KinetiCast Blog

The Velveteen Sales Rep

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 08:53:39 -0500

When I was an operations manager all I wanted was to become a sales professional. My eyes bloodshot from waking up at 3:30 am, I would peer out into the parking lot to watch the smiley sales people meandering in at 8:30, driving nice cars, wearing suits and sipping coffee. Not to be negative, but some of the guys were real goobers, and I knew that I could bring a significant amount of value to the table in sales. However, it took several years for me to break into sales. I was told “no,” on more than one occasion, and was even told to give up the dream. But I never gave up, and eventually my persistence paid off: I was given an entry-level sales position.

Over time, I was earning quarterly commission checks that were more than an entire year’s pay in operations. Even with the success of consistent quota achievement and the subsequent earnings, I had great difficulty believing that I belonged in sales. After all, I was not recruited, or drafted. I did not have a degree in sales, nor did I possess a board certification. It has always been curious to me that sales, despite being one of the highest paid professions, has no formal initiation process. Therefore, anyone can get started in sales, but not everyone can be “real.” This begs the question, how do you know when you are a real sales professional?

Recently, I read the classic book, The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams, to my daughters. For those of you unfamiliar with the book, the basic idea is that a toy rabbit wants to know what it means to become real. He learns that that key is for someone to really love you – then you become real. Well, how about the profession of selling, how do you know when you become a real sales professional? I would like to suggest that when you really love your product, and show someone else how to love your product, you become real.

When you first start in sales, you may look around at everyone in suits and think that they are real, but do not let their appearance fool you. It does not mean that they are real. By the same measure, you may look at some veteran sales people and think that they are real, but again, not necessarily. Contrary to what I have read in many blogs these days, the profession of selling is not dead, far from it as a matter of fact. However, the notion that someone can be a “real” sales professional without embracing the discipline of sales is dying quickly, and I say good riddance.

So I ask you, what do you think the discipline of sales is all about, and how do you know when you are real?

Things to Consider Before Cold Calling

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 17:41:46 -0500

I know that you have sales goals, and that pressure to produce can be overwhelming. You know what level of person you are looking to reach and have a well designed cold-call script. Are you missing something, is there more you can do to prepare?

Three Things to consider before cold calling your next prospect are:

What is the worst-case scenario?
What is the best-case scenario?
Are you prepared for both?

The worst-case scenario is the worst possible outcome once you have made contact with a prospect.
Usually, this means that the person tells you (among other things):

a. That they are absolutely not interested (followed by a dreaded sound…click).
b. Don’t call me I’ll call you.
c. That they are too busy right now why don’t you send me some information.

Many times these scenarios are indicative of a death sentence for a sales opportunity, mainly because the sales person is not prepared to transition a rejection to an opportunity. What are you going to do about it? Are you going to walk away/give up? Unfortunately, many sales people do just that. Yet elite sales professionals will tell you that that many of the high earnings they have enjoyed are tied directly to a sales conversation that began as a “worst case” scenario. Never say die is a staple attitude in winning the sale.

Instead of cowering under the pressure of rejection, you should institute a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for yourself. When your prospect takes the least desirable path, simply institute you SOP for that situation, every time it occurs. As a sales manager, or high performing rep, an SOP is very advantageous. You have a predictability factor, which is vital to sales success as well as customer satisfaction. There are sales techniques that will assist in opening locked doors, but these must be done consistently. If you want a sample of an SOP for this situation, send me an email or Linked in message.

What is the best-case scenario?

It does not happen often, but it does happen. A prospect tells you:

a.    Sounds like something we have been thinking about what should we do next?
b.    Can you come and meet with us we would like to learn more?
c.    Yes this is perfect, let’s get started.

Ask yourself the following: If a prospect were to have one of the above responses, would I know exactly what to do next, can I paint a clear picture of the path outlined next steps?   Once a prospect has a moment of clarity, and realizes that your solution is the right one, the last thing you want to do is confuse them, because nobody buys confused. Think of how it makes you feel when you excitedly start out on a road trip, only to realize that you have no idea how to get there. Now think of your prospect who has just chosen you, I certainly do not want to be the one to let the air out of their tires. Start to think of how you can combine old world sales skills with new world sales tools.

Ironically, sales people are often better prepared for the rejection scenario than the acceptance scenario. If your quest is to become or remain an elite sales performer then you should have an SOP for this situation as well. This SOP will serve as an implementation plan, it should be simple, professional and above all else utilitarian. It is essential to refine your skills daily to practice and produce more effective sales communication. Here is an example of best-case scenario response.

Please share any ideas that you have for responses to one of the above scenarios, which have proven successful in your selling process.

6 Reasons Why, In Sales Management, Bigger Isn’t Always Better

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 14:26:10 -0500

You are up against a formidable goal and not hitting your sales quota. As you do the math, you conclude that it is not worth trying to land smaller sales; they simply will not move the needle enough to insure you beat your quota. So you lock your sites on large accounts.

I have seen lists of prospects that look more like a who’s who of high profile businesses than a sales pipeline. Sales managers often sail right past the pipeline review, as they take a cursory look and decide that the sales pipeline is brimming with “A” list talent. The result is often a heap of unrealized revenue and a dejected sales force with empty pockets. Yes, sales people are getting appointments and making proposals, but they haven’t closed anything substantial in a long time, right?

So what should we do about it?

First of all, to exceed your sales goals, stop hunting just for the big game. Strive instead to have a healthy mix of prospects with different potential revenue opportunities. Sure, the smaller accounts will not move the needle overnight, but there are many reasons why they can be a better play for the sales force. Here are a few of those reasons:

Smaller accounts will teach you how to perfect the way you execute the sales process and, more importantly, understand your prospect’s buying cycle.
Smaller accounts may have a shorter buying cycle due to the fact that there may be less layers of management.
Sell enough smaller accounts and it will serve as an insulator against some of the peaks and valleys that are common in sales.
Smaller accounts build confidence, momentum and draw a blueprint for targeting other accounts in that vertical marketplace.
Consistently closing any type of account will provide you with job security; sales people converting new business do not get fired, period.
Small accounts can become large accounts.

Now about big game. I certainly recommend keeping some large accounts in your sights. These accounts must be pursued using a skilled methodology. There are indeed advanced sales techniques for unlocking closed doors, but these skills are honed through amassing sales victories. Sales victories are a key to getting that “been there before” confidence that will guide your steps through the complex sale.

Questions for you:

What is the ratio of large accounts to smaller accounts in your pipeline?
Are you pursuing both with similar vigor?
Can you share a story about lessons learned from closing smaller accounts?

5 Steps To Achieving Your Sales Goals

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 07:55:00 -0400

The other day I asked a prospective client what she thought about her sales team’s execution in 2010, surprisingly, she said that she was in favor of it!

Despite all of the magic potions and salves that promise to shorten sales cycles there is still a lag in daily selling activity and the fruit that it hopes to produce. For some, 2010 has been a great year, but for more, 2010 has not been a banner year in sales performance. If you are one of the sales professionals that has experienced a disappointing year, one way to finish out the year strong, and set yourself, and your organization, up for success in 2011 is to start planning now.

Albert Einstein once said, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." To approach next year the same way you approached this year is just plain nuts (unless you had a banner year). To borrow another quote (this one from W.L. Bateman), "If you keep on doing what you've always done, you'll keep on getting what you've always got." Ironically, if you did have a great year, the only thing you can count on for next year, is that your commission plan will be changed. To the elite sales professional this is understood and strategically embraced.

Here are several things you can do a little differently to make sure you finish strong in 2010 and exceed your sales expectations by knocking it out of the park in 2011.

1) Assess your current level of Sales Enablement

In order to compete, it is necessary to have the right people trained on the right equipment. Does your organization have what they need to gain an edge on competition? Is your product or service more difficult to use than your competitor's products? Can your sales team quickly and easily create professional-looking, customer-facing materials that are customized and effective? If sales people are not enabled to have the right conversations with the right people at the right time, no one wins (except maybe your competition). In addition to asking what your sales people need, analyze every deal that failed and succeeded, then meticulously fix whatever is broken and work to replicate what has worked. This is part of the job of the elite sales manager.

2) Place Proactive Bids

Typically, the new year brings price increases, contract amendments and a new set of priorities. Business that has been historically safe and sound with your competitor may be there for the taking if you are willing to advocate on their behalf. Do whatever it takes to extend a handshake to those companies, especially if they are struggling. Can you remember a time that you were struggling and someone helped you? How do you feel about them? Conversely, have you ever been kicked when you were down, how did that make you feel? Put on your white hat and put out some pricing and deliverables that will help your prospects get on their feet and stay there. Just be careful to take care of your current customer base because turnabout is fair play.

3) Work with your Competition (theoretically)

Here’s a tip, from this moment on, when someone tells you they are working with your competition, never walk away. Instead, say this, ‘oh yes they are a great company [if in fact they are] and I have some ideas how we can compliment what they are doing for you.’ The buyer will listen. The b2b sales elite use facilitative questions to open locked doors. If they do not listen, please email me and tell me about it. Just make sure you are ready to listen as well, once the door opens.

4) Identify the Top Challenges they are facing

Even if the solution has nothing to do with your company, and there is no direct reward to you, offer to set them up with people who can really help. What are you using LinkedIn for? To pontificate about how great you and your product are? Ok, slight mea culpa here. Why do you have all of those connections? Is it kind of like watching the fire extinguisher museum burn down? Time to dust off your contacts and put them to work. Take the time to communicate with your connections, learn what they do and how they do it, and if you see someone that needs their help, MAKE THE INTRODUCTION. Ask for nothing in return.

5) Set your own Goals

Look at your current accomplishments from a sales budget achievement standpoint. Try setting your own goals significantly higher than what you anticipate your organization’s goals will be. Try setting personal sales objectives to include strategic networking with professionals who can help your clients with whatever they need. This way you will become a hub of good will and positive change for your circle of influence. Then watch the circle grow!

Please share some tips on how you plan to get a jump on 2011.

