11. to Be or Not to Consultative

CONSULTATIVE SELLING 1

TO BE OR NOT TO BE CONSULTATIVECONSULTATIVE SELLING TODAY

by SELESTE LUNSFORD and MARK MARONE, Ph.D.

Organizations have begun to re-examine their useof consultative sellingmany, if not most, sales or-ganizations now view consultative selling as thebaseline, regardless of industry, geography, or tar-get market. While transactional sales models willcontinue to have a place in many sales organiza-tions, (and rightly so), transactional selling hastaken a less prominent role for many salespeople.What has become the more pressing concern iscreating a sales force which understands consulta-tive selling and can make decisions around whatextent it should be used.

So, what does consultative selling mean? And why,after decades of talking about it, do organizationsstill think its worth the considerable effort re-quired?

WHAT IS CONSULTATIVE SELLING?

Consultative selling goes by many names:consultative selling, value-added selling,professional selling, needs satisfaction sell-ing, customer-oriented selling, strategic sell-ing, relationship selling, solution selling,partnering, and many more. Frequently, eachphrase can have a slightly different meaning tothe person who uses it, but in general, each defi-nition shares several key elements. These include:

Need-based ConversationsDuring a consultative sales cycle, all sales conver-sations revolve around a customer need. This is amarked departure and differentiator from theproduct push approach that, unfortunately,still dominates many sales calls today. Morespecifically, the core of a sales call will be amutual exchange of information in which thesalesperson uncovers and develops an under-standing of customer needs (or helps thecustomer become aware of a need). Subsequently,the language the salesperson uses to provideinformation to the customer should be benefit-oriented and linked to the needs identified, ratherthan feature-oriented.

Lets look at an analogy to further develop thisconcept. A feature-oriented statement for a digi-tal camera would be a camera with 3 megapix-els, and a 3 X 2 optical zoom. A benefit-orientedstatement would look more like this: a camerawhich will allow you to take high-resolutionpictures of your upcoming cruise vacation. Bothare accurate statements, but the latter helps thebuyer see how the product will help him or hermeet his or her need. Rocket science? No.However, even as product and service commodi-

CONSULTATIVE SELLING2

tization continues in every industry and necessi-tates this transition, youll find that most salesorganizations still spend the majority of theirtraining time and marketing investments oncommunicating product features rather thanbenefits.

Multi-offering, Creative SolutionsAnother key component to this sales approachwas the ability for the salesperson to act as aconsultant, and select products and services froma broad portfolio in order to create a unique solu-tion for a client. This presents many challenges asmergers and acquisitions have doubled, oftentripling product sets. As a result, there are casesin which it is not realistic for a salesperson to bea product expert in every offering. What typicallyresults is a sales force which is well-versed insome product features, but not adept at using theinformation to assemble integrated solutions tomeet a client need. Instead, these salespeople willfeature dump or rely on recommending prod-ucts they are more comfortable explaining.

The solution does not necessarily lie in rampingup product knowledge training. Instead, respon-dents in a recent AchieveGlobal survey indicateda more current view of product knowledge,advocating that the ability to tap into the productexperts within the selling organization (people oronline systems) has become more important thanindividual product knowledge itself. Further-more, salespeople who are more confident withthe skill of selling are more likely to appropriatelyuse product knowledge. We would never sayproduct knowledge is not necessary. In fact,Schaaf (2004) found that product knowledge isone of the biggest reasons why purchasers valueone salesperson over another. However, wewould advocate that product training is betterdelivered in the context of selling skills, focusedon how key features yield valued results.

Unwavering Focus on ValueAnother aspect commonly associated withconsultative selling was a focus on value. Overtime, this concept has become less vague aroundspeaking in benefit language and developedinto a skill of being able to articulate a quantita-tive business benefit. Obviously, some of this isdue in part to the impact of a slow economy inrecent years, but articulating a quantitative busi-ness benefit is no temporary requirement.Increased customer sophistication across theboard makes it a mandatory part of the salescycle. When asked about this particular skill, asales manager noted, Its about how to sellvalue rather than exchanging quotes.

