Ideas to Grow Sales

How to Increase Mental Toughness Through a Positive Internal Narrative

2020-11-13T09:34:00.003+00:00

Maintaining a positive internal narrative' was the most popular in yesterday's LinkedIn comments.

Some of you don't find this difficult!

For you, the "fail forward faster" and other gung-ho exhortations, are agreeable maxims.

Others find this most difficult.

There is a natural divide between people who have towards and away orientations.

Those with an away orientation, recognise danger and vulnerability more easily. This is an asset providing it is controlled.

If you have a towards orientation, you are more liable to overlook pitfalls and need to guard against recklessness.

Whichever is your strength, be ready to recognise excess and modify your thinking.

If you have a towards orientation, always give yourself a day to consider. You will probably do it anyway. At least you will have had the time to think through your planned actions.

If you have an away orientation, make a realistic assessment of the worst that could happen and then be prepared to offset it.

These are practical solutions that don't ask you to fight your own nature.

Think through scenarios where this applies. I expect you have some great stories to tell.

We will all be the richer if you share them in the comments.

See an index of posts here:

https://salessense.co.uk/sales-help

Sales Brilliance - Cultural Intelligence 10 - Review

2020-10-19T09:00:00.001+01:00

Over the last two weeks through my LinkedIn posts, I have been discussing culture in terms of definitions
and eight measurement dimensions:

Identity - individualist to collectivist

Power - distanced to familiar

Risk - uncertainty tolerance

Communication - low context to high context

Time - clock orientated to relationship orientated

Rules - universalism v particularism

Achievement - competition to collaboration

Trust - trusting to suspicious

https://www.linkedin.com/in/clivemiller/detail/recent-activity/shares/

There are a few more that I haven't highlighted:

Lifestyle - doing v being

Passion - expressiveness v neutrality

Social norms - tight v loose

Perspective - short term v long term

Persuading - concept to application

Cultural intelligence concerns the ability to recognise and adapt for differences in the way people communicate and do things in other parts of the world.

Since culture varies from business to business, the subject is worthy of study by those selling within a country as well as those with international sales responsibilities.

With these cultural dimensions in mind, how has culture manifested in a business that you know well?

See an index of posts together with links here:

https://salessense.co.uk/sales-help

Which is Better for a Creative Breakthrough, Brainstorming or Critique?

2020-09-09T10:15:00.003+01:00

Reading Imagine by Jonah Rehrer, I was surprised to learn about research claiming that brainstorming doesn't work!

In the way that I have used brainstorming, it is a multistage process that includes a critique of the best ideas generated.

In the book, the principal rule of brainstorming is denigrated as being ineffective and even counter-productive.

The rule is 'no criticism'!

The idea is that if you criticise people's contributions, it stifles their creativity.

Jonah presents results that show group critique of creative contributions leads to improvements and breakthroughs.

He illustrates this by describing the creative process of several organisations including Pixar and an art school.

In the brainstorming method that I have used, the third stage entails selecting out the best ideas and then critiquing them until only the best remain.

Something of an overlap rather than a contradiction, I think.

What do you think?

Which is best?

To start with critique or to ban critique?

SalesSense B2B Sales Training in Bite-Sized Posts 5.9

2020-08-26T10:53:00.001+01:00

Start a conversation with and without cold calling - summary.

We have laid out a step-by-step process for effective cold sales outreach for each of seven distinct approach tactics.

The seven tactics we have covered are:

A cold telephone call.

A letter or email followed by a call.

The parallel approach.

The rifle shot letter and follow-up call.

Introducing yourself at an off-site event.

Starting a conversation via LinkedIn.

Mounting a campaign.

As you may recall, the bar chart in the illustration presents the results of a survey of 147 C-level executives and a similar number of salespeople.

The blue bars represent the likelihood of c-level executives meeting or speaking with a salesperson, based on best practice use of the method.

The green bars represent the average results achieved by the salespeople surveyed.

Now that you know how to use each of these cold outreach tactics, which do you favour and why?

Email freeb2b@salessense.co.uk to join the course.

Follow the course on LinkedIn here:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/salessense/

Is Your World Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous?

2020-08-19T10:29:00.001+01:00

These terms were used by Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus in the late nineteen eighties.

The acronym, VUCA was used by the US Army War College to describe the situation surrounding the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.

Volatile - a time of rapid change.

Uncertain - it is difficult to predict what will happen.

Complex - the interplay of many people and events, clouds understanding.

Ambiguous - conflicting advice and consequences undermine decision-making.