The Role of an Elite Sales Manager in Prospecting

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 07:10:00 -0400

Prospecting for new business is the lifeblood of any sales organization. Sales managers often find themselves in a precarious position with regard to sales prospecting. Prospecting activity fills the sales pipeline with the right kind of prospects that will eventually become happy customers. However, a sales manager cannot “do it all;” they need to leverage the power of their sales team to exceed sales expectations. Many sales managers wash their hands of prospecting activities, as if they have earned some sort of reprieve by virtue of their title. Just to be clear, I am not advocating that sales managers take on the role of full-time prospector for the sales team but rather I am advocating that elite sales managers have a prominent role in the sales prospecting process. There are many reasons why this is important, not the least of which is to demonstrate a “whatever it takes” attitude. If you find that your sales are lagging, that your pipeline is weak and that your sales team is uninspired, here are several ideas that will help you get things going in the right direction.

Make sure your team believes in themselves

This topic may seem unrelated to prospecting, but I assure you it is absolutely essential. Volumes have been written on ways to help turn around the career of an underperforming sales person, so I will spare you the rant. Suffice it to say, there are basically two types of really good salespeople:

Those who have already achieved great results, and
Those who have the seed of greatness within them.

I remember being a new sales representative at my first company-wide sales meeting. Having previously been in operations, imagine my shock and awe at seeing the way salespeople were treated as opposed to the way operators were treated. Operations meetings were essentially death by PowerPoint, three hots and a cot and that's it. Sales meetings on the other hand are exciting, fun, and filled with recognition for top performers. No one had told me about the President's Club. So you can imagine my surprise while attending my first meeting where top performers were called to the stage to receive awards recognizing that they had achieved results better than 99% of their sales colleagues. Oh how the heart desire burned within me to be on stage receiving an award and to be recognized as an elite sales performer. Above all, I knew that deep within me, I had what it takes to outshine the competition inside and outside of my company. I then set my sails, and planned a trip to the top, after arriving I never looked back.

This is exactly the type of attitude a sales manager should be looking for from their sales team. If the desire to be great is not strong within a team member, do your best to nurture it. If they simply do not have it, then perhaps it is time to move on. If this desire is strong, you have only to educate and inspire them. These "A" players must realize that you believe in them and that they are the right person for the job. They have been selected, strategically and purposefully to represent your company and play on your championship team. By instilling confidence in your sales team will have taken a major step forward in prospecting for new business.

Make sure your sales team believes in your product

The sales person who does not believe in what they are selling is no more effective at selling it then an unsatisfied customer. It is a well-documented fact, that sales people who are genuinely convinced are genuinely able to convince others. With this in mind, we approach our prospecting activities. Unfortunately, no product or service is without flaws. Regardless of how hard you try, your product will not be perfect for everyone. Sales managers must convey to their sales team that this is not peculiar to your product or service. It happens to everyone. Start by educating your team on exactly how your product works, and for whom it works best. Help them to target the right kind of business to optimize the efficacy of your solution. When the fit is not there, learn to just say no. No amount of training, or technique can overcome a lack of passion and conviction. On the other hand, determined conviction can help to overcome a lack of highly developed sales skills. Once your sales star believes in herself and her product, she will not receive the just friends speech from prospects.

Make sure they have what they need

If you want to be a great leader, it is essential that you learn first to become a great servant. As a sales manager, your most important group of customers is your sales team. If you commit yourself to their success and wellbeing and put their needs selflessly ahead of your own, you will reap rewards far beyond but inclusive of personal financial gain. One of the most tangible ways to prove that you care, and establish the type of credibility that will make your sales team run through walls for you, is to make sure they have what they need to be successful. Therefore, as a sales manager the buck should stop with you with regard to the materials, equipment and sales tools necessary for your sales team to get the job done right. You can start this by ensuring that your sales team has the sharpest, most professional looking sales presentation materials possible, to assist with every step of the sales process. Have a clearly defined, well-structured sales approach for your team. If necessary, help them to develop their work schedule with preset hours for new business prospecting. Help your team to achieve a good work/life balance. If you genuinely care about your people, they will know, and just as quickly, they will know if you don't. Now that your team believes in themselves, your product and you, they are now ready to run with the full burden of sales prospecting on their own, right? Wrong!

Make sure you lead by example

One of the quickest ways for a sales manager to become irrelevant and therefore expendable is to lose touch with actual selling activities and skills. Prospecting is one of those skill-based activities that affords an opportunity for a sales manager to stay in the game and consequently, to stay relevant. Do you want to inspire your team to become prospecting machines? Then show up with a handful of leads tomorrow morning and challenge them to close them all. Then, challenge them to find better opportunities than you did. For the most part, elite sales professionals are a highly competitive species; they will not want to be out prospected by their manager or teammates or anyone else for that matter. Prospecting by example is one of the quickest and most effective ways to foster this kind of behavior.

Some questions:

A sales manager, when was the last time you made a cold call, dropped your business card off at a potential business or helped a struggling sales representative to find new business?
When was the last time you took a good look at what your team is handing and sending to prospective customers?
Do you feel that your product is good enough that people should buy it or should it be modified, changed or improved?
If you said yes to the need for improvement, what are you to do about it?

7 Sales Strategies To Transform CRM Management

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 10:10:00 -0400

If all of the traffic lights in the world were green at the same time, imagine the mess it would create. Ultimately, there must be some sort of order, a balance of stop, go, fast and slow. When trying to get somewhere, the last thing you want is a red light, but it is this very thing that brings order from chaos and ultimately brings you safely to your destination.

Top-notch salespeople are often a difficult bunch of people to manage; elite sales professionals can pose especially difficult challenges for their respective sales managers. Top performers often are the ones that are moving the fastest, require little in the way of motivation and tend to neglect some of the necessary administrative details along the way. One thing we have as sales managers, to help to manage the sales process, is a Customer Relationship Management system. However, a CRM system is often perceived by sales people as a deterrent to speed and effectiveness rather than a tool to assist them in reaching their sales objectives and a means to help them create the level of income typical of top sales people. For the best sales managers, in the best sales organizations, a strategic key to success is transforming the sales pipeline into a sales production line. This may mean implementing some changes of mind, attitude and process, but in the end it will be well worth it.

Here are steps you can take right now that will morph the ho-hum activities of CRM maintenance into a fun, exciting and effective sales production process:

Establish Your Goals

Of course you will execute on company objectives, in selling the right mix of products and services. But this step is more than that. This step is a selling technique that the B2B sales elite use consistently. Set your own goals – much more stretched than what your company expects of you. Your team will be held to higher standards, much higher. You will not just make your sales goals; you will smash them early and often. You will test the limits of what your company’s compensation plan can pay. You and your team, along with your families, will reap the rewards of a job extremely well done. Your goal should be to rank consistently tops amongst your peers. Now, you will have to leverage the power of your team to accomplish this, you may even have to do some selling yourself. Whatever it takes.... to quote Bill Parcels, "Expect Nothing, Blame No One, Do Something.” This step is very important, do not go to step 2 until this one is complete.

Establish Your Pipeline Design

You should absolutely use your company established parameters to determine the stages of the pipeline, but I want you to take it much further to supercharge your sales funnel. Take these steps:

Know the average yield for each stage in your sales process. Then, determine the revenue required in each stage to surpass your goals.

Spend some time examining your sales process. Look for ways to improve the yields from one stage to the next. Focus more attention on improving the lowest yielding stages. A minor improvement there can yield big results at the bottom of your sales funnel. In the example below, when the first two stages are improved by 10% each, the ultimate yield is doubled.

Decide how much time a prospective piece of business should be allowed to remain in each stage of the pipeline. For example, once a prospect has entered the Quote stage it means that you have proposed your solution. Therefore, maybe you have determined that two weeks is sufficient for a company to decide to use your solution. If they have not decided after two weeks, you find out why, place them into the appropriate stage, remove the barrier, propose your solution again and start the clock ticking.

In order to get the right perspective on the prospects in your pipeline, read Exceed Your Sales Expectations. Do not be afraid to get collaborative input from your team or other sales managers.

Establish a meeting or communication format to implement this pipeline design, make sure it is understood by all as you start to gain a more granular understanding.

Establish the Ingredients

Do not permit junk, fillers or artificial preservatives in your pipeline. If the data in the pipeline is not an accurate reflection of what is really going on in a territory, then remove or add the data as appropriate. Get all of the garbage out; be ruthless on this step, because if the data in the pipeline is bad, it will be next to impossible to manage. It is important that everyone confront the brutal facts. If not, I assure you, that short of a stroke of luck, you will not achieve your goals.

Establish Weekly One-on-One Meetings.

Make sure your team knows that this is not the Spanish Inquisition but rather the means whereby you will be helping them to take their career and income stream to the next level. Whenever and wherever possible, speak to the members of your team daily to review opportunities, remove barriers and strategize. This is the fun stuff! You are not browbeating; you are inspiring and motivating your team. They will love you for it. You will find that the team members that have greatness inside of them will emerge, and the ones who are just going though the motions will begin to self-select out.

Establish an Understanding of Every Prospect

Here are some questions to help you get started:

Why would this company want to do business with us?
Why would we want to do business with them?
What level of contact(s) are we calling on?
Why has this company not bought already?
What can we do to remove the barriers that are preventing progression between pipeline stages?

Remove Any Barriers

Repeat after me:
“I am here to remove barriers and chew bubble gum, and right now I'm all out of bubble gum.”

Get creative and get aggressive. Find out what is preventing the sale and remove the obstruction. Do not take ‘no’ for an answer, especially since they have made it though the other stages.

Get Out and Meet with Prospects and Customers

That’s right, have the chair surgically removed from your posterior and meet with as many potential and current clients as possible. Use these visits to establish rapport, coach sales reps and see firsthand what is actually happening in the sales process. When possible, stick with the opportunity throughout an entire sales cycle. This will ensure that you avoid getting made fun of as a sales manager.

Sales Techniques to Control Internal Sales Presentations

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 20:30:00 -0400

In a process driven sales cycle, a major point of frustration can be when opportunities get stuck in the sales pipeline - somewhere between the proposal stage and the implemented stage. As a sales manager, you know that you have made your case to the right person and that there was enough interest to move the process forward. However, after you have matched needs with solutions, and painted a picture of what life will be like with that need met, there still seems to be no final buying decision.