Furthermore, being able to talk about a solutionin terms of ROI (return on investment) or TCO(total cost of ownership) assists in the ability tosell on factors other than just price, and combatthe product and service commoditization whichcontinues to dominate the marketplace. Thechallenge for the salesperson lies in helpingcustomers understand where value comes from.Value lies in a variety of places such as:

Benefits of the product or service beingsold

The ancillary support services or cus-tomization that accompany it

The reputation of the supplier organiza-tion

The information, expertise, and profes-sionalism provided by the salesperson.

In this manner, the salesperson himself or herselfbecomes part of the value proposition. Being ableto articulate value in this manner allows fordeeper relationships with customers and, in theB2B world, at higher levels in the organization.


ITS BEEN DECADES, WHAT HAPPENED?

During a study of sales organizations conductedin 1986, we constantly heard how the move toconsultative selling was the next big frontier forsales professionals. It was somewhat surprising tohear the same strategies expressed some 17 yearslater.

Why has it taken so long to transition fromphilosophy to standard practice? Why is consul-tative selling still the next big thing?

One reason relates to the ever-changing nature ofsales. Consultative selling today transcends thestandard envisioned in the past. For many organ-izations, achieving it is like trying to hit a movingtarget.

Timing is another reason that has set consultativeselling back. Consultative selling as a practicetakes considerable investment by the supplier.When the market was in a buying mode, as it wasin much of the world during the mid- to late-90s,anything which lengthened a sales cycle wasconsidered a waste of time. As a result, salesorganizations shifted focus and interpersonal sell-ing skills often atrophied in favor of productknowledge and order processing. As the situa-tion began to change and sales cycles becamemore complex, consultative selling was re-intro-duced into the mix, at least from a trainingperspective. Pockets of success were achieved,usually in the areas of national and globalaccount management.

However, management reinforcement and thesupport infrastructure were missing. As a result,consultative selling never made the transitionfrom philosophy to consistent, standard practiceacross sales organizations.

SO, WHY BOTHER NOW?

Having established that consultative selling isnecessary, and requires extensive knowledge anda resource-intensive process, the questionbecomes, Why are organizations still chasing

Aim for Trusted Business Advisor StatusThe last element which was common to each defi-nition was the idea that every salesperson shouldaim to become a trusted business advisor for hisor her client base. To be a trusted business advi-sor with a client means you have superceded therole of vendor or supplier and are now viewed asan advisor by your clients. To earn such a posi-tion with a client, salespeople need to possesssuperior sales skills, as well as industry expertiseand client insight. Remember, it might not bepractical to invest in this kind of relationshipwith all clients, nor would all clients desire thiskind of relationship. Salespeople need to be capa-ble of determining where these relationships areappropriate while having the ability to build andmaintain them. By providing information andadvice as trusted business advisors, salespeopleare able to add value to the relationship by differ-entiating themselves from the competition.

As we move forward, we will use the following asa sum of the parts or a working definition forconsultative selling:

Consultative Selling is the process of partneringwith prospects and customers to create lasting,mutually beneficial relationships. Salespeoplewho successfully construct and build upon theserelationships do so by continuously understand-ing the current and future issues and needs of thecustomer and his or her organization, and byproviding solutions that provide value in helpingcustomers reach their goals.

The proposed outcome for this process would befor a salesperson to deepen and strengthen therelationship over time, ultimately becoming atrusted business advisor in the customers eyes.We refer to a working definition because noth-ing in sales is ever static. Markets change.Customers change. Consultative selling haschangedfrom referring to any non-aggressivesales approach to the much higher approachoutlined above. In the future, the bar willcontinue to rise.


