Sales 2.0

Simple Sales Solution to a Common TeleSales Dilemma

2008-08-27T19:49:23Z

By Michael Pedone, SalesBuzz.com

As a one-time owner of a successful online marketing company, I know what it’s like to manage a sales staff and try to help them achieve their sales quota.

And now as the CEO of SalesBuzz.com, I get a firsthand view of all kinds of companies as they try to deal with many of those same issues. The names may change, but the challenges remain the same.

Here’s a common scenario. Let’s say a “B” or “C-level” salesperson is missing his quota. (B’s have average and C’s have below-average sales skills. A’s of course are your top dogs.) This is how that B or C salesperson explains his situation to his sales manager:

“I don’t know why I am not hitting my quota … I’m saying the same thing as the other top salespeople … I’m saying everything I’m supposed to say, I’m saying it the same way those other guys are saying it.”

At this point the sales manager tries, in the kindest way possible (or not), to let that B- or C-level sales person know that, well, perhaps he’s not saying everything, and certainly not in the same way. At which point the salesperson digs his heels in even further and becomes even more adamant about his point.

Inevitably, here’s what the B or C says next: “The only difference is they are getting the good leads and I am not. It isn’t fair!”

I’ve seen this scenario hundreds of times and in every case – yes, every case – the B or C salesperson was not saying everything the way the top salespeople were. He wasn’t saying it word for word nor was he saying it with the same inflection or tone of voice.

Sure, in some cases it was close – but in phone sales, you have to be razor sharp on the phone 100% of the time if you want to succeed on that call. Being 70%, 80% or even 90% isn’t going to cut it in today’s age of selling.

To become an A, you need to be 100% on the ball. And if you have a proven working sales process within your company, the fastest way to achieve the level of success the other top sales pros have achieved within your organization is to do what they are doing and match it to a “T”. And if you’re a sales manager, quite frankly, you don’t have time to deal with B- or C-level salespeople who resist your attempts to help them become an A player.

So I have a quick solution that both salespeople and sales managers will love. I’ve used it often myself. It puts all doubt to rest and gives both parties a clear direction of what needs to happen to get sales back on track. Ready to jumpstart your telesales success and breed an “A” dog?

Then here’s what you need to do: record your sales calls!

It’s that simple. For less than $29 you can get a setup from Radio Shack that will plug into your phone and record your calls.

Once you’ve recorded some calls, go back and listen to yourself. Chances are you won’t even need your sales manager’s help for correction – you’ll hear it for yourself!

And if you do want your sales manager’s input, you can play the recording and he’ll be able to pinpoint each area that needs work. Then all you have to do is role-play those areas until you get them right, then hit the phones again. Just like that, your sales numbers are going to start moving up and up. Believe it.

Don’t just record the bad sales calls. Record the good ones too!

Then listen to those good calls from time to time while you’re at your desk eating lunch. Or better still, have your sales manager play them in a morning meeting as an example of how it’s done!

Before you know it, you’ll be that A level salesperson getting asked how you do it from the folks on the B and C list.

Why Do We Need A Fresh Approach To Selling? [Part 2]

2008-08-27T18:48:05Z

By Jonathan Farrington, The Sales Corporation

The traditional customer call once seemed indispensable to the selling process; the time and expense involved were just a basic cost of doing business. In recent years, however, the business community has come to regard the sales call as an expenditure for which there are substitutes. For many companies telemarketing and direct mail have made the sales call a choice not an inevitability. This is not surprising when various studies suggest that getting one sales person in front of one customer now costs $1000 - this cost has trebled since 1983. As a consequence professional salespeople have to be more effective than ever to justify the investment in a face to face effort.

In essence, we can draw several conclusions and when taken together, these findings paint a picture of the current state of the sales environment.

Businesses need to re-define selling and what constitutes basic selling skills:
In to-day’s world of selling, there is less and less room for apprenticeship. Selling has become an exclusive club of highly skilled professionals where product knowledge and time management skills, for instance, are the cost of membership not leadership.

Ongoing research demonstrates that to-day’s ‘average’ salesperson is just as effective as the high performer in explaining features and benefits effectively, relating a service or product to customer needs and closing a sale. But, above this Level 1 plateau of competence, the exceptional salesperson is busy defining the “basic skills of tomorrow”.

Building an up-to-date foundation in sales competence does mean sacrificing some old notions of what it takes to succeed in a competitive marketplace. For example, a salesperson can no longer just “win by knowing”.

Every company needs to test their assumptions about what skills really contribute to sales success. Too often operating on old sales theories means training and rewarding people to do the wrong things.

When the buyer and seller act as partners, they are building a bridge to profitability:
Successful selling is definitely not about the “hit and run” sale. Sales achievers regard their relationships with key customers as a partnership and cultivate it as such. When customers face tough business challenges and complex technological choice, they rely on sales people who can assist them in making the right decisions.

The primary objective of a sales partnership has to be, to create and sustain a mutually productive relationship, which serves the needs of both parties, now and in the future. The key word here is symbiotic.

Partnership does not mean eliminating the tension between buyer and seller; it means that top-performing salespeople know how to strike a balance between achieving immediate results and developing the relationship fully.

In Summary: Why Do We Need A Fresh Approach To Selling?
Many organisations have developed without objective analysis of their purpose and structure. The buying power in many industries is no longer evenly distributed - in a large number of markets a few big firms control the majority of purchases.

