In September 2009, Professor of Professional Selling and Creator of world-renowned SPIN® Selling methodology for sales effectiveness, Neil Rackham, was in Singapore for his workshop event, Neil Rackham … Live in Singapore.

The founder of Huthwaite, a sales effectiveness consulting company,  appeared on Bloomberg’s Asia Confidential with Bernie Lo, in an interview that discussed the art and science of selling in a recession, old but gold strategies that defy the test of time, and how the “cheaper than others” strategy isn’t the only strategy to do business.

In a ‘Live’ Q&A session with a fund manager from Tokyo, Neil Rackham also dishes out tips and advice on how to attract more customers and achieve better sales performance.

For more information, read the other articles about Neil Rackham and Huthwaite here.

Neil Rackham… Live in Singapore!
Huthwaite Asia Pacific

Singapore | September 2009

Neil Rackham, the Professor of Professional Selling and creator of the world-renowned SPIN® Selling methodology for sales effectiveness, came to Singapore after more than 20 years to conduct a sales strategy workshop at the Raffles Convention Centre on September 8, 2009.  Huthwaite Asia Pacific presented the event in partnership with the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore, McGraw Hill, and the Singapore Institute of Management.

Rice Communications led the PR activities for the event over a two-month period with the objective of maximizing awareness for the tour and Neil Rackham’s thought leadership to strengthen the profile of Huthwaite in Singapore.

Coverage generated includes a full-color, half paged opinion feature in the Business Times and a live interview on Bloomberg TV’s Asia Confidential.

The Professor of Professional Selling Neil Rackham was in Singapore recently for a workshop sharing his internationally-renowned sales effectiveness methodology called SPIN® Selling in the context of the global downturn. Huthwaite, the leading sales performance improvement organization, presented the event in partnership with McGraw Hill, the Singapore Institute of Management, and the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore. The half-day session attendees comprised mostly of sales managers from multinational companies.

Rice Communications had access to the workshop as their communications consultants.

One of the discussion points we found particularly fascinating focused on the three types of sales models or approaches – Transactional, Consultative and Enterprise, which Neil Rackham had previously expounded on in one of his best-selling business books Rethinking the Sales Force.

In simple terms, transactional selling is all about “commodity” selling, whereby the goal is to serve intrinsic value customers. Price and convenience are the drivers of the transactional model.

Consultative selling meanwhile takes the sales process to a higher plane by focusing on problem solving and creating tailored solutions for specialized needs. According to Neil Rackham, integral to effective consultative selling is the ability to ask the right questions that help customers not only make sense of their situations but more importantly recognize their unseen problems and the implications of failing to address them.

Transactional selling prevailed in the olden days while the 80s and 90s saw the rise of consultative selling. The more multifarious enterprise selling model that involves an integrated approach for a longer-term seller-buyer partnership began gaining ground in recent years.

What had us thinking during one of the workshop station breaks was whether the Public Relations sales model was a transactional or consultative one; or if it even had in fact evolved to the enterprise level.

Sonya Madeira-Stamp, Rice Comms Managing Partner, held that Public Relations has and will always keep an inherent consultative, problem-solving nature. Services such as press release development or event management may be marketed in a “transactional” manner by ad hoc publicists and direct-to-customer online press release distribution channels, but this is more of an exemption rather than the rule.

The strategic thinking that comes with effective messaging and tactical planning in professional Public Relations is anything but transactional. Rather it is a process that requires deep immersion into the client’s business and demands advanced skills from PR consultants.

Unlike advertising, which is more often tied to or subsumed under marketing, Public Relations serves a broader strategic management function in an organization. Assuming a perception management role, it encompasses both internal and external communications for such purposes as corporate brand marketing and promotion, stakeholder relations, all through to crisis and reputation management. This wider ambit consequentially makes it imperative for Public Relations professionals to create rather than merely communicate value for their clients.

At Rice Communications, we encourage the growth of the “hybrid consultant” – one who can proficiently apply PR skills as a value creating brand ambassador.

As the partner of one of the region’s fast-rising mining conglomerates Middle East Coal, Rice Communications offered flexibility and went beyond media channels to build their corporate profile. We tapped high level industry profiling events and brokered relationships to introduce the MEC leadership to media and potential investment partners.

The counsel for the Mobile Marketing Association, on the other hand, has been creating tangible value. By strategically marrying on-the-ground in-country events with regional media outreach and Social Media strategies, Rice Communications contributes in raising the membership and expanding the networking base of the industry alliance.

Mistakes salespeople make in hard times

• The Professor of professional selling Neil Rackham emphasizes the value of value in his first talk in Singapore in over twenty years
• Sharing observations and analyses of common mistakes salespeople make, Rackham taps into the psychology of marketplace behavior and deliberates the effectiveness of Chief Revenue Officers

Singapore, September 12,  2009 – In his first professional visit to Singapore in over 20 years, celebrated author and global thought leader on sales effectiveness, Neil Rackham, shared insights on the changing dynamics in the marketplace today including common mistakes made by salespeople in hard times. “Neil Rackham?Live in Singapore?was presented by Huthwaite, the world’s leading sales performance improvement organization.