Executed properly, a sales process will naturally lead a prospect or customer to a buying decision. As sales professionals, we are aware of the stages of the sales cycle. Salespeople are taught to prospect in order to fill the funnel, to qualify in order to assess possible fit, and to propose, close, then grow business. One place in the sales cycle that goes neglected, and is often the exact spot where things get stalled, go stagnant, and fizzle out, is the place where your contact has to sell your service internally once they are convinced that it is the right decision for their company to make.

If you listen closely to your prospect, and identify their internal buying process, you will note that often times your contact, regardless of title and influence, will have to justify the purchase of your product or service to others within their organization. There may be several others in the organization that will need to understand and give assent to your solutions. This internal customer sell is often where we need help, because the sale has fallen and can’t get back up.

Think of how long it has taken you to learn your product and to communicate its value. It can take many years to gain the old world selling skills necessary to persuade and move potential customers to take action. With this in mind, we must come to terms with the fact that the individual stakeholder, who becomes convinced of our value, must be educated so that they can turn around internally and sell on our behalf. Properly executed, a buying process will inevitably contain these elements of accountability, and this is a good thing all around, as long as we learn to present vicariously through our contact.

So what proactive customer interactions can we employ as sales professionals to make sure our internal contact/stakeholder is properly equipped and prepared to present our product or service?

First we must become mindful of the questions that our contact will be asked. The best run companies, the ones that pay their bills and become loyal advocates, are typically the most diligent in their purchasing procurement process. Elite sales professionals learn to visualize their contact, pleading the case before judge and jury in order to comply with the purchasing approval process. Here are some of the questions that are often asked:

What is this company and what do they do?
Why do we need them?
What will this cost us?
Where will the budget come from?
Are there other companies that can do this?
If so, can they do cheaper, and/or better?
If this company has good suggestions, why don't we just implement their suggestions into our current process?
How much of a pain will it be to implement this new solution, and how much of a disruption will there be?
Will this cost of change negate any benefit we might get from implementing their solution?
What is the return on the investment and how long before we breakeven on the investment?

These are just a few of the potential questions and thoughts that will arise as your stakeholder attempts to implement your solution. Obviously there will likely be many more specific questions that will also arise.

If you use these questions as a guide when you are making a proposal, always thinking about the next move, you can educate your contact to present your solution more effectively. Just to be clear, educating your client is not synonymous with bludgeoning them with massive amounts of information. Rather, it is doing your job of qualifying and proposing properly and then putting the proper reference materials into their hands so that they have the answers to the test. Ideally, you would like to be there with them to help them through this line of questioning but that is simply not always possible. So what’s the next best thing?

First and foremost, remember that nobody buys confused. We highly recommend using an online sales presentation, built on the premise of your value proposition. With an online sales presentation, you are able to tell your story in your own words to the right person, to be consumed when they are ready! An online sales presentation also allows you to send a complete message directly to your stakeholder, so that they may review your value proposition, then send to their circle of influence. In this way, you will be able to disseminate large amounts of information, simply, powerfully and in context. Most importantly, you will be equipping your contact with everything they need to sell your product internally. Things to possibly include: the original presentation, ROI calculators, rates, contracts, contact sheets, links to customer interface, personalized messaging via audio and video, as well as implementation plans and timelines.

One of our clients recently made an online presentation to communicate an implementation plan for a very large multi-national prospect. They sent it to one person (their contact) and watched the tracking as it was forwarded throughout the organization 55 times! In a complex sale, there is tremendous value in leveraging multimedia online sales presentations to empower prospective buyers.

Exceed Your Sales Expectations

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 22:30:00 -0400

Have you ever had a sales manager tell you that they were unhappy with how long prospects were lingering in your sales pipeline? If so, please forward this to them.

Look at any CRM system and you’ll find plenty of common elements. Among them include fields for sales stage (with a default win probability), expected close date and expected revenue. With these elements, management typically forecasts by discounting the expected revenue based on the win probability (per the sales stage) and organizing opportunities according to expected close date. Thus management has an idea of what they can expect in terms of revenue over the next several months. This is all very basic Sales 101 stuff, but is often the source of unmet expectations between sales managers and their sales force.

A main source of the divide between a sales forecast and the subsequent sales performance is that win probability is typically tied to the sales stage of the opportunity (e.g., if an opportunity is Identified, it has a 10% chance of closing, if they’re Contacted its 20%, Qualified 50% and Proposed 67%). It is my experience that, when looking at pipeline from a macro perspective, the single best indicator for how long a lead will be in your pipeline and the likelihood with which it will survive to become a happy customer is the source of the lead. Therefore, I suggest that you define the lead source at a very high level. In my CRM, I have just three different lead sources. They are:

Seekers – these are prospects that seek you out
Sought – these are prospects that you seek out
Suggested – these are prospects that were referred to you

It is important to think of these categories when engaging with your prospects, forecasting your pipeline, and managing sales expectations.

The Seeker

On the surface, this prospect appears to be the best. After all, they’re most like your mother in that they recognize just how special you are. They have demonstrated admirable wisdom by successfully identifying you as someone who can potentially solve their particular problem. Perhaps they looked you up through a web search, found you through social media or just somehow innately knew that you were ‘the (wo)man!’ More likely, they are using one of your competitors and have decided, for one reason or another, to contact you.

Unless you represent the clear-cut industry leader, the notion of a prospect seeking you out should actually be cause for some concern. It should raise a red flag for you when companies look to spontaneously replace their current vendor. If they were a good customer, paid their bills on time and worked in partnership with their current vendor, why would they be looking elsewhere? If they were indeed a good customer and the incumbent vendor were moderately competent, that vendor, its sales team and customer service staff would be bending over backwards to make sure their good customer was happy.

Case in point, I was once contacted by one of my competitors’ largest customers. They called me in for a meeting and already had all of the information I would normally solicit waiting for me, accompanied with a list of one-sided, ridiculous demands. Against my recommendation, our company met their demands for reduced pricing and extended billing cycles as well as some other one-sided concessions. They quickly became my 4th largest customer from a revenue perspective. Frankly, I looked like a hero for the quarter. However, the stringent requirements of this customer caused me to have the lowest year over year growth of my sales career! My prospecting time was diminished and time spent with profitable customers was cut. I was not able to methodically sell and produce the “right” kind of business.

Eventually, the reasons why this company left its incumbent supplier became painfully obvious. In an unprecedented move, I presented a business case for why our company should fire this customer and no longer do business with them. We gave them 30 days to find a new vendor. Despite the loss of this revenue, I was able to sell far past the deficit and ended up in the top 1% among all sales people globally for my company. I still say that my best and most profitable "sale" that year was selling my company on the idea of cutting that customer loose.

The moral of the story: be very cautious when a prospect seeks you out. Find out why they have sought you out. Be very slow to give concessions. Most importantly, establish a balanced, open communication system with them so that they view you as a respected partner and not a pawn.

The Sought

The Sought are the most challenging and have, by far, the lowest conversion rate. However, these prospects are the key to success for the B2B sales elite. If you want the highest quality leads, you have to seek and engage them for yourself. No one knows more about your product’s strengths and potential for success than you. No one knows more about the types of businesses that will have a painful problem that your company can solve. No one is as invested in wanting to close the right kind of business then you are! This is the prospect you are cold-calling, sending more information to and trying to get time with in order to engage the right buying influences.

The big challenge with these prospects is that they are extremely difficult to accurately forecast in your sales pipeline. A symphony of sales activity must take place, rapport built, relationships established, knowledge exchanged and persuasion gently applied. After first contact, the entire sales process must be executed with flawless precision. Keep in mind that at any time this prospect may shut you down, after all, they did not seek you out. Unlike the The Seekers and The Suggested, The Sought have no initial reason to engage with you.

Often The Sought will tell you that they are happy with their current supplier. To that, my response has always been, “If you are happy with them, wait until you get a load of me!” Of course I’m kidding, but seriously, the fact that they are happy with their current supplier is some of the best news you can hear. It may have more to do with them being a perfect customer than their supplier making them happy. Your job is to get to the right person or people with the right message at the right time.

The Suggested

These are relatively rare in B2B sales. When you can get them, they can be fantastic. Though not always an easy sale, they represent the opportunity to work from a position of mutual, professional respect. Unfortunately this is something that is that is not common enough in the beginning of the sales cycle. The main challenge with The Suggested is that they are often not properly qualified.

I recommend that you do everything possible to introduce as many of these prospects into your sales pipeline. Sources can include your own marketing department, current clients, social media and your oldest and dearest friends. The B2B sales elite treats all prospects with the utmost in professionalism, however, it is even more important to go the extra mile with these prospects. Remember, with these prospects, your actions are not only a reflection on you but on the person that referred you. By going the extra mile, you are turning a favor your referral source did for you into a favor you have now done for them. Initially, they did you a favor by referring you customer. If you do your job well, you will have done the person who referred you the business a favor by making them look very smart for recommending such an outstanding company and sales professional. Lastly, make sure you report back the results to your referral source and, if possible, reciprocate by providing them with leads as well (email me and I’d be glad to share some ideas on how best to do this).

Realizing that there are salient differences between the types of prospects is one of the first steps in understanding a sales pipeline. In reviewing potential sales opportunities, as a sales manager, ‘how did they get here?’ should be one of your first questions. This will help to manage actions and exceed expectations.

Sales Is A Numbers Game - But No One Wants To Be A Number

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 00:10:00 -0400

To a large extent, sales is a numbers game. Few sales professionals would argue that point. You have to throw a lot of tomatoes against the wall to get some to stick.

These days, however, despite pouring on the numbers, many sales people are still struggling for sales. Often times a sales manager will ask a sales person to show greater numbers. It seems logical enough - by increasing the sheer volume of cold-calls, sales presentations, and proposals, they hope to better the odds of finding, qualifying and closing more deals. It is a serious event when a sales person makes the all-important phone call. The problem is that many times, under the pressure of it all and due to a bit of laziness, sales people forget what is on the other side. On the other side, is a person first, and a potential revenue number or opportunity second.