The development of new marketing techniques has meant that some tasks traditionally performed by the sales team can be more effectively handled by other methods. The prime objective of all sales staff is to gain business. From an organisational point of view, however, how they all achieve their goals must be defined in order to identify what kind and the quality of skills that are required.

Why Do We Need A Fresh Approach To Selling? [Part 1]

2008-08-27T18:37:55Z

By Jonathan Farrington, The Sales Corporation

In essence, we can draw several conclusions and when taken together, these findings paint a picture of the current state of the sales environment.

Customer Focus Creates Competitive Advantage

• The one term that sets top performers apart - customer focus

• Outstanding sales results depend on:
- The ability to think from the customer’s point of view
- Understanding the customer’s agenda, buying cycle and best interests

• Beyond a superficial reading of immediate customer needs, salespeople must gain a deeper understanding of both the buyer’s long-term goals and the overall business climate

• At the heart of customer focus is the art of listening constructively - the best salespeople are masters at capturing information

• Customer focus means taking the customer seriously - to-day the salesperson who clings to the product orientation of a decade ago is losing ground

• As client companies branch into new markets and unfamiliar territories, they are demanding unique, flexible solutions from their vendors - customised to support specific goals

• Another myth which can be exploded is that whilst customers value flexibility, being too flexible can undermine the sales relationship. On the whole salespeople imagine that customers value a vendor’s responsiveness above all. However recent research shows that their primary concern is reliability.

In summary, in order to maintain customer focus the best salespeople become facilitators, creating a partnership that extends the selling relationship within the customer’s company. The motivation to achieve this should be strong - it costs five times as much to attract and sell to a new customer as it does to an existing one!

The right to do business has to be earned and never assumed
Rather than doggedly asking for the business, the very best sales people work to keep the relationship moving towards a sale. They realise the need to identify how to turn their company’s products into real solutions, which must meet specific needs.

Unfortunately, our surveys confirm that the average salesperson drags the customer over old ground as much as 52% of the time - they are unable to provide continuous stimulation and never know when to treat an existing customer like a new one.

Conversely, exceptional salespeople only make such ‘return’ calls for 10% of the time. Above all, earning the right to proceed requires gaining the customer’s trust and top salespeople work diligently to establish a climate in which the customer is willing to share information and feels comfortable doing so. The key here is integrity.

Customers are persuaded when they are part of the process and not part of the audience
Sales success to-day demands a radical shift from the ‘peddler’ mentality of merely demonstrating products and expanding on their features. It requires treating the customer as a participant. More often than not, a ‘flashy’ sales presentation alone alienates rather than persuades.

The best salespeople regard the sales call as a two-way conversation - not a one sided pitch. They have developed active listening skills. Average salespeople score fairly well in their ability to provide customers with facts and figures, but top performers dramatically outscore the rest when it comes to gathering information. In addition, how a salesperson collects information still distinguishes exceptional achievers from the rest of the pack. I.e. top performers ask better questions and as a result gain much better information. Essentially, they aim to engage customers in the buying process with questions that require thoughtful answers, that stimulate curiosity and that reveal the customers underlying needs.

What's Your Motivation - Your Fear or Goals? Choose the Fuel That Drives You

2008-08-26T21:53:27Z

By Keith Rosen, Profit Builders

Especially during challenging economic times and periods of uncertainty, many people spend more time focusing on that which they fear and as such, being driven by their fears to avoid a consequence, rather than the goals or dreams they want to create. Let’s face it; we’re all pretty good at articulating what we don’t want to happen in our lives yet fall short when trying to come up with a vivid picture of what we do want or our goals and dreams.

If you know what you don’t want and don’t know what you do want then where do you think you are going to continually wind up directing your thoughts and energy? Your goals and dreams don’t even stand a chance! Instead, empower your dreams and goals rather than your fears to be the driving force that moves you forward. Once you do so, you will then be able to achieve them.

The question is, if you are no longer going to be fueled by fear, consequence, or what you want to avoid to generate results, then what fuel are you going to use to drive you?

It’s better to find an energy source that will pull you towards something you want to create, something pleasurable, or something that you are passionate about, rather than fear, which pushes you away from what you want to avoid.

For example, if someone had to declare bankruptcy, they probably don’t want to experience another bankruptcy again. As such, instead of developing a clear vision or some measurable goals to achieve, they may operate from fear, driven to avoid this problem (running away from something) in the future rather than making choices that would be aligned with and complement what they want to create (moving towards something). This person may spend so much time focusing on the past, doing everything to avoid repeating their bad experience again, that they forgot where they are going. Worrying about the future rather than planning for the future is not the healthiest way to manage your thinking.

Since you need to add some type of fuel in your tank of life, here is your chance to tap into a new and positive energy source that will enable you to enjoy the journey of attaining your goals and objectives, especially as they relate to prospecting.

What are your values that need to be ignited? What do you value most that would be worth orienting your life or your career around? The bottom line is: Why do you do what you do? Why do you want to sell what you are selling? Without a healthy, motivating energy source as well as a true conviction in what you are selling, you are bound to travel down the road that leads to burn out. You are also placing a limit on your selling potential.

Here are some suggested fuel sources to assist you in uncovering your hidden passion that will become your driving force when prospecting and make you unstoppable.

1. Knowledge and Lifelong Learning. You have a thirst for knowledge and wisdom. You are a student of life and someone who embraces their own development and evolution. You are always looking for new ways to better yourself and your situation. You enjoy the experience of adding to your knowledge base and learning how to do new things that you never did before.

