The sky is falling.

Well, the stock market and many of the great behemoth financial firms that I have sold to over the last dozen years are. Let's say many of us are not in the most upbeat mood right now.

And how does this "macro economic tension" tend to show up in sales organizations? Concern over making our numbers. And that concern over making numbers makes tense sales people. Tense sales people that tend to put too much pressure on their prospects to sign on the dotted line.

People love to buy but they hate to be sold. Sales cycles don't really exist what really exists is a buying cycle. In our world of so many options for the buyer, we need to face facts that it's the buyer who controls the "sales process" not the seller.

The sales person's job (actually the whole company behind the sales person) is to be in-sync with buyer at whatever point the buyer is in the buying cycle. A typical buying cycle might look like this: (1)recognition of a need, (2) seek out options, (3) discuss/evaluate options and (4) buy.

A sales person who tries to close the buyer when they are not in phase 4 of the buying cycle will annoy the prospect/buyer and won't get a deal. But that's what "old school selling" tells us to do "always be closing". Watch out because as the pressure mounts on us sales executives to close more the opposite is happening for the buyer. As the market fear grows buyers will be thinking "should I really pull the trigger on this spend or should I hold off". The last thing that will help a cautious buyer commit is a pushy sales person!

What's a sales person to do?

Calm down. Don't try to close everything in sight. Stay in-sync with your prospects. Make sure you know where they are in the buying cycle. Act accordingly. If they are just starting to look at options, get them the information they need to understand and evaluate your offering.

And...prospect. Yes, whenever things get tougher in the economy sales people need to be able to put more leads into their sales funnel. You will need more prospects because either some deals will drop out due to budgets being cut etc. or some of the deals that survive will move more slowly to close than you originally thought.

You will need to "diversify" your sales pipeline as the market gets more volatile just as an investor diversifies their stock portfolio. You will want more prospects in your sales pipeline than when times were "easy". Preferably prospects from lots of different companies and industries so your risks of being clobbered by any one company's or any one industry's budget cuts are reduced.

So as things get tougher don't become a closer. Become an opener.

Posted by Sales 2.0 at 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

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.

Posted by Sales 2.0 at 04:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Here are a few of my favourite sales questions for uncovering prospects’ issues. Some more direct than others. Enjoy!

• How have things changed in company/industry in the last few years/ months?
• (If they tell you about a recent project or initiative) What do you think are the biggest “lessons learned” from this project? How would you do things differently? With the benefit of hindsight how would you run such a project again, if you had to?
• What are the biggest developments in the industry? How are you keeping up with that? What do you think that will look like in the future?
• What’s most important for you; X, Y or Z? (change as required, e.g. “increasing market share, generating new sales or raising profitability” or “finding good people, lowering staff turnover or finding a way to cut the number of sick days taken by staff?”)
• What are the biggest challenges you face with (department, business, industry, product, etc) right now?
• What are the big initiatives you are working on right now? What issues have you faced in achieving these?
• What are the big changes in (department, business, industry, product, etc) right now?
• What’s the “big goal” at the moment? What’s standing in the way of you achieving that?
• (When they talk about a current project or initiative) Are those the results you hoped/planned for?
• What’s the number one most important thing for you/ your boss/ company/ industry/ customers now?
• What’s the number one most important thing for you/ your boss/ company/ industry/ customers now going into the future?
• A lot of companies seem to be having issues with (Problem X, problem Y and Problem Z) right now. Is that your experience too?
• Do you think (problem X) is more of an issue than (problem Y?)
• What do/does your boss/ company/ industry/ customers complain about / struggle with?
• What changes do/does your boss/ company/ industry/ customers want to see?
• What do you think is going to cause the biggest changes / threats / issues in your business in the next X years?
• What would you like to achieve from today’s meeting?
• What have been your biggest successes in (area X)? What else would you like to improve on?
• What's keeping you from perfection in X, Y or Z?
• If you had no limitations, no budget restraints, no (other problem), what would you aim to do? (now work back to find the problems that are a barrier to them achieving their goals)

Posted by Sales 2.0 at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

When preparing for that first call, always be clear on how your prospect competes. Why? Because it helps you correctly position your solution – and rise above the noise of your own competitors.

How does your prospect go to market?
Does your prospect compete with product innovation? Customer service? Or operational effectiveness? Rarely do companies compete with all three.

