What It Takes to Win Business

2015 Global Report: What it takes to win business whitepaper / 1

Discipline, Courage & Curiosity /2015 Global Report ‘What it takes to win business’

Peter Griffith Executive Director

Nikki Hobin Executive Director

rogenSi, APAC May 2015

“You are what you repeatedly do. Excellence is not an event – it is a habit.”

- Aristotle


Executive Summary

Death of Formulaic Questioning

Discipline is the New Black

Courage & Curiosity to Shift Thinking

The Real Cost of Discounting

Conclusion

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Contents /

4 / Discipline, Courage & Curiosity

There is no silver bullet for winning business. In today’s complex, highly competitive selling environment customers have set an incredibly high benchmark in their expectation of Sales Professionals, such that only a handful of organisations are likely to meet - let alone exceed these expectations. The professionals and organisations capable of mastering certain sales disciplines are the ones who are creating significant competitive advantage.

Every three years we conduct global research into “What it Takes to Win Business” based on the perspectives of 178 global Buyers and Sales Professionals from a range of industry sectors. We use the findings to help our clients understand how their customers make their buying decisions, become more customer-centric and improve their win/loss ratio.

The 2015 findings show a shift in Buyer expectations and suggest the need for increased discipline in sales. Buyers are asking sales people to do more, listen more, find out more and be more disciplined in their approach. They expect Sales Professionals to be genuinely curious about their business and to be more courageous by challenging them with knowledge relevant to them. The findings from our most recent study highlights four insights and how they can be applied:

Executive Summary /

Insight #1 ‘The Death of Formulaic Questioning’ Customers clearly want a conversation, not an interrogation. The stark difference between the value customers place on ‘listening’ as opposed to ‘questioning’ shows the criticality of conversation skills in sales. Great Sales Professionals will always be prepared with a set of questions that demonstrate understanding and prompt insight; it is the ability to listen and drill down that is critical in today’s sophisticated selling environment.

Insight #2 ‘Discipline is the New Black’ Customers are putting a premium on a salesperson’s credibility, knowledge of their business, and the ability to communicate value. This requires discipline in researching, reviewing and rehearsing that many sales people don’t possess.

Insight #3 ‘Courage and Curiosity to Shift Thinking’Customers are drowning in information, but thirsting for insight. The in-depth understanding of the customer’s situation and challenges must be heard and felt in every communication and interaction. Smart sales professionals will need to have the courage and curiosity to create compelling, customised communication - great storytelling - that will help shift buyers’ thinking and buying behaviours.

Insight # 4 ‘The Real Cost of Discounting’It is a simple fact: discounts are costly. Increased customer price sensitivity means that salespeople have to be increasingly savvy at ‘getting the price right’. They must have an intimate knowledge of the commercial and emotional drivers of customers so they do not give away too much. Most salespeople will give away far more than they need to because they do not know enough about what the customer is really prepared to pay and why.


The 2015 data also suggests Sales Professionals are not leveraging what they say they know. It is not in the knowing but the doing that makes the difference. To win business they are not changing their approach with the discipline and commitment that our fast-moving, sophisticated business world demands.

What is fascinating about these insights is that they are business agnostic, simple and sensible to execute. It is about replicating what Sales Professionals already know, doing it more consciously and with the desire and discipline to win more business, more often.

Common Sense, Not Common Practice

To stay in business today, almost every organisation in the world, regardless of size or sector, needs to win more business, more often. Contrast this with the fact that we are operating in a truly global marketplace where Buyers are spoilt for choice. In most industries, customers have three or four highly reputable brands to choose from, which means they can, and do, demand more of their suppliers. The bar has been raised when it comes to winning business. Much of what customers are asking for is good old-fashioned common sense, which is just not common practice. Sales teams are not evolving at the rate the market demands.

The research indicates that most organisations have not kept pace with customer expectations and have still not taken bold enough steps to transform their sales functions.

