Successful Sales Management

The Golf Caddy's Circular Sales Process

2012-02-27T11:31:00.002-08:00

What has carrying golf clubs for money got to do with sales? A lot more than you'd think. And the caddy's sales process is quite similar to enterprise selling. It's multi-phase, multi-dimensional, circular, and all about getting what you want, by giving somebody else what they want.

It's definitely not just about carrying a golf bag and a yardage chart.

The process starts with the Caddy Master. He's typically hard bitten, results focused, straight talking, and busy. In fact very much like any sales manager, except this guy can hire, and fire, on a whim. There's no such thing as employee protection for bag carriers.

The Caddy Master needs subcontractors on demand, but he's not going to send out novices. His clients are club members who come to him every week. Or maybe wealthy individuals on an outrageously expensive outing. Not the sort of people who tolerate disappointment lightly.

So the caddy's first challenge is getting on the roster - invited to sit on the wall waiting for the Master to allocate a bag. This involves more than a little selling during the interview process. Where have you done what and for whom? Are you strong, sharp, polite, charming. Are you reliable.

New caddy's are always the last to be sent out. They hang around, maybe for nothing, while watching the established guys go out, and get back early, ready for another loop. If they get a bag, and do a good job, next time they might get out sooner.

When the Master calls, the caddy shows up, picks up the bag, exchanges a few polite words, wipes the clubs, points out the target, tightens the belt and the boots, and gets going.

You might think by this time the selling is over. The contract is settled. The price will be paid when the job is finished.

You'd be wrong. The selling hasn't started yet. From now on the objective is the tip, the bonus, the gratuity. It's all about selling what the golfer is buying - the aspiration, the expectation and the perception.

Our Looper has only a short time to figure out what earns that tip - usually the length of the first fairway -and then 4 or more hours to keep delivering it. Once the discovery process is over the caddy has figured out the ability, the ambition, and the personality of his client.

Loopers don't get to choose golfers. The client might be a 25 year old hot shot with a low handicap and attitude. The customer might be some corporate CEO used to boot lickers and with an ego inverse to golfing ability. Or the client might be a 75 year old grandmother, out for the entertainment.

Either way the caddy's objective is a happy golfer when the round is done.

For eighteen holes the caddy is selling his knowledge, his expertise in strategy and tactics, matching the golfers ability and ambition with the challenges the course presents. Aim for this spot, hit this yardage, play this borrow. Find the ball, when the golfer doesn't manage to do it.

At the end of the day the happy golfer dips in the bag and brings out a big tip, the bonus, for the caddy. And then drops a few notes in the Caddy Master's hand, grateful for him allocating such a good carrier.

Tomorrow the Looper will get out earlier, and maybe get back in time for another bag.

That's the end of the circular sales process, and the start of another.

On the other hand. if the golfer complains to the Master its a different story. The caddy didn't know the course, couldn't read the greens, wouldn't clean the clubs, lost balls, was surly, or coarse.

If that happens there'll be no work tomorrow.

The Caddy's Prayer

Please Lord,
Let the bag be light
Let the tip be heavy
And the idiot hit it where I tell him

Never Mislead A Prospect

2012-02-26T11:53:00.000-08:00

Do you ever mislead a prospect in your sales pitch, either deliberately, or simply by leaving something out? If so you won't be unusual. Most sales people think the customer has a responsibility for her own due diligence - making sure the basis on which she's about to buy is what she thinks it is. We even have a term for it in law - Caveat Emptor which translates from Latin into English as Let The Buyer Beware.

That sounds like a pretty good fall back position for most involved in selling, and especially marketing.

Unfortunately for them, there's another legal concept in relationship to contracts which is less appealing. Misrepresentation of the facts gives cause for cancellation of any contract. And misleading anybody in the pursuit of a contract for sale is Misrepresentation.

That's the somewhat ambivalent background as far as the law is concerned. Luckily these finer points don't come into play very often. Which is why unscrupulous sellers get away with being economic with the truth, as the saying goes - a polite way of saying Telling Lies.

There's a more relevant reason sales professionals never mislead prospects. Buyers who make decisions based on incorrect information make very bad customers. Hell hath no fury like a customer conned, you might say.

This is yet another dimension in which every sales professional should be standing in the customers shoes, asking "how do I feel when somebody misleads me and I fall for it?" and "what sort of customer will I be, when I find out?"

Here's an example of my own, which demonstrates that point exactly.

A couple of years ago I tried to find a way of improving the performance of our investment portfolio. For the last ten years the growth has been awful. In fact, so awful there hadn't been any.

There's a youngish man - we'll call him John - I knew from different circumstances. The son-in-law of friends. I'd helped him, and some of his mates, join our golf club. Slightly arrogant, but friendly enough. He runs a business as an Independent Financial Advisor. The ideal person to help me decide what to do, without a heavy sales pitch.

John's review of our portfolio told us what we'd expected. Of course there was a better way. He and his colleagues had selected a special fund manager. An expert who selected the best of the best funds. The funds which balanced both risk and reward. Portfolios managed by him didn't follow the stock market down, or up. They picked a careful route through turbulent markets to provide consistent performance.

You've already guessed, we transferred our investments and everything went well, for a while. Then the markets dropped, and so did our nest egg, only more. Then the markets went up, and so did our nest egg, only less.

When I asked for an explanation he arranged a conference call with the fund manager. He gave me the "correlation isn't causation" line. Any relationship between his fund and the main index was purely coincidence.

Being that sort of guy, I started tracking both the main index, and the portfolio values.

You've guessed it. My investments tracked the index almost exactly.

What do I do now?

Every month I send him the latest report showing how I prove the point made a year ago. What he'd told me at the start misled me. Now I have new investments to make he's going to have a hard time persuading me of anything. He, and his fund manager had misled me, and they're not going to do it again, even if they're right.

We both lost out.

Winning new business from me is hard for him. At the moment he won't return my calls.

