Bill Brooks, the founder of The Brooks Group, discovered that, when a salesperson followed a linked sequential sales process, they had a 93% chance of closing the sale. Without a process, success dropped to 42%.
Our 2024 Sales Leader Trend Report confirmed that 95% of successful teams closely adhere to their sales process—while only 69% of underperforming teams do so.
An entrepreneur and former football coach, Brooks developed the IMPACT Selling training program to help sales professionals sell in any environment.
IMPACT Selling has become the cornerstone of The Brooks Group’s services. It’s a six-step consultative sales approach that’s straightforward and buyer focused. IMPACT is an acronym representing the core stages of the sales process: Investigate, Meet, Probe, Apply, Convince, Tie-It-Up.
This sequence guides sales professionals through strategic milestones while providing proven techniques to navigate each buyer interaction with confidence.
IMPACT Selling sales training has given over one million sales professionals the skills and confidence they need to sell their way through difficult times. Here are a few of their success stories.
Handling Difficult Customer Conversations (2024)
A global technology company’s sales team was facing difficult conversations with customers due to longer lead times, supply chain bottlenecks, and rising prices for materials and manufacturing.
The Brooks Group Sales Consulting Services worked with the client to develop a comprehensive program of content, messaging, training, role-playing, and coaching that was tailored to the company’s specific needs.
The company now has a defined process for addressing client feedback, steps to communicate corrective action, and messaging to handle tough situations. Using the principles of IMPACT Selling, sales professionals and customers have become partners in a difficult situation rather than opponents.
Finding Solutions to Supply Chain Disruption (2023)
The Russo-Ukrainian War has caused shipping delays for companies around the globe. We worked with a client in the construction industry that was dealing with multiple weeks of delayed shipments.
When one of their salespeople was notified of yet another significant delay, he decided to visit the customer in person to discuss the previous delays and break the news about the latest one.
Using a strategy learned in IMPACT training, he asked probing questions to better understand the factors that drove the customer’s buying decision, despite already having a signed order. He realized that he had a less expensive product—in stock—that would meet the customer’s needs.
Upon his suggestion, the customer chose to cancel their original order and ordered the available product. The salesperson wound up with a smaller order but gained the loyalty and respect of the customer for finding a way to solve their problem.
Creating Consistency with a Proven Sales Process (2021)
2021 saw a mass exodus of workers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The “Great Resignation” left many sales managers searching for salespeople to fill empty roles on their teams.
These new hires tended to introduce their previous company’s selling methodology, especially if they were successful there. This created a subtle but sizable problem for sales managers.
We worked with a global IT solutions provider to introduce the IMPACT sales process. This straightforward approach allowed the company’s sales team to follow a consistent six-step process that now is the basis for its success.
One benefit of standardizing the team’s sales approach with IMPACT Selling is that it became much easier to bring new team members up to speed.
Focusing on Strategic Positioning (2008)
During the recession created by the 2008 housing market crash, the CEO of a large cotton cooperative issued an ultimatum to the denim manufacturing division. The company had shown no profit for five consecutive years.
Management now had one year to break even and two years to turn a profit; otherwise, the company would be shut down.
The sales team attended IMPACT training with their management team and reassessed their strategic positioning and value proposition. Instead of competing solely on price with bulk denim buyers, they began focusing on specialty denim manufacturers (who made designer jeans) where the wash, finish, and quality was more important than price.
They leveraged their expertise and offered trend analysis to customers in emerging markets to more fully align with their buyers’ needs. As a result, the company became profitable in five months.
Straightforward and Effective Sales Team Training
IMPACT’s six-step selling methodology works because it aligns the seller’s process with every step of the buying process. The entire approach can be learned in a few days and implemented just as quickly.
Our facilitators use real-world training exercises to introduce new skills and techniques to overcome current challenges.
Because IMPACT focuses on core selling fundamentals, it is effective for selling in person, virtually, or in a hybrid selling environment.
IMPACT teaches salespeople to be more effective when:
- Qualifying prospects
- Adapting to customer behavior styles to improve communication
- Understanding customers’ needs and wants
- Building trust and rapport
- Asking strategic questions to uncover issues
- Overcoming roadblocks and objections
- Presenting solutions and negotiating to close more sales
Learn how IMPACT Selling can help your team sell in a challenging environment.