Prospects know that they are a number; they can feel it. Some even hire gatekeepers (a person too) in an attempt to keep the onslaught of sales forces at bay. If a prospect feels like they are just a random number in your call cycle, I guarantee that, short of you selling life rafts as their place is flooding, you will be rejected.

Buyers who know they are a number get turned and ticked off! The implication is that more sales people experience more rejection. Consequently, more people don’t get the help they need from sales people who have real solutions to real problems. So how do we, as sales professionals, overcome this?

Realize that you are in sales, not marketing.

Marketers say, ”It slices, it dices, it chops, it grates!” A sales professional would say, “What are you doing today? Are you slicing or dicing? Slicing? That is interesting, how are you slicing? How do your competitors slice? How do your customers perceive your slicing? Do you have any problems effectively slicing for your customers? Do you see yourself chopping in the future or are you looking into any other cutting markets?”

You Get the idea: Marketing is about getting the masses of prospects to take a look at you; sales is about you, taking a massive look at your prospect.

Prove that they were not a one-call stand.

Sometimes sales people treat buyers like a lottery ticket – we hold out hope for immediate gratification but as soon as it is determined to be a loser, the ticket is summarily discarded and then off to the gas station to buy a new ticket for the next drawing. Like so many ill-fated quick picks, they’ll then sit somewhere on a list or scratch pad never to be checked again.

Prove to your prospects that they are not a number and that you are not a taker. The best way to prove this is to be there. Prove that you are there to partner with them and not just there to cash in and move on. This approach requires multiple touches - not just a cold call. A cold call is just a starting point. Follow up with additional communications such as another call, a proactive online sales presentation or a letter or post card. If your prospects are close by, frequent events where they will be and seek them out with some useful information to share. The purpose of these activities should not be aimed at an immediate sale but to demonstrate that you are looking to make a career-long sales connection.

Learn the real numbers on which the game is based.

The number that should be the priority is the number of times you touch, visit or follow-up with a prospect. We run into more and more sales people who are looking to blast off a sales message to a large email list. This simply does NOT work. The thought is, to put a message into an email and assume some people will read and possibly buy. The communications you have with your prospects need to be customized and personalized. Does this take extra time? You bet it does but the sales elite understand that the extra mile is part of the path they take everyday.

The numbers game that should be played is the ten-touch rule. Do everything possible to have ten interactions with a prospect. The number may vary but, for the most part, I have seen ten as a great rule of thumb.

So you just made a cold call, ok that’s one. What will you do next?

Four Sales Techniques to Build Credibility with a Prospect

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:40:00 -0400

I have always been a fast talker, not like a huckster or snake oil salesman, but more to do with rate of speed - like the guy at the end of a commercial that reads a list of disclaimers. Needless to say that this has always worked against me when trying to build credibility and trust with new prospects and customers. Like many sales people, I was taught some sales techniques for rapport building. For example, when you begin a sales call, take a visual survey of the person’s office. Attempt to find some common ground or points of interest like golf, the kids, the alma mater or favorite sports team. This may have a place somewhere in the sales relationship but I don’t believe that its place is early on in the process.

The first encounters with a prospect are similar to that of an interview; it is a time to assess if there is potential for a mutually beneficial partnership. Think of it as an interview where, simultaneously, the prospect interviews you and you interview the prospect. If you want to have no chance of making a sale, go ahead and establish yourself as the master of small talk, wasting precious time that you may never get back. Along these same lines, try not to crack jokes; no one wants to buy from the class clown. If you have a good sense of humor, let it be a pleasant surprise later after you’ve established more credibility and respect.

The good news is that in B2B sales, there is often more time to build some history with a prospect. A shift in thinking is necessary. Sales people should think of prospects as potential life-long customers with whom they’re building a lasting professional bond, strong enough to survive changes in situation and even employment. So with this is mind, leave the BS for your competition and try these sales techniques instead:

Be Squared Away

One of my former mentors was an ex-Naval officer and whenever any of his employees would say, “I am sorry,” he would say, “don’t be sorry, just be squared away.” Show up for the meeting on time, show up for the meeting prepared, with respect to your appearance as well as your pre-call prep. Do not make excuses or jokes, and when you are asked a question, keep your answer concise and efficient. If you don’t know the answer, say that don’t know and commit to finding out and following up with them. Be sure to write it down (even if you know you’ll remember) and communicate back in a timely fashion once you’ve learned the answer. Think about it - who do you want to help you with your problem, Mr. Magoo or Mr. Miyagi?

Send a Pre-Call Questionnaire

I am seeing sales 2.0 lead/business information engines popping up all over the place, and there are some really good ones out there. Without a doubt, it is helpful to have detailed research at your fingertips, but nothing can supplant the understanding you can gain first hand from your prospect, in their own language. A great place to start is at the very beginning of the process. Send a survey or questionnaire that asks the vital questions that will give you a head start in customizing a sales solution. Some great free options to quickly and easily create on-line surveys is Google Docs and Zoomerang.

Become a Team Member (or at least a fan)

Ask if you can schedule some time to observe or lend a hand in a certain department that relates to your product or service. Observe and make note of the:

way things are currently being done
challenges they face
language that is used
team dynamics

Look for inefficiencies and be prepared to make professional recommendations. Start to look at the people you are about to do business with and see how, once your product or service is implemented, their situation will change. Start to learn their prospects, customers and competition in order to find a way to make them more competitive in their marketplace.

Prepare an Implementation or Rollout Plan

In your sales presentation, prepare and administer an implementation plan and schedule. This can be the most effective means of proactive closing. You will show that you know exactly what steps to follow, as well as alleviate any concerns your prospect may have that makes them feel uneasy about the difficulty of switching to, or purchasing, your product. Furthermore, sometimes the prospect does see a fit, realizes the urgency, but has no idea what to do next. A proactive implementation plan will serve as a guide for follow-up and help keep momentum going during the sales process and beyond.

Remember, you are not just winning the sale for today, you are building career-long business relationships. Start the process by being squared away, then build on it by sharing powerful industry knowledge in the context of their unique challenges. Once you’ve built the foundation of a solid business partner that provides value, you can then start to share your sense of humor and make other personal connections. These can definitely enhance a relationship but it’s important that you establish from the beginning that these are not the basis of your relationship.

3 Sales Techniques for Better Follow-Up

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 09:40:00 -0400

Have you had a look at your CRM lately and seen all the dead wood? How about that stack of stale business cards getting in the way of your mouse? Why have these once hopeful opportunities died on the vine and how do we prevent this from happening again? Here are some tips on effective sales follow-up that will help keep these hopefuls from becoming hopeless.

Show that you've listened and observed

The sales qualification process is similar to a puzzle - each party gathers information, like puzzle pieces. They try to fit the pieces together to form a complete picture, or at least a more complete picture. Once all of the research is complete, you are ready to propose your solution. To stand out from the crowd, try adding a section to your follow-up proposal called "other suggestions." In this section, outline other issues or problems that you've observed through careful study of their business practices, along with your suggestions for improvement. Most importantly, be willing to roll up your sleeves to help implement these suggestions in order to demonstrate what you are really made of.

Always present, and propose, an opportunity

When presenting a solution to a prospect or customer, make sure it is in the form of an opportunity. Nobody wants to be the person who let a golden opportunity slip through his or her fingers. Salespeople must master the art of painting a picture for a buyer of exactly what life will be like after their product or service is adopted. Presenting an opportunity, instead of a feature or price driven solution, will motivate the buyer and seller alike. If you are not able to phrase your offer as an opportunity, then go back to the drawing board until you can.

Follow up quickly and completely

Unlike you and fine wine, follow-ups don't get better with age. It is absolutely critical that you demonstrate to your prospect that you're on your game.

Struggling to gain momentum in the sales process? Quick and thorough follow-up helps you to maintain the momentum in the sales process and sets the tone for subsequent sales communications.

Components of an ideal sales follow-up include:

a brief summary of the current situation
confirmation of completed items
a gentle reminder of customer requirements
clearly defined next steps
all of the necessary materials (documentation, forms, links, etc.) for your prospect to complete their next steps

Three Things Every Sales Force Needs to Know

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 10:15:00 -0400

Recently I had a conversation with a very good friend of mine who is a director level sales executive for a global Fortune 100 organization. We have been known to mix it up, dig into big issues, analyze and solve them. Once we finished our expert analysis of all the offseason roster moves made by the NY Jets, we directed our conversation to our second love - sales. As our conversation progressed, I learned that his sales organization was struggling mightily. By the end of our conversation, we had identified three root causes of their problems.

Many of the problems could be traced systemically back to basic causes, all rooted in a lack of understanding of three very important things:

Company Direction

While the focus du jour of the company emphasizes the acquisition of new business, all signals seem to indicate that the de facto focus is still on cultivating business from existing customers. The sales force is receiving mixed messages.

There is little doubt that without a clearly conceived and communicated vision, organizations perish. It is the responsibility of sales executives and sales managers to disseminate a message clearly, simply and powerfully. As long as the right individuals are hired, given a proper vision and realize an unwavering commitment from leadership to achieve these goals, sales success becomes highly attainable.

Product, Services and Differentiation

This lack of understanding goes deeper to include why this product is priced the way it is. The lack of understanding of cost structure, coupled with not understanding how to de-commoditize the product, is causing a serious disconnect between sales reps, prospects and the company. Every company should employ the tactic of training its salespeople to understand its pricing strategy.

When I was growing up, my family had a little Italian deli in upstate New York. The keys to being solvent were obvious. Whatever we charged for a sandwich had better be more than the sum of the costs that went into making it (bread, cold cuts, electricity, wrapping paper, etc.). Frankly, I am amazed at how many people in sales today have no idea of what goes into making, maintaining and marketing their product or service. To these people, sales is just a game that is played by hanging on long enough, doing the compulsories, and manipulating the numbers and activities into creating a situation of positive earnings for themselves. This thought brings us to our third cause.

Basic Priorities Every Salesperson Should Observe

There are three basic priorities that salespeople must understand and keep in a specific order in order to ensure the symbiotic health of all involved. If these basic priorities are observed in any order other than the prescribed order you put all three risk. However, when these priorities are embraced and observed in the prescribed order, it is a recipe for success for all those involved.