This seems a very fitting description of the circumstances that most businesses find themselves in now, in the wreckage of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

Is your world VUCA?

Many would answer yes in any recession or business downturn.

What should leaders do to minimise the damage and maximise the opportunity?

Here is a guide

Project Sprints - How They Help Get Things Done in Any Arena

2020-08-10T09:14:00.005+01:00

Project sprints are associated with agile project management techniques yet the principles can be applied to almost anything.

ACTION ORIENTATED

The term, 'Sprint' prompts immediate action.

TIME BOUND

Sprints should last for a short span of time in relation to the work that must be completed.

If more than five days are necessary, break up the sprint into sections lasting five days or less.

A sprint could be a short period of time such as one hour.

Sprints can be used to get things done by individuals or teams of people.

COMMITMENT

The name and allocated time prompt immediate commitment.

DECISIVE

Sprints demand rapid decision-making.

FOCUS

Committing to a sprint sets purpose and creates focus.

PRACTICAL

Sprints inspire practical solutions that can be applied immediately.

MEASURED

Measurement and follow up is an inherent part of the action.

Take cold outreach as an example. It must be done. The hour is allotted. The desired number of contact events determined.

Preparation must be completed in the time available.

Need is the mother of invention.

What sprints have you participated in?

What was your experience?

Set Up a Cold Outreach System for Consistent and Reliable New Business Generation

2020-07-20T09:53:00.003+01:00

Reflecting statistics shared in previous posts, this study by Fit Small Business emphasises the cold outreach effectiveness of email and phone calls.

According to The Rain Group, 49% of buyers prefer cold calls as the first point of contact.

Another study reported by Fit Small Business, DiscoverOrg asked 1000 IT decision-makers if a cold call or email had led to an engagement. Nearly 60% of survey respondents said yes.

From a broad set of similar studies, it is clear that the optimum approach is a combination of messages and telephone calls.

With proper preparation, telephone sales prospecting generates reliable, consistent new business.

It's a matter of only calling those who need what you have, right now.

Sections two to four of our free B2B sales training being delivered via the SalesSense LinkedIn company page, provides a step-by-step guide.

Posts 5.1 to 5.6 offer detailed instructions for ramping up new business sales using the telephone or a combination of messages and follow-up calls.

See the link to the course and the index page in the comments.

Have the course or any part of it delivered one to one or for groups, in online sessions or a classroom.

Get help to set up a system to generate new business.

Follow this link for our free B2B sales training:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/salessense/

Follow this link for a course index and links to the posts:

https://salessense.co.uk/free-b2b-sales-training

Email freeb2b@salessense.co.uk to join the course.

SalesSense B2B Sales Training in Bite-Sized Posts 5.5

2020-07-07T10:03:00.001+01:00

Starting a conversation with a rifle shot letter - the story headline.

The rifle shot letter is a very specific formulaic approach.

It is old-fashioned in that it relies on posting a letter to a senior executive. Someone who is senior enough to still have a secretary or personal assistant.

Some aspects of it can be adapted for use with email however, the whole approach is necessary for the method to deliver the best results.

As already indicated, the headline is critical. A rifle shot letter must begin with a headline.

The headline must tell a story about a known organisation who had to address the problem that you fix.

It must do so in 25 words or fewer.

Here is an example:

Porvair plc recovered from losses of £3.1m to a pretax profit of £2.2m in 12 months after refocusing and retraining their sales force.

Your headline must not mention your company or your product.

It must include a quantified gain and a time frame.

One more thing. It must be true.

If you have been completing the exercises in the course, you have already had some practice creating 25-word headlines.

Create a rifle shot headline now and send it to me for feedback: clive@salessense.co.uk

Email freeb2b@salessense.co.uk to join the course.

See the latest posts here:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/salessense/

SalesSense B2B Sales Training in Bite-Sized Posts 5.36

2020-07-02T11:18:00.004+01:00

Starting a conversation with a letter and call - testing.

No matter how good your final headline and letter or subject line and email seems, test it.

To hear honest, candid feedback, first indemnify evaluators.

This means that you declare in advance that you will not reject negative feedback and that while you may dislike criticism, you will not hold any negative comments against them.

Show your message to your colleagues and ask them how they would improve it.

Send it to friendly customers and ask what they would do if they received such a message.

Ask your manager for critical feedback.

Send it to me. clive@salessense.co.uk

Listen attentively to the feedback you get.

Make notes.

Ask questions only to improve your understanding.

Do not argue, just accept what your helpers say.

Remember to thank them for their help.

Gather all the feedback, decide what to use and apply it to your letter or email.

Don't send it to everyone on your suspect list immediately.

You must follow up as indicated in your message so it is important to limit the number of messages that you send to match your capacity to follow up.

Email freeb2b@salessense.co.uk to join the course.

See the latest post here.

SalesSense B2B Sales Training in Bite-Sized Posts 5.34

2020-06-30T10:05:00.001+01:00

Starting a conversation with a letter and call - gimmicks.

Sending an object with a sales letter may seem like something that is done by marketing.

There is no reason why you shouldn't use a gimmick to make a sales letter stand out.

The object doesn't have to be branded. You can use anything that is novel and relates to your message.

Small puzzles, magic tricks, and even air plants can be purchased for a few pounds.

Coffee mugs, desk toys, and gadgets are often kept for months or longer.

So few people use this idea that anything you send will be memorable.

Let your creativity loose.

Search online for ideas.

Share in the comments.

Tomorrow I'll offer a letter template to go with a gimmick.

See the course here.

Email freeb2b@salessense.co.uk to join.

Forced Learning - Can it Work?

2020-06-24T09:30:00.000+01:00

I was a panellist on Tom Pisello's Evolvers Meet Up yesterday. About 75 people joined the call.

We were asked, what can sellers do to combat the imminent downturn?

Amongst other things, Tom spoke of developing short sales stories or vignettes.

Salespeople need to memorise 15 or 20 such stories so that they can use an appropriate story to communicate value when needed.

Someone asked, "How can you get salespeople to learn the stories?"

I said, pay them.

To explain, I related a story about a brewery that offered a prize of an all-expenses-paid holiday for bar staff who could memorise the names and drinks of 1000 customers.

The brewery cancelled the competition after more than 100 bar staff won a holiday.

Anyone can memorise 20, 25-word stories if sufficiently motivated.

I built an online course to teach an international sales team how to sell a poorly performing product.

The head of the international division of the company told the salespeople that if they didn't complete the course, he would withhold their quarterly bonus!

Almost everyone completed the course.

The feedback was very positive and, more importantly, sales of the poorly performing product turned upwards.

So, can forced learning work?

https://salessense.co.uk/accelerate-learning

How to Increase Cold Outreach Effectiveness with Measurement

2020-06-22T10:18:00.003+01:00

SalesSense B2B Sales Training in Bite-Sized Posts 5.265
Starting a conversation with a cold call - Measurement.

If you keep track of your success rates your planning will become more effective.

You can easily track cold call outcomes with your CRM, a spreadsheet, or a Post-It note.

Classify your possible outcomes:

No answer.
Left message No. (n).
Gathered new information.
Sent a follow-up email or letter.
Not interested.
Agreed on the next step.

Name your session.
Note your proposition.
Note the time spent.
Count the total number of calls.
Note the outcome of each call.
Review conversion ratios.
Plan improvements.

Apply what you have learned immediately. Try a test calling session now, or as soon as practically possible.

Join our free B2B sales training course. Email freeb2b@salessense.co.uk or follow our LinkedIn company page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/salessense/

Are You Getting Enough New Customers?

2020-06-18T10:53:00.001+01:00

What is the Best Way to Get New Customers?

The data in the infographic comes from Venture Harbour. An impressive technology company that is difficult to pigeonhole.

I have shared the results of another study in the comments.

Note the dominant positions of telephone and email cold outreach methods.

A lot of people use LinkedIn to publish adverts and to send out cold sales propositions. The ineffectiveness of these efforts seems likely to be the culprit for the apparent poor performance of the LinkedIn platform for lead generation.

Picking up the phone, sending emails, and publishing content can all be done without spending a wadge of cash.

LinkedIn and other social media platforms are ways of publishing content and sending messages.

The best approach leverages content publishing, email marketing, and picking up the phone.

Creating worthwhile content is time-consuming, expensive, and sometimes both. Yet each piece of content can be rearranged, represented, and repurposed for use via multiple channels, including:

Social Media
Websites
Blogs
Email
Posted Letters
Telephone Dialogue

Those with weaknesses in their new business generation system are the most vulnerable in a downturn.

Have you got this nailed?

Do you want some help?

Schedule an informal conversation with me now or call +44 1392 851500.

SalesSense B2B Sales Training in Bite-Sized Posts 5.23

2020-06-10T10:55:00.002+01:00

Starting a conversation with a cold call - Voicemail.

Suppose you are offered voice mail.

Will you leave a message?