2. Giving Value and Helping Others. You are someone who experiences a great deal of joy when assisting other people. There’s no coincidence that you are in sales. You enjoy helping people solve their problems or better their condition. You derive a great deal of satisfaction knowing that you have assisted someone by sharing your time and expertise with them. You get energized when people rely on you. You seek to serve.

3. Product/Service: You possess a deep conviction about what you sell. There’s no doubt in your mind that what you offer can dramatically impact your customers and accelerate their success, enhance their life or career, or simply make their life easier. As such, you’re willing to talk to anyone about what you do. Your belief in your product is contagious. You feel as if you are doing your prospects a disservice if you can’t share with them what you can do that would improve their current situation.

4. Excellence. You simply want to be the best. Not to satisfy your ego or to be in the spotlight but because you enjoy the challenge of continuous improvement. You thrive off maximizing your potential and stretching your capabilities beyond what you initially thought you were capable of doing. That’s why you love to prospect! It provides you with a constant challenge. It’s the journey you enjoy, knowing that each day you have the opportunity to excel even further, fully embracing the challenges and opportunities that come your way in your quest to become a master of your life and career.

5. Family. At the end of the day, what’s more important than family? After all, why do you go to work every day? What is the ultimate goal? To raise and support a happy, healthy family. To be a great spouse, parent, and role model. You want nothing but the best for your family. They are your number one priority which you refuse to compromise. As long as it’s in your integrity to do so, you would do anything that honors the commitment you’ve made to them.

6. Relationships. You simply love people and connecting with new customers. You enjoy being part of your community. Your career allows you the ability to interact with a broad range of people and develop relationships with them. You deeply value the relationships you’ve made and give each one the attention and care they deserve. Connecting with people and communicating with them on a deeper level gives you a sense of purpose, comfort, and security.

7. Lifestyle. Your life-style is your style of living; the system or routine that you choose to use that governs your days, which makes up your life. You enjoy maintaining balance and harmony in your life. You appreciate the richness in your days that your career offers you. The income potential and flexibility played a huge role in your decision to become a salesperson. You are able to honor the priorities in your life such as your family, health and relationships. You feel that you own your day, which is evident in the amount of time you invest in taking care of yourself by engaging in the activities, hobbies, and sports that bring you the most joy. You are grateful for being able to create a great life and not just a living.

8. Creativity. You are always on the search for something unique, new and fun to try. You look forward to creating different strategies or tools that complement your selling and prospecting efforts. What puts a smile on your face is developing a new approach that will clearly separate you from your competition and grab your prospect’s interest. You love when your prospects say, “Wow, no one’s ever tried to get my attention like that before!”

9. Adventure. As a thrill seeker, what greater rush is there than closing a sale and earning a prospect’s business? You like the excitement and freshness that your career offers. Every day provides you with a new opportunity to create something that didn’t exist before; another new and happy customer.

10. Money. A high percentage of salespeople would admit that money is their primary motivator and why they got into sales in the first place. In many cases, salespeople are seduced by the thought of having a career with unlimited income potential. Before you chose money as your fuel, consider this. Is it actually the money that motivates you or is it what the money represents and what it can do for you? Does it give you security, freedom, a sense of accomplishment, peace of mind, a greater feeling of self worth? Will money allow you to create the lifestyle you want? Does it provide you with the opportunity to buy your dream house or new car, take that family vacation, enjoy more leisurely activities? Chances are, if you explore at a deeper level why you are choosing money as your motivator, you may realize that you’re better off using one of the other fuel sources that has already been mentioned.

The Diet and Exercise of Predictable and Consistent Revenue Growth

2008-08-26T21:46:41Z

By Jim Logan, JS Logan

While watching late-night television this past weekend I fell prey to a barrage of ab machine type commercials, each showing an overly happy and well built spokesmodel extolling the gut flattening benefits of one machine, pill and potion after another.

Each ad displayed small print low-lighting two critical points: 1) results in the ad were not typical 2) a sensible diet and exercise program was required to get results.

Marketing and lead generation programs are essentially the same.

As business people, we like the idea of revenue success being as simple as one sales training, copywriting, web design, brochure or print ad project away. We like the idea there is a secret to attracting new business, but it just doesn't exist. There is no magical format, training program or tactic that's a surefire success.

Please don't get me wrong, things like sales training, signage, well designed websites, and good ole' branding activities are valuable. In many cases, retooling your business, sharping your staff, and getting greater exposure is the wise thing to do. Just be aware these are the ab machine programs of business growth - they create untypical results and need the business equivalent of diet and exercise to be effective on a consistent basis.

While there is no secret to sales success, there is a formula that's guaranteed to grow revenue every time. The formula is simply telling the right story to the right person at the right time. If you do that, you're guaranteed sales success. It's the diet and exercise of predictable and consistent revenue growth:

Right Story - The right story is the story the recipient recognizes as compelling - something they value as a benefit they're willing to invest in, both time and money.

The right story has two main elements: format and content. Format is the order, style, and skill in which the story is told. Content is the story itself - the benefit, difference, reason to believe, guarantee, and offer.

When marketers speak of testing within a lead generation campaign, they most often mean testing the story, tweaking the format and content for best response.

Right Person - The right person is the recipient of your story who can act on the call to action you offer. Depending on your market and complexity of selling environment, this may be the person to request, vote, direct, or organize a response to advance an opportunity.