I don't have an adviser I trust. Right now I'm scratching around for alternatives.

How different could this have been if he'd stood in my shoes? Understood I might know more than he thought. Been honest, upfront and consultive.

He'd have told me markets are messy. Nobody is making money in times like this. Protection of asset value should be the objective. Try to keep value as much as possible, and wait for better times.

If he'd done that, despite what's happened he'd be my goto man.

And he'd still be able to ask my help in getting his friends into the golf club.

Which he can't now.

And I don't have a financial advisor I can trust :-(

Making Lead Generation Make Sense

2012-02-25T10:48:00.000-08:00

Anybody who's been selling for more than a couple of months understands lead generation programs aren't what they're supposed to be. All too often the leads coming out of them turn out to be somebody's name and number, or maybe email address. And mostly a waste of the sales professionals time.

This is particularly true of trade shows and lead gathering services, either provided internally or externally by Marketing.

When marketing people want to cost justify themselves they quote numbers of leads to come out of their spending. High numbers make them look good of course, but they rarely do anything more than get in the way of productive sales activities.

Sales professionals know a sales lead is an introduction to somebody who's active, in the process of buying. When they make the call, the contact is expecting it, understands the context and wants to hear what the representative has to say.

They know spending time leaving messages for a contact who doesn't return the call is a pain in the rear. Not only do they have to go chasing. They have to report back on what happens. They're called to account for failure - not turning into business the investment made by marketing.

Unfortunately they have no choice but to waste time, and then apologise for doing it. Because Marketing has a different idea of what makes a sales lead.

That's the bottom line of lead generation programs.

There is a simple answer. Everybody involved in new business acquisition should understand the sales professionals language.

A name and contact details is simply that - a name.

A target is a name the company would like to do business with. The profile fits the value proposition.

A suspect is the name of a person in a company which fits the profile and there's reason to think there's a supplier selection in process.

A prospect is the name of a person, in a company which fits the profile, who's in the process of selecting a supplier, and has asked to be contacted by a salesperson.

And prospects are sales leads. Everything else is a distraction.

Marketing organisations running lead generation programs need to collect names and let the sales professionals get on with the real job of transforming opportunities into revenue.

What Sales Managers Can Learn From Pay Per Click

2012-02-23T10:07:00.000-08:00

You probably noticed - sales managers are one dimensional thinkers, mostly at least. They have to be. The revenue target is a hard place, and the CEO is a rock. Those guys are somewhere in the middle, hoping not to get crushed.

That means there's not too much spare time for learning about other things, which is a shame because there's a very big lesson to be learned from Pay Per Click marketing.

When the going gets tough, when sales are short and the team is light on prospects, the sales manager falls back on Activity Rates. Work harder, hit the phones, make more calls, kiss more frogs.

The typical response is simply turn the wheel faster. It's wrong, and Pay Per Click advertising shows why.

Before getting into the explanation, it's worth reprising the age old model.

Since the beginning of time, sales operations have been based on the Activity model. The numbers are different for each business, but a useful example could be the computer business from back in the 80's. Those guys reckoned any sales guy needed to make 100 cold calls to find a prospect who would agree to a demonstration. For every 10 demonstrations, one would buy. Ergo - more cold calls equals more sales. And it did, sort of.

That's where the Kissing Frogs theory comes in. Every time you kiss a frog there's a chance it will turn into a Prince (or Princess depending on your persuasion). Kissing more frogs equates to more Princes and making more calls equates to more sales.

Pay Per Click advertising is today's equivalent of kissing frogs. There may well be a relationship between the number of clicks, and the number of sales which result. But there's no guarantee the numbers add up. That's why there are so many horror stories about companies losing their shirts doing it.

The secret to successful business advertising with PPC is the conversion rate. The calculation is the cost per click multiplied by the conversion rate (the number of clicks which don't turn into sales) taken away from the gross margin made on the sale. It's only good business when there's margin left at the end of the day when all the clicks which didn't result in a sale have been paid for.

This isn't rocket science. Whether PPC is a profitable lead generation strategy depends on the accuracy of the keyword selection, the cost of that keyword for advertising, the conversion from click to sale, and the margin achieved in that sale.

Of course it works, provided the advertiser has done the homework. The keywords have to speak to the prospects interests. The advertisement has to catch the attention. The landing page has to convert the interest into action. The margin in the sale has to be enough to pay for all the failures.

So that's what sales managers can learn from PPC.

The value proposition has to be compelling to a market demographic. The sales process has to be effective and efficient. The sale has to make enough margin. The sales guy has to make a living.

And the bottom line is?

Sales managers need to have a strategy which directs sales people at the right targets. They need a value proposition which converts. And they need a business model which properly compensates sales reps for their efforts, whilst still making a profit for the business.

And that has nothing what so ever to do with kissing frogs.

Yes You Can Sell

2012-02-22T03:08:00.000-08:00

Everybody can sell. It's really quite simple. You learned the basic skills before you could talk. Just add some insight. You'll feel comfortable doing it. So what is that insight?

Selling is simply a matter of showing buyers what they're looking for, and asking them to buy it. When they see what they want, they'll buy for sure. This isn't difficult. There are no clever tricks. There are no secrets.

It gets complicated when you try to sell to somebody something they aren't looking for. That isn't going to work, so there's no point in trying. On the other hand, making them want something they hadn't previously considered is possible, provided there's a real benefit, honestly presented, with expertise in the the subject, and an within a process of discovery and alignment of interests.

That's where the insight comes in.

There are three fundamental principles sales professionals understand and abide by - Integrity, Expertise and Process. Anybody with the natural talents of empathy and communication can be successful at selling, provided they add those fundamentals to their tool bag.

Integrity
You can fool some of the people, some of the time, but not fool everybody, all of the time. Sales people who mislead customers soon get found out. Do not do it. Ultimately a sales professionals only asset is integrity. Hell hath no fury like a customer made foolish by a fast talker.

