Complete Learning

1 Preparation and planning

Any competent sales campaign begins with an analysis of the current situation – i.e. a true and realistic assessment of Where We Are Now.

This analysis is usually conducted by reviewing any existing Account Plans, assuming they exist, and interviewing the Account Manager based on the Sales Clinic WIN PLAN template. This process quickly uncovers the real issues that need to be addressed. Very often issues such as lack of clarity over the Proposition, Executive Alignment (or lack of), Competitor Positioning and Commercial Alignment are uncovered during this analysis.

From this analysis we can determine Where Do We Want To Be – what’s our realistic goal? This is important for two reasons: first, because we need to accurately qualify the opportunity so that we can develop better forecasting models. And second, because we will need to agree a WIN PLAN that will help us achieve our goals – we can’t do this if we don’t understand the current situation or what we want to achieve. It seems simple, doesn’t it? But so many sales campaigns fail because these fundamental elements are misjudged or incorrectly assessed.

The Sales Clinic WIN PLAN

The WIN PLAN is a simple but essential process for documenting what we need to do to win a deal, or create an effective Account Strategy. The core of Complete Learning’s skill is in translating this process into a one or two page document that captures all the key elements that need to be addressed to win. This is where the best sales strategy and tactics become clearly defined and agreed upon. This process is enabled by Complete Learning Professionals. The structure of the WIN PLAN is reviewed in the section titled Workshop.

The Sales Clinic Planning Priorities

• Where are we now: a clear and realistic assessment of the current situation
• Where do we want to be: understanding our real goals and timelines
• How are we going to get there: the WIN PLAN - turning sales information into sales intelligence
• How do we control the process: making sure we follow through, back in the workplace, to deliver our WIN PLAN objectives

If required, our clients can be accredited to follow this whole process so that, over time, they become independent in their ability to follow the three step process with confidence.