Sales Manager Coaching Manual for Consultative Selling
© 2008 The JS Group. All rights reserved.

Sales Manager Coaching Manual for Consultative Selling
Objective of Step 8
This step has two sections. The first objective of Step 8 is to understand how to develop a targeted proposal that accurately describes the prospect’s problem and how your solution meets those needs. The second objective of Step
8 is to learn how to prepare an effectively designed and delivered presentation.
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6.
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8.
9.
0.
Statement of Prospect’s Need
Proposed Solution
Investment Summary/Costs
Elaboration on Benefits
Conclusion & Project Acceptance
Additional Information/Appendices
Determine if coaching is needed:
Can your team answer these questions?
What is a high value proposal? How do I differentiate my company during the proposal stage? Do I make effective presentations?
The Proposal Template worksheet on page 6 of Step 8 contain a brief description of each of these areas.
Here are a few tips you can give your team on how to improve the format of their proposals:
Determine actions for yourself:
How can you work better across the organization to develop all-inclusive proposals, not just price quotes?
What techniques can I coach my team on to improve the presentation process?
Step 8 Content: Proposals
A proposal is actually a persuasion tool that offers to fill a need for a prospect. The goal of a proposal is not only to educate, but also to convince. Persuasive writing at its best helps close sales! Your team must be able to clearly, and with value, answer what, how, when and how much for their prospects in a clear, logical and easy-to-read manner.
A proposal is also an advertisement for your company’s identity; make sure each sales person clearly states value and differentiation. Make sure they understand that a proposal is not just about the solution. It is about the benefit the solution brings to their prospect.
To be an effective vehicle for a solution presentation, a proposal must be organized in an effective manner. In general, these are the areas to cover:
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2.
.
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Title Page
Cover Letter
Executive Summary
Prospect Objectives
Developing a proposals involves preparations in several stages. Your sales people must consider several things as they prepare their proposal.
• Who receives the proposal
•
• When to submit it
What to say in the proposal
• How to say it
•
• What else should be included in the proposal
How to present it
• How to follow up post-presentation
As a sales person develops a written proposal, they must keep the audience they are addressing in mind; it certainly would do no good and quite possibly would be their downfall if they addressed a CFO in technical terms when he is concerned with issues like ROI or TCO. The best way to handle a proposal that will be viewed and evaluated by several possible influencers is to aim the main proposal to the central influencer and then create executive summaries aimed at the “language” of the other reviewers or include a technical terminology glossary explaining any technical language in a generally understood manner.
Additionally, the use of tables and charts is an excellent way to lay out information so that it is easy to read and understand. Long flowing narratives only reduce the
Step 8: Proposal and Presentation © 2008 The JS Group. All rights reserved.

Sales Manager Coaching Manual for Consultative Selling
(continued) chances of your prospect reading the proposal. Use headers and other graphics to separate information and make it more visually interesting and easy to follow.
Be sure that your team sets clear objectives for the presentation meeting. Here are some tips for you to pass on to your team:
Remember, submitting a written proposal without first obtaining verbal agreement can destroy momentum in a sale. Prospects may not understand or agree with what the sales person is proposing and this will damage their relationship with the prospect. Sales people should insist on going through the proposal verbally before submitting it in writing. This extra step allows them to gauge the prospect’s response, handle concerns/objections, clear up ambiguities and fine-tune their final proposal to fully meet their prospect’s needs.
1. Start from the end – what should the prospect leave the presentation with?
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•
•
•
What should the prospect’s attitude be as a result of the presentation?
Plan to start with a real jolt (a quote, statistic, or relevant case story) that is based on that emotion and include a powerful conclusion that goes back to that emotion and get their commitment.
What should the action items or commitment be?
• A meeting with a C-Level Executive? A definite decision now?
What should the prospect learn as a result of the presentation?
Step 8 Content: Presenting and Presentations
An effective proposal must be paired with an effective presentation. The delivery of your sales team’s proposals must be as clean and well structured as the proposal they are presenting.
Just like interviewing and questioning, presenting is actually something people do every day whether they realize it or not. Presenting is basically convincing and making an impression, whether trying to win over a coworker to a point of view or delivering a proposal to a prospect. It’s the way in which the ideas or materials are presented that help win the sale.
Mastery of presentation skills brings the sale closer; the keys are to:
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•
•
•
•
•
• Convince
Be responsive
Make an impression
Influence
Gain attention
Prepare
Know your audience
2. Create an agenda - this gives the sales person control of the meeting and helps them prepare for the presentation
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Puts the focus on achieving the presentation objectives
Allows the prospect to prepare for the presentation
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Send the agenda well in advance to the prospect and ask for:
Comments and agreement on the agenda
Additional topics to be included
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Additional information the prospect would like the sales person to provide
Specific questions the prospect wants the sales person to address
• A complete listing of attendees (Note: as the sales manager, you may want to attend as support for your team member depending on who from the prospect’s company is attending.)
2 Step 8: Proposal and Presentation © 2008 The JS Group. All rights reserved.