this strategy? The answer lies in the need forlong-term perspective. There are different kindsof market conditions that impact sales organiza-tions. Some of these, such as economic factors,tend to be cyclical and thus short-term in nature.Underlying economic factors is a series of long-term conditions that, although showcased ormasked by cyclical conditions, are by no meanstemporary. This is well illustrated by the 2001recession and the slowdown that followed.Although market challenges, customer demands,and competitive pressures had been growing fora long time, they were somewhat hidden or atleast countered by market conditions ofeconomic prosperity. When the cycle reversed,severe budget cuts accompanying the economicdownturn put the spotlight on these factors. Bythat time, many organizations were playingcatch up. As a result, the overwhelming feelingamong sales organizations today is that factorsthat make sales an increasingly complex processare becoming permanent. And even as economicgrowth returns, the need to address these chal-lenges will remain.

IS CONSULTATIVE SELLING ALWAYS THE ANSWER?

As noted previously, it may not be practical forall salespeople to try and practice consultativeselling with every client. The key critical successfactor to the adoption of consultative selling is aflexible approach which allows a salesperson todetermine the degree of implementation. When,for example, will it make sense for a salespersonto become a trusted business advisor to a client?Lets look at this issue using a relationshipmodel. The following model, called the SalesImpact Ladder (Figure 1), describes how salesbehaviors can impact a relationship with acustomer. Sales behaviors can range from trans-action-oriented to more consultative in nature.

The first three selling levels describe transac-tional selling and are characterized by goods andservices being exchanged for money. The sales-persons role in these transactions is to facilitatethe process and render it painless or even enjoy-able.

Professional Visitor This salesperson sells onpersonality or common interests, often meeting

the personal needs of the customer, but failing toform a long-term strategic business alliance.Professional visitors use friendliness and otherincentives to get in the door. While it is true thatpeople often buy from people they like, profes-sional visitors are unlikely to maximize thepotential of an account, because they are rarelyviewed as a highly valuable resource.

Price Seller Conversations in this kind of rela-tionship revolve around price, cost, deals, andquotes. Price Sellers are higher on the ladder thanProfessional Visitors because they need a bitmore knowledge in order to support negotia-tions. Price Sellers may meet the customersfinancial needs, but have difficulty selling thevalue of a product or service and end up rein-forcing a perception of their product or service asa commodity.

Content Seller This level focuses on productknowledge. Content Sellers typically are highlyknowledgeable about their products and try theirbest to explain it all to customers. The inherentproblem with this approach is the sales presenta-tion frequently becomes what is known as afeature dumplong on technical informationbut short on customer benefits.

The two higher, consultative, levels of the SalesImpact Ladder reflect greater skill and invest-ment, but also offer more value to customers,support longer-term relationships, and allow forgreater salesperson involvement in the buyingprocess.

Needs Satisfaction Seller This salesperson uses

Figure 1


selling skills to uncover customer needs, thentailors the response. The solutions presentedrelate directly to the customers situation andneeds. Features are still mentioned, but theemphasis is on the benefit (or value) to thecustomer.

Needs Satisfaction Sellers satisfy the customersorganizational needs by addressing problemsand opportunities.

Trusted Business Advisor These salespeoplehave the greatest impact on both customers andthe sale. At this level the salespersons behavioris focused on helping customers succeed in theirbusiness. They are in the strongest position toform a true business alliance with the customer.Trusted Business Advisors use selling skills toprobe at a deeper levelto discover the businessissues that serve as the need behind the need(the reason the need is important). Trusted busi-ness advisors possess an in-depth understandingof customer and industry factors, and are able touse this expertise to provide value to clients. Thiskind of relationship requires a significant invest-ment in time and other resources to create.

A salesperson can be successful at every stage ofthe ladder. Clearly, the Needs Satisfaction Sellerand the Trusted Business Advisor would bepreferred by most selling organizations as theyprove most resistant to client turnover. However,they are not always feasible, and the dilemmabecomes, How do you know where on theladder you should be with any given client?There are two key questions to ask:

1. What kind of relationship does this client desire from a supplier?

2. What makes good business sense?

WHAT DO CUSTOMERS WANT?