The celebrated thinker, author and speaker in the space of sales and marketing also deliberated the premium placed today, on the integration of sales and marketing functions and the imperative need to create value to stay ahead during the session.

In his talk centered on the need to create customer value in challenging times – incidentally the title of his presentation – Rackham discussed, among other things, the actual and perceived value of services (and products) by customers. Dedicating a section of his session to the birth and identity of the Chief Revenue Officer, Rackham celebrated the marriage of both sales and marketing in the role of a CRO but cautioned against the creation of such roles for novelty rather than true commercial benefit.

Tapping into the psychology of marketplace behavior, Rackham also questioned perceptions of who or what a sales force is, in today’s context, identifying three common mistakes typically made by salespeople:

Less is sometimes more – Calling into question the natural inclination to cast the net wider in the hope of more ‘hits? Rackham spoke against chasing more opportunities in difficult times. He instead advocated strategic selling by maintaining focus on selected opportunities thereby enhancing the quality of the sales, for both clients and companies.

Sell, don’t negotiate – Lamenting passion without control, which some salespeople use to push their agenda, Rackham reminded his audience to truly sell – a product, its services, benefit and therefore value – to customers rather than just negotiate a sale.

Selling on price rather than safety – Noting that in hard times, price becomes even more of a bargaining tool, the guru of spin selling cautioned salespeople on losing sight of the product in favour of just selling on price, thereby limiting the value of the product or service being sold.

Citing research conducted over the years and psychographic analyses of customers and salespeople, Rackham underlined his talk by emphasizing a most intangible- but intrinsic – part of the salesperson -customer dynamic: the relationship.

Best known as the creator of SPIN Selling, a sales effectiveness method that has revolutionized the world of sales and defines consultative selling to this day, the global thought leader on sales effectiveness encouraged his guests to personally get involved in the day’s discussion.

A seminal thinker, writer and speaker on sales and marketing issues, Rackham has written over 50 influential articles on marketing, selling, channel strategy, including Managing Major Sales, Getting Partnering Right: How Market Leaders are Creating Long-Term Competitive Advantage and Rethinking Sales Force, which are required reading at many of the world’s leading business schools. Three of his

books have been on the New York Times best seller list and his works have been translated into over 50 languages. Neil has also been Chairman and CEO of three international research and consulting firms, including Huthwaite.

About Huthwaite

Huthwaite is the world’s leading sales performance improvement organization. Founded on scientifically validated behavioral research, our methodologies which include the internationally renowned SPIN® Selling, guarantee sales success. Huthwaite assesses your organization’s needs and develops customized sales performance improvement and coaching programs that drive real business results. For additional information on Huthwaite, please visit www.huthwaite.com.

Press Contacts:

Shorbani Roy / Donna Garcia Vanessa Seymour-Lee
Rice Communications (Singapore) Huthwaite (Australia)
Tel.: +65 6221 8729 Tel: +61 2 8437 7601
Mob: +65 9734 8808 Mob: +61 400 203 253
Email: shorbani.roy@ricecomms.com
donna.garcia@ricecomms.com
Email: vseymourlee@huthwaite.com.au

• Discussing the creation of customer value in challenging times, Rackham tapped into the psychology of marketplace behavior and deliberated the effectiveness of Chief Revenue Officers  

Singapore, September 08, 2009 – In his first professional visit to Singapore in over 20 years, celebrated author and global thought leader on sales effectiveness, Neil Rackham, shared insights on the

changing dynamics in the marketplace today which he deliberates places a premium on the integration of sales and marketing functions and the imperative need to create value to stay ahead.

Tapping into the psychology of marketplace behavior, Rackham questioned perceptions of who or what a sales force is, in today’s context.

Rackham also spoke about the need to create customer value in challenging times – incidentally the title of his presentation – and discussed the birth of the Chief Revenue Officer. Deliberating on how effective these incumbents could be, he cautioned against creating the role in any organization for the sake of it rather than for true commercial benefit.

Speaking at ‘Neil Rackham…Live in Singapore’, the celebrated author and speaker was forthright and candid with his audience at the Raffles Convention Centre today. With the aim of getting the participants to remember the days’ discussion, Rackham further encouraged his guests to engage with him and each other by being personally involved in the topic – thereby showcasing his point of creating value for customers (in this case the participants).

A seminal thinker, writer and speaker on sales and marketing issues, Rackham has written over 50 influential articles on marketing, selling, channel strategy, including Managing Major Sales, Getting Partnering Right: How Market Leaders are Creating Long-Term Competitive Advantage and Rethinking Sales Force, which are required reading at many of the world’s leading business schools.  Three of his books have been on the New York Times best seller list and his works have been translated into over 50 languages.

He has also been Chairman and CEO of three international research and consulting firms, including Huthwaite. 

“Neil Rackham… Live in Singapore” was presented by Huthwaite in cooperation with McGraw Hill.

– END –

About Huthwaite

Huthwaite is the world’s leading sales performance improvement organization. Founded on scientifically validated behavioral research, our methodologies which include the internationally renowned SPIN® Selling, guarantee sales success. Huthwaite assesses your organization’s needs and develops customized sales performance improvement and coaching programs that drive real business results. For additional information on Huthwaite, please visit www.huthwaite.com.

Press Contacts: