Sales Strategy Training Course

Duration 10 days 20 modules · 65 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Sales Managers, Business Development Managers and others
Fee from USD 2,200 KSh 190,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-S-050

Before you join: Participants should have practical experience of selling business products, services or solutions, or supporting a sales function through marketing, commercial operations or customer management.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Sales strategy turns revenue ambition into choices about where to compete, which customers to pursue, how to win, and how sales resources will be deployed. Without those choices, teams often pursue poorly qualified opportunities, discount to compensate for weak value cases, work accounts with limited potential, and produce forecasts that cannot support management decisions. The result is inconsistent account coverage, long sales cycles, weak conversion and avoidable revenue leakage.

This course equips participants to design and implement an evidence-based sales strategy. Participants assess market attractiveness, segment customers, define ideal customer profiles, map buying groups, build differentiated value propositions and set account, territory and channel priorities. They also establish sales process stages, opportunity qualification criteria, pipeline coverage rules, account plans, pricing guardrails, forecasting methods, performance measures and governance routines. The course connects strategic choices with the practical operating model required for sales teams to execute them.

Teaching combines focused instructor briefings, sector cases, group analysis, sales simulations and structured application to participants' own markets, customers and offerings. Participants progressively build a sales strategy throughout the programme, testing assumptions, receiving peer review and refining their work. They leave with a complete sales strategy pack containing market analysis, target segments, value propositions, account priorities, operating measures and a practical implementation roadmap.

The course is suited to experienced sales professionals, managers and commercial specialists who contribute to revenue planning, account growth or sales performance improvement. It is particularly relevant where organisations need clearer commercial priorities, stronger pipeline discipline or a more consistent approach to winning strategic opportunities.

What you will be able to do

  • Assess market attractiveness using PESTLE, Porter's Five Forces and market sizing methods
  • Segment customers and define ideal customer profiles using commercial potential and fit criteria
  • Construct differentiated value propositions linked to customer pain points and financial outcomes
  • Prioritise accounts, territories and channels using weighted scoring and coverage models
  • Design sales process stages, qualification gates and pipeline management rules
  • Build account plans and opportunity strategies using stakeholder maps and mutual action plans
  • Forecast revenue using pipeline coverage, conversion rates and weighted opportunity values
  • Present a complete sales strategy with implementation milestones, measures and governance

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Produce a credible sales strategy for a current territory, segment or business unit
  • Defend account and investment priorities with transparent commercial evidence
  • Run higher-quality discovery conversations using structured customer and stakeholder analysis
  • Improve forecast confidence through consistent qualification and pipeline review methods
  • Lead sales planning discussions with clear choices, measures and implementation actions

For your organisation

  • Focus selling time and coverage investment on higher-potential customers and opportunities
  • Improve conversion rates through clearer qualification, value cases and mutual action plans
  • Reduce unnecessary discounting by strengthening differentiated commercial value propositions
  • Increase forecast reliability through common pipeline definitions and review discipline
  • Create consistent account planning and sales governance across teams, regions and channels

Course modules

20 modules over 10 days

Participants can translate commercial ambition into explicit strategic sales choices and priorities.

  • Revenue growth choices translated into explicit market, account and channel priorities
  • Sales strategy components linked from corporate goals to frontline execution
  • Growth gap analysis separating volume, price, mix and retention drivers
  • Commercial assumptions documented with evidence, risks, owners and review dates
  • One-page strategy structure aligning choices, measures, initiatives and governance
  • Decision rights clarified using RACI for strategic sales initiatives

Participants can assess market conditions and identify commercially attractive growth opportunities.

  • PESTLE analysis identifying regulatory, economic and technology implications for sales
  • Porter's Five Forces assessing industry profitability and buyer bargaining power
  • TAM, SAM and SOM estimates built from credible market assumptions
  • Market growth rates separated by geography, segment, product and channel
  • Demand drivers distinguished from temporary events, seasonality and one-off contracts
  • Opportunity hypotheses ranked by attractiveness, feasibility and strategic fit

Participants can define target segments and ideal customer profiles using measurable criteria.

