Interview with
JP Jauvin
VP of Sales at Fastlane Technologies and
NetPro Consulting
How did you become aware of Sandler?
I went to a Software Success Seminar and Steve was a speaker.
What made you decide to use Steve?
We had specific needs at that time. We were selling complex products that touched a lot of people in the sales cycle and the sales cycles were 6-12 months. Our challenge at that time was to establish a process that will allow us to qualify accounts well upfront, gain executive sponsorship and get commitment each step of the sales cycle. Also, we wanted to formalize the process for evaluations and sales presentations.
I liked the idea of qualifying customers upfront. The Sandler material included tactics that could be used in front of a customer. We were able to give the new sales folks concrete tools that they could use, as well as the senior sales staff.
This only works if you have buy-in from the sales force as well as sales management. We had buy in from the sales folks, middle management as well as the executives. We also reinforced the material on a regular basis. And it became part of our daily sales strategies.
What was your biggest challenge?
Forecasting was a big issue that Sandler helped us address. Our market was not quite mature yet and we had projects that would slip and slide all over the place. We had increased the quality of our pipeline; we reduced the number of deals we were working on, but they were much more qualified. I still use these techniques today.
What were your successes?
It was immediately useable. It allowed us to implement something right away with brand new prospects.
It allowed us to look at our deals unemotionally, to dissect them and look at them internally, and we got some big wins.
We closed some really big deals. At a large petroleum company we closed a $500K deal, and at a large manufacturing firm we closed a $650K deal. These were much bigger than what we had done previously, and once you start doing the bigger deals you keep doing them.
Can you quantify the impact?
Our sales increased by 25%. I still use these techniques today.
Would you recommend Sandler to others?
Absolutely and I have many times.
Is there anything else I should ask you?
As a sales executive, making your numbers is obviously important and you focus a lot on that. However, one of the things that I love about my job and that I think is the most ringing endorsement of Sandler happened just the other day. I got an email from a rep that worked for me at another company three years ago. He's a very successful guy at another company now. His email was sent just to thank me for the training and development I put in place, and to let me know he thought it was what had made him successful. On a tough day, it's nice to think you're helping people fulfill their potential.
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