When prospects meet us in person for the very first time, they notice our facial expressions, our ability to maintain eye contact, how we sit, the tone of our voice, and, of course, the way we are dressed. Some research indicates those first impressions are formed in less than 30 seconds, and what’s more, the impressions people get from nonverbal cues are extremely accurate. Furthermore, the self-fulfilling prophecy says if you like the other person initially, you will look for additional reasons to like them. And unfortunately, the opposite is true. If you don’t have a positive first impression, you will tend to focus on things that will make you dislike the other person. The gut-level first impression your prospects get about you will impact your relationship immediately and last for a very long time. One study says it can take up to six months to overcome a bad first impression. In the world of professional selling, can you afford to work six months just to overcome a bad beginning?

So what are you to do? The next time you go on a sales call, before you meet your prospect, find a mirror. Check your appearance – your prospect certainly will. And don’t forget to smile – a sincere smile sends a message that you are a friendly person and not a threat. Offer to shake hands, but don’t make it a ‘bone-crusher’ or ‘dead-fish’ shake. Pump your hands 3 to 5 times and let go, making sure you look the prospect in one eye (preferably the right eye). If invited to sit down, sit up straight and lean forward – it shows enthusiasm and interest in what the other person is saying.

Years of research also indicate it’s more important how you open the sale than how you close it, so make your first impression – the nonverbal one – a good one.

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Perhaps you even said something like “XYZ Company, one of the largest organizations we compete with, has locked that enormous account up so it’s not worth my time to chase it.” I know I have – but I was all wrong and let me tell you why it’s definitely worth going after large accounts within your target markets (as well as government entities, if appropriate):

• Larger, longer-term contracts make your cash flow and revenue more predictable.
• Fewer, but more valuable, contracts enable you to construct a stable business built on true core competencies.
• Your overhead is often lower when you are strategic about the accounts you pursue. A new contract will benefit from the systems and personnel dedicated to an existing agreement. Depending on your margin structure, supporting a large account may cost as much as supporting a smaller one.
• Enterprise-wide growth can be tremendous. A piece of business with one unit or division of a large company can lead to opportunities in other areas of the organization you may not even target initially.
• There’s huge potential for referral-based business. A recommendation from an executive at a giant corporation is worth its weight in gold!

Now, based on these 5 points, I urge you to take a careful look at your 2010 sales strategy and commit yourself and your sales team to developing a plan to open at least one large account for every seven smaller ones. Find out how you can win those larger accounts by reading my latest book, Playing Bigger Than You Are; it outlines strategies you can use to sell to corporate giants. To learn more and find out where you can order your book, visit: www.PlayingBiggerThanYouAre.com.

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• Don’t experience recession – there is business out there. Someone is always buying.
• Get out of comfort zones – get more innovative, entrepreneurial and forward thinking. Flexibility and creativity rule.
• Train to peak performance – the military does not stop training and your sales team shouldn’t either.
• Accept responsibility – it’s your job to build and maintain the morale of your sales team.
• Stay the course – be confident you are doing the right things that will generate the right results.

I loved Toni’s reference to Christopher Columbus “We proceeded south by southwest,” which eventually lead the famous explorer to discover the new world.

Stay the course, be confident and optimistic. Be the leader you know you are!

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Energy level is worthless if you can’t get to work on time and it doesn’t bother you. Style is meaningless if traveling and prospecting is demeaning to you. Urgency is a deterrent if your customer is lower energy. Competitiveness is foreign if you always “won” and got a trophy because you simply showed up! All this behavioral emphasis when other factors are far more important for sales success. Like values, experience and attitudes. Especially attitude! You know those personal skills honed by time.

Oh yeah, you may also hear…“those boomers are not ‘wired’.” “They’re not computer savvy.” Does savvy mean sending endless inane texts so I don’t have to speak to anyone? Is that how relationships are built? Is my value defined in terms of the dexterity of my thumbs?

I have spent extra time becoming more computer proficient and Internet savvy. Many other ‘over 55’ sales professionals and I have embraced electronic marketing, selling, as well as blogging. And, while at times I have felt frustrated and wanted to resort to my “always ready” legal pad, I know success demands I use these tools.

You want speed or rapport? Knowing what to do when is more valuable than behavior. Having well developed values, personal skills, knowledge, and real world involvement is more productive than a fast rookie. Not that rookies should be avoided. However, professional, experienced salespeople should be welcomed and valued also. Especially when they WANT to sell! And CAN! And bring unique value others can’t.

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Today we are going to dive into the questions to ask that will give you key intelligence regarding the very foundation of your business…YOUR CUSTOMERS!

Here are the essential questions to ask:

1. How long do your customers stay with you on average? If you sell a product or service with a repeatable purchase history then you will need to know this information. This will allow you to spot trends in your customer loyalty programs. Should you change your programs or are customers leaving you quicker than they were a few years ago? Most businesses will generate 50-70% of their yearly revenue from their existing customers. Increasing customer retention is one of the fastest ways to grow existing revenue. Additionally, it is much more cost effective to retain your customer base then it is to find new customers.
2. Why do customers stop buying from you? Simply ask them! It’s amazing to me how many businesses do not track this information. The answer to this question will provide you insight into the core reasons why your customers leave. A band-aid, fix-it approach is not the solution and maybe you’ve used this method far too many times which is why you are loosing customers. Even if the reason is not your fault, then at least you gain a better understanding of why you lost a customer. Perhaps their top leadership changed and you need to resell the account.
3. What have you done to gain correct information on the following:

   a. Who’s buying your products and services?
   b. Why they’re buying?
   c. Who’s making the purchase decision?
   d. How effective is your packaging?
   e. What is your “Wow” factor?

   All of these questions go together because they are designed to help you with your external/internal marketing efforts. For example, if 90% of your products and services are being bought by CFO’s in mid-size organizations then you have defined your key market. You may want to craft a very targeted and specific message to this group of decision makers. Knowing why they buy provides insight into the trigger events that determine if someone is truly a qualified prospect. Even a minor detail dealing with how you package your product and the very color and contents of the outside packaging can determine a rise or fall in sales.

   Take the time to review these key questions to see where adjustments may be needed.

4. What are your customers really saying about you and your organization?
   Hopefully, they are saying good things. In today’s world of online social-media outlets your customers are going to talk about you. Be aware of what they are really saying. Customers will talk to each other and for your sake that conversation needs to be a positive one. We live in a fast paced world where feedback is instant. Find out where your customers are talking and have a presence there.

Simply taking the time to go through these questions is the first step. The answers will lead you to add some extra meat to your overall strategy moving into 2010. I’m always amazed at how many organizations tell me they have never taken the time to answer these questions.

The questions posed in the first 3 parts have focused on an external perspective. In part 4 we will look at questions that take an inward look at your organization by focusing on the product and services you offer.

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As mentioned previously, there are key questions that you need to ask in order to prepare an analysis of your competition that will allow you to develop the right plan of attack.

Competitive Analysis:

Here are the 5 questions you should ask in order to analyze the competition

1. Who are your major competitors and how are you different? Being able to differentiate yourself from the competition will allow you to compete on more than just price. In order to confidently convey to your prospects and customers why they should do business with you, it is important that you take the time to understand the truth behind how you are different. Without differentiation then the lowest priced provider will prevail.
2. What new competitors have entered the marketplace in the past three years? This answer may give rise to a growing market segment that has potentially been underserved in your industry. Perhaps, a new way of doing business has been developed by these new upstart competitors and they are able to capitalize on their innovative approach to the market. If they are winning business, it is possible that your market still has room for growth but watch out for the sly fox that is simply stealing away your customers because they are outselling you. At the least, you will gain some insight into why these new competitors are gaining ground.
3. What is your competition’s marketing strategy? Knowing the message your competition is consistently communicating to the marketplace will allow you to prepare your own unique marketing messages in a way that elevates you above the competition. Are they touting benefits that you have but are not conveying? How many times have you lost a sale only to find out that the reason is because the competition pointed out a benefit that they provide and you did not point out the same benefit? Be aware of the exact messages your competition is sending to the marketplace.
4. Why have your customers chosen you over the competition? An obvious question, but one that many sales organizations do not even know the answer to. Let your customer talk and be thankful for every insight they give you.
5. What market segments will provide you with home-field advantage? It’s far easier to win when you have the home-field advantage. Your advantage will be in markets that you have a stronger presence in over the competition. Use these markets for leverage as you begin attacking other markets that your competition may do a better job in. It may be that you need to spend more time in this market than you have done so in the past.

All of these questions are designed to provide you with a framework for understanding your strengths and weaknesses as compared to those of your competitors. Part Three of this blog series will look at Customer Buying Intelligence.

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I hate to break the news to you but if you are whining, complaining, moaning and groaning, or tossing and turning at night because your sales are down then you are engaging in unproductive behavior. Exerting energy in this manner is not going to fix the issue that is keeping you up at night. If you are a sales leader, the responsibility to “win-the-day” is upon your shoulders.

If your team is above, at, or even close to goal then congratulations as you are doing a great job! Realistic expectations are needed now more than ever. However, if your team is really struggling or you simply want your existing efforts to be more productive then simply doing more of what you are already doing is not going to change anything. You want to make sure that you have the right plan that will drive the right results moving forward. Things have changed in the marketplace, and the only way for you to meet these changes is to sometimes adapt to or develop a new strategy that ensures you will have success.

I’m going to begin a series on the key questions you should be asking in order to help you define and implement the right strategy moving forward. These questions are geared at the major core components that drive your sales engine to success. However, in some cases you might find you need a new engine if you are truly being honest in your answer.

Over the next several days we will be looking at the 6 core business components that drive your sales efforts. These are: Market Intelligence, Competition Analysis, Product and Services Analysis, Customer Buying Intelligence, Organizational Strategy Alignment, and Human Capital Development.

Market Intelligence:

1. What is currently happening in your marketplace? This question may seem obvious, but if you do not have a firm grasp on what is truly happening in your industry then your expectations may be out of alignment with reality. If your industry is down 60%, what can you do differently to keep your sales from being down this far. Industry averages can be deceiving because someone is probably at the top because of what they are doing and it might as well be you. You need to know what is truly happening if you are going to respond correctly to the challenges that lay ahead.