Expertise
Customers expect you to know more about your product, or service, than they do. They expect you to know more about the alternatives. They expect you to know more about what will best suit their needs and how that will be delivered. They need to trust you, before they'll buy.

Process
You have to have a sales process - a series of actions each of which needs to be completed before you move on to the next. That process must start with understanding what the customer really wants - the aspiration. (The discovery, by both parties, of what the customer really wants is the secret sauce in selling, if there is one). Now showing how your value proposition delivers to that aspiration is critical. Once buyers and sellers agree on the scope of whatever will achieve the goal, and how, the next step follows naturally. The Close. Asking for the order is the step both parties have worked toward. Now it's simply a matter of negotiating the terms.

You already knew this stuff. You buy things all of the time. You know infinitely more about buying than selling.

All you have to do is sell the way you like to be sold to. Stand in the customer's shoes and you can't go wrong.

Sales Management Questions You Don't Ask

2012-02-20T11:15:00.000-08:00

Image via Wikipedia

How much do you know about sales management and how will you find out the rest?

You could ask questions, of course. I'm sure Mr. Google will be happy to look for the answers.

But how will you get answers to the questions you don't know to ask? - The famous Unknown Unknowns :-)

That's where our eBook and Tutorials will be helpful.

They'll give you an introduction to the way professional sales managers think, the strategies they adopt and the processes they implement.

You will still have some questions, after you've read our publications, naturally. We don't know about your business, or your resources, or your style. Those are all up to you. But you'll know which questions to ask, and how the answers fit in with the rest of your plans.

You'll have some case studies you can relate to.

You'll have some templates for strategies and processes and forms.

And you'll understand the silver bullet for sales management.

Success in sales management is determined by you doing less of the things which don't work, and more of those which do.

That's what our eBook Succeeding in Sales Management is all about.

Helping Hand for Hardworking Sales People

2012-02-12T11:17:00.000-08:00

Everybody in the business has a responsibility to offer a helping hand to the hardworking sales people. Without them there would be no need for anybody else. Everyday they run the gauntlet with customers and competitors, finding ways of bringing home the bacon.

Most days they'll be explaining why your product doesn't seem to be the best there is, and the prices are never quite right. They'll be showing how, despite the limitations, the product will deliver customer benefits superior to the alternatives. And they'll be there answering to the customer when things go wrong.

Carrying a territory, and a target, is a thankless task, for which they rarely get thanked, or helped. And that's against a background of pressure - on activity rates, on pipeline values, and on revenues. Sales people rarely get to blame others for disappointing numbers. They're jobs are on the line, all of the time.

That's why every business should equip the sales team with the best tools available - the best sales management tools.

That's not as complicated, or as expensive, as you might think.

Check out these articles describing how online sales management software can make a big difference to the whole business, to CEOs, to sales managers, and to sales professionals:

Send Your Best Sales Guy On Every Call

Your Own Sales Coach Online

B2B Selling Isn't Black Magic

The Online Sales Coach
Steve Reeves

The Online Sales Coach

2012-02-09T11:54:00.000-08:00

How would it be if all your sales people had an expert on their shoulder, all of the time? Probably pretty exciting. Business would be more predictable, margins more secure, and customers easier to please. This would be like the best trained and motivated sales rep backed up by the most experienced sales manager on every sales call, with every customer, in every deal.

It sounds perfect. Unfortunately life isn't like that. Every business has to be satisfied with less than perfect. That's the nature of sales.

Or at least it was, until Occulus launched its online sales management software.

Don't jump to conclusions.

This isn't another CRM or SalesForce Automation system. It isn't another enterprise software solution doomed to failure. It isn't a major software project the IT people will object to, because it doesn't fit their strategy.

It is something your sales people will actually use, because it will help them be more successful. They'll spend more time on deals they can win, and less on ones they can't. They'll get better prices and margins. Make higher commissions. Win better customers.

Your sales managers will love it too, and so will their management. The accountants will be especially happy. Sales forecasts will be reliable, as will the cash forecasts that result, and it costs less than a mobile phone.

Like the best coaches, Occulus doesn't lecture, doesn't train, doesn't even tell. It simply asks questions, scores the answers, and makes suggestions about next steps. For every deal there's a continuing evaluation of the opportunity, with percentage scores for probabilities, and a list of recommendations on how to improve them.

Picture the scene. Before his next meeting with the prospect, sales rep John uses his tablet computer to access his Occulus account. He can see immediately how far he's progressed through the sales process and whatever is left to achieve. The recommendations suggest objectives for the upcoming call.

After the meeting John can update the opportunity record with the latest information. He immediately receives an updated report with recommendations. His online sales coach is there 24X7, anywhere in the world helping validate the sales plan and its progress.

Meanwhile the opportunity record joins all the other records for all the other opportunities for all the other sales reps. Back in the office sales manager Sue gets an up to the minute summary of all the teams deals and can drill down into individual records to see where she can help. When the CEO wants a revenue review, she has every detail available in real time, in her own Occulus account.

Does this sound too good to be true? It did to us the first time we heard the story.

You can give it a try for yourself. Use the online Analysis to check one of your deals for free. Find out how the system evaluates your opportunity. Read the recommendations for actions outstanding. Check what Occulus says against your own thoughts.

That's what we did. We were so impressed with the results we decided to join the Affiliate team.

If we can help you understand how this could work for you, and how to implement an Occulus strategy give us a call.

The Sales Veteran's Story Book

2012-02-06T02:30:00.000-08:00

Sales people pick up stories along the way. Some are their own. Others they pick up from colleagues. Still more are myths with obscure origins. They all tell a fundamental truth with a smile and a touch of irony. They're counter intuitive, entertaining, informative and funny. They're also invaluable to the sales professional.,

Those stories combine to add a whole new dimension to the sales professional's tool box. Just like parables, they can be deployed to suit the circumstances. They are weapons of 'mass insurrection' the sales guy brings into play, to keep the other side off balance.

Who's on the other side? That depends.

It might be the customer. Sometimes prospects get ahead of themselves, thinking they should know more than the low life trying to sell them anything they'll buy.

It might be the competition. Those guys will do anything to turn the tables in their favour.

It might be the management. For sure, any sales rep's biggest problem is the management - especially the inside people. The stay at home sales manager, the narrow minded bean counter, the self preserving customer service manager, the bully CEO - they all think they can rein in the rainmaker, and try.

It might actually be all of the above.

Selling isn't war, but surely feels like it most of the time. Somebody is always doing their best to get in the way and foul up the deal. That's why those stories are called War Stories.

If you're in sales, and why else would you be reading this article, you'll find some value in our Sales Stories From The Front Line. Check out the link for the full series, but there are a few we can mention to wet your appetite.

Selling Aspiration illustrates the power of selling what it feels like.

Relationships Are My Running Shoes shows how a simple advantage over the competition is enough.

I Didn't Think We Would Win shuts up the smart Alec manager.

The Salesman's Magic Pen shows how something small can make a big difference.

My Worst Sales Call Ever gives an example of why you should never allow somebody else to close the deal for you.

Selling From A Different Direction demonstrates the value of lateral thinking.

The New Sales Manager's 3 Brown Envelopes recognises the reality of living in that space between the CEOs target and your resources capability in your market.

You will have your own sales war stories - everybody does. Why not share them. Send them to us and we'll publish to the world.

And while you're in the mood check out our downloadable eBook Succeeding in Sales Management.

Smart Sales People Sell With Stories

2012-02-05T11:37:00.000-08:00

Stories catch people's imagination, whereas facts send them to sleep. That's why professional sales people use stories to make their point. Just like politicians, and poets and authors, sales people tell stories.

Search the Internet for the secrets of successful sales people. You'll find yards of content telling you its about belief. Confidence breeds winners. Bravery brings home the bacon. Be the 800lb gorilla in your market and you'll triumph. It's all rubbish.

Success in sales isn't about faith, or even effort. It's about engaging, entertaining and informing. Just like politics, its about narrative. The simple story which makes a complex point.

Buyers aren't really interested in facts. They are interested in feelings. They want to relate. They don't want to be alone. They want to go where others have gone before.

And sales guys don't just sell to buyers. They have to sell to their management, their colleagues, and their support teams. They explain their ideas, illustrate their point, argue their case. The right stories make that simple.

That's why narrative is so important.

And it's why we've introduced a new category of articles in our Front Office Box blog - Sales Stories From The Front Line

Check out our stories - each of them short, amusing, insightful comment on the challenges sales professionals face and ways they've addressed them. Some are really true - we were there. Some are myths with origins buried in the mists of time and passed from generations of veterans to new generations of novices. Some are outright jokes. But they make a point, and ultimately it's the point which counts.

Here are some examples:

The New Sales Manager's 3 Brown Envelopes shows why sales managers aren't the most sympathetic of people.

The Salesmans Magic Pen illustrates how small details can make a big difference.

Selling From A Different Direction is about the power of lateral thinking.

Relationships Are My Running Shoes says you don't have to be perfect, just better than they other guy.

After reading My Worst Sales Call Ever you won't let anybody close your deal for you.

I Didn't Think We Would Win gives an example of how to deal with bombastic managers.

Selling Aspiration suggests reasons why people buy Ferraris.

If these sketches start you thinking differently you'll be interested in our downloadable eBook - Succeeding in Sales Management

And maybe you'll have your own sales stories to share with others?

We'll be happy to publish them for you, so others can learn from your experience.

Advice For New Sales Managers

2012-01-23T11:15:00.000-08:00

Here's some interesting advice for the new sales manager - another story from the Sales Front Line.

My friend Jack had been a hot shot sales professional for almost 10 years. He'd enjoyed consistent success, over achieving on his target every year. Naturally he been paid handsomely for his efforts, with commission accelerators and even year end bonuses.

Jack's wife looked after everything at home, including the family finances. Three times they'd moved to a bigger house. Three times they chosen new kitchens. Three times they bought new cars. The kids were doing well in great schools. Everything was just peachy.

One morning Jack answered the phone, expecting another 'phone in' order. That happened all the time. But this time it wasn't a customer. It was one of those headhunter people.

"Forgive me Jack" said the woman on the line "for interrupting your morning". " I have a client who's noticed your success. Apparently his sales team consistently lose out to you in the field. He'd like to talk to you about a sales leadership position in his company".

Cutting a long story short, Jack met with the headhunter and was excited, being valued so highly. He met with the client, and learned of the company's great plans for expansion. He accepted the job as sales manager. Jack had never been interested in a leadership role until now. Having fun making money was enough. But his opportunity was too good to pass by. Getting older, and wiser, maybe it was time to move up the corporate ladder. That's what professionals do, isn't it.

His first morning in the new job was frenetic. A tour of the offices, a meeting with the entire C Suite, introductions all around. Jack was happy he'd made the right decision.

Sitting at his new desk, in his new office, with his new administrator seated close by, Jack spotted a hand written note attached to a brown envelope. The note said "Welcome and congratulations on the promotion". "I know you'll be successful, but just in case things are tougher than you expected I've left you some advice, in this envelope. The first quarter you miss the number, open the envelope to find my suggestion". It was signed Your Predecessor.

Cutting the long story even shorter, thinks didn't work out quite the way Jack expected. The sales team didn't meet the forecast. There were all sorts of problems he could fix, but his new job hadn't gone quite the way he'd hoped. The CEO wasn't happy, because Jack had missed the number.

Jack opened the envelope and found a note and another brown envelope. The note said "Bad luck, blame the customers. Next time you miss the number open the brown envelope".

The CEO didn't like it, but accepted my friend's explanation. He was new after all. Jack would straighten out the customers, and recover the deficit next quarter.

Things didn't get much better in the next quarter. Jack tried everything he knew, but the sales guys hadn't qualified their deals properly. There were problems apparently with the prices. There was even a suggestion in the market about poor customer service.

Jack's team missed the number for the second quarter. At this point he was behind now for two quarters, and feeling kind of vulnerable. The third quarter would be better. But just to be sure, he opened the second brown envelope. In it was a note and another brown envelope. The note said "Blame your sales people, and hopefully you won't need to, but next time you miss a number, open the brown envelope".

In the third quarter, things went from bad to worse. It turned out the product didn't work. Customers were buying from the competition, and the sales people weren't trying. The job was a complete mess.

The team missed the number again. Jack felt really under pressure. The CEO was going to want a silver bullet this time. Maybe that was in the third envelope?

In desperation, Jack opened the third envelope to find another note which simply said:

"Write out three brown envelopes, and good luck with finding another job".

And that was the end of Jack.

He'd made the understandable mistake. He'd assumed his past success in sales qualified him for sales management. He'd been seduced by the headhunter, and by the company. He'd been simply the next fall guy.

Maybe if he'd read Succeeding in Sales Management things would have turned out differently. But he didn't.

Now he's looking for work and hoping his old company will take him back.

Hiring A Sales Manager With How Instead of What

2012-01-21T06:08:00.000-08:00

Hiring a sales manager? Forget the What and question the How. Interviewing for the sales manager's job? Forget the What, and explain the How, and the Why.

Picture the scene. You're the small business CEO, wanting to hire in talent to raise the game of your sales team. You want to sort the candidates into those you can work with, and those who can get the job done. Hopefully you'll find somebody to fit both, and do that better than any of the others.

Choosing somebody you can work with will be mostly intuitive. You'll know within the first few minutes whether the relationship is likely to work out or not. Figuring which candidates can do the job is a different matter.

How will you be sure? We all take up references, knowing they're meaningless - referees don't give bad reports. They wouldn't be named if they did. Past performance is no better guide. You're unlikely to have candidates admit failure in the past. They've all increased sales, reduced costs, improved hiring and individual target performance, and reduced staff turnover. Companies and markets also influence sales manager's performance. Over recent years anybody selling Apple will have done well, whereas the very best people selling Kodak will have failed.

You'll learn more of a candidate's capabilities by examining the How. Ask about the underlying philosophies? Which strategies and tactics are deployed? What processes and tools are employed? How will the interviewee work with the 'C suite' and colleagues? When will the ideas be implemented, and in what process?

Managing sales people is a challenging role. Collaborating with Production, Distribution, Customer Service and Finance, is another dimension. Maintaining a sense of humour, and empathy, amidst the turmoil of targets and revenues and quarters and budgets is yet another. An understanding of the problems, an acceptance of the responsibility, a willingness to provide the leadership, and ideas about how to deliver, is what you, the CEO, are looking for, when choosing a sales manager.

On the hand, if you're interviewing for the job, wanting to persuade the CEO you're the one. When you want this job, and are prepared to take on those challenges. When you need to stand out from the crowd. This is your Secret Sauce. Sell how you would do the job. Highlight the challenges. Argue the trade offs. Discuss strategies and processes. Touch on tactics and tools.

CEOs need sales managers who fix problems. Showing how you can fix problems will help you stand out.

Whichever side of this relationship you're coming from, check out our Succeeding In Sales Management for detailed explanations of the Hows and Whys.

Trust Me, I'm a Salesman.

2012-01-15T06:27:00.000-08:00

Image by Gerard Stolk vers la Chandeleur via Flickr

Trust me - I'm a salesman. This won't hurt a bit, and you'll feel much better afterward.

Now you're worried, right? What is it I'm trying to fool you with. How much is it going to cost you? How bad are you going to feel when whatever it is turns out to be a pig in poke?

In our culture sales people have a special place in the public's perception, alongside lawyers, doctors, bankers , mortgage brokers, politicians and journalists. Trusting any of them is like playing Russian Roulette with a fully loaded pistol. You just know they're only interested in taking money out of your pocket and putting it in theirs.

Mostly, the law is on their side. There's even a basic principle known as Caveat Emptor - Let The Buyer Beware. When a smart talking salesman persuades you to buy some very cheap (and slightly damp) land in Florida, and it turns out to be home to crocodiles and snakes, its your fault. Caveat Emptor you dummy.

Well that's generally the way people view sales reps. They would say that, wouldn't they!

Perversely there's an opportunity here sales professionals can grab, once they understand.

People interested in buying stuff hate being sold to.

On the other hand, they just love being advised and informed, by a specialist who knows more about the product or service than they do. Buyers can't get enough free advice, special insight, the inside track, the lowdown.

And that's where the opportunity is, for sales professionals.

The professional never misleads customers.

The sales consultant buyers want gives them the whole nine yards - the good, the bad, the ugly, the benefits, the risks and the trade off's.

Customers know there is no Nirvana. Nothing is perfect. They simply want the least bad.

Sales professionals who tell the way it is, and inform customers of the downside to expect, rise above the crowd. When they can help manage that risk they move up to a new level. They become trusted advisers, and trusted advisers become best friends.

When you're selling, this is your dilemma.

Will you use this concept to fool customers? You could, of course. You'll win the deal, if you can pull off the deceit.

Or will you be honest?

Simply not misleading buyers, when you can, is the mark of the true sales professional.

Ultimately, integrity is the sales professionals only asset.

How Can I Close This Sale

2012-01-13T11:50:00.000-08:00

How many ways are there to close a sale, and are any of them guaranteed to work? Hundreds, and probably not.

Closing the sale is a figment of the sales guys fear. That's why the very concept is cloaked in mystery, and why there are so many secret sauces.

Understandably sales people are nervous about getting on the wrong side of prospects. By the time all the questions are asked, and the pitches made. After the investment in time and effort. After the buyer gets interested. That's when the worry starts.