Given your sales process and target market, the right person can be several different people over time - each requiring a matching offer and call to action that differs from the other.

Right Time - The right time is presenting your story within your prospective customer's window of opportunity to act. If your offer arrives too late or too early your prospect will ignore your story. This can be the case whereby you have a great meeting and a lot of agreement, but no action.

At different points of a purchase cycle, different calls to action and offers will be met with different levels of success.

As mentioned above, most testing of lead generation and marketing campaigns occurs around the story. More testing should take place with the right person and right time. The more we understand about our prospective customers, their interests, and their process - as it presents a window of opportunity and greater openness to specific offers - the greater our success in engaging with them in a meaningful way.

If you misfire on any three of these elements - right story, right person, right time - you're sure to under perform. And all the sales training, web design, copywriting, and branding in the world won't make a difference. It's like working yourself to death on the ab machine and then eating pizza and drinking beer every night. Those six pact abs will look more like a keg.

What do you think?

Harness the Power of Silence

2008-08-26T21:39:46Z

By Garth Moulton, Jigsaw

If you’re like most salespeople, including me, your natural response to a gap in any conversation is to fill it. The more uncomfortable the silence, the more words you try to stuff in there. It’s almost as if you’re an Iowa shopkeeper and silence is that nasty oil topped flood water spewing toward your front door. Quick- get out another sandbag of inane excuses for everything that you think your customer might be thinking.

When I first started in sales my most obvious tell that I was in over my head was my penchant for babbling. At the first sign of technical trouble with a demo, price resistance, or an accusation that my CEO had told an outrageous lie (an hourly occurrence) there I was spouting acronyms at crystal meth speed in Porky Pig cadence. On the phone CIOs probably took a little mental vacation (pre internet, remember). In person I’m sure they just noted the time and looked forward to when the IBM sales guy was going to show up for drinks or golf.

It was only after a number of years that I learned that when I shut up, my customer started telling me things. Important things, like what his objections were, or who was really going to sign the purchase order. Positive things- like what our product strengths were vs. the competition. Negative things, like how the competing sales guy never zips his fly up or his SE keeps hitting on the marketing chicks. Sometimes he even started talking himself into buying my product-my personal favorite. At the very least, neither one of us spontaneously combusted if there were few moments of silence.

Now that I’m on the other side I notice the nervous gabbing all the more. It is amplified by the asynchronous nature of speaker phones- only one person can talk at a time. Recently a Jigsaw product manager and I had a salesperson on the line and we used his inability to pause as a replacement for the mute button. It sure would have been helpful if he had at least cleared the line for 10 seconds so I could sell his product for him- it looked interesting from the web research I did.

This isn’t anything new- everyone says “ask questions,”” listen to your customer,” do 80% of the listening and 20% of the talking.” You know when verbal diarrhea is coming. Take your pepto or go to your happy place or do whatever you can to wait it out. You’ll be amazed at what you learn.

When Technology Disconnects Us - How Sales 2.0/Web 2.0 Is Diluting The Power of Interpersonal Communication

2008-08-22T20:12:01Z

By Keith Rosen, Profit Builders

Sales 2.0: the conversion of technology and sales and the symbiotic relationship between the two; how they can be integrated together and co-exist in harmony. Yet, with all the technology that is going to change how salespeople sell and manage themselves, we need to be keenly sensitive about removing the human side of interaction and communication from our daily lives and processes; the deeper level of connection we foster between each other, especially with our customers.

Sure, technology will automate and streamline many of the functions and tasks salespeople and management are currently responsible for. More specifically, how they manage their sales pipeline and the stages of their selling cycle, how they qualify and mine for new prospects, how they network with other business professionals, how they maintain their contact database as well as how they communicate with their prospects and customers. And the trend for companies to transition from what was once a face to face sale to a virtual, off site sale will continue to dominate more sales cultures.

Yet, with any change, certain imminent challenges are sure to follow in its wake. Sales 2.0 and Web 2.0 have certainly had an impact on how we communicate. I have already seen the negative impact that some of these great advancements are having on sales teams across the globe as it relates to how salespeople are interacting with their prospects, customers, even their managers. Sure, these technological breakthroughs allow us to communicate and connect on many different platforms, yet it’s diluting our ability to connect powerfully on a deeper level, the level that long term relationships are fostered. Many managers have reported spending far too much time reviewing a thread of email conversations between their salespeople and prospects when attempting to uncover where a communication breakdown occurred or when trying to identify how a great selling opportunity was lost. Misinterpreted and poorly worded emails between management and their staff are the cause of more costly problems and upsets which deteriorate relations than any additional time-savings they supposedly create. As such rather than connect – we’re getting more disconnected with every communication breakdown that ensues.

Moreover, there’s the ever-widening communication gap that some of these new technologies promote between the younger generations and that of their boss, especially as more and more sales teams are built on a virtual platform where there’s little, if any face to face weekly interaction with their manager. Rather than develop their core leadership and coaching competencies and skills, managers are relying far too heavily on these solutions to solve many of the managerial challenges they are up against when building and managing their sales team.

Salespeople are expecting their webinars, proposals, websites, online marketing campaigns and collateral materials to do the selling and prospecting for them. And what’s worse, there are those salespeople who attempt to close a prospect or overcome objections via email rather than simply picking up the phone to facilitate a direct, one to one conversation that would appease the person’s concerns. Here’s just one example of a perfectly good opportunity and a valid reason to reach out to a prospect over the phone that salespeople need to take full advantage of, yet fail to do so.