Lets start with the customer perspective inwhich decision-making generally covers sixmajor stages.

Plan and Prioritize Determine the organiza-tional goals and objectives, and outline theactions needed to achieve them. During thisprocess, customers will uncover barriers, issues,

and challenges which must be addressed in orderto succeed.

Identify Options At this point, the questionbecomes What are my options to overcome thischallenge? During this phase of the process,customers are concerned with make/buy deci-sions and identifying supplier candidates.

Evaluate Options Evaluating involves narrow-ing the supplier universe down to a select few,often using formal criteria.

Select the Best Option Possibilities are furthernarrowed down to one alternative.

Contract Parties agree on how to worktogether (often includes negotiations aroundterms and conditions such as price, duration, andservice-level requirements).

Build and Track This deals with the ongoingimplementation, use, and maintenance of thesolution.

Customers may find value in having salespeopleparticipate in all of these phases or they may findvalue in only limited participation. For example,if a customer is already in the evaluate optionsstage, then a lower-ladder or transactionalapproach may be most appropriate. On the otherhand, if the client is open to salesperson involve-ment throughout a broader portion of theprocess, then a more consultative approach maybe appropriate.

BALANCING CUSTOMER POTENTIAL AND COST OF SALE

At the same time this process occurs, a sales-person has to consider his or her internalcustomer needs. A client may be looking for asalesperson to advise on decisions throughoutthe phases, but they may represent a very smallopportunity for the business. In such cases, it canmake sense for the salesperson to look for waysto more efficiently deliver value (deliveringnewsletters as opposed to in financial reviews) tothe client without over-investing his or herlimited resources.

When we looked at various organizations in themost recent AchieveGlobal study, we discoveredtransactional customers were increasingly being


served by inside sales teams and distributornetworks or were incented to use self-servicechannels such as e-commerce. Face-to-face salesteams, as well as some groups of inside salesresources, were reserved for customers withwhom a consultative relationship was desired.The goal in these instances is to preserve theinvestment in a direct sales force for thosesegments and opportunities which had the high-est potential. That is not to say that face-to-facesales teams never engage in transactional sales,or that inside sales resources cannot have consul-tative relationships with clients. In fact, theopposite may occur, depending on what thebuyer and seller are looking for in the relation-ship. But in general, the most expensiveresources are deployed against those customerswho value a consultative approach and who areconsidered key to the selling organization.

CAN YOU GROW A RELATIONSHIP UP THE LADDER?

Relationships may vary along the ladder. Sales-people may find themselves in different stagesdepending on the opportunity and decision

maker in an account (e.g., the business managermay view you as a needs satisfaction seller whilethe procurement manager may view you as aprice seller). However, it is rare for a client togrow the relationship from being highly transac-tional to highly consultative. If it occurs at all,such a progression would be gradual. As thisprogression occurs, salesperson requirementsshift as well. Research conducted by MichaelBeverland (2001) indicates that as relationshipswith clients grow, the balance of relationship-based (understanding client industry) andperformance-based (closing sales calls) activitieswill shift towards more relationship-based.

Caution should be exercised, however. Clientsmay grow their relationship with a salespersonif one exceeds performance expectations, or ifthey are considering entry into a new market inwhich your company has expertise. However,they may be content to keep the status quo rela-tionship at the lower end of the ladder. Even ifa customer is very large, he or she may alwaysview your relationship as transactional, and youmight not be able to move up the ladder in termsof relationship or revenue. In these instances, itmakes sense to control the investment in salesrather than chase the big elephantevenconsidering passing the opportunity to a chan-nel with a lower cost of sale such as an insidesalesperson who will be able to meet client rela-tionship expectations with lesser investment.On the other hand, it may make sense for aninside sales rep to hand an account off to a face-to-face sales team if the client prefers a deeperrelationship and the account potential merits ahigher cost of sale.