  • Needs-based segmentation combining customer problems, behaviours and buying contexts
  • Firmographic criteria selected for industry, size, location and ownership structure
  • Ideal customer profile scores combining fit, value potential and accessibility
  • Segment attractiveness matrix comparing profit pools, growth and competitive intensity
  • Customer lifetime value estimated from margin, retention and expansion assumptions
  • Target segment choices documented with inclusion and exclusion criteria

Participants can analyse buying processes and plan engagement with customer decision-makers.

  • Buying journey mapped from trigger event through evaluation, approval and renewal
  • DMU roles identified as economic buyer, champion, user and blocker
  • Stakeholder influence mapped using power, attitude and relationship strength
  • Procurement process requirements assessed before proposal timing and resource commitment
  • Decision criteria separated into technical, financial, operational and political factors
  • Contact strategies matched to stakeholder priorities, concerns and authority

Participants can create differentiated value propositions supported by customer-specific evidence.

  • Customer jobs, pains and gains structured through Value Proposition Canvas
  • Problem statements written from operational impact, financial exposure and strategic consequences
  • Value drivers quantified through revenue gain, cost reduction, risk and time
  • Benefit statements linked to evidence, proof points and customer outcomes
  • Value proposition hierarchy developed for segment, account and stakeholder levels
  • Message testing checks relevance, differentiation, credibility and commercial clarity

Participants can position offerings against alternatives and develop targeted win strategies.

  • Competitor profiles assessed through strengths, weaknesses, likely tactics and vulnerabilities
  • Win-loss analysis identifies recurring reasons for selection, rejection and delay
  • Alternatives framed as competitors, internal solutions, status quo and deferral
  • Battlecards define differentiators, objection responses, proof and qualification warnings
  • Strategic positioning aligns customer priorities with distinctive commercial strengths
  • No-bid criteria protect resources from low-probability or unattractive pursuits

Participants can rank accounts and allocate sales attention using transparent portfolio criteria.

  • Account scoring combines revenue potential, relationship position and strategic fit
  • Pareto analysis identifies concentration risks within revenue and margin portfolios
  • Whitespace analysis reveals cross-sell, upsell and retention opportunities by account
  • Account tiers define coverage model, contact frequency and management attention
  • Weighted scoring criteria calibrated against available account intelligence
  • Portfolio heatmaps compare current performance against future commercial potential

Participants can design practical territory, channel and customer coverage models.

  • Territory design balances market potential, travel time and workload capacity
  • Channel roles defined for direct sales, partners, distributors and digital routes
  • Coverage models match account tier with selling effort and service intensity
  • Partner selection criteria assess reach, capability, incentives and conflict risks
  • Channel conflict rules establish ownership, registration and compensation boundaries
  • Capacity planning estimates required sellers from opportunity volume and conversion rates

Participants can design a sales process with defined stages, exits and management controls.

  • Sales stages defined from prospecting through qualification, proposal, negotiation and closure
  • Stage exit criteria specify customer evidence rather than seller activity
  • Opportunity definitions standardised for leads, qualified deals and committed revenue
  • Sales process mapped to buyer actions, information needs and decision milestones
  • Handover rules connect marketing, sales, implementation and customer success teams
  • CRM fields selected to support qualification, forecasting and management decisions

Participants can build targeted prospecting plans that create qualified sales opportunities.

  • Trigger events identified from funding, regulation, expansion, leadership and performance changes
  • Named-account prospecting plans combine research, contact hypotheses and outreach sequences
  • Account research uses annual reports, investor materials, procurement notices and industry sources
  • Multi-threading approaches build contact access across relevant buying group roles
  • Outbound messaging connects a specific customer issue with credible commercial value
  • Lead qualification distinguishes genuine opportunity signals from low-value interest

Participants can conduct structured discovery to uncover customer needs and buying criteria.