Sales Manager Coaching Manual for Consultative Selling
(continued)
3. Check for Last Minute Adjustments
•
• Before the sales person starts the presentation, they should ask if anything has changed since their last meeting or conversation. For instance, a competitor may have presented to the prospect yesterday or there might have been a change of company direction and/or budget.
The sales person should find out any change of course or attitude as early as possible so they can better prepare a reactive strategy.
Proper question management will increase your sales team’s rapport with their audience, confirm their expertise and increase the effectiveness and outcome of their presentations.
During the presentation, questions are effective The old adage about keeping it simple is as true today as ever; don’t waste time going over every little detail. If transitions and interaction-promoters but time must be tightly managed; answering questions at the end allows the sales person more control and enables them to find the holes in their presentation and provide a clean ending to the presentation.
•
•
If the questioner is dominating the time, do not look back at them at the end of the answer
Repeat the call to action in “final thoughts” after the Q&A.
There are many techniques and things that a sales person must remember as they prepare their presentation. The most important is to stay focused on the audience and on what motivates them. The sales person should already have a good feel for this if they have done their homework during the entry and discovery sales steps. It is also very important to make a lasting impression. A strong branding and value must be transmitted. The sales person should end on a strong, branded note.
“Be sincere. Be brief. Be seated.”
~Franklin Roosevelt
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Offer these tips:
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• Plan for questions – set audience expectations your sales people can interest the prospect in their proposal, the prospect will read it on their own.
The sales person must be direct, and when they’re done, ask for the sale.
Decide time for questions - during the presentation or after?
Anticipate and pre-plan questions and answers
Clarify answers for the audience
Take time to plan the answer
Remove hostile or confusing content
Always look at the questioner, address the audience with the answer, and then look back to questioner
Step 8: Proposal and Presentation © 2008 The JS Group. All rights reserved.

Sales Manager Coaching Manual for Consultative Selling
Proposal Tip:
What if your team knows the person receiving the proposal is NOT the decision maker?
Tell them to ask questions and have elements in the proposal that only the decision maker can answer or provide comments.
Presentation Tip:
What if the prospect insists on receiving the proposal before providing any response? Have your team prepare a “short version” proposal for each prospect they visit.
Some final coaching tips for you:
• Practice makes perfect – give your sales team as much exposure and opportunity to practice as you can.
• Work with the marketing team and provide presentation tools to your team – visuals to use in their presentation materials, interesting marketing brochures and videos about your company, small company gifts that reference the
• company’s brand
Provide them presentation skills training if needed. For instance, some training companies will videotape the training participants – it helps tremendously when your team sees themselves in action.
Session Objective: Deliver an effective oral presentation of a proposal, supported by an agenda and other materials.
Look to demonstrate a knowledge of their “prospect’s” needs and benefits of the “solution.”
This is a multi-tiered exercise that has quite a bit of prework. Be sure to allocate sufficient time for the pre-work. their thoughts into the correct format. Give them the
Presentation Theme and Participant Details worksheet and Meeting Agenda and Preparation on pages 0
- of Step 8 to use to set the scene and tone for their presentation. Instruct them that they will be evaluated in terms of preparation, content and presentation effectiveness. Advise them to make maximum use of the tools they have been given to create an effective proposal presentation.
Have your salespeople come prepared with a 2 minute proposal on a “solution” of their choice that they will “sell” to their peers through a presentation. Encourage them to get creative and make any assumptions they want. Let them know they will be ranked not only by the session coach, but by their peers.
Give them the Proposal Template, Proposal Preparation
Outline and Benefit Statement for Proposal worksheets on pages 6 - 9 of Step 8 to use to help them organize
Session coach should prepare a proposal and presentation checklist of key elements that the proposal and presentation should contain based on the material in this step.
Action: Each person stands up in front of the group and delivers his or her proposal presentation. The group votes on whether or not they would accept the proposal, and the coach ranks each person on proposal and presentation key elements.
Step 8: Proposal and Presentation © 2008 The JS Group. All rights reserved.

Sales Manager Coaching Manual for Consultative Selling
(continued)
Discussion: Coach goes through the checklist they developed in the pre-work and “grades” each person on his or her proposal and presentation elements. Discuss techniques that did or didn’t work. Reward high scores.
Have a vote at the end of each presentation. Provide each person with three ideas for improvement. Follow-up the session with further practice sessions as needed.
As a result of this coaching session:
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• All sales people will be able to develop a benefit statement for a proposal.
Each sales person’s time to close will shorten through effective proposal creation and presentation.
Step 8: Proposal and Presentation © 2008 The JS Group. All rights reserved.

