ilusiones de la gente, y orientar las transformaciones necesarias  en las políticas públicas, en el sistema educativo y definir nuevos estímulos al sector productivo. En esta nueva etapa el consumo interno no va a aportar mucho más al crecimiento económico, y los grandes grupos empresariales nacidos en las últimas décadas dependerán cada vez menos del mercado local.  Ahora comenzamos a entender que la salida de la crisis pasa en mayor o menor medida por la construcción de un tejido empresarial constituido por PYMES con vocación netamente exportadora y creadora de productos de alto valor agregado. Esta es una fórmula vieja: son las PYMES exportadoras de productos de alto valor agregado las que históricamente le han dado robustez a las economías de países como Alemania, Holanda, Dinamarca ó Suecia, y no solamente sus grandes empresas como SAP, Philips, Vestas o Volvo (que en su momento también fueron PYMES).

Sin embargo, el reto de construir un universo de PYMES creativas y exportadoras en apenas 15 años tiene unas proporciones titánicas en España, pues independientemente que el Estado pueda generar las políticas necesarias en relativamente poco tiempo, es necesario promover un cambio sustancial en los valores y las motivaciones de la gente - sobre todo los jóvenes - lo que es imposible sin una revolución en el sistema educativo.  De un sistema que enfatiza exageradamente el uso de la memoria, que es agobiante y frustrante (bien lo sabemos los que tenemos hijos en primaria y en la ESO), que parece diseñado para producir personas “uniformes”, obedientes empleados corporativos  o del sector público, es necesario pasar a un sistema que aproveche las potencialidades creativas y la iniciativa individual de chicos y chicas que han nacido conectados a internet,  tienen acceso a todo tipo de información, que adoptan de forma natural las nuevas tecnologías, que no tienen miedo a los idiomas extranjeros , y que poseen sus propias fórmulas para discriminar lo que les interesa y lo que no les interesa dentro de la avalancha informativa del mundo actual.

Para ilustrar un poco el punto de partida y dar una idea de las dimensiones del esfuerzo necesario para transformar la economía, quisiera comparar a España con tres países que han estimulado de forma decidida el desarrollo de una industria de SW exportadora durante las últimas dos décadas: Israel, Finlandia y Uruguay. Vale la pena señalar que Estados Unidos y Alemania fueron excluidos deliberada de este análisis, pues no caben comparaciones con las potencias tecnológicas de siempre.  El análisis está enfocado en el valor y las exportaciones generadas por las empresas que producen software como un producto estándar (escalable comercialmente, y que requieren de fuertes inversiones en I+D), y excluye las empresas  servicios de TI que desarrollan soluciones a medida (no escalables), que implementan soluciones de terceros, o que prestan servicios de outsourcing de TI o BPO.





Como es lógico, el éxito logrado por Israel, Finlandia y Uruguay en el desarrollo de sus respectivas industrias de software no fue fortuito, sino que es el resultado de un conjunto de esfuerzos concertados dentro de una política de Estado. El cuadro que se muestra a continuación trata de resumir lo que cada uno de estos países ha hecho para desarrollar sus industrias de software.



Dicho todo lo anterior, quiero cerrar este artículo saludando a un puñado de valientes: unos pocos emprendedores españoles que años atrás,  cuando la inversión inmobiliaria daba retornos por encima del 10% anual con un riesgo teóricamente “bajo”, decidieron poner su dinero, su tiempo, su ilusión y su esfuerzo en sacar adelante empresas de software innovadoras y exportadoras. Algunas de ellas fallaron en el intento, pero otras han logrado tener éxito sin ventajas fiscales para su actividad económica, sin incentivos a la compra de software nacional, sin políticas de estímulo a la exportación de sus productos. Me refiero a empresas como Openbravo (www.openbravo.com), quienes vieron que el futuro del ERP para PYMES se dirigía hacia modelos de “software libre” y entornos web, y desarrollaron una solución completa y robusta que hoy día se utiliza en alrededor de 50 países gracias a la contribución de una comunidad internacional de usuarios, partners y desarrolladores. También me refiero a empresas como Illuminate Solutions (http://www.illuminateinc.com), pionera a nivel mundial en tecnología CDBMS (Correlation Database Management Systems), capaz de revolucionar la forma como las empresas capturan y analizan sus datos de negocios por una fracción del coste que tiene hacerlo con los proveedores tradicionales de DBMS, y que hoy día está en proceso de expansión internacional. Igualmente me refiero a empresas de creación mucho más reciente, como por ejemplo Mykoots Tech (www.mykoots.com), que entendiendo que el rediseño de procesos y la evolución de los modelos de negocio de muchas industrias pasa por la adopción de tecnologías M2M (machine to machine),  han desarrollado una plataforma M2M flexible, segura y completa, con clara vocación de expansión internacional a corto plazo.


