What’s Your Growth Initiative?
Initiatives
Vertical Selling
As you make the shift to a vertical specific selling approach, how will sellers be equipped to lead compelling sales conversations? Leading vertical conversations means every seller knows how deliver insight and ask smart questions based on industry trends, pressures, and opportunities. DSG can help you accelerate sales mastery of vertical selling best practices and messaging through video-based sales playbooks, custom training and continuous learning.
Big Idea
Vertical specific sales conversations that deliver business Insight
Outcomes
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Differentiation through specialization
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More complete solutions and larger deals
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Increased market share in a key vertical
Common Vertical Selling Mistakes
Lack of consensus on our industry value proposition and messaging (What is our company POV?)
Strategy
Solution:
Develop focused vertical "sales plays"
See Solution
Assumption that salespeople will easily gain the confidence to engage with vertical insight
Change
Solution:
Challenge your sellers with a series of activities to build vertical conversation mastery
See Solution
Vertical guides that are deep on market insight but light on how to lead a vertical specific conversation
Enablement
Solution:
Build sales competence through a vertical playbook combined with manager coaching
See Solution
Change Vision for Vertical Selling
From
To
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Generic horizontal messaging
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Vertical insights and talk tracks
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General product or solution conversations
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Connecting to specific use cases
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Individual sales pursuits
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Team-based selling with industry specialists
Playbook Approach to Vertical Selling
There are 2 common scenarios for organizations moving to a vertical or industry selling model.
The first is vertical specialization with a given salesperson assigned to only one vertical like retail and going deep on retail. A vertically aligned sales team will typically require significant depth of content for their target industry so that every aspect of the selling conversation is highly customized to the use cases, trends, growth opportunities and solutions for each market.
The second approach is salespeople aligned by territory and simply tailoring their conversation based on the customer’s industry. The messages, insights and stories required for success in the territory model can typically be much higher level. This is especially important for the sake of the seller who could never go deep on every vertical in their territory. They just need simple, easy to use vertical guidance that makes them relevant.
DSG Solution
Sales & Marketing Alignment
Playbook Development
High Impact
Training
Continuous
Learning
DSG can help you accelerate momentum in 3 ways:
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Leading the creation of a vertical sales messaging in collaboration with sales, marketing and product stakeholders
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Producing and packaging your industry sales education videos, sales collateral and video-based sales training playbook by vertical
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Delivering experiential vertical sales training along with continuous learning that ensures salespeople adopt and master the art and science of leading vertical-specific sales conversations in the real world
Recommended Resources
The resources below will provide deeper insights around the creation and implementation of vertical sales messaging through sales playbooks, sales training, and continuous learning
Vertical Selling Webinar with Fastly
Achieving Sales Excellence at SITA
Sales Enablement for Vertically Aligned Selling