chip-bio

Chip’s Bio

Chip Kudrle is the managing partner of OutPerform and is a recognized thought leader in sales performance improvement. His areas of expertise include strategic account sales, strategic account management, territory sales, inside sales, sales management and the utilization of sales channels. Chip has become a trusted advisor to sales executives of leading companies as they look to maximize their go-to-market strategies, achieve incremental revenue growth, and improve customer satisfaction – through better account coverage strategies.

Chip has worked with leading organizations around the globe to drive higher levels of sales performance. His client work has included such prominent companies as American Express, 3M, IBM, HP, Microsoft, FIS, Cigna and UnitedHealth Group.

Along with assisting his clients through consulting and hands-on involvement in sales performance coaching and training, Chip Kudrle has been a featured speaker at national conferences held by organizations like SAMA (Strategic Account Managers Association) and SMT (Professional Society for Sales and Marketing Training). Chip was the co-founder of the Inside Sales Executive Forum.

Speech Topics (click on topic for description)

Attributes of Top Performers (30-90 minutes)
Why do top performers outperform their peers by so much and so often? Multiple studies show how top performers are worth as much as double what a moderate performer delivers. No one is perfect and has it all figured out, but top performers have enough of the right ingredients to be successful (a “tipping point”). In this speech Chip takes a look at the attributes that drive sales performance and provides participants with important steps they can take to better understand their own personal tipping point for success.
Taking Performance to The Next Level (30-120 Minutes)
No matter how experienced you are, or how effective you are performing everyone has another level they can take their performance to. The good news is there are only two to three things standing in our way of getting to the next level. The challenge is in understanding what those two to three things are and developing an effective plan that changes behavior. This speech is coupled with the OutPerform Skills and Attributes Assessments to assist participants in creating self-awareness of key strengths and areas of development. Chip will help participants understand the meaning of their assessment results and, more importantly, how to use these results to take performance to the next level.
Does Your Attitude Need Adjusting? (30-120 Minutes)
How important is it to have the right attitude when you are in sales or account management? We are in a profession where we are consistently dealing with rejection, unhappy customers, and pressure for results just to name a few. The ability to maintain the right attitude can be difficult. In this presentation, Chip will look at those things that impact your attitude both negatively and positively and help participants to better deal with these stimuli. Strategies for improving your attitude will be broken into three categories:  Mental, Physical and Spiritual. Chip will walk participants through numerous strategies from each category. This speech culminates in an exercise (great team building) in which participants identify their top strategies for improving their attitude and put a plan in place.
How To Rekindle Your Passion For Selling (30-90 minutes)
For most of us in the profession of selling, we went through school aspiring to be anything but a salesperson. In other words, we likely fell in to our careers. What happens with top performing salespeople is that although they may have fallen in to their careers, at some point their careers really got in to them; they developed a passion for selling. If you have lost your passion or maybe are finding yourself less motivated, this seminar will provide the spark you need. Chip will review the importance of developing a purpose behind what you do and use that purpose to guide you through your life. In this speech, Chip shares many of the key strategies and tactics from his book “Reignite.” Participants will reflect on what their driving force is and how they use this driving force to motivate themselves to get the things done that need to be done (e.g., prospecting, cold calling). Chip will also focus on another key aspect of motivation and drive—goal setting.
Building Trusting Relationships That Last (30-60 Minutes)
We have all heard the saying that “people don’t buy from people they don’t trust.” Few would argue with this statement, but how many of us are fully aware of the things we may be doing that could be damaging our trust with our customers? You may be a person of high integrity, but it is never about what your integrity is, it is the customer’s perception of your integrity. For instance, an innocent mistake like putting the wrong customer’s name on a presentation can damage our integrity with the customer. In this speech Chip will examine the barriers that get in the way of high integrity (e.g., quota pressure, time management). He will also review key strategies to deploy that can elevate customer perception of integrity immediately. This speech can be combined with “Developing and Leveraging Coaches.”
Developing the Hunter Mentality (30-90 Minutes)
We’ve long discussed the differences between “hunters” and “farmers” in sales. But are the skills of the hunter something that can be taught or are they innate? Some in sales really enjoy the thrill of the hunt, the prospecting, cold calling and continuous network that goes with it. Many others work hard to avoid it. In this speech, Chip will provide a strong argument for why everyone in sales and account management needs to develop the “Hunter Mentality”. He will provide strategies and tactics that can easily be implemented by participants once they exit the session.
Selling More by Phone (60-120 minutes)
In the dynamic climate we all do business in today, many sales professionals are changing the way they sell. Gone are the numerous on-site sales calls (or customer meetings if you prefer) to: introduce a new product, conduct your needs analysis or even close a sale. These face-to-face interactions are being replaced by more effective use of the telephone, email and internet meeting sites. In this presentation, Chip will present strategies for increasing the effectiveness of your telephone communication. Key areas of focus will include getting around voicemail, developing a pre-call game plan, improving your verbal listening skills and making high impact presentations over the phone or via the web.
How to Make Price Secondary (30-90 minutes)
Selling value in today’s business environment is challenging for many reasons. More sophisticated buying processes, more involvement from procurement and the use of third-party consultants all add to the challenge. In this seminar, Chip will focus participants in two key areas of positioning value. The first is your own inner belief in your product or service and the value it brings to the customer. The second is your ability to create the right perception of your solution in the customer’s mind. Techniques are presented for creating the right perception including the use of customer success stories, presenting a “hard ROI” and use of competitive strategies.
Developing and Leveraging Coaches (30 to 60 minutes)
Can a person win a deal without a coach? Of course. But think of the many advantages of having a mole in the account who provides you with competitive intelligence, introduces you to key players, and gives you guidance on putting together your solution. In this presentation, Chip will focus on where to find coaching, how to convert your contacts into coaches and how to get the most from these relationships to close more business.
Handling Detractors (45 to 90 minutes)
By definition, a Detractor is the opposite of a coach. Where a coach will assist you in making the sale, the Detractor will try to derail you. In this speech, Chip will discuss the early warning signs that a Detractor may emerge, and guide you through the strategy that is required to neutralize these Detractors or, better yet, win them over.
Making High Impact Presentations (30 to 90 minutes)
More and more, customers are asking salespeople to put away the PowerPoints and turn off the projector. Why? Customers are tired of salespeople who “show up and throw up.” Too many sales presentations are one-sided, canned pitches that often miss the mark. In this speech, Chip will focus on how to develop and deliver high impact presentations. Developing a high impact presentation means taking the time before you present to gain valuable insight in to the customer’s business drivers and then tailoring your presentation accordingly. In delivering a high impact presentation, Chip will discuss how to differentiate yourself from your competition by utilizing multi-media as well as the importance of rehearsing effectively so that you (not your PowerPoints) become the messenger.
A Guide to Better Time and Activity Planning (30 to 60 minutes)
Today’s sales and account management professional is stretched more than ever. Trying to keep up with customer escalation issues, customer meetings, and internal meetings not to mention a high volume of email can put a person on their heels in reactive mode all too often. This workshop will focus on regaining control of your day. Emphasis of the discussion will include understanding what your true barriers to better time management are, how to more effectively prioritize customers and opportunities, an examination of activity that leads to results and the development of an activity plan that gets used.