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This requires evolving their customer engagement strategies so they are loaded with the discipline and commitment that today’s fast moving, sophisticated business world demands.

We challenge sales organisations to go beyond what they know and really test what they are doing to create competitive advantage because it is the doing that makes the difference. Buyers are demanding sales people do more, listen more and find out more. They expect them to be more disciplined in their planning, to be genuinely curious about their business and to be more courageous in developing insights that can help them grow their business.

Put on your Buyer’s hat for a moment. Do you go looking for the best product at the very best price, but still end up paying the ‘buy it now with assurances’ price to a supplier who appears organised and reliable? Do you prefer dealing with someone who understands you, gives you a great product or service, offers convenience, peace of mind and a low risk option, and charges you just below the price tag so you feel like you’re getting a good deal? Is this the experience your entire sales team is consistently giving your customers? If not, your revenue is increasingly at risk as Buyers become less tolerant of mediocrity.

What is interesting about these research findings is that they suggest solutions that are easy and simple to apply regardless of your industry or company size. The challenge lies in mastering them with consistency. It can be easy - and risky - to underestimate the competitive advantage created by getting these things right. Almost universally, we find organisations that have a clear vision and strategy for sales disciplines and quality customer engagement, combined with strong execution disciplines, will inevitably lift their win rate significantly. Most have a clear roadmap for creating a cultural shift in how their organisation approaches winning and retaining business, particularly major bids and tenders, making this part of their embedded processes.

If you are not sure where to start, we suggest asking your customers. More than likely they will be happy to tell you where you are getting it wrong. We would suggest taking a structured approach and engaging with a large, broad sample of customers – those that seem to love you or hate you and those who are indifferent to you. If you ask enough people, you will tend to find that the sum of subjective estimates is often the truth.

Many organisations have one or two significant, consistent Achilles heels that are holding them back. When you have identified your key gaps, there are a number of the Top Tips we recommend in this paper that can help get you back on track. Just remember, it is not about knowing it, it is about creating a culture where everyone is consistently doing it.

For those doing most of these things well, there is real opportunity to create daylight between you and your competition by taking your discipline, courage, and curiosity to the next level. We wish you all the best on the journey.

The Gap Between Knowing & Doing Before publishing the results of our research, we shared the insights with a select group of Sales Leaders and asked them what they thought of the findings, to which some responded, “Nothing we did not already know” or “Nothing much new here”. We then asked them how many of the insights and recommendations they had specifically developed a strategy for. The response was very different. None of them could articulate what they were specifically doing to address the issues raised. They knew what they should do, but they were not doing it.

This ‘knowing’ and ‘doing’ gap is limiting the performance potential of most sales organisations. You may have seen the Nike poster that says, ‘Everyone loses games, few change them’. The findings from our research show that there are some simple and powerful ways for sales organisations to ‘change the game’.


The Death of Formulaic Questioning

Conversations, not interrogations

Insight #1


The Death of Formulaic Questioning /Conversations, not interrogations

If you have been “sold to” in the past, you will remember being subjected to inauthentic salespeople operating from a prescribed list of questions. They were not really listening, just waiting to pounce on anything you said that opened the door to a sale. Those days are over. Sophisticated, informed Buyers are looking for authentic, knowledgeable Sales Professionals who can conduct a meaningful conversation.

Compared to our global findings in 2012, there have been a number of significant changes in Buyer expectations. It is now evident that the thought of being ‘sold’ to or participating in an obvious, contrived sales dialogue is not an experience Buyers enjoy or even respect.

The latest research highlights the need to sell through the art of conversation. Exceptional and effective Sales Professionals must demonstrate both unique knowledge and genuine curiosity about the Buyer - more than anyone else selling to them. In 2015, exceptional sales people are great researchers who leverage the vast ocean of information available to them and turn this into insight that engages and excites their customers. They also use this intelligence to develop better negotiating positions based on value rather than price. All of this is underpinned by the desire and ability to continuously improve the level of discipline they apply to their sales approach.

