The document discusses common sales challenges such as discounting to make sales, spending too much time selling to non-buyers, inaccurate forecasts, low win rates, and inconsistent new hire performance. It then introduces CustomerCentric Selling as a sales methodology that can help address these issues. CustomerCentric Selling trains reps in prospecting, identifying customer needs and goals, understanding current situations, and helping customers understand requirements for successful implementation. This leads to increased revenue, improved forecasting accuracy, and lower costs.

1. “My reps think selling means discounting
until the prospect say yes.”
TRYING TO BUY BUSINESS?
“We spend too much time selling feature
and function to people who can’t buy, rather
than having meaningful business discussions
with the people that can.”
LOSING SALES PRODUCTIVITY?
“We’re lucky to close 50% of what we
forecast. My people need to learn
how to sell.”
INACCURATE FORECASTS?
“We lose more sales to no decision than
to any single competitor.”
LOW WIN RATES?
“Few of my new hires become top producers.”
INCONSISTENT PERFORMANCE?
Sound all too familiar?
CustomerCentric Selling™ —
CustomerCentric The Message Driven Sales Process™ can help.
Selling™
www.customercentricsystems.com

2. CustomerCentric Selling and its
focus on prospect goals and
objectives, has helped us
accomplish two things: higher
quality customer interactions,
and better customer under-
standing of how they'll actually
The CustomerCentric Selling
CUSTOMERCENTRIC SELLING™ use our products and services
sales methodology is
equips your sales people with the to achieve their objectives.
transferable and can be ~ Rick Betts
skills required to sell more effectively
mapped to forecasting PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT
in today’s competitive marketplace. Ventaso
milestones. The process
can easily be learned,
Following a repeatable, scaleable and
implemented, monitored, coached and adjusted.
verifiable sales process, your reps are better
enabled to:
CustomerCentric Selling trains your reps to:
• Initiate opportunities at decision maker levels
• Prospect more effectively
• Identify decision maker business goals
• Diagnose prospects needs with a bias toward
• Understand prospects’ current situation and measure your offering
its cost
• Reach the right person with the power to buy
• Propose only the parts of your offering that can help
• Eliminate 'no decisions'
your prospect achieve his/her goals
• Hold the price without losing the sale
• Help prospects understand requirements for successful
• Shorten sales cycles and close faster
implementation
• Eliminate peaks and valleys in their pipeline
• Gain mutual agreement with decision makers on what
has to happen in order to make an informed purchase • Prepare an accurate sales forecast
decision
Following our comprehensive sales methodology, your organiza-
• Document efforts comprising the buying cycle to
tion benefits from increased revenue and improved forecasting
maintain control, keep senior management informed
accuracy. Margin improvements come from shorter sales cycles.
and allow forecasting at an opportunity level.
More effective marketing campaigns are created. Costs of sales
management and administration are significantly decreased
due to the implementation of repeatable objective processes.
WORKSHOPS
CustomerCentric Selling workshops are held throughout the world and For larger clients, we customize workshops specific to markets and
have proven to be a convenient way to train new staff; train entire offerings. Find more information about our workshops, customizing
staff; and for previewing the sales methodology before adopting it. a workshop and how to register at www.CustomerCentricSystems.com.
CUSTOMERCENTRIC SELLING™ • Negotiating and managing • Create effective marketing collateral, • Communicating effectively to
Learn to understand and execute a expectations including key messages, the purpose insure goals, objectives and
systematic sales process specific to of each piece, and how it is delivered required capabilities are met
the high tech market. An assortment of CUSTOMERCENTRIC MESSAGING™ • Conducting an internal transition
lectures, in-class labs and role-playing CUSTOMERCENTRIC SERVICES™
Document dialog with your prospect meeting from sales to the imple-
scenarios. Key skills include: Learn to implement products and mentation consultants
about how your offering can solve
services to the customer’s goals and
• Prospecting and developing new his/her goals. Learn related marketing • Guidelines for implementation
objectives. Provides a road map for
business efforts to help your reps sell effectively. consultants to create their own
implementation consultants. Topics
Concepts include:
• Identifying and creating unique processes for managing the
include:
business value ongoing implementation
• Effectively document conversations • Linking CustomerCentric Selling
• Qualifying and disqualifying so both sides clearly understand to the implementation phase
prospects • Develop a messaging strategy that • Watching for changing require-
• Controlling the sales process relates to the prospects’ market, ments, additional needs and new
job title and goals sales opportunities
CustomerCentric Selling™ — The Message Driven Sales Process™
CustomerCentric
Selling™ www.customercentricsystems.com

