Key Stakeholders
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Mike Feldman, President, Large Enterprise Operations
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Liz Janssen, Manager, Global Learning & Organizational Effectiveness
Industry
Managed Print Services
a playbook approach to
selling services
Xerox was focused on implementing an insight-led approach to engaging CIOs through a whiteboard approach to sales conversations. Learn more about their journey from the perspective of Xerox leaders.
SVP East Sales Ops
SVP East Sales Ops
SVP Business Development
Manager, Global Learning & Org. Effectiveness
VP Human Resources & Learning
SVP SBU Select Operations
SVP West
Sales Ops
situation
Best known for printing technology, Xerox has developed a next generation Managed Print Services strategy in recent years that not only helps clients print for less but also to print less. This shift from selling technology to selling services has required significant change in the sales approach.
objectives
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Selling Business Process Solutions
With the MPS strategy in place, the sales team needed to quickly learn how to act as problem solvers leading consultative sales conversations that challenge the customer’s status quo. -
Engaging at the C-level
Given the technical nature of their offerings, Xerox salespeople were comfortable engaging with procurement and mid-level IT audiences. Positioning the complete MPS vision required leading consultative conversations with higher-level executives including the CIO. -
Adopting Consistent Messaging
Getting to sustainable outcomes was dependent on enabling and motivating sales to deliver a common business value proposition that differentiates Xerox in every conversation.
“We’re trying to educate our selling organization to be more comfortable in an environment where they are haven’t interacted before – and that’s in the CIO environment.”
Ashby Lowry, SVP West Sales Operations, Xerox
approach
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Sales Conversation Guide: Creation of a 2 Minute Story designed to succinctly outline the Xerox MPS message, a whiteboard conversation framework for leading an interactive, compelling dialogue, and Insight Talk Tracks focused on prioritized personas.
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Train the Leader: “Train the Leader” workshops for Xerox directors, managers, and leading sales people who then cascaded the training to the broader sales organization across Europe and the U.S.
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Sales Education Videos: Showing what “good looks like” by getting Xerox’s top performers on camera delivering the messages, sharing useful insights, and leading simulated conversations.
“The whiteboard approach allows the client to be involved as in the conversation. Clients have actually stood up and said ‘Let me draw this in a little bit different way for you.’ It allows us to interact with the client, the client to interact with us and actually facilitates getting to some of the key messages a lot quicker than if you were simply giving a slide presentation.”
Ashby Lowry, SVP West Sales Operations, Xerox
DSG insight
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DSG brought cross-industry perspective based on experience working with global technology, IT services, and business services companies.
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The DSG team has over a decade of experience creating content, sales education videos, tools and training to enable sales teams to engage executives with insight and influence the customer buying process.
“Not only were the salespeople surprised at how comfortable they were with the whiteboard dialogue but they were also surprised at how much CIOs entered into business conversations with them and allowed them to talk about the customer’s problems and how our solutions fit into their environment.”
Greg Jones, SVP East Sales Operations, Xerox
impact
The early results and momentum are tied to increased sales confidence in leading C-level discussions. The emerging culture of whiteboarding has already resulted in improved pipeline tied to accounts targeted with the whiteboard content, conversation tracks and supporting tools.
“There’s a higher level of confidence across the selling organization. We’re getting to the selling cycles and through the selling cycles faster.”