The more awareness sales reps have about the role analysts play in enterprise buying decisions, the more leverage they will have in closing deals. AR can play a pivotal role in this process by providing Sales with the right information and services, in the right amounts, at the right times during the buying cycle. With this approach, AR can help drive top line growth and transition from a cost center to a strategic profit center.
It’s Not About Pushing Out Research Reprints
Quite often the success or failure of the sales representative hangs on how well he or she overcomes a hurdle created by analyst recommendations. Unfortunately, the typical vendor sales team has not been educated about who the analysts are, what they do, and how to overcome negative commentary. As a consequence, salespeople experience high levels of frustration as deals go to competitors, sales cycles lengthen, and contract negotiations go in favor of the buyer.
In order to exploit positive research or to mitigate negative analyst comments sales executives need to work with AR to prepare tools and train their sales teams on certain basics about the analysts’ role in the IT industry. What needs to be avoided is the temptation to overwhelm the sales force with too much training, too many tools, and too much raw information. The goal of the AR-Sales Partnership is to equip the sales force with the minimal tools and knowledge needed to deal with the analysts and how to get help when the situation moves beyond the training.
To help AR executives and teams decide when and how to support sales, SageCircle has a public half-day workshop focused on how to incorporate an AR-Sales Partnership Program into the AR portfolio.
Key Issues to be addressed in this workshop include:
- What are the characteristics of a great AR-Sales partnership plan that provides the necessary detail without taking too much work?
- How can AR sell the AR-Sales program to its management and Sales management?
- Should AR work with the existing sales infrastructure or develop its own capabilities?
- What is the right balance of information and tools that will make sales reps more effective without taking up too much of their time?
- What are the risks that AR should be aware of when it comes to launching an AR-Sales Partnership?
Get Up to Speed Quickly by Eliminating the “Re-invention of the Wheel”
In this SageCircle AR Workshop, we provide AR professionals with information, tools and insights to make sense of the various options for supporting sales. The goal is to help you get up-to-speed on the implications of supporting sales so you can make the important decision whether and how to add this innovative activity to your team’s objectives. We have the practical experience of implementing an AR-Sales Partnership in addition to doing research on the issue. By distilling our research and experience into succinct, actionable recommendations and tools we can help you launch the appropriate AR-Sales strategy efficiently and effectively.
Agenda. High level, please click here for more agenda detail
- Key Concepts
- Selling The Concept To Executives & Sales
- Policy Implications
- Adding AR-Sales Activities To The AR Plan
- Measurement, Metrics And Reporting
- Program Element – Training
- Program Element – Information
- Program Element – Tools
- Program Element – “Customer Service”
- What’s Next – Trends And Directions
Who Should Attend
The “Launching the AR-Sales Partnership” Workshop is an appropriate education opportunity for the full range of AR programs from single person shops to the largest AR teams. It can provide insights to AR staff members at any level of experience from those new to AR to the most knowledgeable veterans.
Workshops vs. Seminars vs. Webinars
Based on requests from clients, SageCircle has launched a new type of training event, the half-day workshop. It focuses on a single topic to provide depth versus the breadth of a seminar. By being a half day it can go into more detail with expanded content, policy examples, tools, plan outlines and exercises.
Launching the AR-Sales Partnership: A SageCircle Workshop
- When: Thursday, October 8th, from 8 am to 12 pm US Pacific Time
- Where: Cupertino, CA in the Silicon Valley
- How: Click here for more information and to register
- Price: $495 for this information- and tools-packed half-day learning event
If you have any questions about the workshop or wish to arrange a private session for your company, please call SageCircle at 503-636-1500 or send an email to “info [at] sagecircle.com”
Bottom Line: AR program scan help their Sales teams leverage the influence of the analysts in order to drive top line revenue growth.
Building a Community 
[…] best option is “train sales,” but that really requires an AR-Sales Partnership Program to be in place, in part to manage the risk associated with AR working with the much larger sales […]