2015 heralds the death of formulaic questioning. Customers clearly want a conversation, not an interrogation. The research highlighted a spiked difference between the value customers place on ‘listening’ as opposed to ‘questioning’. This reinforces the importance of great conversations skills throughout the customer engagement life cycle.

Good research that identifies topics of conversation, combined with genuine listening, is the ‘mining equipment’ salespeople need to subtly, naturally, and effectively ‘drill down’ in order to understand customers better than anyone else. The ability to gather key nuggets of information and turn them into relevant insights makes the pitch for business much more effective.

Interpersonal Skills

The most important interpersonal skills in securing major pieces of business.

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Asking questions in a relaxed and authentic manner, rather than in an overly structured and formulaic way, is a fine balance of art and science. Great salespeople will always have a set of carefully crafted questions that demonstrate understanding and prompt insight and they will have the ability to truly listen and carefully probe - essential in today’s sophisticated selling environment.

This gives companies seeking to win new business a distinct advantage. In an existing supplier relationship, it is easy to fall into assumptions about the customer’s needs and it may even feel uncomfortable conducting deeper conversations because “we should already know this”. Existing suppliers need to thoroughly examine what customer knowledge is assumed and what is explicitly known, or find their bread and butter accounts at risk.

At many of our keynote presentations at sales conferences, we pose the question, “Who likes to buy things?”, to which almost every hand in the room goes up! When we ask, “Who likes being sold to?”, the response is much less enthusiastic. As we discuss why this dichotomy of preference exists, there is almost universal agreement that it is mostly down to how the sales conversation unfolds.

As ‘Buyers’, we want to feel we are in control of the conversation. We ultimately make the decision on what to purchase based on our own preferences, supported by insight and advice. There is a fine line between feeling we have ‘bought’ something and feeling we’ve been ‘sold to’ – ultimately it is about ownership of the decision. An authentic, organic, and professional sales conversation is the key to navigating the Buyer towards owning their decision.

Sales Professionals are often sceptical about the role emotion plays in the sale: “Surely, at the end of the day, it’s about getting the price right?” This is not surprising, given that they continuously find themselves in conversations around price, delivery, warranties, and product or service specifications. To test this belief, we asked our Buyers if they agreed with the statement: “Emotion is playing a smaller role in the buying decision”, 60% of Buyers responded this was NOT the case.

This is a strong endorsement of the importance Buyers are placing on organic, connected conversations, rather than a thinly veiled attempt to sell them something. Price does play a role in the decision, but it is not the only factor.

“60% of buyers disagree that emotion plays a smaller role in the buying decision.”

TrendsSelect whether you agree (A) or disagree (D) with the following statements.

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Compared to our 2012 report, ‘chemistry’ as a key buying criteria is up significantly, rising from 13% to 25%. We believe the verdict is in: formulaic questioning is dead.

Teach ‘conversation skills’, rather than ‘diagnostic skills’ – focus on listening and drilling down on responses.

Limit the use of contrived, ‘formulaic’ questions – never ask the customer: “Tell me about your business”.

Coach and develop listening skills as a critical competency.

Ensure enquiry is tempered with insight – lead with a point of view, then discuss how this fits with the customer’s circumstance.

Practice conversation skills in team meetings – practice difficult conversations.

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We Recommend...

5 ways to improve the

Sales Conversation.

Decision Making

2015 Research Findings. Key factors in the customer buying decision.

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Discipline is the New Black

Dare to prepare

Insight #2


Have you ever been called on to make a wedding speech? If so, before the big day you probably did some homework on the person you were talking about and talked to others to find stories, anecdotes and evidence. Subconsciously you would have considered how to make it relevant to your audience. No doubt you also practiced a few times, editing your notes as you went, until you were happy with the final result. Why did you bother? Probably because you knew you had one chance to make a great impression. You spent time preparing and the investment you made in time and preparation created a better outcome. How often do we apply the same thoughtfulness and disciplined approach to sales situations?