Sales Manager Coaching Manual for Consultative Selling
1.
Title Page
This is the theme of your proposal in simplified terms and should be the first thing your prospect sees. State in clear terms the thesis of your proposal addressing the needs of the prospect.
2.
Cover Letter
This is the formal “handing over” of the proposal to the prospect. It should be short and to the point. Thank the prospect for the opportunity to provide him with a proposal to address the theme shown on the title page. Also include a brief sentence about the relationship that you plan to build.
3.
Executive Summary
Return to this section and write a summary after you have completed the entire proposal. Expand on your theme and present a project summary that briefly highlights why your solution solves the prospect’s problem/ meets the prospect’s needs. It should be just the “facts” in less than 200 words.
Remember: this section may be the ONLY section of the proposal read by a busy CEO or CFO. Include the benefit statement in this section that answers the “What’s in it for me?” question.
4.
Prospect Objectives
Show the prospect that you understand his business needs and that your solution is geared to help him succeed. Make it clear early on in the proposal that the prospect is the focus. The main point to focus on is the nature of the prospect’s needs: often bullet points are sufficient.
5.
Statement of Prospect’s Need
This is the problem identification section. Provide a “snapshot” of the situation and problem as it currently exists. Communicate that you know the prospect’s business and understand their needs. Write a researched situational analysis of the prospect’s problem and include your insights into the situation. Illustrate not only your understanding of the problem, but your depth and insight. Remember: relate business problems, not technical symptoms, in the proposal.
6.
Proposed Solution
Describe what you will do and how you will do it, in fairly general terms. Paint a picture of how your prospect’s business will look/function once your solution has been implemented. Be aggressive, but be careful not to over-promise or set unrealistic expectations. Be certain that you are aware of all the alternative options your prospect may consider and have a strategy prepared.
Tie your solution to the prospect’s responsibilities, role and needs; make him look good, a hero, by choosing your solution. Stress how you solve their challenges and the value your company and the solution bring to the table. Reinforce your expertise and knowledge by providing your company’s story.
7.
Investment Summary
Don’t talk about price until this point; any earlier mentioning of costs jeopardizes your success by diverting attention.
Present the investment with respect to the services and implementation steps. Be as detailed as possible in the services/implementation steps, but NOT IN THE PRICING. The pricing should be “bottom line” numbers only – not itemized costs. You want to discourage price-shopping and nit-picking over individual items. The
6 Step 8: Proposal and Presentation © 2008 The JS Group. All rights reserved.

Sales Manager Coaching Manual for Consultative Selling
(continued) detail in the services and implementation portion emphasizes the many steps and the extent of expertise that your company will apply to implement the solution. It also distracts the prospect from the pricing for various hardware/software components of the solution.
Use charts and tables to make it easier for the prospect to read and understand this section. A project chart that breaks the project up into its proper stages is a very impressive and professional piece of information to provide to the prospect. The number and complexity of the steps reinforce that the “cost” is not all that high relative to what they are receiving.
8.
Benefits
Re-state the benefit statement, and add additional information on the prospect’s problems and how the prospect will benefit from implementing your solution. Elaborate on the benefits: bullet items are usually sufficient. Place your ROI/TCO analysis or other financial value measurements here, along with the list of
“qualified” benefits that the prospect will receive from your solution.
9.
Conclusion and Project Acceptance
This is your PR time; use a reference story to prove your worth and qualifications. Reinforce your company’s story. Clearly state, in terms the prospect understands, why you are the best company for the job. End with a statement about your interest in having the prospect’s business: reiterate those aspects of your solution that deliver the prospect’s anticipated benefits. Invite the prospect to sign and accept your proposal. State the next steps or action items to move your proposal forward.
10.
Additional Information/Appendices
Place your company information, personnel qualifications, and any references cited in the proposal in this section. If you are dealing with a very technical primary contact, provide detailed technical information relating to the configuration that you will be using to implement their solution.
• Assumptions: State your key assumptions: value calculation assumptions (ROI, TCO, etc.), proposal acceptance (i.e.
• validity) date and implementation date and project scope.
Solutions details: Provide technical details of your solution, special features, process maps and flowcharts and
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•
• product screen shots.
Products/services contract: State clearly and set expectations on what the prospect should expect from your product and service contracts, for example, detailed description of prospect support, reporting, manual formats and additional services’ charges.
Training program: List what training will be provided (technical, prospect service, sales and marketing, administrative), training dates/period, training format and the number of training seats.
Prospect’s responsibilities: List what the prospect must commit to providing promptly or as soon as possible, for example, information about the prospect’s infrastructure and systems, service vendors’ contacts and access to the
•
•
• prospect’s hardware and software.
Implementation schedule: Divide your delivery schedule into phases. List key deliverables and milestones in each stage.
Additional ordering information: State any additional, critical information such as ordering procedures and payment terms.
Additional legal documentation and references
Step 8: Proposal and Presentation © 2008 The JS Group. All rights reserved.