When the buyer makes a decision there's only one place on the rostrum - no prizes for coming second. Its Hero or Zero time. The winner takes the prize and losers slink away licking their wounds.

No wonder sales people worry about closing. Its so final. There are no second chances.

That's why there are so many theories about how to close the sale.

The good news is there's no reason for them to worry. Prospects expect sales people to ask for the order. And if the proposal meets their needs. If they believe they'll get what they want. If they're confident they're making the right decision. They'll say yes, when asked for the order.

And that's where the secret is. It's not about clever words. It's not about techniques. It's not about Faith Hope and Charity. It is about getting it right.

That's the CEO Close.

What do I need to do to win your business?
If I do this will it achieve that?
If I achieve that will you give me the order?

If you don't believe me, arrange a meeting between the prospect's CEO and yours. Explain to your boss the background. Sit back and watch how business people work with business people.

Next time you'll do it on your own.

You'll find more insight and ideas about sales and sales management on our categories page, with links to lists of articles.

Have you checked out our downloadable Tutorials? These short papers explain philosophies, strategies, processes and tools you can adapt to suit your own style and lift your game.

Our software demonstrations show how our ideas about CRM and Sales Operations are at the core of Front Office Box.

And About SPPM explains the background to our ideas on Sales Probability Process Management.

Join us on Google+ and contribute to the conversation and come back soon.
Steve Reeves.

Sales Strategy Playbook

2012-01-09T12:05:00.000-08:00

Your sales strategy is simply a playbook - what the sports coaches call the predetermined moves you'll make in particular circumstances set by the opposition.

For a sports playbook you need to understand and stay within the rules of the game. You need to research the opposition's past performances, seeing how they exploit weaknesses. You need to organise your own resources to counter the other team's moves. And you need to play to your strengths when its your turn with the ball.

Selling is no different.

Of course it isn't a game. It's more serious than that. But the philosophy is the same.

Anybody with a responsibility for winning business can develop their own unique sales strategy.

Management and Marketing can't do it. They don't understand the particular chemistry of individual customers with particular hot buttons, and the moves the competition will make.

But you sales professionals can. You are on the street. You can feel the vibes. You know which strings to pull and what happens.

Just like sports coaches, you can do the thinking up front. Put your experience to work. Figure the angles and the plays. Write your own playbook of strategies and tactics which work for you.

That's your sales strategy - your unique sales proposition - your USP.

If you'd appreciate some help? If you'd like a coach? If you're not quite sure of how to manage your own destiny?

Check out our tutorial The Why's and How's of Sales Strategy which explains how figuring the plays out before the game starts wins you more business, at better prices, with less effort.

http://frontofficebox.com/2012/01/09/your-sales-playbook/

You'll find more insight and ideas about sales and sales management on our categories page, with links to lists of articles.

Have you checked out our downloadable Tutorials? These short papers explain philosophies, strategies, processes and tools you can adapt to suit your own style and lift your game.

Our software demonstrations show how our ideas about CRM and Sales Operations are at the core of Front Office Box.

And About SPPM explains the background to our ideas on Sales Probability Process Management.

Join us on Google+ and contribute to the conversation and come back soon.
Steve Reeves.

A Business Plan Should Work For You

2012-01-04T11:58:00.000-08:00

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Your business plan should work for you, not against you, which in most cases is what happens. When the first review comes around you'll be called to account for why the plan didn't work out - they never do. That's when it starts to work against you. Here's the typical scenario.

Starting out, nobody with a grain of experience will forecast the outcome of months and years of effort. There are just too many variables.

Famously, Mervyn King - Governor of the Bank of England - responded to a question from the press about his forecasts for interest rates with "there's no point in asking me to tell you what will happen next year. I can't even tell you what will happen tomorrow", or something like that.

But ambitious entrepreneurs are driven to it, despite their misgivings.

Unfortunately bankers, and investors, partners and even vendors, drive business people to do just that. The type of business plan they want is a pointless exercise in building spreadsheets. They're really after an understanding of your business strategy, and the financial implications. But they don't ask for that. They want a business plan, in a spreadsheet, which they can then criticise.

You, the value creator, are forced into making predictions which, later, will be your downfall.

Is there a way out of this dilemma - well maybe. Is there a way of turning their need for forecast numbers into a management tool to help you do a better job - yes.

In the Front Office Box blog we published Making Business Plans Make Sense,

This article describes an approach to business planning which cuts off the critics at the first pass. Start your business plan with principles, define your ability to add value, target a market with a credible value proposition, and forecast a believable (to you) level of sales.

Then put the numbers into the spreadsheet.

This approach achieves 3 goals:

The output is a spreadsheet with numbers, to tick the box of compliance.
The underlying philosophy and strategy are explained, so the real requirement is met.
The business plan is a complete picture of philosophy, strategy, tactics and assumptions which can be reviewed and amended in the light of experience. It's a management tool instead of a knee jerk response to a stupid question.

That's when your business plan starts to work for you.

How Was Your Win Loss Ratio Last Year

2011-12-17T11:54:00.000-08:00

How did you do on you Win Loss ratio - number of sales deals won versus the number lost - in 2011? What will you do to improve it in 2012?

Do you even measure it? Probably not. Most sales people don't. It never makes pleasant reading.

It can, however, prove very enlightening. Especially so when you measure numbers of hours spent on deals you didn't win. What else could you have done with those hours which ultimately turned out to be wasted.

That's what economists call the Opportunity Cost. If you hadn't done something, what else could you have done, and how much would that have been worth? How does that compare with the ROI you got?

Following the Pareto Principle - sorry about another theory - it's likely 80 % of your sales came from 20% of your time. That's just a rule of thumb, but will do fine for an example. Just one day each week brings in the vast majority of your business, and the other four days go to waste.

Maybe if your efforts were better targeted, more focused, more disciplined, you could increase your sales by 50% in another day? That would be 120% in just two days.

What would you do with the other three?

The single biggest difference every sales professional can make is stop spending effort on deals which aren't going to happen.