Discipline is as essential to the sales process as the presentation of the solution. Without it, sales people will not measure up to the exacting standards their customers are now expecting. The sales process has become more sophisticated and competitive, demanding a more deliberate and focused approach. There is no room for improvisation. Our research shows that credibility and understanding carry as much as 50% of the vote in the decision process. That requires disciplined and authentic interactions with every customer. Like a good wedding speech, our business conversations must be organised and authentic, not engineered.

What the buyer wants

The research tells us the Buyer is looking for value in the conversation and that interactions need to have a sense of purpose and intent.

More than half of respondents identified that a key part of their decision making process was based on the sales professional’s deep knowledge of the Buyer’s industry, business drivers and needs. Each interaction needs to be considered and prepared - but not scripted, because the Buyer will be continuously assessing your credibility and ability to bring value.

Discipline is The New Black / Dare to prepare

FaceTo Face

InteractionsThe most likely reasons that would reduce your willingness to buy from the seller.

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Imagine the Buyer drafting an advertisement for a Sales Professional with the headline: ‘Only disciplined people need apply’. What other selection criteria do you think a Buyer would list as the qualities they most wanted in their salespeople?

The Buyers in our survey listed the top four attributes that had the most positive impact on their buying decision. These were: credibility, knowledge, listening skills and an ability to communicate value. If you’re in sales, you need to ask yourself: “Am I the Sales Professional my customer wants?”

The people winning business today are disciplined as well as driven. Their customers trust them to have knowledge - and to deliver.

Earning trust

Trusted Advisor is a much-lauded phrase in business. It is a label that salespeople often apply to themselves with a fair bit of poetic license. In reality, Trusted Advisor is a title bestowed upon them by their Buyers; trust is earned by demonstrating credibility, reliability and intimacy. The phrase was popularised by David Maister, author of ‘The Trusted Advisor’ (Maister, Green and Galford, ed.2001 Simon & Schuster). He summarised how to earn trust in the formula:

Maister’s formula highlights that the level of trust we gain can be significantly diluted if there is evidence of self-interest on the part of the Seller. Today’s winning business conversations are all about the Buyer. Our research confirms the need to demonstrate understanding of the customer’s situation. As much as 75% of the decision to purchase is based on the same qualities Maister identified, and highlights the role that trust plays in winning and retaining business.

Building credibility and intimacy requires research, knowledge and curiosity. Sales Professionals can demonstrate curiosity and kick start conversations that gain a better understanding of the Buyer’s need through a few considered rich questions.

Trust = Credibility + Reliability + Intimacy

Self Interest

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On a scale from 1 to 15, the importance of the following statements as the reasons why a seller is awarded a major piece of business.

Most Important

Average response

Least Important15


If a customer says to you, “That’s a good question”, it probably is. Stay focussed on the customer and ask questions that shape a conversation as opposed to following a prescriptive questioning formula aimed at enabling you to tick boxes against the appropriateness of your solution. Any level of self-interest will probably be fairly obvious to the Buyer, so the conversation needs to be genuinely about them. The conversation should be memorable for all the right reasons.

A few years ago we were having an important first meeting with a large global company within a sector that was known to be traditionally male dominated. Our pre-meeting research revealed the company had recently won an award as the “Employer of Choice for Women”. We also noticed their competitors had single digit figures for gender diversity. As we explored ways to grow the capability of their team we were able to say, “Congratulations on winning the employer of choice award for women. What is it that you have initiated in the business that has put you so far in front of your competitors?”. By demonstrating awareness of a key strategy, the information they went on to share with us gave a much deeper insight into their culture, strategy and focussed activity. This helped us respond with a very specific and appropriate solution for their business. We still work with them today. Why? Because this approach does not only apply to the first interaction: you must remain curious and add value throughout your tenure with a customer.