The introduction of these new technologies into our sales culture will continue to proliferate, for change is truly the only constant. After all, there will always be a need to make the selling process easier and more efficient for the salesperson, for your company and for your customers.

While more applications such as the ones I’ve mentioned are infused throughout each stage of the sale, the technology of maximizing human potential is far from tapped. And as more technology emerges to simplify the selling process, there will be an even greater demand for the elite salesperson who can manage and leverage technology as well as effectively communicate their message to their targeted audience.

The technology of interpersonal, result oriented communication; the language and true art of selling will still reign supreme in the selling profession. Sure, these new tools we have at our disposal will improve efficiency, cut down on travel as well as timely administrative tasks, and reduce prospecting time and the time it takes to convert prospects into customers, now that there is less of a need to meet face to face with prospects in order to sell your product or service to them. However, it will be the sales leader who is the rainmaker, the fearless and persistent prospector, the conduit to building and maintaining strong relationships and the master of communication, who will continue to dominate this era of technological change.

Cold Calling Academy: Ask for Help & Top Down and the Bottom Up

2008-08-22T19:50:45Z

By Keith Rosen, Profit Builders

Here two solutions to be mindful of when attempting to connect with your desired prospect.

Strategy: Get On Their Calendar

If you happen to be calling on a prospect that you have connected with in the past who has an assistant, try this approach. “Hi Jane, Keith Rosen here from Profit Builders. Mary and I have been playing the longest game of phone tag in history. If you have her calendar handy, can you please help me by scheduling in a five minute block of time that works for her so that I can answer her question regarding your sales training initiative?” You’ve now succeeded in scheduling a time to call a prospect when you know they are available and are expecting your call.

Strategy: The Back Door Approach

Here are a few more innovative ways to connect with your prospects that don’t require speaking to the concierge.

Call Before or After Hours: Call before or after a live person begins to answer incoming calls. Many businesses today have an automated voice mail system when the office is closed. The intention here is to get into their voice mail system and listen for the prompt that asks you to “Please spell out the person’s last name.” Once you do this, the voice mail system will often tell you the prospect’s direct extension before transferring your call. Now, when you call back during normal business hours, you can ask the concierge to “Connect you to extension 2345 please.” In addition, if you want to circumvent the concierge who refuses to patch you through to their voice mail, calling before or after hours provides you with the opportunity to leave a message with your prospect.

Return Receipt: This approach comes in very handy. When sending out an e-mail to a prospect, use the “return receipt request” option in the software you use to manage your e-mails. If the prospect opens your e-mail and sends a receipt, you not only know that they received your e-mail, but you also know when they have received it. This way, as opposed to trying to track down a prospect when they are at their desk, or checking their mobile device, you know exactly when to call on them, since they are now checking your e-mail! Obviously, this strategy only works if you are in front of your computer often enough to retrieve your e-mails as they are sent.

What Sales People can Learn from Junk Mail

2008-08-21T15:33:53Z

By Nigel Edelshain, Sales 2.0

My first job out of business school was working for a junk mail company (one of the biggest in the world in fact by number of letters sent). An unexpected part of the culture of this "junk mail" company was that everyone was extremely analytical and scientific. Perhaps not the first thing you think of when you see a piece of junk mail.

One of the areas we focused on most was lists. We were forever testing different lists. And in a lot of detail. “People who subscribe to Magazine X versus people who bought product Y”. We were always looking for small statistically significant differences in response that would indicate consumer interest in our offer from a particular list. If we found interest from that group, we would invest more next time in mailing to more people on that list.

Around about 1998 or so I started meeting people who wanted to promote their business via email. I went to several meetings back then of a marketing group discussing how to best use email. At the time the discussions were very primitive to my ear as a "junk mailer". People seemed to be sending email to anyone without much of a plan. The concept of testing each list did not seem to exist. Fast-forward to 2008 and email marketers are completely different. Email marketing has become extremely analytical. Testing everything is accepted as the smart thing to do if you are an educated e-marketer.

Now think about sales people prospecting. What are we doing when we prospect? We are using the telephone (primarily) to contact people who are not expecting our call. Sound a bit like "junk mail"? In my opinion absolutely! The only difference is we are using the telephone not an envelope.

So if prospecting is like "junk mail" then shouldn't sales people, sales managers & CEO's be obsessed with the lists they call like direct mailers and e-mailers are? Shouldn't they be testing their lists looking for even the smallest indication of above average interest?

Many sales organizations today are prospecting by starting at "A" in Hoovers and working their way down. They are "boiling the ocean". They are not testing their lists. They are not being analytical. They are not looking for small clues of statistically-significant difference in interest amongst targets.

They are not being smart!

The "junk mail" business is a well-established business with over 100 years of experience. Maybe it's time sales people "junked" some of their prospecting habits and learned something from these marketers.

The Problem with Sales Training

2008-08-19T22:58:11Z

By Drew Stevens PhD, Stevens Consulting Group

A recent report by Selling Power indicates that corporations spend over seven billion dollars per year on sales training. The vital issue, with an investment this large many companies do not provide a means to understand whether it leads to a return on investment. And, many sales representatives do not adopt the sales methodology! In present economic times, the cost of capital is too high not to have measures.

Our firm has spent over 25 years in the field and we have seen this trend too often repeated. There is simply no reason to measure productivity, manufacturing and talent management, and not measure training return on investment.