The priorities in the exact order in which they need to be followed are the health of your:

Company
Customer
Paycheck

A healthy company is best suited to take care of their customers, offer the best products and services, and compensate its sales people. An essential element of a healthy company is having healthy customers. A healthy customer is loyal, especially when they can attribute some of their wellbeing to your business relationship. Top sales earnings are a natural byproduct of getting the first two priorities straight.

So we've diagnosed the issues. We need a strong vision, clearly communicated to a well-aligned sales force that has a deep understanding of their offering. Now it's time to administer the treatment. Here's a question for you all, how do you recommend administering this treatment?

6 Types of Sales Reps that Sales Managers Should Avoid

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 11:40:00 -0400

When hiring a salesperson, organizations often place a heavy emphasis on things such as personality tests, education, and other outward qualifications to determine which salespeople will be the most effective for their organization. Each of these things has their place in the evaluation process but over the years I have seen some salespeople that measure well by these barometers yet would not be a salesperson I would ever have working for me. These "salespeople" fit into several different profiles. Here are six types of salespeople that will never work for me:

The Camper

In basketball, when a player is guilty of a three-second violation in the key, they are said to be ‘Camping in the Key.' In sales, this is the sales reps who just hangs around in a sales territory long enough because they know a lucky bounce will eventually come their way. When it does, they reap the benefit of business that they win by default because they happen to be in the right place at the right time. This person, who refuses to put their heart and soul into their job will never work for me.

The Babysitter

This is the sales rep that doesn't think that he should be responsible to go out and find new business. They feel that leads should be handed to them - qualified and ready to buy. At the expense of selling, they focus on the implementation and management of the account. This babysitter is not welcome to watch my family (my coworkers and customers).

The Robot

This is a sales rep that does the same thing every day. They come to work at the same time, take lunch at the same time, and go home at the same time. Their methods of prospecting never change, nor does their sales pitch or anything else for that matter. Of all of the sales reps that I would not hire, the robot is probably the best all-around salesperson due to the fact that they maintain a highly disciplined regimen. However, this still will not cut. The robot lacks creativity and desire to examine and improve their current processes; therefore I'm pulling the plug.

The Windbag

This is the sales rep that has no idea when it is time to stop talking. I run into salespeople all the time who have been selling for many years and still have no internal "shuttheheckupometer." The windbag, despite many signs from the customer that it is time to end the sales presentation, just never seems to get it and always thinks they have to say one more thing. The windbag puts customers to sleep, puts me to sleep and frankly has no business giving sales presentations, so I'm deflating them.

The Ghost

This is a sales rep that may have good numbers but never participates as a team member. They are a ghost because you never see them. They are not interested in collaborating with their peers or sharing knowledge of best practices. The ghost causes hard feelingsamong their teammates because it seems that ghosts work by their own set of rules. If you're going to work for me, you've got want to be part of a team. If you're a ghost, you know who I'm gonna call.

The Sloth

While I am certainly not advocating (or practicing) any age discrimination, it is important to understand the pros and cons that each generation of worker tends to bring. Compared to other generations, sales people in Gen Y are generally very bright, highly educated and excellent with technology. However, there is a subset of them that I refer to as the Sloth. The Sloth tends to come to the workplace with a very different ethic than us

old-timers. We have taught these sloths to eat when they are hungry, sleep when they are tired and work only when they are inspired (or feel like it). They do not identify with their profession as part of who they are; it is just another thing that they do (and doing it is not real high on their list of priorities). I'd let these people cut my grass, wash my car or build a sand castle for me. However, a person with a bunch of education, and no work ethic will never work for me in sales. Let the sloth sleep on their own time, not mine.

Each of these types of potential sales candidates may have some excellent attributes that we'd like all of our sales reps to have: the Camper knows how to be in the right place at the right time, the Babysitter tends to be excellent at taking care of existing clients, the Robot is highly disciplined, the Windbag is articulate, the Ghost requires little supervision and the Sloth is bright and highly educated. However, these types of salespeople tend to be one-dimensional. Sales is one of the most challenging and dynamic professions one can pursue. It requires special people to do the job and as sales managers we need to be very careful in who we invite to join our teams. There are other types of sales reps that I would not want to work for me but, for now, this will suffice.

Please share some of your best practices for identifying and avoiding them.

Four Advanced Sales Techniques for Opening Locked Doors

Thu, 27 May 2010 11:00:00 -0400

Much to the dismay of many sales managers, a lot of salespeople have a tendency to sit in limbo waiting for their prospects to put out an RFP, RFQ, or some other form of bid. Often when sales professionals are told that there is a contract in place or that the time is not right to review their product or service, the sales professional will pass the opportunity by. The net result: some prospects that may have the greatest potential are taken out of the sales pipeline and relegated to a calendar entry to be called sometime in the distant future.

Change your Approach - Respectfully

Although we need to be mindful and respectful of our prospect's buying cycles, there are things that we can do, strategically, to gain a foot in the door with some of our dream clients - even if, at first, that door seems to be locked. I do not advocate a hardheaded approach; rather, I suggest a persistent and methodical approach to selling new business. Here are some sales techniques you can use to open a window of opportunity when the door has been locked.

Make an Appointment - Proactively

Within your dream prospect, try to find someone in a position of influence and understanding with whom you can begin to forge a lasting bond. Make the appointment like this, "Hello Ms. Smith, I realize that you're under contract with our competitor for the next two years. When your contract is up for bid, in order to ensure that my company is prepared to make an offering that truly meets your needs, I would like to begin to understand your business now. I have long realized that in order to add value to an organization, I need to become a student of the organization. I would like to learn about what you do and what challenges you face".

After you make the initial phone call to set your appointment, I suggest leveraging online presentations for your sales follow-up. Online presentation software enables you to email your prospects engaging, personalized and trackable information via email. You can add quick-capture personalized video using your prospect's name and their company's name. This way, they know that your communications were tailored specifically for them and not part of a generic mass marketing campaign. After they've had a chance to view the online presentation, call them and ask if they have any questions. If you weren't able to set the appointment with your initial call, use this sales follow up to book the appointment. You have now started to differentiate yourself from the sameness in sales.

From experience, I can tell you that you will get many appointments this way. By focusing on customer need, the threat level is low. I recommend on this first appointment, do not attempt to sell anything other than your desire to learn and understand. Simply ask questions and do just what you said: learn. Learn about this individual, their department, the company mission and the challenges that they're facing. Take copious notes and before you leave, make sure you schedule another appointment. Most importantly, establish the fact that you respect and are intrigued with their company, and while you are not asking for them to use your product, ask if it's okay if you share specific industry trends and information that might help them to be more successful.

Stay Connected - Virtually

After meeting with this potential client, send a follow-up in the form of an online sales presentation. In it, sum up what you've learned in your meeting and stress the importance of having another meeting to dig a little deeper. You may also use online presentations to keep this prospect informed of industry trends and news that might interest them in regard to the things that you've learned about them. This enables you to include more dynamic multimedia content and gives you the necessary tracking to assess their level of engagement. You may also have an opportunity to educate them with powerful information that, most likely, your incumbent competitor is not sharing with them.

When you cannot be in front of this client, leverage video to keep your face in front of their face. This will help in developing the sales relationship - staying top of mind and keeping the sales momentum.

Ask for an Opportunity - Naturally

Over time (and it may be sooner than you think), you'll have the selling opportunity to ask for some piece of business that you may use to prove yourself and your company. As time goes by, the scope of the contract may be altered as an organization's business needs evolve. New needs for products and services within your industry may develop outside the scope of their current contract. This may give you an opportunity to present one of your solutions. You will have already established that you:

Care about this customer enough to learn about them
Have meticulous follow-up and listening skills
Put your prospect needs ahead of your own
Were a friend and business partner before you asked for one dime

Once they transition from prospect to customer, make sure that you keep up the same level of attention that earned you their business.

I called this post an ‘advanced selling technique' because I've seen very few other sales professionals employ this approach. Does anyone have any selling techniques they've found to be very effective yet rarely utilized? Please share.

Sales Stars: Defenders Of The Galaxy

Wed, 19 May 2010 13:20:00 -0400

Have you ever wondered how two companies can offer a similar service but one is good and the other is bad. I believe that often the cause of the bad service offering is rooted in the culture of the leadership of that organization. Typically there is a culture of arrogance that starts with the leadership but permeates throughout the organization. These companies become complacent and aloofly feel that their offer is great (as is), and refuse to listen to feedback from prospects. Please realize that I am not referring to customer feedback. If they are already customers, most companies (even arrogant ones) will listen or even seek customer feedback. The feedback I am referring to is from prospects; those who have recently bought and those who did not. The insight into what about your offer is compelling, and what is not, lies within this group. Possessing this buyer knowledge is invaluable to any organization looking to grow and evolve their offer into one that buyers cannot refuse. Where can you obtain this precious information?

This information comes from Sales Stars.

In case you have trouble spotting them,

Look Here,

They are consistently in the top half of your sales performance indication list for revenue production. They have the ability to give great sales presentations, the ability to sell when others aren't, and the ability to manage their time effectively. But one thing that often gets overlooked is that the very best salespeople in the world are also a kind of corporate Special Forces. They are Commandos in the war against mediocrity. They are fierce competitors, always on guard against anything that would jeopardize the business that they have earned and most of all, the voice of the customer to their own organization.

Managing top performers is not always an easy task. A balance needs to be struck between challenging them to be the best they can be and leaving them alone so they do not feel micromanaged. Anyone who has managed, been managed by or is a top sales performer can attest to the many personality quirks that come along with elite performers. However, a common thread among the best of the best is that they have little tolerance for anything that could tarnish their reputation. To that end, when the company they represent drops the ball, they are the squeakiest wheel. Any company would do well to listen attentively to their top performers and to adjust their operations accordingly.

The Upper Management Eclipse

It is common these days to see sales management executives concerned primarily with the appearance of their performance, instead of the efficacy of it. Many times, these sales managers focus more on what will make them look good to their direct reports instead of focusing on how their company can do good for their most important investors - their customers.