1 2 3 4 5 6

Trusted Business Advisor

Needs Satisfaction Seller

Transactional

Prof. Visitor, Price Seller, Content Seller

Plan and

Prioritize

Identify

Options

Evaluate

Options

Select the

Best

Option

Contract Build and

Track

A customer may value the efforts of a NeedsSatisfaction Seller to assist in drilling down intoproblems and identifying options to addressthose problems. When a customer valuesinvolvement in all stages of the process, frombusiness planning to post-sale use, it becomespossible for a salesperson to achieve TrustedBusiness Advisor status. The diagram above(Figure 2) shows how different rungs of theladder align with a customers decision-makingprocess.

Figure 2


BEST PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED

The focus of every sales organization that partic-ipated in our research study was to fight offcommoditization and meet the needs of anincreasingly sophisticated customer base byleveraging a consultative selling approachexecuted through face-to-face meetings and,occasionally, inside sales forces. This was trueregardless of the sales model, solution set (e.g.,cell phones, large outsourcing solutions), orindustry. The key to success in each sales cyclewas the right resources having the right capabil-ities to execute on the right relationships.

For some organizations this may translate intolooking for ways to move an account up theladder (to fulfill its potential), being flexibleenough to scale down a consultative approachfor a less-involved client, or even handing off aconsultative opportunity to a different channel.

Clients who have embarked on this journey toconsultative selling have yielded some criticalsuccess factors. These can be summarized bythree major criteria:

Use a holistic approach.

Put everything in the context of a formalsales process.

Make sure you have the support infra-structure in place.

USE A HOLISTIC APPROACH

A consistent success factor throughout our orga-nizational studies has been the presence of aholistic approach. This starts with an executivevision and cascades throughout the organizationfrom managerial reinforcement down to consis-tent field execution. When asked why consulta-tive selling had been so slow to achieve its poten-tial, the majority of answers we got indicated afragmented message to the sales force. Managerswerent modeling consultative selling skills;different parts of the sales and service organiza-tion were trained on differing skills and philoso-phy. The learning was that if an organizationtruly expects any results from adopting a consul-tative selling approach, it needs to view the

approach as a strategic initiativeenlisting theresources and delivering the communicationacross the organization to make it successful.

Another noteworthy observation is that aconsultative sales approach should not beisolated within the sales organization.Customers deal with organizations through anumber of contact points: marketing, customerservice, fulfillment, etc. Experiences throughoutthe relationship should be similar whether deal-ing with a relationship manager, someone who isinstalling purchased equipment, or someoneresearching an account transaction.

PUT EVERYTHING IN THE CONTEXT OF A FORMAL SALES

PROCESS

Once the philosophy is communicated across theorganization, it must become actionable. Forsalespeople, this means consultative selling mustbe part of their daily sales interactions; it mustbe embedded in a formally defined sales process.Although such processes will vary by organiza-tion, the following represents a typical example.

Defining a sales process is a complex projectinvolving a cross-functional team comprised ofmarketing managers, salespeople, customer serv-ice reps, operations, and customers. Once assem-bled, this team analyzes customer touch pointsand determines the desired process for creatingand maintaining customer relationships. Whiledefining this process represents a huge mile-

Right Resources + Right Capabilities = Right Relationships

Engage

Analyze

Recommend

ImplementMaintain

Engage

Analyze

Recommend

ImplementMaintain


stone, the real value comes in defining the detailwhich supports it. Every phase must becomeactionable by defining what the customer expec-tations are, what the sales activities are, and howthe success will be measured. From this a sales-person is able to understand how consultativeselling behaviors link to what he or she does fora living and how they assist in creating relation-ships with clients.