When the concern is for both sales and growth there is a vital need to form a link. We have found that there are several issues that break the connectivity:

The sole metric used is new sales or new clients.
While many companies conduct sales training, it is event based.
Many selling representatives do not adopt the prescribed methodology.
“Eighty seven percent of training is lost within one month.”
Training is not tied to the corporate business strategy.
Executive buy-in is narcissistic.

The sole metric used is new sales or new clients.
Differentiation is the key to all business and industry. However, many do not have proper metrics to understand the impact of new and decreased sales. If a firm is engaged in an established selling program then it’s vital to work toward a return on investment. Talent is measured, manufacturing production is measured, and customer service is measured, then why not sales? More importantly, new sales cannot be the only metric used to denote if sales training works. Selling does not work in a silo. Clearly, customer service, closing efficiency, handling objections and demonstration of product and service are required. The metric used must integrate with all operational departments effected by sales and more importantly the linkage to the overall corporate strategy.

Sales Training cannot be event based.
A chronic misunderstanding about training is the issue of changing habits. Habits are formed from years of influences and behaviors. These behaviors have cultivated through many years of constant repetition. Enculturation is manifestation of behaviors. These behaviors do not change in a seven-hour program. It is counter productive to believe that a billion dollar firm will obtain double digit production after a seven-hour event. Results come from repetition. When was the last time other than starvation that you lost weight in a day or increased muscularity without exercise? Ask your selling professionals, “can you do the job if you life depended on it?” Deter shortcuts and train staff periodically for best results! Treat them as elite athletes.

Many selling representatives do not adopt the prescribed methodology.
The worst travesty for any training program is a sheer lack of accountability. There are countless anecdotes of participants sent into training for hours and days at a time, returning to work no better than before training. Workers return to past habits having forgotten educational practicum. This illustrates a complete disregard for the return on investment. The only mechanism for success is the establishment of new habits. What gets remembered gets repeated and it is imperative for individuals to constantly repeat new processes to change old habits.

Second, review your talent pool. Research proves that certain behaviors cannot be taught. Organizations can hire for physical ability and even certain skills but talent is innate. Your talent does or does not have it. When the methodology is not used, search your talent pool.

“Eighty seven percent of training is lost within one month.”
Training for training sake does not work. While short-term productivity occurs, training is a longer-term process. Selling requires a series of programs that instill motivation, memorization and practicum. Short-term production might help monthly revenue gain, however, quarterly and annual are the proper success metrics. What might your feelings be if you discovered your physician only went to medical school for two years or only assisted a half dozen patients per year? How about an attorney that only litigated four cases per year? Selling is a profession.

We work in a multigenerational, multi-gendered and multicultural workforce. This potpourri requires changes in learning accommodation. Today’s learner desires 1) to be involved in the learning process, they like interaction and adverse to simple lecture and 2) desire different modalities of learning. The proliferation of consumer electronics, the Internet and personal computing allows learners to devour content wherever, however and whenever they desire. Use a blended approach but ensure learning continues and does not hit obstacles.

Training is not tied to the corporate business strategy.
Tactical sales forces do not work in today’s complex and connected world. Sales representatives are myopic to the needs of the organization focusing only on the “product/service” of the day. It is imperative to denote for all staff the motives for the business. Sales staff must be aligned toward the core values. This provides vision and purpose. Exemplars such as FedEx illustrate this model as all work toward guaranteed overnight delivery.

Executive buy-in is narcissistic.
The worst travesty for any training program is a sheer lack of accountability. Executives state the important of training yet THEY do not participate in programs and worse, do not follow up with required accountable. Stop the narcissism. Hold all individuals accountable to ALL training program essentials. Participants learn from true leaders and they follow them. People believe what they see and leadership must serve as exemplars.

Conventional wisdom says people change jobs for pay and morale, but lack of training leaves a chasm of frustration. The sales department is the most important asset of any organization. Executives are unpaid, vendors are unpaid, products are not developed until something is sold. End the training gap and begin to invest in the most vital asset of any organization- selling!

Sales 2.0 - The Clock Is Ticking

2008-08-14T23:29:26Z

By Jonathan Farrington, The Sales Corporation

I have read a plethora of articles and commentary recently about Sales 2.0 and there is an air of inevitability that at some point in the not too distant future, many of the tasks now routinely handled by “salespeople” will become automated – in fact it is already happening.

But, and this is a really big but, in my view, there will always be a place for the professional business consultant – the “Top 5% Player” – these people never sell anything, but they do assist their clients in making sound buying decisions.

However, this is a wake-up call for the “order takers and marketers” because gone are the days in which a salesperson could simply walk into an office, establish a good rapport with the client, show he/she had thorough knowledge of their products and services and clinch the sale.

Nowadays, the emphasis is on establishing long-term, mutually beneficial relationships and in order to achieve this, the salesperson needs to earn the right to continue discussions with his/her client. Before they can proceed to sell their products or services, the salesperson needs to reassure the client of their integrity, reliability, and ability to understand and recommend the appropriate solution.

They can do this by demonstrating:
• Up-to-date knowledge of business news and current affairs.

Best practices include - reading newspapers, magazines, journals, trade publications and other sources of business information; maintaining membership of appropriate professional organisations; acknowledging gaps in knowledge and taking steps to fill them; locating or developing databases with information on customers, their industries and their own customers.