Often times, organizations get stuck doing the same thing over and over again but in today's economic climate that just doesn't cut it. Listen to your sales leaders - they have the direct knowledge of how your company is perceived by those who truly matter most. If you want to know where to invest in your offering, if you want to know which initiatives to pursue, and if you want to know how you're really doing as a company, just ask your top sales performers. Better than any crystal ball is the insight of those who's very living depends upon living up to their word. When their word depends upon the performance of others, salespeople get understandably sensitive when other people don't live up to their end of the bargain. In every salesperson's job description, right along with new business development goals, there should be a section that clearly appoints them and explicitly charges them with the task of holding their own organization accountable to deliver on its promises.

No one else has this depth of insight and clarity of vision into the things that make or break sales effectiveness. No other department has this level of motivation to get and keep customers. We all know that effective sales are the lifeblood of any organization. Even if your salespeople are telling you things you don't want to hear, and even if you have some serious doubts about their motivation for doing so, try to glean some thread of truth from the things that they are saying. It just might be that you will find that the words and thoughts of your sales stars are truly prophetic and might help you avoid fiscal catastrophe. My recommendation is, if you currently do not have a forum to share brutally honest feedback, put it at the top of your to do list; you will thank me later.

Obviously, this type of 'voice of sales/voice of prospect' forum must not be allowed to supplant selling activity, but if you hire the right people, this will not be an issue.

Please share ideas for establishing an effective forum for sales input.

9 Ways to Avoid Getting Made Fun of as a Sales Manager

Thu, 13 May 2010 14:30:00 -0400

Did you ever wonder how some executives get into the position that they are in?

Judging by their lack of interpersonal skills, arrogant attitude and weak sales game, they must have some damning pictures of the boss in Vegas. Does this sound familiar?

Actually, many of you reading this may have thought this very thought, what is even more alarming is that some of you reading this could be the very subject of this blog, but have no clue. We used to call my second sales manager Colonel Mustard - he thought it was due to his mustache but it was because he didn't have a clue. The sales manager that is arrogant and basically worthless on a sales call, might be you and you don't know it. For me, as a sales manager, the respect of my team is just as important as the good graces of those to whom I report.

Here are some ideas to help you not be the dorky sales manager everyone makes fun of.

Make Sure You Can Fog a Mirror.

When you are on a sales call, you bring strength and experience. You should bring energy and understanding. You should bring the communication of a vision for the business relationship you are proposing. Most of all you should know what you can commit to and be a master negotiator. Bring value to a sales call or sales presentation in the form of energy and knowledge. Do not sit like a bump on a log. Conversely,

Do Not Dominate the Sales Call.

When on a sales call, do not miss the opportunity to develop your team. You must realize that when you are riding along with a rep on a sales call, that there are two basic starting points. One is your top performers are going to be prepared to show you how well they are doing and be looking to gain your respect and trust by knocking it out of the park. The second situation is when a rep is ill prepared, and runs the sales presentation haphazardly. Yes, you are there to bring value, but the greatest value is the development of your sales people. Recognizing the well prepared and coaching the ill prepared are more important than flashing your fancy sales techniques. Then,

Make Sure You Are Prepared.

Ask for the agenda ahead of time, take a look into your CRM to check the activity on the account, potential revenue, level of contact you are meeting. Look at the company website, and competition, think of similar companies you may have dealt with previously. Leverage technology like Inside View or Gist to learn more about your prospects. Think ahead of time about which elegant negotiables you are be prepared to offer to advance the deal. After a meeting,

Make Sure You Send a Follow-Up.

All sales managers should set the tone for pinpoint, heartfelt follow-up. Use whatever means necessary; I'm partial to a personalized online sales communication, but no matter what you use, make sure you are delivering on your promises. And for heaven's sake, if you make a promise, live up to it. If you do not, I promise you...you thought of as a jerk. Try hard to

Never Disrespect or Belittle Your Reps,

no matter how they act, no matter how they stumble and whatever they say... do not disrespect or talk down to anyone - especially someone you manage and especially in front of a customer. We have all seen this type of behavior, and can remember who committed this terrible act and when and where. No one wants to do business with people like that. It's also good to

Know What the Heck You're Talking About.

Just because you are the manager please do not regard your title as an excuse to get soft on sales skills. As a leader, you should set the example of product mastery and artful negotiation. Since you're reading this post, chances are you're among the leaders who seek opportunities sharpen your skills. For the busy professionals, be sure to check out SalesAce where you can see excerpts from the best of many of the top sales blogs.

Never Hide or Point Fingers

when things do not go as planned. When things are going badly, do not shrink back and point fingers, instead stand up and take responsibility, then take corrective action to make sure there is not a repeat. In Good to Great, Jim Collins describes this trait as the ‘mirror and the window'. He explains that when true leaders have problems, they look in the mirror and take personal responsibility while the weaker ones look out the window and blame the problems on other people.

Learn to Delegate;

get everyone involved in sales management. Many managers think they exist to remove extraneous burdens from the sales team. However, this often becomes an excuse for not digging into more important, uncomfortable matters. Delegate what you can and spread these activities evenly through the team. This will help to develop your future leaders and free you to spot the "kick me" sign before someone hangs it on your back. Now, the best for last,

Give Your Team Credit When Credit is Due.

If you make sure your team shines, they will make sure you shine. When someone has a great idea and executes on it, give them all of the credit and recognize them for it. Never, never, pass someone else's idea off as your own. The best of the best, are focused on simply getting things done.

Please share your Colonel Mustard stories with us.

Four Sales Strategies for Proactive Customer Interactions

Thu, 06 May 2010 13:10:00 -0400

A young man was sick of the fast life so,
He entered a monastery,where he was informed of the rules by the head priest.
One, you're not allowed to speak at all.
Two, once per year you will be allowed to speak...but only two words so choose wisely.
The first year passes by and it comes time for the young man to speak, he steps up and says "Bells Noisy".
Then a whole year passes by once again, and the young man has his turn to speak, this time he says "Floors Cold"
A third, long year passes by and when the young man steps up to speak, he says "food stinks"
The fourth year passes by, and as he begins to speak, he takes a good look around and says "I quit".
The head priest turns to him and says, well doesn't surprise me, all you've done is complain since you got here.

This anecdote is a perfect illustration of what not to do when communicating with customers. If a customer only hears from you when there's a problem, What do you think their perception of your service will be? They will place you and your company in a section of their mind reserved for things that are problematic. They will not think of all of the flawless execution of your company provides, just the problems because that is all they hear about. One of the main keys to customer satisfaction is the customer's perception of the value that you are providing. There are many factors that go into an effective customer communication strategy from a sales perspective - let's look at a few that are easy to implement and you can begin doing today with just a little effort.

Always Set the Right Expectation

As you enter into a business relationship with a new customer, make sure you set the expectation of what you will be delivering. Do not promise more than what your company is able to deliver. Do not promise more than what you are willing and able to do. Instead, if it takes your company three days on average to complete its work, promise to deliver in six days. If your company's product costs $75 promise $100, then delight the customer by surprising them with a better result. At the onset of a sale in its early stages, make sure you layout for the customer your plan of action for implementing your product or service. Show them that you've been there before, and that you know what you're doing. These time lines will serve as a reminder for you, and equally important, as a natural implementation process to get the customer up to proper utilization levels, and revenue levels. The main idea here is to set an expectation for your customer, or paint a picture of what it will be like for them, so as to make the only surprises happy ones.

Weekly Check-In

Use a weekly communication structure to let your customer know proactively, how your company is performing and shape their perception of your company's performance. Your contact will tell you what issue you need to address and with whom, as well as make you aware of any other red flags. I am well aware that it is not always possible to meet weekly with your customers face-to-face, but by establishing predictable contact at the same time every week they can schedule it, expect it and hopefully look forward to it. The advantages to this communication strategy are too many to mention here. But overall, the main benefit is that you will begin to develop a reputation for exceeding expectations and promises. One great way to establish a personal and cost-effective weekly check in is with an online sales presentation.

Use Proactive Reporting

No matter how good your product, customer service and price may be, a day will come when the decision to partner with you will be challenged. It is crucial to plan for this moment ahead of time. It can be in the simplest format, nothing fancy at all, but begin to provide your contacts with key performance indicators, in the form of proactive reporting. Your company will most likely have a way to get to this data, but if they do not, then it is your job to stand on your desk and scream until you get the data. If you're feeling shy, you could alternatively figure out how to get the data yourself. Do not be afraid of less than perfect results, just make sure you address them and have a plan on how to fix them. No one will knock you for a lack of perfection, but failure to address these problems could be very costly. This data can be sent monthly in preparation for a face-to-face meeting. If the data needs explanation, consider sending it in an online presentation so you can include personalized video to clarify.

Hook Them Up

Make yourself a hub of business relationships for your customers and prospects. Do not be afraid to introduce your customers to each other. By doing the first two items on this list, you will know to be on the look out for complementary services. Possibly even useful technology and best practices from each other's organization to help make them more successful. Let's face it, most busy executives do not see the light of day - when they are in meetings, they're stuck behind a desk fighting their way out from behind a pile of work. As a salesperson you should be a breath of fresh air, a burst of energy and a sight for sore eyes. By you exposing your customers to your other customers when it makes sense, you develop value beyond that of a simple service provider and begin to become a valued partner.

By implementing the above steps, you will begin to establish a reputation for being a great account manager, a good friend and a class act. These are virtues you can take with you everywhere. What is more, once you have established this reputation, the odds of your competition being able to take business from you are slim. The time that you get to spend customer-facing is very limited. Be sure to make it count.

Okay, it's your time to talk - what do you have to say (preferably not 'post stinks')?

4 Ways to Avoid the 'Just Friends' Speech in Sales

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 19:00:00 -0400

As the recipient of my fair share of "just friends" speeches, I can tell you for a fact that they stink. Similar to the hope of finding love in a relationship, is the expectation that a hiring manager has for a new sales representative. With hopeful expectation, a manager asks you to begin a relationship with their product by applying the same passion you showed for getting the job in the first place to your daily selling activities.

Last night I received a call from a good friend of mine, who has always been a top sales performer. Recently, he switched companies to sell a new product at a much higher rate of pay and more generous commission structure.

