April 20, 2006

Establish a prospecting methodology. At the time, TDS had no methodology in place for targeted prospecting and wanted to institute a single, documented and agreed-upon prospecting method across all of its sales regions.

Gain access to more purchasing decision-makers. This was a challenge, Loch says, because businesspeople with fiscal authority-typically C-level execs-"normally do not sit down with telecom reps."

Increase the sales force's prospect conversation to appointment ratio to 50 percent from the current level of 9 percent-representing a 500 percent improvement.

To accomplish its goals, TDS brought in outside consultant JDH Group Inc. in Powell, Ohio. The first step was to conduct a comprehensive ROI survey, including a SWOT analysis. As part of this survey, numerous managers and sales representatives were interviewed in an attempt to understand the challenges the sales force typically faces during the prospecting process, as well as to document the various objections customers typically make when asked to take an appointment.

Based on that survey, a comprehensive, documented methodology for prospecting and for handling customer objections was created. "Most salespeople deal with prospecting and handling objectives in a catch-as-catch-can way," Loch says. "When things happen, they simply respond. But by sitting down and logically thinking through a strategy for addressing almost every possible objection in advance, we were able to create a tool that our salespeople can utilize when preparing for a call, during a call and even after a call when debriefing experiences that didn't go as well as expected."

Next up, of course, was training. After a rigorous pre-training process, during which reps took asynchronous CD-based courses designed to help them understand the science of securing appointments with decision-makers, reps participated in one of 16 two-day boot camps conducted on site at various TDS locations. While in boot camp, reps were given access to desktop training tools and were provided with various conversation methodologies. They also spent significant time practicing the new methodology by working through practice scenarios, trying the techniques being learned in live customer calls, and then debriefing their experiences with managers. The company also sponsored one-hour "calling sprees" during the boot camp, and those who performed best during each 60-minute segment were rewarded financially for doing so.

Loch likens the entire methodology and training process to fighter-pilot training. "Fighter pilots plan every mission and debrief every mission. In our case, the mission is to get an appointment with a decision-maker. And what this training and methodology allow us to do is create a framework for helping reps to completely understand how to prepare, handle and debrief prospecting calls to determine what went right and what went wrong. That, in turn, allows us to teach our people how to set appointments with a much higher degree of success because they now have a system, a vocabulary and a strategy to address every situation."

Most importantly, what were the results? Since TDS's new prospecting methodology and training were implemented, the company's sales force productivity index (which is measured by how many access lines are sold relative to headcount) has increased by 30 percent, and its conversation-to-appointment ratio and turn rates have experienced significant upward trends. Pre-training, for example, TDS was stuck on a 9 percent conversation-to-appointment ratio. Post-training, that ratio increased to 61 percent, for overall conversion improvement of 664 percent. Thirty days post-training, Loch says, this same ratio held strong at 56 percent.

"We're getting in to see more people, and we're finding better prospects," says Loch, who also credits the methodology with lower turnover and higher morale. "If a rep's confidence level isn't high and his capability isn't high, he's probably going to be less willing to try that big customer. Now, all of the sudden, we have young people joining our organization and picking up the phone shortly thereafter with a high degree of confidence and the ability to talk to high-level decision-makers and get appointments. How? They are prepared, they feel they are experts at this business, and they know they have a strategy to deal with all of the objections that someone might throw at them."