That's why strategy, and process, and discipline are so important.

Come January 1st. every sales rep's New Years Resolution should be to sacrifice activity in favour of effect, making what they do count, as opposed to counting what they do.

Qualify Harder for Quality Sales in 2012

2011-12-16T12:04:00.000-08:00

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In a tough economy sales professionals need to double down on their process and qualify sales deals even harder than usual. Making sure there's a deal to be won, and a way to win it could be how the business makes it through to happier times.

By all accounts 2012 is going to be a very tough year. Governments, businesses and consumers are all expected to cut back on spending. Employers will be focused more on risk than reward. Profit will be the name of the game and only the strongest will survive.

Times like this are very dangerous for sales professionals. Perversely, when the going gets tough businesses would rather retain the accountants to add up the expenses than hold on to the guys who hunt down revenue.

The sales team needs to, and can, make a contribution to the cause. In fact the sales people are the most important members of the corporate team. When times get tough the tough get going, as they say. This is an ideal time to push back on the bureaucracy. Those pen pushers want to keep their jobs too. Sales can be their saviour.

The guys talking to prospects know more about ways their business can be more competitive. They need to take the messages from the market back to the office. Get marketing focused on what customers are buying. Get Customer Service more responsive. Get the CEO and bean counters to understand lower margins are preferable to lower revenues.

There's another contribution the sales team can make. It's probably more important. It'll make more of a difference. It'll transform the zeros into heros.

Reduce the Cost of Sales.

The biggest waste of money in any business is the prospect who doesn't buy. When times are good nobody adds up the cost of chasing opportunities. When money gets tight the sales guys who waste it on deals that aren't going to happen take on a different persona. No longer are they fearless hunters. They become a drain on scarce resources.

Qualifying deals is no longer a theoretical exercise. Qualifying deals is a responsibility. Making sure the prospect consuming your cost of sale budget will buy "something" becomes due diligence. Making sure that prospect will by "something from you" is the biggest contribution the sales professionals can make. Every time a sales guy chases a deal without knowing why the prospect is interested, how s/he'll make a decision and where the money to pay for it will come from, it's a waste.

When the sales team accept the responsibility for what are ultimately investment decisions two things happen. More deals are won, at better prices and margins, and the sales people are better recognised for their contribution.

Harder qualification focuses the businesses, reduces the costs of sales and wins more deals. More people get to keep their jobs and sales professionals are recognised for their contribution.

In 2012 will you commit to spending less of your scarce resource chasing deals you aren't going to win?

What Sales People Can Learn From Internet Marketers

2011-12-14T12:06:00.000-08:00

Internet Marketers can teach regular sales people a lot about selling - about how to do the job badly. They have their own business model, and a strategy to go with it. It's all about volume, and pilgrims. And regular sales professionals should definitely avoid their practices.

There's nothing sophisticated about "wham bam, thank you Mam" selling. The concept relies on numbers, and outrageous propositions. Propositions which thinking buyers would see through. But if enough people come through the door, and enough of them are hungry for the secret to instant success, the marketer makes money.

Some punters buy on the first pitch, others on the second, and still more on the third. And if they don't? Who cares? There'll be another punter along in a minute or two. There is no conversation. No dialogue. No customer experience, at least not until the disappointment sets in.

You'll know from your own experience people like to buy stuff, and especially when a professional helps them understand the various options available, and choose the most appropriate. But they generally don't like being sold to. And definitely don't like being pitched at.

Internet Marketers pitch, and pitch again and pitch again. In their game it's impossible to strike out, so they just keep doing it.

One of my all time favourite sales stories comes from the most successful life assurance salesman ever. He was so successful he even made another fortune writing a book about his secret.

To cut a long story short:

Starting out as a newbie, management told him to go to social events and pitch everybody he met.

His favourite market place was the social scene - cocktail parties and dinner parties.

Every time somebody he'd just met asked "and what do you do?" he'd reply "I sell life assurance". Invariably his new contact would wince. The eyes would glaze over, and start looking around the room for a more interesting conversation.

After several months, now deep in debt, and avoiding calls from his bank, our hero decided to make a change in his pitch. That's when his career took off, and he never looked back.

His was a simple change.

When asked in polite company that polite question "and what do you do?" instead of saying " I sell ......." he said "I buy life assurance for people who are interested in securing their future. I find out about their circumstances, and their aspirations, and then help them select the very best package of opportunity and risk to meet their goals. Would you like me to help you?"

The value in this story is so mind blowingly obvious there's no need of an explanation.

But it does give rise to a question.

Why do so many self proclaimed sales coaches adopt Internet Marketing techniques?

Learn About Selling By Buying

2011-12-13T11:27:00.000-08:00

Not surprisingly there's plenty of choice when it comes to "how to sell" books. The sales "newbie" or business start up "needie" can find a bewildering array in any book store. Now, with the Internet, there's a tsunami of new articles published every day. (Including in this blog of course). There are thousands, if not tens of thousands, of sources for the secrets of how to sell.

But how is the newcomer supposed to choose something to learn from, and how is s/he supposed to know whether the final choice is either meaningful or relevant. Maybe it's really bad advice, especially without the experience needed to sort the insight from the insults (the way some authors assume their audience is stupid).

A little thought tells us there can't be a single right way to sell. There are tens of millions of people around the world selling stuff every day. Good ones, bad ones, hungry ones, dishonest ones. Sales is the world's second oldest profession ( and the oldest entails at least an element of selling).

It's a fair bet the majority of those selling stuff can't even read, and certainly won't be able to read The One Minute Salesman. If only because it isn't published in their language.

There is one philosophy which makes absolute sense - Sell in Ways You Like to Be Sold To.

We all buy stuff. We all buy a lot more stuff than we sell. We know infinitely more about buying than we do about selling. We know what we like and what we don't. We know what works, and what doesn't. We suffer the frustrations of inadequate information. We regret our lack of insight. We're at risk of buying a pig in poke, and resent the lack of integrity in the seller.