I recommend that you do.

You have paid the price of getting this far. You may as well try to make something of it.

What message will you leave?

Instead of asking the person to call back, use the opportunity to create interest.

Aim to increase the likelihood of the person taking your call when you next phone.

For example,

There is no need to call back unless you need to solve/fix/address right now.

It will help if you have preprepared a collection of unusual messages so that you never leave the same message twice.

Join the course for free.

Email freeb2b@salessene.co.uk.

Grab the PDF for some more voicemail examples and use them to create your own:

How to Tell a Good Business Story

2020-06-09T10:52:00.002+01:00

Do You Tell a Good Story?

Stories were once the only way that knowledge and know-how could be passed down the generations.

As recently as the 15th century in the UK, only 5% of the population could read.

Good storytellers were highly valued back then. They are still valued today.

Film producers are amongst the highest earners.

In business, it is good to keep stories short.

Twenty-five is a good number of words for telling stories.

For example:

He had shockingly high sales target to achieve with a few agents, beginners, and commission-only salespeople. Yet they climbed on each other's shoulders and succeeded.

Is storytelling an art or something to learn?

What do you think?

Follow on LinkedIn for the rest of this series on storytelling:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/clivemiller/detail/recent-activity/shares/

SalesSense Free B2B Sales Training in Bite-Sized Posts 5.2

2020-06-05T10:37:00.002+01:00

Starting a conversation with a sales suspect - cold calling.

Hated by one an all, calling a stranger to sell something is the bane of most professional salespeople, let alone amateurs and part-timers.

There are a few strange folks who enjoy it so if you are one of these extraordinary sellers, this section should prove exceedingly useful.

People hate cold calling because it feels uncomfortable, an imposition, an invitation for someone to dismiss the approach.

If we get our priorities right, most of this goes away.

The most important part of cold calling is to only approach those who need your stuff, right now.

Since you already know how to find those sales suspects who need what you are selling, right now, from sections 3 and 4 in this course, you are ahead of the game.

If you skimped on any of the preceding sections, you might not feel as confident as you should. Go back and study what you missed.

As the slide indicates, interpersonal skills are the least important when you make cold calls.

If you are selling bread, ensure that you only call on hungry people. Then you have certainty of a warm reception.

Do it now.

Join the course. Email freeb2b@salesense.co.uk.

See the course on LinkedIn here:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/salessense/

How to Stay Focused and Get Things Done

2020-06-04T11:39:00.004+01:00

As Stephen Covey put it - Put First Things First

When I first learnt about using 'To Do' lists to improve personal productivity, the advice was to create A, B, and C lists.

Numbering list items indicated their priority.

Then life becomes simple. You start working on A! Until it is finished or you can't progress. Then you work on A2 and so on.

For me, the B and C lists were expressions of hope. I don't recall ever completing my 'A' list!

Nevertheless, the system worked for me.

It helped me to maintain my focus on the main things that I had to do, and I was more productive as a result.

Much later I came across another system for prioritising a 'To Do' list. It is represented in the diagram.

What system do you use to stay focused and get things done?

More here.

SalesSense B2B Sales Training in Bite-Sized Posts 4.9

2020-06-04T09:49:00.002+01:00

Identify those who can buy what you sell, now - summary.

You now have a framework for identifying the different buying roles of those involved in high-value purchases.

We have used six labels:

User - Will use what is bought to get their job done.

Official Decision Maker - Can commit the company to buy.

Veto - Could override the decision.

Assessors - Can say 'no'. Can't say 'yes'.

Approvers - Ensure policy and procedures are observed.

Decision Influencers - Have an interest in the outcome.

The buying process identified in post 1.1 and the diagrams with posts 4.2, 4.4 and 4.6 reflect the progression of buying decisions in companies and organisations.

We have also discussed buying triggers and the discoverable events that precede a suspect's buying process.

Now you have the methods and an understanding of the skills that are necessary for identifying ideal prospects who need what you are selling.

Now you can choose to sell only to those who need what you are offering, right now.

In the next section - 5 - we will explore the strengths and weaknesses of seven approach tactics.

Email freeb2b@salesense.co.uk to join our free course.

Visit the course delivery page here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/salessense/

Slow Down to Speed Up

2020-06-02T22:14:00.000+01:00

Is Your Cost of Selling Rising? Do you measure it? A simple measurement is known as expenses over revenue. Providing you include all expenses associated with selling, including salaries, overheads, marketing, training, etcetera monitoring expenses over revenue will reveal trends. If your ratio is going up, your sales operation is becoming less effective. If it is going down, your selling activities are becoming more effective. What is happening in your business and why? What could be done to reverse a negative trend or improve a positive trend?