Perhaps the biggest temptation to overcome inthese situations is what is known as analysisparalysis. Analysis paralysis occurs bycollecting large amounts of data and conductingso much planning that the output is not action-able. Make sure to look at things in manageablepieces. Heres an example.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE IN

PLACE

Even if you have a holistic vision and an inte-

grated sales process, you will need to enableexecution through a support infrastructure.Notes Thomas Ingram (2002), Selling functionactivities including selling strategy, internaliza-tion of selling activities, extent of supervision,focus of control, and compensation systemsenable the conversion of business strategy intomarketplace success. The biggest pitfall uncov-ered in our research is when a disconnectbetween desired and actual sales behavior occursdue to misalignment with the compensation andincentive system. All too frequently, we willwork with sales organizations that are frustratedwith the lack of consultative selling they witnessin the field. Further investigation reveals thatsalespeople are being tasked with a consultativeselling approach but being compensated fortransactional behaviors. For example, a salesper-son for a mid-sized services firm admitted that Ihave a monthly quota. I may accept longer salescycles at the beginning of the month, but whenthe end of the month comes around I give up onselling solutionsIm back to selling units [ofhardware]. Therefore, once that sales process isdeveloped, organizations need to take a stepback and do a gap analysis. What is the differ-ence between this process and the way sellingoccurs today? What needs to change? Whatsupport is needed? And of course, never forget toincent people for what you want them to do

Create parameters for the sales process Map out a process which starts when youfirst receive a prospect as a lead and followthrough to post-sales activities. Start with asmall customer focus group and find outwhat the expectations for each phase are andhow you match up currently.

Customer Expectations

Key Activities

Measurement

DISSECTING THE ANALYZE PHASE

Ask me questions which are relevant. Dont waste my time. Do your homework. Help me think through my needs. Listen to what I have to say.

Create a probing strategy based on researching the customers situation.

Listen carefully and confirm your understanding. Ask questions to gain a clear, complete, and mutual understanding

of a customers needs.

Customer should find value in analysis phase (customer satisfac-tion survey).

Salesperson should ask appropriate questions to develop clear,complete, and mutual understanding (coaching observation).


this means compensation and incentive systems,integrated measurement and evaluation, andaligned performance management.

ABOUT ACHIEVEGLOBAL

With its world headquarters in Tampa, Florida,AchieveGlobal helps organizations translatebusiness strategies into business results byimproving the performance of their people.Clients around the world rely on Achieve-Globals proven expertise in leadership develop-ment, customer service, and sales effectiveness.By implementing research-based learning solu-tions, AchieveGlobal empowers clients tosuccessfully develop leaders and acquire, grow,and retain profitable customer relationships.

ABOUT THE RESEARCH

Over an 18-month period we interviewed morethan 150 individuals within 17 organizationsaround the world to better understand the chal-lenges that were facing sales organizations, andto understand their response to these issues. Ourinterviews, each typically about an hour inlength, consisted of both face-to-face and phoneconversations. We personally visited all but a fewcompanies so we could observe firsthand thesales culture of the organization. Onsite visitsprovided us a richer understanding of the salesoperation and allowed us to ask more follow-upand probing questions.

As part of our investigation we reviewed docu-ments from each company including organiza-tional charts, strategy statements, trainingprograms, marketing collateral, annual reports,and descriptions of product or service offeringsto gain a better understanding of how each salesorganization worked, and where it was experi-encing challenges and successes in each of thestrategy areas.

Who We InterviewedWe selected companies to participate based onthe performance of their sales organizationwithin their industry. We also looked for compa-nies that had some demonstrated success withvarious strategies involving channel or customersegmentation, training and development of sales

skills, or sales technology. Other criteria in ourselection process were to identify leading salesorganizations in their industries, and to find onesthat would provide us a representative sampleacross industries and geographic regions, includ-ing Europe, Asia, and North America.

The organizations represented a wide variety ofindustries including automotive, energy, finan-cial services, hospitality, industrial equipment,information technology, manufacturing, officesupplies, paper and forestry products, profes-sional services, retail, and telecommunications.

