How Flow State helped Amazon improve their response rate

Getting up to speed on the latest sales techniques

The seller acquisition team has been around for a long time, but they still have challenges to overcome. High-performing team members inevitably get promoted and, along with other organisational changes, this has led to a high turnover rate. “On average, the team changes every two years and there are a lot of junior members coming into this role,” says Lorenzo.

Additionally, even though the team offers a free account management service, prospects can still hesitate to sign up. “These businesses are adding an additional channel,” explains Lorenzo. “It can be a great channel for them, but they still have to invest resources — their time and headcount — to make it work.”

As a result, Lorenzo knew that the team needed to be familiar with the latest sales techniques and best practices to improve their performance and overcome the objections they encountered while recruiting new sellers.

With a new seller acquisition offsite event coming up, bringing together account managers from across Europe, Lorenzo was eager to take advantage of the two-day event to carry out relevant sales training. However, it was important to get the right trainers in, people with the necessary expertise and knowledge of the latest techniques.

Lorenzo had previously gone through some sales training with Aaron in the past. Having found it to be a positive experience, Lorenzo followed Aaron on LinkedIn and enjoyed his content. When the time came to find the best sales enablement trainers, Aaron and the Flow State team were the first ones to come to mind.

Opting in for prime sales training

Lorenzo’s goal was to put on some engaging sales training for all the account managers, helping them overcome existing challenges, learn new techniques and generally shake things up.

One of the main training objectives was to help the team with objection handling. Lorenzo shared some of the typical objections they faced as a new seller acquisition team with Aaron and Raff, who then used that information to create tailored training content.

For the training itself, Flow State wanted to make each session interactive, with plenty of practical examples. By getting as many people involved as possible, they ran through different exercises and provided feedback on how to overturn potential objections and use them to their advantage.

The training sessions focused on the practical steps the team could use to sell the service more effectively. For example, one section walked the participants through how to position themselves in the first 10 seconds of a cold call.

However, along with the practical training, the sessions also helped them get the right mindset. This enabled them to overcome any unexpected potential objections they may face in the future.

“It was the right balance between practical and theory,” says Lorenzo. “It was also the right length, so they didn’t overdo it or rush between different topics. There was plenty of time to go in-depth and ask questions… I think it was delivered perfectly.”

5-star sales enablement

The results were immediate and impressive. Lorenzo reports that the training sessions have significantly increased his response rate from previously unresponsive clients, thanks to the tips Aaron and Raff shared.

For example, Lorenzo found the concept of “earning the right to speak” to someone to be especially valuable. “Aaron pointed out that, if you’ve already done something for a client, you’ve earnt the right to an answer,” explains Lorenzo. “I used this technique for a client who was unresponsive to my last four emails. By switching things around, I received an immediate answer.”

The wider team echoed Lorenzo’s feedback. Everyone appreciated the training and plenty have already asked for more sessions as they added tremendous value to their daily work.

One of the more experienced account managers particularly liked how Aaron’s dynamic delivery and Raff’s insights complemented each other.

The training sessions challenged the team’s “autopilot” sales process, uncovered new techniques to incorporate into their sales approach and motivated them to go out and be better salespeople.

Lorenzo describes Aaron and Raff as amazing sales enablers, who tailored the content and delivery of the training to the participants.