Sales Manager Coaching Manual for Consultative Selling
Instructions: Develop an outline of your proposal with the basic elements for your final version. Use this as an internalonly document to guide your initial proposal development.
General Category Proposal Section Bullet Points for Proposal Content
. Title page
Name and General
Information
2. Cover Letter
. Summary
. Prospect Objectives
Prospect’s
Perceived Problem
. Statement of Prospect’s
Needs
6. Proposed Solution
. Investment Summary
8. Benefits
Proposed Solution
9. Conclusion and Project
Acceptance
0. Additional Information
8 Step 8: Proposal and Presentation © 2008 The JS Group. All rights reserved.

Sales Manager Coaching Manual for Consultative Selling
Instructions: Write the benefit statement for the executive summary and benefit section of your proposal using this format. Use the information that you have uncovered to develop your statement.
State the prospect’s needs and the impact information you previously uncovered.
Prospect’s Needs Who Is Affected
How
(Quality, Time, Money)
Impact and Time Frame
State the benefits they will receive from your solution:
Who Will Benefit
How
(Quality, Time, Money)
Impact and Time Frame
Create your proposal benefit statement using the above information:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
9 Step 8: Proposal and Presentation © 2008 The JS Group. All rights reserved.

Sales Manager Coaching Manual for Consultative Selling
Instructions: Think about your upcoming prospect meeting. Answer the following questions concerning the meeting participants, and develop your presentation theme.
Name
Title
Responsibilities
Decision maker or influencer?
Relationship with other decision makers and influencers
Specific needs, pains and focus
Question you have for this person – to better understand his/her needs
Elements of your company story that apply to these needs, pains and focus
Knowledge they have about the issues/your solutions/project
Other options they are considering
Specific value you can bring to this person – quantify it if possible
Their attitude towards your proposal
0 Step 8: Proposal and Presentation © 2008 The JS Group. All rights reserved.

Sales Manager Coaching Manual for Consultative Selling
(continued)
Name
Title
Responsibilities
Decision maker or influencer?
Relationship with other decision makers and influencers
Specific needs, pains and focus
Question you have for this person – to better understand his/her needs
Elements of your company story that apply to these needs, pains and focus
Knowledge they have about the issues/your solutions/project
Other options they are considering
Specific value you can bring to this person – quantify it if possible
Their attitude towards your proposal
After reviewing the prospect’s needs and your strengths and value, what is the main theme of your presentation?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Step 8: Proposal and Presentation © 2008 The JS Group. All rights reserved.

Sales Manager Coaching Manual for Consultative Selling
Instructions: Adapt from the following template and develop the agenda and determine the action items for your upcoming prospect meeting. Determine timing for each presentation segment, breaks and Question & Answer session.
Determine materials needed to present a thorough value proposition to the prospect.
Prospect
Date
Time
Healthcare Clinics Inc.
January 20, 2006
9:00 am – :0
Venue
Prospect main clinic site
2 Medical Drive
Our Town, IL
Meeting Participants and Roles
Ed Edwards, Sr. Account Executive: Introductory moderator and business needs analysis
Stu Stuart, Technical Manager: Technical demo and technical needs analysis
Dr. Ray Raymond, HCI head partner: Main contact and DM
RN Deb Deborah, Head Nurse and Office Manager: end user
Objectives and
Value Proposition
Validate technical and business needs; determine all decision makers in account and their perspectives and buying criteria; demonstrate how upgrading the current system will enhance their business efficiencies.
Materials Needed
Leave-behind print materials: needs sheet; product spec sheet; business cards; success story reference from YYY Healthcare.
Demo kit
2 Step 8: Proposal and Presentation © 2008 The JS Group. All rights reserved.

Sales Manager Coaching Manual for Consultative Selling
Instructions: Adapt from the following template and develop the agenda and determine the action items for your upcoming prospect meeting. Determine timing for each presentation segment, breaks and Question & Answer session.
Determine materials needed to present a thorough value proposition to the prospect.
Prospect
Date
Time
Venue
Meeting
Participants and
Roles
Objectives and
Value Proposition
Materials Needed
Step 8: Proposal and Presentation © 2008 The JS Group. All rights reserved.