Account Executive Training
Do your account executives know how to sell profits rather than products?
Do they know how to analyze customer needs?
Can they effectively utilize menus of product, service and pricing options in meeting customer needs?
Course Description
This workshop is designed to provide utility personnel who deal directly with customers with the fundamental knowledge that they will need for working effectively with customers in selling utility products and services. Utility personnel who deal directly with customers will learn how to analyze the needs of customers and how to perform needs-based selling. They will be coached on how to establish effective relationships with customers and on relationship management. They will be taught how to turn a complaint or a request for a rate reduction into a win-win solution that results in additional sales.
Learning Objectives
1) The evolving competitive market
2) Alternatives for playing the competitive game
a) Price focused strategy
b) Lock-in strategy
c) Revenue enhancement strategy
3) Maintaining utility margins
a) Customer and revenue retention
b) Incremental revenue from new sales
4) Implementing defensive marketing strategies
a) Exit barriers
b) Relationship marketing
c) Price focused defensive strategies
d) Service focused defensive strategies
5) Implementing offensive marketing strategies
a) Price focused aggregation strategies
b) Service focused strategies
6) Which approach is the best fit for your utility?
a) Your comparative advantages
b) What do you do well?
c) Don’t play a game you can’t win
7) Pricing
a) Embedded cost pricing
i) Cost of service studies
ii) Customer and facilities charges
iii) Demand charges
iv) Energy charges
v) Fuel adjustment clauses
vi) Time of use rates
vii) Interruptible rates
viii) Geographically differentiated rates
b) Marginal cost pricing
c) Real time pricing
d) Rate unbundling
8) Risk management applications at the customer level
9) Products and services
a) New products with existing customers
b) Existing products with new customers
c) New products with new customers
d) Potential product and service offerings
10) Actionable market segmentation strategies
11) Targeted marketing approaches
12) Analyzing customer needs
13) Needs-based selling techniques
14) How to avoid the word “no” and get to “yes” with customers
a) Creating proactive solutions to customer needs
b) Responding to customer requests
i) How to parry a request for a rate decrease
ii) Other products and services
15) The importance of an indirect approach
a) Long term contracts
b) Reducing rates for all customers
c) What we can learn from market research techniques
16) Managing customer relationships
17) The selling process
a) Pre-call planning
b) The sales call
c) Follow up
18) The importance of teamwork and internal cohesion in meeting customer needs
a) What causes internal bickering and a loss of internal cohesion
b) How to avoid internal bickering and a loss of internal cohesion
c) How to promote a team approach to meeting customer needs