• An in-depth understanding of the customer’s industry, company and strategies as well as an appreciation of “the big picture.”

Best practices include - gaining an understanding of the issues at all levels of the customer’s organisation including strategic, departmental, and individual needs; seeking to understand the customer’s perceptions of market trends, company direction, plus potential product and service needs.

• A readiness to exchange information and ideas between the supplier and client organisation.

Best practices include - familiarising the customer with your own industry and companies; sharing useful business information even if it does not directly impact on the sales effort; demonstrating the cost-cutting or revenue producing benefits of your products and services.

• The ability to listen and absorb information.

Best practices include - refining the way you identify customer’s needs by asking the right questions and listening actively to customer comments; speaking at the listener’s level of knowledge; using stories and analogies effectively; asking for feedback on the clarity of your message. By demonstrating comprehensive knowledge, outstanding communication skills, and the proper attitude, the salesperson earns the right to move beyond the role of supplier to that of a valued business consultant

These are just a few pointers to those wanting to stay in the game – the clock is ticking and as the man said, the one constant that we can absolutely rely on in life is change.

Cold Calling Academy: Shift from Gatekeeper to Concierge

2008-08-14T23:20:25Z

By Keith Rosen, Profit Builders

In an effort to combat market conditions, I’ve noticed an increase in cold calling activity within many organizations regardless of industry. Here are some solutions to be mindful of for you to use when you run into the barrier that may prevent you from connecting with your desired prospect. The elusive gatekeeper.

Think about your reaction to the word “gatekeeper.” What thoughts does it conjure up for you?

Now, think about the word “concierge.” What comes to mind? When you go to the mall and you need to find a specific store, who do you ask? The concierge. When you are staying at a hotel on vacation and are looking for directions, the hotel’s amenities, somewhere to eat or need tickets to a show, who do you ask? The concierge.

How good are you at making friends? Instead of “getting through the gatekeeper” how about “making friends with the concierge”? Now, doesn’t that just sound (and feel) better?

Consider this for a moment. The concierge secretly wants to help you. The only caveat is, you have to give them a reason to.

After all, if you try to sneak behind their back and get busted for doing so, you have succeeded in creating an adversary. Not only that but you’ve now fueled their justification as to why they need to screen all incoming calls! Now, when you need them in the future, it’s a safe bet that they probably won’t welcome you with open arms. Instead, focus on making the gatekeeper your concierge and internal advocate. Here’s how.

Strategy: Brutal Honesty that Complements
The old adage, “Honesty is the best policy” certainly holds true when trying to befriend the gatekeeper, I mean, the concierge. When calling to speak with your prospect or to find out exactly who the prospect is, try this approach in the following example.

You: “Hi, I can really use your help. I’m calling to speak with the person who is in charge of (software engineering/product development/ programming, etc) would that be you?”

Here’s What You Have Accomplished: Asking the concierge, “Would that be you?” or, “Are you the expert in that area?” comes across as a complement and makes the concierge feel important. As such, they are now more likely to give you the name of the contact you are looking for.

Want More Sales? Get Educated

2008-08-14T23:01:31Z

By Daniel Sitter, Idea Sellers

"Great athletes don't just show up for their games, they work out and practice constantly throughout their careers. Great musicians and opera singers do the same. Even accountants, nurses, and teachers must continue to train, forever furthering their educations to stay on top of developments in their professions. Why should a sales rep be any different?" says Michelle Nichols at Business Week.

If you want to earn more, you have to learn more. There are no shortcuts. There is no rationale in waiting for your employer to provide sales and industry training either. Your educational requirements are continuous. Your ongoing education is solely your responsibility. If your employer does not provide ongoing sales and specific industry training, then you must pursue it on your own. You must consider it an investment will pay both immediate and extended benefits, with a potential return on investment much higher than the norm.

"When I see a book that promises to improve my selling skills, I admit my first thought is that buying it will put me $25 in the hole. But then I remind myself that one good idea in those 200-or-so pages could help me make a sale and net a $1,000 commission. By that yardstick, I just made 4000% on my investment, which beats Wall Street's payouts any day" proclaims Nichols.

A down economy is a superb time to re-invest in yourself. Salespeople need to study methods and philosophies of successful entrepreneurs, business icons and sales experts to advance their success plan. An investment in yourself is always your best investment. Continuous education allows a salesperson to be positioned in front of the next wave of opportunity. Some call that being lucky. I say that the word luck is actually defined as that specific point in time where preparedness meets opportunity. Without training, the timing of that point may pass you by simply because you were not prepared to recognize it.

Your ongoing education allows helps position you properly with eyes and ears open and aware. Thorough preparation at all levels allows a salesperson to effectively operate and prosper, while experiencing less stress. Worry, fear, inconsistency, lack of account preparation, out of date industry knowledge, technical inability and poor sales planning all contribute to increased stress levels and poor performance. Continuous sales education minimizes these negative traits while elevating the importance of goal setting, developing an effective sales plan and learning effective interactive selling skills. Your need for such training is continuous. Your personal development must become a priority.

There are no shortcuts to sales success and personal fulfillment, yet the requirements for such are not at all complex. The formula is simple: Continuous Education = Prosperity.

Cold Calling is a Numbers Game, Just Like All Other Lead Generation Activities

2008-08-14T22:46:40Z

By Jim Logan, JS Logan

My previous post on cold calling led to a couple interesting conversations. While it wasn't much of a post, just a thought to consider, a couple off-line conversations that followed were interesting.

