In case you actually have a few hours to catch up on some reading in the next couple of weeks.  Here is a quick list of my favorite sales books that can help you prepare for your "Sales New Year's Resolutions". Taken together these books cover most of the different skills needed to succeed in IT sales.

1. The Power to Get In by Michael Boylan (Key Learning: how to prospect): this is the best book on prospecting that I have come across.  Michael's system is very clear and detailed and does work.  Definitely the one to read if your key problem is "getting in the door"
2. Solution Selling by Michael Bosworth (Key Learning: how to run a sales meeting): no book covers the whol process of selling IT solutions (in my opinion) but "Solution Selling" is the one that comes closest.  The book is strong in explaining how to run a sales meeting and helping a client express their needs.  It's weakness is that it is short on information on prospecting and how to get to that first meeting
3. The New Strategic Selling by Robert Miller and Stephen Heiman (Key Learning: how to progress a deal): this book contains the best framework for selling solutions that involve more than one decision-maker - as most do.  Once you have had the initial sales meeting this book takes you through the process of progressing the deal to close.
4. Dig Your Well Before You're Thirsty by Harvey Mackay (Key Learning: how to network): a great book about networking.  Networking gives sales people and business owners a big edge in the long run.  This is a great book to read to get your started or hone your networking approach.
5. Getting Things Done by David Allen (Key Learning: how to get organized): so many sales opportunities seem to get lost because sales people are not well organized.  David Allen's book is a new classic on getting organized and keeping track of everything you need to do.

If you have any real "sales geeks" in your family or friends, these could also make nice holiday gifts!

Posted by Sales 2.0 at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Ed Sim, VC, is really "hitting some nails on the head" this month in his blog.  I saw another great post from him on selling IT to the financial services sector.  Ed isolated four strategies for selling IT to major financial institutions:

1. Enter through the CIO (if you are lucky enough to have a CIO as a board member or friend)
2. Come in through a larger partner (Ed notes this often takes more work than actually selling to the end client!)
3. Enter from the bottom up (offering free downloads and evaluation copies of software etc. to the "worker bees", this takes time to build a "ground swell" of support)
4. Go to revenue generating groups with money and buying power (avoid the IT department and go in through business players)

I have had the greatest success with strategy #4.  In the financial services industry IT can be used for business advantage and so business executives are increasingly considering how technology can give them an edge.  Savvy CIO's are also increasingly aware of the business impact and opportunity presented by any technology they consider purchasing.

As a result of these changes in customer buying patterns, technology companies are increasingly (if they have not already) adjusting their messaging and sales training to sell business solutions not technology products. 

Which IT sales strategies have worked best for you in the past?  What shifts in buying patterns do you see today?

Posted by Sales 2.0 at 12:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We spend a great deal of time honing our value propositions and marketing collateral so they project a positive image of our company. But all that can be undermined in 10 seconds if the sales person (or supporting team members) who turns up to the sales meeting looks scruffy and unprofessional. 

(Research shows 67% of a first impression is made even before you open your mouth to speak and it takes 17 subsequent encounters to undo the effects of a negative first impression.)

So here are some tips from my friend Sharon Kornstein of Image Design LLC, an image consultant, on how to best package yourself:

Knowing your best colors and most flattering styles is important. Some of us look better in the cool colors - blues, reds and grays. Others look better in the earth tones – browns, greens and gold. It depends on your hair color and the undertones in your skin. But knowing what is most flattering on you is only half the equation. Wouldn’t it be nice to know what effect we’re wearing has on the people we come in contact with? Here’s a quick guide:

Blue: Honesty, Trustworthiness, Organized.

Gray: Powerful, Business-like, Serious.

Brown: Friendly, Warm, Approachable.

Black: Authoritative, Elegant, Assertive.

Red: Exciting, Confident, Passionate.

Color is a significant component of what we present to the outside world, but other areas to consider when assessing your wardrobe are clothing styles, patterns and accessories.  Some tips to consider:

• Pinstripes do make you look taller and slimmer, providing they’re the right width for your body type.
• Darker colors worn as one part of an outfit make that part of the body seem smaller (note the popularity of black pants).
• Accessories should always be at the same level of dress or casualness as the outfit i.e. no rubber-soled shoes with a business suit, no short-sleeved dress shirts with a tie and no small dressy handbags in the office.
• Buy clothing in mix and match patterns to increase their functionality
  
• Remember that hair is an accessory, and if it’s long or fussy tone down everything else.
  