Within each organization we interviewed peopleat all levels of the sales structure:

Heads of sales organizations responsiblefor strategy development

Regional sales leaders responsible for theimplementation of strategies across re-gions or areas

Sales managers responsible for identifyingand developing sales representatives, andmanaging the sales process

Training professionals responsible for de-veloping the skills of the sales force

Frontline sales representatives who meetwith customers on a daily basis and areresponsible for executing strategies

What We AskedThe focus of this study is on how successfulorganizations respond to changes in the market-place through strategies around sales technology,organizational structure, sales channels, salesmanagement development, culture, and newsales skills requirements. Our overarching ques-tions relate not only to how marketplace trendsimpact sales organizations ability to compete,but more importantly, what strategies they aredeveloping to win sales in this new environment.More specifically, we investigated the followingareas and sought answers to the following ques-tions:

Changes in customer behavior What isdifferent about customers today com-pared with five years ago, and what will


be different in the future? What chal-lenges do changes in customer behaviorpresent to the sales organization?

Adoption and usage of sales technologies How advanced is the companys use ofCRM/SFA systems? What challenges havethey posed for the organization? What isthe next generation going to look like,and what lessons were learned for futureimplementations?

Sales organization structures Whatchannels to market are utilized today andwhy? What kinds of sales resources areutilized (sales teams, account managers,etc.) and how are they deployed?

Selling processes and practices What isthe common selling approach of each or-ganization participating in the study, andhow is this similar or different from itscompetitors? Are selling practices basedon any particular philosophy, and if so,what is that philosophy? How might thischange in the future?

Sales management How are managersselected? What are their key responsibili-ties and skill sets, and how has thatchanged over time? How are they trainedand prepared in each organization?

Sales skills requirements What kinds ofsales skills are necessary to achieve thebenefits of the strategies being implement-ed to win sales? Are there new sales skillsrequired, and are there old ones that arestill valid? Where are the common skillgaps?

Sales culture What role does the salesculture play in implementing strategiesthat win sales? What makes for a strongsales culture, and what are the challengesof maintaining an influential sales culture?

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Seleste LunsfordSeleste is the Senior Product Manager forAchieveGlobals Sales Performance portfolio of

products and services. She manages the identifi-cation, design, development, and maintenance offoundational and advanced products for salesprofessionals.

Selestes professional experience includes posi-tions in sales, product management, marketing,and management consulting. Her responsibilitiesin these positions led her to become proficient instrategic planning, market analysis and businesscase development, process redesign, and productdesign and development.

She has worked with organizations in a widevariety of industries, including financial services,training and IT services.

Seleste has contributed to numerous articles innational publications, including Selling Powerand Pharma Voice, and is a regular presenter atbusiness conferences on making sales perform-ance a success in organizations. She has co-authored a book regarding best practices in sales,Secrets of Top-Performing Sales People, recentlypublished by McGraw-Hill. Seleste also has co-authored a new book, Strategies that Win Sales.It will be available in December.

She earned an MBA from Florida State Univer-sity, where she also earned a B.S. in physics.

Mark MaroneMark Marone, Ph.D., is AchieveGlobals seniorresearch manager. He has more than 13 years ofacademic and private sector experience inresearch and consulting on issues such aseconomic development, corporate strategy, andbusiness policy. His career includes being a senioranalyst with Nielsen Media Research, where hewas responsible for analyzing market data forkey national media accounts. He also served asdirector of research at the Global Business Infor-mation Network, a research firm that providesinternational consulting to businesses in theMidwest. In addition, he spent several years as amanagement consultant with KPMG, LLC, andas a client services manager with SterlingResearch Group, Inc.

Mark has written extensively on topics such ashigh technology industries, economic develop-


ment, and corporate strategy in the telecommu-nications industry. He has been a featuredspeaker and presented research findings atnumerous international academic conferences.

He earned a Ph.D. from Indiana University,where he has held several academic posts. He iscurrently an adjunct professor of management atthe University of South Florida.

In 2003 Mark co-authored a book on salesperformance, Secrets of Top-Performing Sales-people. Mark also co-authored Strategies thatWin Sales, which will be available in December.He is a member of the American MarketingAssociation and Marketing Research Associa-tion.


2004 AchieveGlobal, Inc. No. M01021 (8/04)

Documents

11. to Be or Not to Consultative