I'm getting appointments, he said, but I haven't had any luck closing anything so far. I asked him "so tell me about this new product that you are selling." He went on to tell me about the product and all of the benefits that his new company claims to provide. However, I did not hear the same passion in his voice that I used to hear when he was representing the previous company. So after listening to a features, advantages, and benefits monologue, I took a minute to ponder the spirit in which it was given.

And then I asked him some questions (and I recommend you ask them to yourself, I certainly have):

Do you like your product?

Do you believe in your product?

Do you love your product?

I will spare you all the details of his answers, but the salient point that came from this conversation, is that he kind of likes the new product, but doesn't really believe in it yet and he certainly does not love the product.

In today's economic climate, people who make decisions to purchase products need to have more than just information. Buyers need to feel good that they are making the right decision to benefit their organization. I won't even discuss the problem of not even liking your own product, because if you are in that position it is time to look for something else to sell. But if you do like your product, it's time to take it to the next level. Time to become someone that believes in, even loves, the product. Believing in, and loving, your product will cause you more sales success, because your belief and passion are highly transferrable. People may not remember your entire sales presentation, but they will remember the passion, or lack thereof.

Here are some ideas on how to stop being "just friends" with your product:

Become a student of your product

Pretend that you are a customer, and learn everything about your product from a customer point of view. Learn how to use the product. Call up your support team to experience your company's customer support, everything from signing up to paying an invoice. Even try to reach yourself as a representative, see if you are delighted or frustrated. Now, go embrace your company's sales training. But approach it as someone who's looking to become an expert, not just someone who is conversant. Once you learn your product from the customer's perspective, and from the provider's perspective, you are now ready to take the next step.

Become a student of your competition

In a respectful and forthright manner, immerse yourself in the knowledge and culture of your competition. Identify those who you are competing against and gain a close understanding of what difference you can provide. Know how they differ from each other, and from your product. Be prepared to speak in the language of your customers as it relates to your competition, know what words are synonymous with your company's own vernacular. Be prepared to speak always in a complimentary way to their capabilities. Never, never, never bash your competition, instead use this approach: we agree that XYZ company is good at what they do, but let me show you what our company has to offer, and how we feel this can bring you a superior value. Little else will turn a customer off faster than competition bashing. Even if they begin to bash the competition, do not participate. Instead, try to understand where their point of frustration is and offer your solution through consultative approach.

Become a student of your customer

In order to be a top performing sales executive, you must begin to think of the customer as YOUR customer. Not a company to be sold, convinced or closed, but a customer that you personally take care of with an in-depth understanding of their goals, needs and challenges. Become a student of their products, and their competition, just like you have become a student of yours. This step will change your mentality, from thinking that they are an obligation, an entry into our CRM, or a name on a spreadsheet, they will now become a lifelong customer no matter which product you are representing.

Become the voice of your customer

Once you grasp your product, understand your competition and embrace your customer, it is time to gain the edge by developing a passion for the product you are selling as it relates to your customer. Knowing that your product is the right fit for the customer, and the knowledge that you are going to be there for them no matter what, will instill a sense of confidence when you speak to a prospect. You will know that, although they don't yet know you or your product, given the opportunity sometime in the future, they will be very happy and grateful for the day that they met you. Holding yourself and your company accountable to provide the very best service to your customer will cause a bond with your most important benefactors.

Now put this all together and approach your selling activities with new vigor, realizing that you're not just going through the motions, but you are providing a superior value to help your customers remain competitive in the marketplace. What is more, they will get a lifelong friend out of the deal. Transferring knowledge about a product is difficult, and if you are able to transfer it, inspiring a desired action can be even more daunting. Infinitely more transferable is a feeling or belief. Once you believe in it, and actually feel good about what you're selling, you'll see dramatic increases in your close ratio. You'll actually be shocked when someone doesn't buy your product, not surprised when they do.

So what's not to love?

5 Tips for More Effective Sales Communication

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 00:40:00 -0400

Hello Mr. Customer, it's Dave, I just wanted to touch base with you because I heard that you had awarded my competition a contract to handle your online sales presentation business?

Hi Dave. Yes, we awarded that business to your competition. I had no idea your company performed that type of service.

Mr. Customer, with all due respect, the last four times we spoke I brought up the fact that our company had a cutting-edge sales presentation product, and that we could make it available to you at a fraction of what our competitor would charge because of your existing business with us, does this ring a bell?

Yes Dave, I remember now, and not sure why, but I had no idea that's what you were talking about, sorry about that...hope there are no hard feelings, just wish you had made it more clear, so when are you coming by to take us to lunch?

The above scenario is not uncommon. It is absolutely mind-boggling how you can tell a customer something over and over again while looking them right in the eye, but they do not hear you. Has this ever happened to you? If you've been in sales for more than a few months, then it probably has, and you share the frustration with all other sales people. But what can be done about this? How can we make sure that we are getting our point across? I would like to offer five suggestions to help you in your quest to be heard and to turn the hearing into understanding and understanding into earning.

Listen First

Always listen first. You are designed very purposefully, with two ears and one mouth. This design ensures that we are very slow to speak and very quick to listen so that when we do speak, we will have more to say. By listening actively, you will ensure that your customer or prospect feels heard, because they are heard. Once your customer or prospect is heard in a sales situation, they will be more apt to give the floor to you. Mainly because you will be speaking in the context of their understanding.

Clarify Your Understanding

When you do not understand, ask for clarification. Sometimes your customer or prospect says things to you that simply don't make sense, at least you. Sometimes your mind is wandering, thinking about the next thing you'll say, or the next place you are going (this is human, it happens). But what are you to do about it? Hopefully, pride does not come before a fall. When you do not understand something the customer saying or you do not grasp some nuance of their business model, simply stop and ask for clarification. No one will ever fault you for wanting to understand. They will, however, fault you if they tell you something, you nod your head in assent, but in actuality you never really get it. Little will kill a sale faster than this.

Ask Smart Questions

Never introduce an idea to a customer by pontificating. Although it might feel great to you to go on a rant and rave about the things that your company has to offer, it is simply white noise to busy people who have their own things to worry about. Start instead, by asking questions, smart questions, questions that demand an answer that lead to uncovering a need that you, naturally, have a way to fix. Instead of saying "my company has sales consulting services, if you'd ever like to take advantage of it let me know," ask the following: "Are you up against some difficult revenue objectives? Wouldn't it be nice to have your sales force achieve its sales objectives and bring some much-needed revenue to the table? If this is the case, I think we can help. If I could show you a way to solve this problem, would you be interested?" Think they are listening now? You bet.

Follow-Up

When a new idea is introduced, always follow up: never assume because you connect with someone on a certain topic that they have understood what you said and have committed it to memory, or that they are willing to act upon it. Instead always assume that you need to clarify your objectives and offering in order to ask for the business. Always summarize the thoughts and ideas that are born from sales meetings, sales presentations, sales calls and any other selling situation. Never take anything for granted, and remember nothing your company offers is worth anything until a customer understands it and buys it. Sales follow-up is by far one of the greatest differentiators between top sales performers and those who never quite make it. Millions of dollars are left on the table due to lack of sales follow-up, because once momentum is lost, is very difficult to break inertia once again. It is even more frightening to think that after you have introduced your client, prospect or customer to a new concept and identified a need at their organization that, because you didn't followed up, they turn around and select your competition as the provider. I encourage you to consider utilizing online sales presentation software - sales software specifically designed to help sales professionals stay connected with their prospects and customers.

Be a Detective

Utilize the famous pre-planned Columbo close. If you have ever seen the 1970's crime drama series, you would remember Peter Falk, on his way out the door, turning around and saying just one more thing. That 'one more thing' would unlock all the mysteries of that episode - the culmination of all of the facts he had gathered during the episode. After a while you would know, that just when you thought it was over and there was no way he could get the bad guy, 'that one more thing' would nail them to the wall. This is a great selling technique. Before every sales meeting, plan the Colombo close, just one more thing that you will ask the customer on your way out. "Just one more thing, Mr. Customer, who is handling your brokerage business out of Southeast Asia at this time? Is that right? I don't know if I ever mentioned it, but we actually provide that service and using our service would be a tremendous enhancement because..."

Just one more thing...I was wondering, do YOU have any suggestions for making sure there is powerful two-way communication during the sales process?

Five Sales Lessons Learned From Selling Cars

Sun, 18 Apr 2010 23:20:00 -0400

One of the most maligned and berated professions is that of car sales. Though they are not respected in most instances, I feel that if every sales professional did at least a brief stint as a car sales professional, it may do them some good.

Some valuable lessons I learned from car sales:

Decide to Feel like Selling Every Day

Applicable to most types of selling is, for the most part, no one really looks over your shoulder. If you want to do just the bare minimum, that's okay. If you want to be the same as everyone else, another face in the crowd, no one will stop you. There is plenty of downtime in car sales between walk-ins and appointments. This time could be used anyway a car salesperson sees fit. Perhaps, to read a book, surf the Internet, kibitz with their counterparts or to GET Serious about Selling. The salespeople who are always on top of the performance chart are the ones who take selling very seriously. They do not come to work to socialize or to get involved with office politics or any other menacing trifles. Instead they come to work ready to sell from the time the bell rings until the time the curtain is dropped.

Develop Strong Relationships with Co-Workers

As a microcosm of life, a car dealership is a perfect example of how important it is to have a solid support system. People to watch your back and to look out for your customers when you are not able to do so. These work mates can help to hold you accountable to make sure you are doing the drill and persisting in the habits that will make you successful. You must then respond in kind.

Don't See What You Can Sell, Sell What You Can See

Most sales people wish their products had more, better or different features. It is easy to get wrapped up in what one wishes, hopes or plans they had to sell. In car sales, if you don't close, you don't eat! So forget waiting for the new arrivals, take a look around at what you have, and sell that! With whatever product you may be selling, be sure to sell what you have, not what you wish to had.

Show 100% of the Product 100% of the Time

When in an environment of big-ticket sales, it is crucial to treat every potential customer with enough respect to show them 100% of your product, features and benefits. This is true for many reasons, not the least of which is, you never know what may be the trigger that inspires them to take the next step. When you do a full product demonstration, you are providing real value, a learning opportunity, people appreciate that and will respond well in most cases.