2. What markets do you serve and what is the realistic health of these markets? This will help you better define the answer to the first question. The key here is that by knowing the health of your markets then you can make sure you are putting your focus in the right areas. You may find that a market that you are only doing 10% of business in is up by 35% compared to your top market that is down. This means your opportunities lie in this underserved market. You may find that there are new markets that you can break into that will minimize the downward slide of your top markets.

3. What are the total sales for all products and services in your industry for the past three years? This will provide you with information on the trends of your industry as well as a baseline to determine how you stack up against specific revenue benchmarks.

4. What is your market share? Knowing if you are increasing or decreasing will help you to determine key areas of opportunity. Once you know this information you can craft a plan that will steer you to your goals. Simply compare your sales totals from the last three years to that of your industry to gain insight into your market share.

Having a good understanding of the industry as well as the impact of the economic environment will not only enable you to assess your own performance, but will also provide a framework in which to evaluate the competition. In part 2 we will dive into analyzing the competitive environment and understanding where you are outpacing your competition and just as important, where they are winning the day.

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At any rate, from the standpoint of using social networking with the intent of growing your business, there are many ways to leverage the increasing number of social networking sites. I really want this blog post to focus on Facebook.com, though.

LinkedIn, Plaxo, etc. are great tools to use to connect to prospects and clients within a business context; however, I personally believe that Facebook is most appropriately used within the context of the user’s personal life. It’s a way to connect with old friends, let people know what you’re up to and really to share what’s going on in your personal life.

Here’s an analogy to consider: trying to “Friend” a client on Facebook might be something like inviting yourself to that client’s weekend backyard BBQ! There’s a place and time for business and a place and time for outside interests and I don’t think that showing up at your client’s house on the weekend to try to sell your products or services is the right venue for business to happen.

My advice: save your attempts at growing your professional network for LinkedIn and other professionally-oriented social networking sites and DON’T try to “Friend” your clients on Facebook.

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We are all too familiar with the scenario of a sales team investing in sales training and after a few weeks of being back in the field, they fall back into their old routines and their management team is unhappy because they experienced no immediate change in sales results.

Why does this happen? Despite good intentions to implement new skills, the hectic pace of real-world, everyday selling often forces salespeople back into the ‘comfort zone’ of their old sales habits and techniques. Simply put, they take the path of least resistance to get the job done.

The reality is that it takes more than a Facilitator’s Guide, a charismatic presentation and a few role-play exercises for a training provider to achieve true changes in sales performance. An effective ‘sales changing’ program (versus a ‘sales training’ program) requires three things:

• A strong sales management team that embraces the need for change.
• Sales managers that are outstanding ‘coaches’ who will get out in the field, observe their sales staff and offer their expertise and guidance.
• An accountability tool (or scorecard) in place so the entire team knows where they are now, where they’re headed and where to course-correct if they get off track.

Jim Tunney, a retired NFL referee and current motivational speaker said, “If employees don’t understand their company’s goals and its game plan, these goals won’t be achieved. Football doesn’t make this mistake. Its goals are always clearly defined. At the end of the field is a goal line. Why do they call it a goal line? Because 11 people on the offensive team huddle for a single purpose—to move the ball across it.”

“Where are the coaches on game day?” They’re on the field coaching their players – not in the office handling paperwork, waiting to hear the outcome of the game!

The key to an effective ‘sales changing’ program begins with your sales management team. Then, partner with a sales training provider that fits the culture of your organization and communicate the specific, measurable results you want to achieve. A good sales training provider will embrace the accountability and be energized by the opportunity to do it right. I guarantee you’ll see new, productive habits among your sales staff, along with the results you expect from your investment.

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I had promised Phillip that when he graduated I would buy him any golf clubs of his choice. Considering it wasn’t his fault they got stolen, I decided to get him the clubs of his dreams sooner than we had planned, and told him to go test out some different clubs before he made his decision.

Phillip went without me to try out the different brands of golf clubs. When he got back, he said he had a horrible experience testing the clubs. The salesperson in the golf equipment department paid no attention to him. When Philip asked to try out some clubs in the practice net, the salesperson merely unlocked the cage and let him in without a word being spoken. After Philip was done hitting the golf balls, the salesperson didn’t ask him a single question.

Needles to say, Philip left the store without making a purchase. He said he felt like the salesperson thought he was just somebody with no money in his pocket and nothing better to do than test out some golf clubs he had no intention to buy.

Two days later, I took Philip to a teaching professional and golf club sales representative. They asked him a series of questions about his golf game, watched him hit practice balls with a variety of clubs, measured every aspect of his swing, asked more questions and mapped out his recommendations on a chart. We ordered 13 new golf clubs that day.

Bottom line, you can’t pre-judge a prospect before pre-qualifying them. I’m sure at some point we all have, but it’s important to remember, “Never judge a book by its cover.” Never judge a prospect without taking the time to find out if they are indeed a qualified buyer. You may be surprised.

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