A estos españoles valientes, y a otros cuantos como ellos, les presento mis respetos y mis mejores deseos. Si en vez de decenas fueran miles, en este momento estaríamos viendo la crisis con otra cara.



domingo, 7 de noviembre de 2010

The of role a Value-Based Sales approach in different business cultures


For three and a half years I was part of the team that was responsible for creating and operating the value-based sales support unit in a major global SW company in the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa). During the unit formation, I had the opportunity to be part of a team formed by senior consultants coming from top strategy consulting firms. Our initial objective was to adapt the value-based sales tools developed by our USA colleagues to the extremely diverse and complex business environment of EMEA. It was the first time that we confronted the question of how far the value-based sales tools could be standardized (which was critical to leverage the efforts of the whole EMEA team) or if it was necessary to tailor the value-based sales materials to each specific market according to its business culture (in order to maximize local sales effectiveness).


At the end, we were able to design a value-based sales tool set that was flexible enough to allow adaptations to different business contexts with very few changes, and standard enough to allow the team to lever their efforts across the different geographies. However, there was a permanent discussion among us about how the value-based sales approach itself played a different role depending on the business culture of the country (not all of us were aware at the moment, but by business culture we were referring to the kind of dimensions described in the work of Prof. Geert Hofstede – see http://www.geert-hofstede.com/). 

Based on those discussions and on over 20 interviews and conversations held with account executives, business building managers, and sales managers from different countries during the last 18 months – the vast majority from the software industry - I bring this analysis to share with you.


In the countries on the left side of the chart, good client contacts will probably allow you to be received faster for a meeting. However, if you don’t present your product or services under a value creating perspective for the client, you have a minimal chance to sell something. Primarily because leading vendors have already adopted a value-based sales approach, but also because buyers are more focused on “value creation” as a key driver for decision making.

On the other side, we have countries where it is extremely difficult to be received by a potential client if you don’t have “friends” in the company, you don’t represent a leading brand, or both (note that these countries are positioned high in Hoftede’s “Uncertainty Avoidance” index and some of them also high in the “Power Distance” index). However, once received by the client, a value-based sales approach can be a powerful resource to accelerate sales closure by providing the decision makers the rational elements to internally justify the investment.


In conclusion, a value-based sales approach is always important. However, while in some places it is a “must-have” in others places it is more a “competitive differentiator”.

*  *  *  *  *

For basic concepts on value-based sales see here: http://valuesearchteam.com/think.php  and here http://valuesearchteam.com/vbs_enablement.php 



lunes, 11 de octubre de 2010

The Importance of Value-Based Sales for Startups and Early Stage Companies

In this initial entry I would like to bring for discussion an analysis based on interviews with executives and account managers from 12 different B2B software companies, ranking from large multinational to small early stage companies.  The driving hypothesis is that sales effectiveness is a consequence of the maturity of the software solution and the strength of the vendor’s brand. In this case, we understand “sales effectiveness” as the ratio and the speed on which you convert “cold calls” into closed deals, considering that the calls are addressed to the right person in the target client and the lead is highly qualified.



The difference in the sales effort between new companies with new solutions compared to leading brands with mature solutions, is dramatic. In a leading company with a mature solution a sales rep needs around 30 calls to open 18-24 doors (client visits), from which 7-12 can be turned into closed deals within 6 – 12 months. However, in the case of a new company with a new solution, the sales rep needs to double the number of calls (60) to open the same number of doors (18-24), and thereafter, the sales conversion rate drops dramatically: only 2-4 deals within 9-18 months. Note that in the case of new solutions, in order to close a deal it is necessary to successfully run pilots and convince everybody in the client about the benefits (and "controlled risks") of adopting the new solution.

Why a value-based sales approach is critical for new companies with new solutions?

It is ironic to note that while leading software companies have established sound value-based sales practices, new companies with new solutions are far from even considering to try this sales approach. For a common understanding , for value-based sales I mean a sales approach in which the main focus is to demonstrate and jointly assess with the client the business value of the solution (i.e. cost reduction and/or increased revenues for the customer, via process optimization, cross selling, client retention, new business models), rather than focus the discussion around product features and pricing.

During their initial years, software companies’ efforts are mostly oriented to product development, and the team mind-set is naturally oriented toward resolving technical issues. But once the product is ready - or almost ready - to market, there is the strong need to state a powerful business-oriented value proposition, and develop value-based sales materials, processes and tools. In the following image we can see how a value-based sales practice can help startup and early stage B2B companies throughout the client acquisition process.





For more information on how to build a value-based sales practice you can always refer to the following sections in our webpage:


http://www.valuesearchteam.com/vbs_enablement.php

http://www.valuesearchteam.com/approach.php