  • SPIN Selling questions sequence situation, problem, implication and need-payoff discussions
  • Discovery plans define hypotheses, questions, stakeholders and required evidence
  • Active listening techniques capture language, priorities, objections and hidden concerns
  • Current-state process mapping identifies bottlenecks, failure points and costly workarounds
  • Business impact questions quantify urgency, consequences and desired measurable outcomes
  • Discovery summaries confirm agreed problems, decision criteria and next actions

Participants can shape solution strategies and build customer business cases for complex sales.

  • Solution hypotheses connect customer problems with capabilities, outcomes and proof
  • Business cases quantify investment, benefits, payback period and implementation assumptions
  • ROI calculations distinguish hard savings, avoided costs and revenue improvements
  • Requirements traceability links stated needs to proposed solution components
  • Proof strategy selects references, pilots, demonstrations and technical validation
  • Mutual action plans assign customer and seller responsibilities through decision milestones

Participants can protect commercial value through pricing discipline and structured negotiation.

  • Price corridors define target, floor and approval thresholds for offers
  • Value-based pricing links price logic to quantified customer economic outcomes
  • Discount governance distinguishes justified concessions from avoidable margin erosion
  • Give-get negotiation plans exchange concessions for measurable customer commitments
  • BATNA analysis establishes alternatives, walk-away points and negotiation authority
  • Commercial proposals present price, value, assumptions, scope and contractual boundaries

Participants can qualify opportunities consistently and manage pipeline quality at scale.

  • MEDDICC criteria assess metrics, buyer, decision process and competitive position
  • Qualification scorecards identify evidence gaps before forecast category assignment
  • Pipeline coverage ratios compare qualified opportunity value against revenue targets
  • Deal reviews focus on customer evidence, risks, actions and decision dates
  • Opportunity aging analysis identifies stalled deals requiring intervention or closure
  • Pipeline hygiene rules set update frequency, mandatory fields and accountability

Participants can produce sales forecasts and performance measures that support management action.

  • Weighted pipeline forecasts apply stage probabilities to qualified opportunity values
  • Commit forecasts separate high-confidence deals from upside and early-stage pipeline
  • Conversion metrics track movement between stages, segments and sales channels
  • Sales velocity measures opportunity volume, win rate, deal size and cycle length
  • Leading indicators monitor prospecting, discovery, stakeholder access and proposal quality
  • Forecast variance reviews distinguish data quality issues from commercial performance changes

Participants can develop growth plans for strategic accounts with clear stakeholder and revenue actions.

  • Account plans define customer strategy, objectives, risks and revenue ambitions
  • Relationship maps identify executive sponsors, operational users and procurement influencers
  • Account SWOT analysis separates internal capability from customer-specific opportunity conditions
  • Growth initiatives prioritised by value, feasibility, timing and relationship readiness
  • Executive meeting plans specify purpose, stakeholder value and desired commitments
  • Account review cadence tracks progress, risks, actions and expansion pipeline

Participants can specify the enablement and coaching practices required for sales strategy execution.

  • Sales competency models define knowledge, skills and observable selling behaviours
  • Enablement assets aligned with sales stages, buyer questions and stakeholder roles
  • Manager coaching uses observation, evidence, feedback and agreed development actions
  • Deal coaching questions test strategy, qualification, value and next-step quality
  • Onboarding plans sequence product knowledge, process mastery and supervised selling
  • Content governance assigns ownership, review cycles and retirement of obsolete materials

Participants can establish governance routines, measures and technology requirements for sales execution.

  • Sales dashboards connect revenue outcomes with leading activity and quality indicators
  • Weekly pipeline meetings follow standard inputs, decisions, actions and escalation rules
  • Monthly performance reviews compare actual results against plan, forecast and benchmarks
  • CRM governance defines data ownership, validation rules and reporting standards
  • Sales technology requirements assessed against workflow, adoption, integration and data quality
  • Incentive measures aligned with profitable growth, retention and strategic account objectives

Participants can create an implementation roadmap that converts sales strategy into sustained execution.