• Make sure your clothes fit and that they’re the right size. Clothing that’s too large will make your look heavier as will clothing that’s too small.
  
• Dress for the level where you want to be, not for where you currently are.

So if you want to fully package your offering in 2006 keep the messenger in mind too!

Posted by Sales 2.0 at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A great amount of sales success comes back to good time management.  Here is another example: meeting preparation.

Sales people work so hard to "get in the door" with key buyers and influencers that they owe it to themselves not to blow the critical time in front of the prospect.  Here is some research that supports what I have seen over-and-over again in the field...many sales people do not spend enough time preparing for meetings with prospects.

My "rule of thumb" is that you need to spend at least the same amount of time preparing for a meeting as being in the meeting itself, often more if it's an important meeting.  So if you have a one hour meeting scheduled with a prospect you need to spend at least an hour preparing.

Prospects will not react well to sales people who have failed to do their basic "situational" homework.  Your meeting with the prospect should be about asking questions to stimulate a conversation that reveals the prospect's needs.  You cannot waste time asking questions that could have been answered by basic Internet research or by reading the prospect's annual report.  Failing to review your prospect's website and running the prospect him/herself through Google is now considered to be plainly sloppy by most prospects.

So look at your calendar for this month and schedule in time to prepare for each upcoming prospect meeting.  Preparation may seem boring to some sales people but true sales professionals know it's time very well invested.

Posted by Sales 2.0 at 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

By Jim Berkowitz, CRM Mastery

Here's several excerpts from Salespeople Need to Prepare More:

More than 62 percent of sales professionals spend less than 20 minutes preparing for sales calls made with businesses, according to a study by Hebert Research and Knowledge Anywhere. Although sales managers and vice presidents expect reps to spend at least 30 minutes preparing for calls, one-third of them spend just one to 10 minutes preparing, according to the study. This lack of preparation means fewer sales.

Those salespeople who do spend the extra time planning and analyzing while possessing the more traditional sales skills are the ones who excel, according to Gillette. But more often than not, salespeople continue to start presentations with no more knowledge of the customer than what had been learned several years ago. So, they start by asking the same question (i.e., "How's business?").

That might have been an acceptable approach 10 years ago, but there's so much information about companies available on the Internet today that such questions show a gross lack of preparation, according to Gillette. This lack of preparation might be justified in some instances by the company having salespeople juggle different accounts or other responsibilities, according to Gillette.

Gillette recommends that salespeople use the Internet to get information on the company and its industry by searching recent news and financial information, among other things. "This can actually save a salesperson time," he says. Not only does the salesperson eliminate questions he will be expected to know the answers to already, but also, by knowing more about the prospective company, the rep should spend more of his time with good prospects.

Posted by Sales 2.0 at 01:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I saw this post from Ed Sim that succinctly sums up some basic principles for running sales meetings. 

I want to point this post out because it was written from the buyer's perspective.  Ed is a VC. His post is a set of guidelines to help technology firms when pitching to him for investment. However, the rules he sets out apply equally to when you are selling your technology to IT buyers.  I have paraphrased his rules below and added some of my own commentary.

Notice the repeated theme of engaging your prospect in a conversation not being a "talking head".  Successful sales meetings should be discussions, with the prospect doing 70-80% of the talking.  If you leave a sales meeting having done most of the talking, then you will be lucky to ever from that prospect again.

Basic Guidelines for a Sales Meeting

1. Be flexible: have an agenda but listen to your audience and guide the conversation from their reactions
2. Have a well-honed elevator pitch (you usually need this to get the meeting in the first place)
3. The Slide Deck: make it short and sweet
4. Listen and ask questions: have a conversation!
5. The Demo: have proof that your solution works and have plans to deal with the inevitable glitches that occur with demos
6. Next steps: never forget to ask about the next steps, You cannot move a sale forward without next steps.
7. Pre-Meeting Research: research the individual and the firm before the meeting - so you can ask intelligent questions

Ed's post is written by a buyer of technology who by his own account has experienced many poor sales presentations.  Follow the simple rules above and you can stand out from 80% of your competition.

Posted by Sales 2.0 at 11:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)