3. CustomerCentric CustomerCentric
Messaging™ Services™
CUSTOMERCENTRIC MESSAGING™ CUSTOMERCENTRIC SERVICES™
The foundation of any sales process is a meaningful docu- Research shows that nearly 80 percent of
mented dialog between seller and prospect about how the buyers of software and related services feel
prospect can solve a problem using the seller's offering. they do not receive the predicted benefits and,
That’s where CustomerCentric Messaging is vital. as a result, are dissatisfied with their supplier.
Frequently this is due to poor communication in both the
In order for the seller to relate to the prospects’ market, job suppliers' and purchasers' organizations during the transition
title and goals, the dialog must follow a specific defined sales from sales to implementation and during the implementation
strategy supported by effective messaging. This encompasses process itself.
every element associated
with marketing collateral, Beyond the initial sale and messaging, CustomerCentric
CustomerCentric Selling helped
us develop a winning strategy. including key messages, Services trains organizations to effectively implement prod-
In fact, I recently used one of
the purpose of each piece, ucts and services to the customer’s documented goals and
the ‘take-back’ letters, received
how it is delivered and objectives agreed upon during the sales cycle. Yet also being
a response in 15 minutes via
more. cognizant of the customers’ changing requirements, additional
e-mail, and completed a
needs and new sales opportunities. The net result of following
$3,750,000 sale that was about
Without a strong docu-
a month overdue. this methodology is an improved implementation and a
mented messaging
~ Linda Taylor satisfied customer.
VP OF SALES
strategy, teaching sales-
Thinking Edge
people to qualify the For more detailed information about CustomerCentric
prospect, gain access to Selling—The Message Driven Sales Process, please visit
CustomerCentric Selling provides
a process for engaging a prospect power, negotiate, create a value us on the Web at www.CustomerCentricSystems.com.
and managing that opportunity
proposition and strategic sales
to a logical conclusion. I strongly
training are irrelevant.
believe the tools and strategies
will allow us to better forecast
and ultimately close more of the
opportunities we are engaged in
and avoid the frustration of hav-
ing a prospect disappear after
CUSTOMERCENTRIC SELLING™ — A RECOMMENDED APPROACH
months and months of effort.
~ Frank Chisholm
SVP OF SALES
1 Test Drive Our Methodology: Attend one of 4 Participate in the CustomerCentric Selling
Wheelhouse
our public workshops before making a formal Workshop: It will give a detailed quot;how-toquot; plan
commitment. on what to consider doing next with an account.
2 Analyze your sale process to determine what 5 Train the Sales Managers: An opportunity to
can be improved: What marketing support will be evaluate each sales rep, develop an objective plan
required, and how it can be efficiently managed. according to the predefined sales process and how
to create an accurate forecasting model.
3 Create a Customized Sales Tool Kit:
Program materials and templates customized
6 Maintain the Process: Direct intervention and
to specific products and markets. coaching in areas of need for support.
CustomerCentric Selling™ — The Message Driven Sales Process™
CustomerCentric
Selling™ www.customercentricsystems.com

4. Jim Naro
LICENSED CUSTOMERCENTRIC
SELLING™ AFFILIATE
Naro specializes in helping
senior management
achieve productivity,
CustomerCentric Selling definite-
profitability, and revenue
ly puts a proven sales process in
goals by planning and
your hands and emphasizes the
transitioning sales activities and
importance of using all of the
operations to an environment with
steps in the process in order to
a common set of definable and
take a prospect from initial
measurable sales processes.
interest to closure.
~ Chad Wanless
Having worked in the high-technology
TECHNICAL SALES REPRESENTATIVE
industry since 1980, he initially held
Actional, Inc.
technical and technical management
positions at Wang Laboratories and
BBN Planet, where he focused on
that knows what it takes to be successful
Products and services that are viewed as
data network design, performance
in difficult selling environments.
difficult to sell; hard to describe; intangible; analysis, and pre-sales support. In
require long sell cycles; are typically sold 1993, Naro built out BBN Planet's
Our founding partners joined with Mike
to committees and perceived as expensive New England region direct sales
Bosworth, founder of the Solution Selling ®
characterize the high technology market- channel as the regional sales manager
sales methodology and the original author of and supported AT&T sales as a channel
place.
quot;Solution Selling: Creating Buyers in Difficult manager. As director of sales, he
Selling Markets”, to create CustomerCentric implemented a sales process that
CustomerCentric Systems specializes in
helped the company grow from 70
Systems. With growing resources nationally
helping companies in this competitive
sales people to more than 700, with
and throughout Europe, we are uniquely
market define and implement their
revenue growth of more than $1 billion.
positioned to help our clients meet the
organizational sales process through
As Vice President and General
demands of a global economy.
our business development processes and
Manager of Covad Communications,
workshops. Our founding partners have a Naro lead the Sales and Operations
For more information about
combined 75 years in senior-level sales for the New England region, helping
CustomerCentric Selling, please visit
management roles. Every member of our the company achieve its stellar IPO
www.CustomerCentricSystems.com
staff is a seasoned sales and marketing in 1999 raising over $150 million
or contact us via email at and a $1.2 billion market cap.
executive from a high technology company
info@CustomerCentricSystems.com.
Naro holds a bachelor’s from Purdue
University and an MBA from New
Hampshire College.
CustomerCentric Selling™
6 Mystic Court
Nashua, NH 03062
PH: (603)881-7712
FAX: (603)484-5520
For more information or to
arrange for an onsite Executive
Overview, contact Jim at
jnaro@CustomerCentricSystems.com
CustomerCentric Selling™ — The Message Driven Sales Process™
CustomerCentric
Selling™ www.customercentricsystems.com