  • Implementation roadmaps sequence priorities, dependencies, owners, milestones and resources
  • Change impact assessment identifies affected roles, behaviours, systems and processes
  • Pilot design tests sales process changes before wider deployment decisions
  • Communication plans explain strategic choices, expected behaviours and performance measures
  • Adoption measures track usage, capability, compliance and early commercial results
  • Quarterly strategy reviews refresh assumptions, priorities, investments and corrective actions

Participants can build, review and present a complete evidence-based sales strategy for a defined market or business unit.

  • Market diagnosis synthesised into a focused commercial opportunity statement
  • Target segments and ideal customer profiles justified with scoring evidence
  • Value propositions linked to buyer priorities, competitors and quantified customer outcomes
  • Account, territory and channel choices translated into resource allocation decisions
  • Pipeline, forecasting and performance measures integrated into operating governance
  • Implementation roadmap presented with milestones, risks, owners and review cadence

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. One-page sales strategy template
  2. Ideal customer profile scorecard
  3. Customer value proposition canvas
  4. Strategic account plan template
  5. Pipeline qualification scorecard
  6. Sales strategy implementation roadmap

Who should attend

  • Sales Managers — responsible for translating revenue targets into team priorities and execution plans
  • Business Development Managers — pursuing growth opportunities that require structured market and account choices
  • Key Account Managers — managing strategic customers, stakeholder relationships and account growth plans
  • Commercial Managers — coordinating sales priorities, channels, pricing and performance measures
  • Sales Operations Specialists — building process discipline, reporting, forecasting and territory models
  • Marketing Managers — aligning segmentation, messaging and demand generation with sales priorities

Skills and tools covered

Market segmentationValue proposition designAccount prioritisationPipeline governanceStrategic account planningSales forecasting

Tools and standards

PESTLE analysis, Porter's Five Forces, SPIN Selling, MEDDICC

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce methods, followed by case analysis, group exercises, sales simulations and application planning. Participants work with realistic commercial situations such as banking relationship management, public-sector tenders, enterprise technology sales and distributor-led markets. Each module adds a component to an individual sales strategy pack. Facilitated peer review tests assumptions, customer relevance, commercial logic and implementation practicality. Trainers adapt cases and discussion emphasis to the cohort's sectors, sales cycles and route-to-market models.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical experience of selling business products, services or solutions, or supporting a sales function through marketing, commercial operations or customer management. They should understand their organisation's offerings, target customers, typical sales cycle and current revenue goals. Familiarity with CRM reports, account plans or sales forecasts is useful but not essential. No formal sales qualification, advanced finance knowledge, statistical training or prior strategy role is required. Participants should be prepared to work with anonymised examples from their own market and customer portfolio.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should have experience in sales, business development, account management, marketing or commercial operations. You do not need a formal sales qualification or advanced financial training, but familiarity with your customers and sales cycle will help.

Bring anonymised information about a market, customer portfolio, sales target or current commercial challenge. Existing account plans, pipeline reports, sales process documents or competitor information can be useful, but are not required.

It is designed for sales managers, business development managers, key account managers, commercial managers, sales operations specialists and marketing managers. It is most useful for professionals who influence sales priorities or revenue execution.

Sales skills courses focus mainly on individual conversations, prospecting or closing behaviour. This course addresses the commercial system around those conversations: target markets, segmentation, account choices, sales process, pipeline governance, forecasting and implementation.

Participants build a sales strategy pack progressively during the programme and can adapt it for their own territory, segment or business unit. The templates support follow-up work on account priorities, value propositions, pipeline rules and implementation actions.

Training runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, providing about 6.5 contact hours daily. The first part develops market, customer and value choices; the later part focuses on pipeline, account execution, governance and the capstone presentation.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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