Follow this link for a bucket full of tips for reducing the cost of selling.

SalesSense B2B Sales Training in Bite-Sized Posts 4.8

2020-05-28T11:10:00.002+01:00

Identify those who can buy what you sell - discoverable events.

The beginning of any B2B buying process is marked by the recognition of an issue or opportunity.

The leadership team acknowledge the problem, pain or opportunity and begin looking for potential solutions. An individual or team is appointed to conduct research.

The activity associated with their search creates discoverable events that telegraph an imminent buying activity.

See more in post 4.8 of our free B2B sales training course:

Email freeb2b@salessense.co.uk to join the course.

Unpacking Confidence

2020-05-27T10:17:00.000+01:00

Where does Confidence Come From?
When do you feel most confident? Confidence is not a fixed thing, it is circumstantial. Let's not confuse confidence with bravado. People feel confident when they are certain of an outcome or feel in control of a situation. If you ask yourself where confidence comes from, how would you answer?

Join the conversation on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/clivemiller_sales-selfdevelopment-business-activity-6671298426170306561-bByz

If You Had Fresh Bread to Sell and a List of Hungry People

2020-05-26T09:54:00.000+01:00

If all you had was stale bread to sell, hungry people would still buy. So what is your bread? And who are the hungry people? If you can answer these two questions, you should only ever be selling bread to hungry people! Then selling would be a pleasure, wouldn't it? In a B2B world, things can be more complex, however, these are the questions that the first four sections of my free B2B sales training course, answers. The first 35 posts in the course are already published on the SalesSense LinkedIn company page.
https://www.linkedin.com/company/salessense/ For links to all the published posts and notification of new posts, email freeb2b@salessense.co.uk. Can you say what you sell and who your ideal customers are in 25 words or fewer? Post in the comments. Feel free to include a link.

A Story for Our Times

2020-05-22T10:09:00.002+01:00

The story is told of a young man hiking through the mountains when a sudden blinding storm struck. The entire area was covered with deep snow. Before long, the hiker's hands and feet grew numb as he wandered through the storm and snow in search of shelter. Just then he came upon an older man who had collapsed in the snow. "Are you OK?" asked the hiker. "I'm so cold and so tired," the weary man stammered. "My legs are numb, and I don't think I have the strength to go any further." The hiker responded: "Let me help you." He then removed his gloves and began rubbing the man's arms and legs. After several minutes of this gentle massage, the man felt strong enough to stand on his feet. The two men, supporting each other, made their way through the storm. Once they reached safety and shelter, the younger man thanked the other for all his help. "Thank me?" said the older man. "I never would have made it out of there if it wasn't for you. I owe you my life," he said. "No, you don't understand," responded the younger man. "I was tired, cold, and ready to give up. Helping you gave me the strength and determination to carry on. I owe you everything." What stories have touched you?

Free B2B Sales Training Post 4.4

2020-05-21T10:31:00.003+01:00

SalesSense B2B Sales Training in Bite-Sized Posts 4.4
Identify people who can buy what you sell - Assessors. While assessors are not normally assigned before a formal buying process has been started, it is important to understand the assessor team's role in a buying process. Assessors are normally appointed by the official decision-maker (OD) and are instructed to evaluate the solutions that are being considered. Assessors can't say, 'Yes'. They can say, 'No'. For important buying decisions that have an enterprise or department-wide impact, the OD is exposed. A buying decision that turns out to have a negative impact can damage the career of the person who led the buying team as well as the company. For this reason, astute official decision-makers tend to make sure that their decision is supported both by Veto and the assessors. At this stage, you can only speculate on the roles and names of those who will be appointed as assessors so for now, just list or note the likely roles of those who may be asked to be members of an assessment team for what you sell. Assessment teams usually include one or more Users as well as technical experts.

Email freeb2b@salessense.co.uk to catch up on this course.

See it here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/salessense/

Identify suspect people who can buy what you sell - VETO.

2020-05-20T09:58:00.002+01:00

SalesSense B2B Sales Training in Bite-Sized Posts 4.3
Identify suspect people who can buy what you sell - VETO. The official decision-maker always has a boss. The chairman must listen to investors or the parent company. The owner has sponsors, family, and often lenders. We shall call this person Veto because he or she has the power to overrule any buying decision, to cancel a buying process, or instruct the buying team to change their choice.

More here: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6668755975110983681