A common objection to cold calling is rooted in it being a numbers game. The thought being you call and call and call until you get a response - living through one rejection after another until you receive a Yes.

But isn't that how all marketing works?

All marketing tactics are rooted in a numbers game. Cold calling is no different.

If you have a revenue plan or quota, every lead generation and sales effort you engage in is based on the need to engage with a particular number of people, buying an average amount of products and services, to reach a given level of sales.

Any sales manager who ever calculated sales cycles and close rations knows they're playing a numbers game - expose your lead generation campaign to a particular number of people within a given time to reach a certain number of sales opportunities within a reporting period.

Whether you're using direct mail, landing pages, AdWords, blog traffic, print advertising, etc. you are playing a numbers games - you're looking for a percentage of response to generate a number of opportunities, based on a number of eyes which cross your campaign, to close enough business to retire quotas and meet the company's revenue plan.

Cold calling is a numbers game, just like all other lead generation activities.

Shorten Sales Cycles - By Capitalizing On Trigger Events

2008-08-14T16:18:27Z

By Craig Elias, Shift Selling

Jed (a hypothetical salesperson) keeps getting what sound like positive buying signals with his prospecting calls. Somehow, though, he’s not getting very far.

“People tell me to call back in two months, four months, six months, when they will be looking at this problem” he says, perplexed. “When I call back, I get people telling me how glad they are that I called … but my close ratio is low, and my sales cycles are way too long. What’s going on?”

In response, I would give Jed the following advice.

“Jed, when you cold call someone in an attempt to sell them something, you’re interrupting that person’s day. The dominant instinct is always going to be for that person to find any reason to get off the phone and get back to what they were doing before you interrupted them.”

“Your goal has to be to maintain your poise and get past that first fifteen to thirty seconds of the initial call … which is always going to be a little bumpy.”

“BUT — the reason you’re riding out those first fifteen to thirty seconds is not so you can try to turn the person into a short term prospect on the spot! ”

“Actually, you’re trying to discover if this person has experienced a Trigger Event. If there has been such an event you want to find out what it was and when it happened. The Trigger Event could have taken place quite a while ago, it could have happened only recently, or it could still be on the horizon.”

“These Trigger Events typically fall into one of three categories:”

1.Bad Experience: The buyer has a bad experience with a product/service, with people, or with a provider. For instance, there may have been a product/service change that creates dissatisfaction.

2.Change/Transition: The buyer has a change or transition in people, places, or priorities. For instance, there may have been a change in the buyer at an account.

3.Awareness: The buyer becomes aware of the need to change for legal, risk-avoidance, or economic reasons. For instance: The person may have a new understanding that buying from someone like you is less risky than continuing to buy the existing solution.

“During the first minute of your call, use the opportunity to understand which of the following three buying modes the buyer is in:”

Status Quo: The buyer is completely happy with what he or she currently has. There has not been a Trigger Event in the recent past, but there may be one on the horizon. You may think this person is a waste of time and may want to move on to the next person on your list. Actually, if this person has money, authority, and influence, this is a great long-term opportunity. A strategy for this type of call is to start the relationship building process. I would also suggest that you check back in on a monthly basis to see if a Trigger Event has recently happened.

Searching For Alternatives: This person is unhappy with what he or she has, has spoken to several suppliers, and probably already has a favorite. A Trigger Event took place a while ago, and they’ve already taken action on it. You may think that this is a short-term opportunity … because the buyer is actively talking to a number of potential suppliers.

This is in fact probably a medium term opportunity … because it is highly likely this buyer already has a first choice! Selling to buyers under these conditions typically results in a lower close ratio and a longer sales cycle - exactly the problem that you are experiencing. A strategy for this type of call is to position yourself as the buyer’s number-two choice — so you get called first if the buyer’s current favorite falters. You should check back every other week to see where you stand.

Window of Dissatisfaction: A Trigger Event has recently taken place and this buyer knows that what they are currently using is no longer sufficient, but has not done anything about it yet. Because they tell you to call back in two months, four months, or six months you make a note to do that and move on to the next person on your list. Wrong answer! This is actually a short tem opportunity, because the buyer is not talking to your competition — yet.

When you call back a few months later, even if you call a few weeks early thinking it will give you and edge, it’s very likely they will already be talking to your competition. The strategy for this type of call is to identify the business opportunity and pursue it immediately — with as much happening on this initial call as possible and future contact taking place in the very near future. You must find a way to push a little bit and learn more about the Trigger Event, then try to set a near-term course of action.

“As it stands, Jed, you are focusing on those people who are already talking to your competition … and missing the biggest opportunities: those buyers in the Window of Dissatisfaction, who recently experienced a Trigger Event and have not started talking to your competition. That’s why your numbers are as bad as they are; that’s also why your sales cycles are so long.”

“Jed, you need to do a better job of ’staying on your feet’ for the first thirty seconds or so of the call — long enough to ask a couple of questions that will help you learn whether the person has:”

- Not experienced a Trigger Event in a long time
- Experienced a Trigger Event a while ago and already doing something about it
- Recently experienced a Trigger Event and has done nothing about it — yet

“Once you learn if, and when, a buyer has experienced a Trigger Event you can apply the appropriate strategy. When you do that, and focus FIRST on those people in the Window of Dissatisfaction, who recently experienced a Trigger Event and have done nothing about it yet, you will have a much higher close ratio … and you’ll have much shorter sales cycles!”