Do the Things the Others are Not Willing to Do

It is not always about who is the smartest, who is the fastest, or who is the most experienced. It is often about the one who was willing to do the things the others were not willing to do. Make the extra call, come to the lot on your day off, make friends with the mechanics and the service advisors who can refer people whose cars are on their last leg and in need of buying something new. As a matter of habit, make sure you send personalized sales communications to prospects, to separate yourself from the sameness of the cloud of others.

Most of all, the key to selling success in car sales, like many other selling situations, is to respect the customer enough to be prepared at all times to give your best.

Sales Training Tip: How to Handle Criticism

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 08:20:00 -0400

We salespeople love to hear kudos. But what happens when someone tells us that we're not so great? What happens when someone criticizes us? I can tell you from experience, that it does not feel good.

I recently made a phone call to a very experienced sales expert. I used what I thought was my “A” material, however this person ripped apart my sales effort. This person did not see the effort I put in nor did they care that I am a genuinely nice guy. They perceived that I was wasting their time, and nothing I else I said mattered after that.

Dealing with Criticism is Never Easy

Great salespeople must learn how to handle criticism with emotional intelligence and have the ability to separate feelings from facts. All Sales trainers should train this and sales managers should manage this. I would love to say, that every critic is looking out for your best interest, but the fact is, that some people can be just downright mean. There are certain people who really love to tear other people apart. For many of us, the first reaction is to tell the critic to stick their criticism where the sun doesn't shine while others opt to crawl into a shell of shame, desperately seeking the courage to go on. So what should we do?

Be Grateful and take it Seriously

The way to deal with criticism, regardless of intent, is to embrace the criticism as a way to get better. Who cares what someone's intentions are, it really doesn't matter! What does matter is that there's a possibility that they are seeing something that you don't. I say, embrace criticism and look for golden threads of truth that can help you improve your game. When someone takes the time to criticize you, thank them for their observation, make a serious note of it and take some time to do some soul-searching.

I have often wondered while watching shows like American Idol, how people can seemingly have no idea that they really stink. If you really care about someone, you must feel compelled to tell the truth, even if it hurts. You are not doing anyone any favors by not confronting the brutal facts.

My Approach

I am very grateful for the criticism that was given to me. I needed to be reminded that I need to keep my game at a high level at all times. Most importantly I needed to be reminded that, the things I do matter and I only have one chance to make a good first impression. So there you have it, a word to the wise - embrace criticism and learn from it; strive to self evaluate and not compromise on standards so that rather than distracting your prospect with bad habits, you can use every encounter as a means to an end of reaching your goal.

Please check back at this blog for some tips on how to deliver suggestions for improvement.

Effective Sales Tips: Video E-mail

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 10:00:00 -0400

I was just thinking about you, as your name came up several times during sales meeting with a mutual acquaintance. This acquaintance was saying what a great guy and exceptional sales person you are, and stated that they really like your company and it's products. I was echoing that sentiment, by saying how much respect I have for you, and how personable you are. So naturally, I was shocked when I checked the visitor sign in book I saw neither your name nor any mention of your company (even though I thumbed back through several weeks of records).

I thought you might like to know that this mutual acquaintance, though quite complementary, was a little bit concerned that they had reached out to you for some help with some very important compliance forms, but had not heard back from you. Luckily I was able to help them! They had also mentioned that their business model had changed slightly, and that they needed some adjustments made to the way they were doing business with your organization. Fortunately, I was able to provide them with a web link that quickly solved the problem. Then, according to their records, you are scheduled to come visit them in about three weeks. I would also like to pass on to you, the fact that they said they had some questions about miscellaneous charges that keep showing up on their bills. These charges seem to keep mounting and are beginning to become quite a nuisance, but I'm sure you will address all of this in a few weeks. Believe me, I know how busy you have been these last few weeks. However, you have a geographically dispersed territory. No one can hold any of that against you, after all your great guy.

One last thing, this acquaintance was actually your largest customer. And I am the sales professional who represents your competition. Starting today, I have a new largest customer - thank you for being so busy. Next time I see you, the drinks are on me! You really are great.

Anyone from the least experienced telemarketer to the most experienced sales manager can tell you that this story is NOT fiction. All too often we take our eye off of the ball with our most precious commodity, (our customers) in favor of a myriad of other responsibilities. One way to stay in front of your customer, even when you can't physically be there is to send an online sales presentation through e-mail, it allows you personalized contact one-on-one with key decision-makers so you can stay connected. If you are managing your customers properly, you will not miss out on new business development opportunities, and equally important you'll keep your competition out.

For some sales training on exactly what types of online presentations to send please check back with this blog over the next few weeks. Also, if you have any selling tips or sales techniques for the most effective way to stay connected with your prospects and customers please let us know.

Selling Your Self Presentation

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 00:35:00 -0400

A traveling sales person recently visited me at KinetiCast. While I did not eat his liver with fava beans and a nice Chianti, I secretly wished someone had. But this trainwreck of a visit left me with some good lessons on how NOT to behave when trying to make a sale.

A very successful sales executive told me a long time ago that one of the most important things he looked for, when hiring a sales person, is that they be instantly likable.

We all know what it is like when someone isn't likable. We have all felt it at one time or another, the feeling when we see someone that we recognize but sincerely hope that they do not see us, for fear that we will be forced to talk to them. As a sales person we should strive to be the person that people go out of their way to make excuses to want to be around and to schedule appointments just to spend time with us. There is no doubt that people buy you first and your product second. Now for some people this comes easy, for others its more difficult. Here are some ideas that may help you to increase your "it" factor.

Make sure your appearance is clean and comfortable

The salesman that visited KinetiCast walked in with a suit that was at least two sizes too small. Now, I can sympathize as I have packed on a few lbs as of late, but its always important to look your best, regardless of your shape or size. I am not saying you have to be a sartorial showpiece, but if you are not comfortable and clean looking it gives a bad first impression, plus it makes you self-conscious (even more disturbing - if it should make you self-conscious but it doesn't!)

Another note on appearance, bad breath is a showstopper. Always assume your breath is bad and take action before every sales encounter.

Make sure your internal clock is ticking

Much of sales is timing. Arrive a little early, and if you have an appointment for 30 minutes, when 30 minutes is done, make every effort to leave. Very little good can come from overstaying your allotted time. With a few minutes left in the meeting, start to sum up and talk about deliverables, next step and planned follow-up. If you start to leave, your prospect can always ask you to stay longer.

I am amazed at how many sales people think that they are hitting it out of the park by staying at a prospect for a long time. In fact, in most cases, people are just too nice to ask you to leave. Once you do finally leave, it is likely you will not be welcomed back.

Turn that frown upside down

Always remember, fake enthusiasm is better than genuine depression. Leave your problems out of the meeting. Be passionate and confident, people are attracted to people who are fun to be around. Depressed people are not fun to be around. Fake it till you make it.

The ultimate goal of likability in a business relationship is that your prospect associates you with your product and ends up liking both.

Please share your ideas to increase instant likability.

Star Trek Sales Training Academy: Crew of Winners (Part III of IV)

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 09:20:00 -0400

In order to traverse the galaxy successfully it is essential that every crew member be situationally aware. It is not enough just to know how to do a job, the job must be done in context of the big picture. The same is true for the members of a selling team. To make sure that each crew member performs effectively at all times, communication is necessary. Before any encounter with an enemy or possible enemy, the captain will instruct the crew as to the level of force they should prepare to use. Terms such as Red Alert, Full Power to Shields and Set Phasers to Stun are the cadence used by the captain to raise the situational awareness for his crew members. While these terms might not work for your business (unless you are the captain of a star fleet vessel!), you need to create your own cadence to similarly raise the situational awareness of your selling team.....

Red Alert

Understanding the threat level is core to the survival of any organization. What is our competition doing? How do they do it? How do we do it better? What do we have that can be used to counteract their position? What can I learn from my competitor's strengths and weaknesses? These are all essential questions that you must answer. Just as importantly, you must make sure every one of your employees knows exactly what they are supposed to do and why they are doing it.

I have worked in environments where management was so wrapped up in their tasks that they did not take the time to communicate the big picture to subordinates. A simple explanation of the overall situation the company is in as well as a reminder of the value of what they are doing, goes a long way to creating an effective sales team. To truly have an effective team, the big picture must be communicated to each person in the organization so that they can put themselves, and their job, in the context of the bigger picture. Corporations often make a huge mistake not sharing a view of the big picture. Once the situation is understood, and the crew stands at the ready, it is time to act with precision.

Full Power to Shields

As we go about our daily activities and the possibility of attack becomes a reality, we must set aside superfluous tasks and enter full defense mode. This situation happens frequently to the sales professional, however, the pressure to maintain selling activities is overwhelming, so the threats keep piling up, exposing us to more and more danger. I cannot stress enough the importance of understanding that success in sales is not always just about what is sold; many times an otherwise phenomenal sales person, is hindered by the their lack of administrative skills. The torpedoes start raining in, e.g., unfiled expense reports, incomplete CRM entries, and sales follow up that need to be completed.

Sometimes, it is necessary to put shields to full power, put the head down and ward off these burdens one by one. Taking the time to follow-up on potential sales, submitting all reports on time, and generally executing on various administrative functions are the hallmarks of a crew that is situationally aware.

Set Sales Presentations to Stun

When presenting a product it is crucial to be aware of how much force to exert at all times and to be mindful of where the sales presentation fits in the big picture. It is not necessary to blast the entire sales pitch on everyone. Vary your message according to who is hearing it. Most importantly, when it is time to set your presentation to kill, make sure you are ready to seal the deal and ask for the business.

Good sales people must strive to communicate the "big picture" as they see it to their customers. In order to do this, they must assess the big picture as it relates to their customer. The sales process, like any journey, can twist and turn unexpectedly. The most successful sales techniques are applied skillfully in the context of the overall business landscape.

So you now have you marching orders:

Know your enemy...strengths and weaknesses
Know your role contextually in the current situation
Assess the threat level then take decisive action