As we turn to September it's time to think about your plan to meet the CEOs goals in 2013.  

You and your executive management have probably already articulated that your growth strategy is predicated on "deepening relationships in existing accounts while expanding in new markets."
The math looks compelling — if your typical salesperson could just sell 10% more of the portfolio to their current accounts, organic growth would be off the charts.
Unfortunately, your situation is just like every other B2B business with a broad portfolio of capabilities and a blue-chip roster of clients — cross-selling is a lot harder to execute than most CEOs think.

So, why is it so hard to effectively arm, support, train and manage salespeople to sell more products and services within the accounts where they have existing relationships?
 

The reason is actually pretty simple. You are asking salespeople to operate way outside their comfort zone...and at the same time hitting them with an avalanche of well-intended materials and programs.

If you’d like to know more about this problem and how to change your approach - Sales Enablement Research Director Scott Santucci will be hosting a Forrester Webinar on Tuesday, September 11 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern: Improve Cross-Selling By Breaking Through The Comfort Zone Barrier
 

In this webinar, Scott will illuminate the "comfort zone" problem and introduce Forrester's "five E" Growth Strategy framework to help you look at your challenge as a portfolio of patterns. He’ll also identify simple tactics to help drive growth - and support your sales teams - in line within each pattern.
For more information, or to register if you are not a Forrester client, please contact Katherine Shao who is on my team.

Agenda in more detail:

• Why is it so hard for your sales force to cross-sell your products and services in the first place?
• What are "altitude levels" and how do they create threshold levels for your sales teams to access the right funding?
• What is a "role map" and how do you use it to identify different funding sources?
• What are the "five E" growth strategies and how do they help identify low-hanging fruit revenue generation opportunities?
• How do you put these concepts together into programs that allow you to achieve cross-selling success incrementally without overwhelming your sales teams?