Being a “one-hit wonder” may win you the business, but discipline, courage and curiosity will help you keep it. Purchasing and Procurement Officers tell us that complacency of the incumbent is the single biggest reason why they look for alternatives and issue new tenders. This means that we cannot risk improvisation at any point in our relationship with the Customer.

Coming back to the Maister principles, intimacy demonstrates an understanding of the customer that is more substantial than anyone else. It also helps with authenticity, connectivity and your ability to put your customer at ease. This practice does not happen without discipline and research. Be curious, be prepared, and demonstrate appropriate intimacy. Be the person your Buyer wants to deal with and enjoy memorable conversations that resonate with your customer. This will drive your credibility and increase your probability of winning their business.

Create an evidence bank you can draw on to support your case.

Develop simple, consistent disciplines pre and post sales calls – send agendas and follow up emails capturing actions, owners and time frames.

Leverage company profile report services to assist with researching, or develop an internal system.

Ask yourself before every customer interaction: “what do I want them to think, feel, and do as a result of this meeting?”

Rehearse the first five minutes of the meeting – this creates clarity and confidence.

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to Shift Thinking

Courage & Curiosity Deliver insight, not just information

Insight #3


The 2015 research findings indicate that 75% of the buying decision relates to how well you communicate your knowledge, understanding and value.

Buyers are drowning in information and thirsting for knowledge and value. In this environment, it is essential sales professionals have the ability to provoke new thinking and buying behaviours. Much has been written and discussed in recent years about the need to transform sales teams from a solution selling approach to an insight-led approach. As the science of this approach has evolved, there is more and more evidence to suggest that the discussion is insight led and brought to life by a crucial ingredient - the ability to tell a great story. While some people are natural storytellers, this is an art form that often needs to be developed in terms of how sales professionals communicate both verbally and in writing.

We often tell stories to children because they have a point – a lesson that is creatively packaged, told in a spellbinding way, yet subtle and powerful enough to provoke new thinking and behaviours. This is the challenge and opportunity for sales professionals today. Even the most experienced Buyer can have out-dated beliefs and buying behaviours based on previous situations, advice, or experiences which may not be relevant in today’s marketplace. The rapid pace of technology, social change, communication, and globalisation means that many buyers are still taking a 2005 approach to solve a 2015 problem. This can be frustrating for some sales professionals who then resort to a ‘velvet sledgehammer’ approach, drowning the customer in rational arguments, facts and figures and hoping to convince them to adopt new buying behaviours.

Smart sales professionals are taking a much more subtle and creative approach to help buyers upgrade their thinking and update their approach to solving problems.

This involves striking the right balance of courage and curiosity. Curiosity comes in the form of disciplined research and preparation, combined with clever, insightful questions that truly make customers think and consider new possibilities. Curiosity really pays off when the knowledge gained about the buyer is leveraged to tell a compelling story. The story must have a strong point or lesson for the buyer, or it is unlikely to create a strong case for change.

Great stories, not cut and paste

With a growing emphasis in the sales process on written submissions, applying cut and paste from your company template is not enough to get you through to the final stages in the decision-making process. Often the written document is all the person reading the proposal has to form a perception of you, your business and your brand.

Imagine your document is passed to a senior executive with considerable influence over the buying decision.

Courage & Curiosity to Shift Thinking / Deliver insight, not just information

“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”

- Albert Einstein


Most Important1

What reaction will your proposal provoke? If your document draws them in and gets them thinking: “They really seem to understand our business and our challenges”, and, “I’ve never looked at it that way before...we’ve been looking at this the wrong way”, then you’re on the right track.

ProposalsOn a scale from 1 to 9, the importance of the following aspects in generating a successful proposal.

If your document leaves them thinking: “So what?”, then the point of your story is missing and you are unlikely to find yourself in the winner’s circle.

Once you submit your response, you have no power: no power over who reads it, how they read it, when they read it or even if they read it. It sounds terrifying, but it is true! What you do have power over is how you present your document.

Do you remember the last time you picked a book off the shelf at the airport? Was it the intriguing title or attractive jacket design that got your attention? You may have turned the book over to read the synopsis of the story on the back cover. If you liked what you read, you would flick to one of the inside pages to assess if the writer’s style appealed to you before deciding to buy.

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Least Important9


“Next time you tell a story, have a point! It makes it so much more enjoyable for the listener.”

- Steve Martin (Planes, Trains and Automobiles)

Writing a good story can be challenging when a response document dictates a specific question and answer structure. Follow the same principles an author would when writing a book. Compile the information and research into a page-turner that will sell. The art to great storytelling is having a story, making a point and making it relevant. Winning stories have great structures that work like a roadmap, taking your reader on a journey. Include rational data and insight-led evidence to help you reinforce your point. Think about the emotional connection created through the technique of story telling that will bring your solution alive.

Aim for writing a best seller that will give you a better chance of getting a return on investment and keeping it on the best seller list. Make your document the one that connects and compels. If you tell a story, have a point. Make it memorable. Make it recommendable.

Develop a key insight for a targeted customer segment, supported by evidence (statistics, case studies, anecdotes).

Create frameworks (not formulas) for quickly and effectively producing customised documents and collateral for customers.

Check how often documents reference the customer’s company name as opposed to your own – theirs should appear at least twice as often.

Engage with marketing and data analytics to support the insights and points of view you take to market.

When reviewing documents, put yourself in the customer’s shoes and ask yourself if it answers the “so what?” question.

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The Real Cost of Discounting

The best price isn’t always the right price

Insight #4


Today’s demanding and informed Buyer knows the asking price is usually the starting point. Our research shows that over the last decade ‘Price’ as a key selection criteria has risen from ninth position to occupy second place in the rankings.

Think about your retail experiences. Many of us now use the vast ocean of information at our fingertips to research the product or services we want. We read the online reviews, and get advice and referrals from people in our network. We find the right product at the best price and armed with this information, we may then go down to a local retailer and see if we can beat the price we have found online.

The Real Cost of Discounting /The best price isn’t always the right price

Smart retailers have prepared their salespeople for this scenario. They give you the ‘buy it now with assurances’ price, which factors in the reality that you are already there, you probably want it now, and you would prefer the comfort of a warranty from a reputable bricks and mortar retailer that you can return to if you have any issues. This is better than the risk of getting it shipped from afar through a web retailer you’ve never heard of and will never see.

Your friendly local retailer gives you a good discount from the ‘sticker’ price, but it is still more than your best online price. They are confident you will pay a premium for the convenience, peace of mind, and instant gratification of taking it home today. And even though you paid a bit more than your lowest price, you feel as if you have got a ‘great deal’ you can tell your friends about.

This same scenario plays out in B2B transactions every day, yet salespeople are far less equipped to deal effectively with it. Increased customer price sensitivity means salespeople have to be increasingly savvy at ‘getting the price right’. If not, they risk giving away far more than they need to because they do not know enough about what the customer is ‘really’ prepared to pay and why.

Given the expectations of today’s Buyers, Sales Professionals need a new level of confidence and capability to develop intimate knowledge. This ensures they understand the commercial and emotional drivers early on in the buying cycle.

While some of this relates to the conversation skills required to avoid recreating an interrogation scene, there are some fundamental operating guidelines and frameworks organisations can deploy to arm their team for price conversations.

For a number of years we have worked with a fuel company selling to large mining, transport, and construction firms – customers who are used to asking for and getting discounts. Imagine the level of price negotiation they expect when they are buying what they believe is a pure commodity – they can get it anywhere! But the fact is they

Price

#9

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2015 (versus 2005) research findings. Ranking of ‘Price’ in the top 10 criteria.


cannot. They operate 24/7 operations in remote locations spread across countries around the globe. If one of these locations stops operating for even one hour because of supply problems or maintenance issues, the cost is astronomical.

Any discount they might get is insignificant compared to the cost of even a brief operational shut down. Much like the person in the retail shop seeking out a discount against the ‘best price on the market’, they are subject to the ‘buy it now with assurances’ principle. The value they get from a supplier who has a highly reliable supply chain, a track record of delivering into remote locations, and a product designed to reduce costly maintenance trumps the discount almost every time.

In a fine margin game like fuels, it is essential to arm every salesperson with the strategies, messages, and skills to deal with the buying tactics and price conversations they face on a daily basis. Good negotiation and price handling strategies are only part of the equation and ignore the critical early stage engagement with the customer. Knowing the customer’s business, their industry, competitive advantage, risks, and market opportunities is essential to positioning value that is a strong counter-balance for price.

As a simple measure, companies can give their sales teams a better understanding of the real cost of discounting. Depending on the margin of the product or service, even a discount of 5% across the board means you may need to sell at least 20% volume to make up the difference. When we ask salespeople if they believe they can increase sales by 20% as a result of a 5% discount, most of them get pretty uncomfortable! This simple education process works wonders. As an added measure, we sometimes see companies effectively linking remuneration and bonuses more closely to gross margin or profit, rather than pure volume.

Giving away even a few more percentage points than absolutely necessary, particularly in major deals, can have a significant impact on any business. Businesses need to arm their sales teams with the strategies, messages, and skills to ‘get the price exactly right’. Salespeople need to know that discounts cost money and ultimately it’s up to them to hold the line – and it helps if they’re incentivised to do it.

Like the savvy retail shop owner who knows their customers intimately and achieves the ‘buy it now with assurances’ price, the best salespeople understand and act on the basis that most Buyers will pay at least a small premium to suppliers who provide convenience, peace of mind, added value, and mitigated risk for their business. The best price is not necessarily the right price.

“Even a discount of 5% across the board means you may need to sell 20% or more volume to make up the difference.”


Hip

Pocket

Tips

Reward and recognise your sales team on margin and profit, not just volume and revenue.

Educate the sales team on the cost of discounting and practice handling price objections in team meetings.

For complex sales, provide negotiation training so your sales teams can trade value effectively.

Educate the sales team on the competitive alternatives and relative value of each one.

Develop a bank of insights related to the key business drivers that your offer enables - focus on reputation, risk, profitability, efficiencies, and asset utilisation.

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Five

We Recommend...

5 ways to win on price.


Conclusion /


Conclusion /The research in the 2015 Global Report on ‘What it Takes to Win Business’ indicates that winning is not about doing one thing 100% better; it is about lifting performance in a selected number of key areas and applying them consistently, with discipline. Placing your Buyer at the centre of your sales approach and helping them make a stronger emotional and rational connection with your brand and your sales solution will win you more business.

The clients we work with span financial services, building and infrastructure, commodities, media and professional services. Without exception, they have all increased their conversion rate significantly by leveraging the advice and insights detailed in this paper. Our clients that are really driving for competitive advantage are now smartly focussing on creating a cultural shift in how their organisations approach bids and pitches, making it part of their embedded processes.


What is absolutely clear is that Buyers are demanding more disciplined, courageous,

and curious Sales Professionals. We challenge you to give them what they’re asking for and shape a different result when

we next undertake this research.


Established over 45 years ago, rogenSi is a training & consultancy firm committed to inspiring organisations and their leaders to achieve exceptional performance. Operating out of hubs in London, New York, and Sydney we have a strong presence in Asia and the Middle East. Our clients include leading global players from financial and professional services, telecommunications, media, manufacturing and healthcare. With our focus on leadership & learning, we partner with clients who want to execute customer-centric strategies to unlock the value that will grow their revenue, transform their organisations, and drive tangible results. In 2014 we integrated with a globally recognised Customer Strategy Consultancy to form TeleTech Consulting. As part of the TeleTech family, our purpose is to bring humanity to business.

About rogenSi /

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