The best advice any aspiring sales professional can get is "stand in the buyer's shoes".

I mean Really Stand In The Buyers Shoes.

Now, sell to yourself, not because you're chasing the commission, but because you have a need to be satisfied and the money to pay for satisfying it.

Sales people who can answer the question "Would You Buy From You?" with "Yes" don't need advice from those who sell their ability to sell.

Sales people who can't answer that question with a positive need to rethink their approach, because what they're doing won't make anybody happy.

The Sales Activity Intelligence Dilemma

2011-12-07T11:24:00.001-08:00

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In 2012 sales people will feel a lot more heat from management. Two trends are converging - the automation of sales functions, and the recession. When there's less business to be won, and more people chasing it, everybody gets nervous, and especially sales managers. And when there's less of a need for face to face selling, with the Internet replacing a lot of the low level functions, fewer sales reps are needed.

So what's it going to be like?

Ultimately sales management loses all appreciation of intelligence and sinks into the activity theory. When time is short and the numbers are off, the fall back position is always "make more calls".
Focussing on activity is what sales managers do when they don't know what to do. Its the equivalent of spinning the roulette wheel one last time and for bigger stakes. Get out of jail or get another job.

Strangely the world's second oldest profession hasn't developed alongside other business functions. There's not much management science to be found. Not a lot of intelligence added in strategies and tactics and plans and processes. Just "kiss more frogs". One of them will turn into a Prince.

This makes no sense. It's the modern equivalent of the Charge of the Light Brigade. If we're going down lets do it in a blaze of glory. Get your rear in gear, and get on the phone. Wagons Roll.

Somehow, intelligence and sales are like oil and water - not mixing. The "nerd" who considers, and evaluates, and plans, and reviews, is not a real sales rep. Real sales reps stand in the street and bully their way into people's attention. They cold call on the phone till their brains give up. They believe. They push. They burn.

Perhaps there's a better way. Maybe a different thinking could bring different results. Is there a chance we could find a way to be successful which doesn't involve crashing and burning?

Of course there is. We can record what happened before. History is our best teacher. We can figure out how to do it better next time. We can try, and try again, until we find the secret sauce, then turn the insight into strategies and processes. That's what professional managers do.

Start 2012 With A New Sales Strategy

2011-12-05T09:46:00.001-08:00

How well did your sales strategy work out for you in 2011?

If it achieved your goals - well done, and congratulations. If it left you disappointed and frustrated - commiserations, better luck next time.

Will 2012 be different? Most people see the new year being even more difficult than the old one. In virtually every market confidence is dropping, competition is getting hotter, there are fewer deals around and they are all harder to win.

Austerity is the new word on everybody's lips. We all have to get used to the idea of more work, for less reward.

Market conditions like these are treacherous for sales people. Simply surviving the year will be most people's measure of success. Only the winners will still be standing after the fall out.

Are there ways sales organisations can load the dice? Can anything be done to mark the cards, gain an advantage, get an edge? Maybe there is?

Your sales strategy is where you should be looking. Get really real about who should buy, what they should buy, how much they should pay, and why they should pay you.

Review what happened in 2011. What worked out the way you expected, and what didn't. What could you have done differently to win those deals you lost, or the others which simply melted away.

Now look at how conditions will be different in 2012. Are there new opportunities to outflank the competition? Is there a new proposition you might adopt to reduce the customer's risk.

Taking a hard look at last year's performance and next year's market conditions, and making the tough choices which focus resources on the best opportunities will give you the best chance of surviving and even thriving in 2012.

For more thoughts on sales strategy check out Who Needs a Sales Strategy

Role of Your Web Site in Your Sales Strategy

2011-10-21T07:16:00.000-07:00

If a web site isn't fundamental to your sales strategy you are making a big mistake, because that's where most people do their real selling these days. Not on the phone, not face to face, not even social networking. It's all about your Internet presence, what it says about you, and how it informs your prospects.

But I guess you already know that. After all, somehow you arrived at this article and are sufficiently interested to want to know more.

Once upon a time, comfort with the Internet put you in the early adopter camp. You were cool. You were informed. You could do your own research, and make up your own mind.

You had escaped marketing.

Now everybody does that.

When Sales People Fail

2011-10-21T07:13:00.000-07:00

When sales people fail to deliver it isn't always their fault. There are lots of reasons why sales operations don't go to plan. There's the economy, and the competition, bad luck, and bad management.

And the biggest reason for sales people failing is bad management - bad strategy, bad resourcing, bad supervision and bad monitoring.

Sales Strategy for Internet Marketing

2011-10-21T07:07:00.000-07:00

The principles of sales strategy are consistent across industries, markets and operating models.

We talk a lot about sales strategy, because its fundamental to the success of any business. Happily we can point you to other people who think the same way - in this case Internet Marketing and SEO.

In Finding Lucrative Niches PETERD makes an excellent job of explaining how targeting customers with unique value propositions is fundamental to success in his clients businesses.

In What Is Your Sales Strategy, we explain the same concepts for other industries and types of business.

Successful Sales Management

The Golf Caddy's Circular Sales Process

Never Mislead A Prospect

Making Lead Generation Make Sense

What Sales Managers Can Learn From Pay Per Click

Yes You Can Sell

Sales Management Questions You Don't Ask

Helping Hand for Hardworking Sales People

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Advice For New Sales Managers

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Trust Me, I'm a Salesman.

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How Can I Close This Sale

Sales Strategy Playbook

A Business Plan Should Work For You

How Was Your Win Loss Ratio Last Year

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Qualify Harder for Quality Sales in 2012

What Sales People Can Learn From Internet Marketers

Learn About Selling By Buying

The Sales Activity Intelligence Dilemma

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Start 2012 With A New Sales Strategy

Role of Your Web Site in Your Sales Strategy

When Sales People Fail

Sales Strategy for Internet Marketing