My motives for shopping at service-superstar Nordstrom are satisfied much differently than when I shop at super-efficient Wal-Mart. Apple and Sony pull customers from Dell with product innovation. They do not aspire to offer the lowest price. Nor are they stellar service providers.

If you don't know which of these levers constitutes your prospect’s business advantage, ask. Or read its annual report. It's in there. Effective salespeople demonstrate knowledge of their prospect’s competitive levers to enhance their credibility and get on the same page as their prospect.

Pick up a rifle vs a shotgun
You can shoot your solution and wait for something to stick (in marketing, we call it shotgun) or reverse your approach (which marketers call rifle) by targeting your capabilities and services to the one or two things your prospect does well.

For example...
Consider two insurance firms. One says, "For a good deal, buy our products online." Another says, "If you need us, we're there." Much different leading messages and much different organizations.

The price leader has superior transaction processing and has made big investments in improving the productivity of its online user interface. In fact, it may have outsourced the face of its online store to an expensive expert like TandemSeven, who helps companies build hugely intuitive web-based interfaces that scream with productivity and make online shopping a breeze.

The other firm (that competes on customer service) invests in its brokers. Its sales force automation system significantly outperforms that of our online provider, and it offers far more personal touch and tailored insurance services (at a higher price). Its agents also have superior tools for producing highly customized insurance proposals in record time. One organization invests in customer touch points, the other in broker touch points - to boost the horsepower of their different competitive strategies.

Aligning your solution with the things that fuel your prospect’s business advantage makes you a better advisor and a better consultant.

Remove your own bias
One of my sales clients was hugely disappointed when he proposed an investment to improve customer intimacy at a prospect he had been trying to see for two years. It was shot down and he was hugely confused. After all, it's what he thought they needed to do to be more competitive. But it's not the competitive driver the CEO of his target prospect had selected. And in fact, he lost credibility by failing to acknowledge how his prospect not only competes -- but competes to win. Had he proposed a solution that encourages customer self-service, he would have gotten the ear of his CEO.

Focus on your prospect’s most prized assets
Another way to approach the alignment exercise: identify your prospect’s most prized assets. Is it their large customer base? Their large set of patents? Their supplier relationships? If you help improve (or protect) your prospect’s asset value -- you'll help preserve the things it needs to sustain business advantage.

Notice where Wal-Mart's IT priorities lie. Wal-Mart may be cheap, but not when it comes to making investments in its supplier network - which gives its vendors access to one of the best supplier transaction systems in the industry. Suppliers do business with Wal-Mart at a fraction of the cost of other retailers. The result? For Wal-Mart, a loyal supplier network, with low turnover, that is easier and cheaper to manage - and which grants the retail giant most favored pricing.

So, before you venture our on your next sales call, do some homework and validate your prospect’s competitive strengths and prized assets. It will help you position your solution in ways that bring music to your prospect’s ears.

Posted by Sales 2.0 at 04:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I went on a sales call a couple of weeks ago where the rep arrived and spread out about 15 products all across the prospect's desk. Then she just started talking (and talking) about the products.

All the poor prospect could say was "ah ha"..."ah ha" as the sales person kept talking and talking about the features of these products for about 20 minutes. I sat there and listened and had a very clear sense that the prospect was totally bored. (Heck, I was bored!)

Now I think back on this experience, one tip off was that the sales person was carrying a backpack full of product to the sales call. I was carrying one piece of paper, a pen and a Blackberry - all in my jacket pocket. Nothing in my hands at all.

Now I admit you can have a "wheely bag" full of products and still hold an excellent sales meeting. If you remember the products are only there to be used when appropriate. And appropriate is only to support a solution you have jointly developed with the prospect after plenty of questions to uncover their needs.

But as a practical tip to sales people who currently give product pitches and want to improve their sales meetings. Do this. Check your hands before you go to a sales meeting. If you have bags full of product or brochures in them, think twice. Try leaving all that stuff behind (or at least in your car).

Your job at a sales meeting is to ask questions and to listen. You don't need arms full of products or brochures to do that. Try going to your next sales meeting without this stuff. Try going naked!

Posted by Sales 2.0 at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

There is a little test that professional buyers give to every sales person. It is a test to see if they are confident in the price they presented. They call it the flinch test. Will you pass the test?

After a lengthy buying process, the time has come to submit pricing. Countless hours are spent formulating a glorious proposal that details your comprehensive solution. Proud of your accomplishment, you present the proposal to the buyer. Skipping the sections about your company and your solution, she flips right to the pricing page. “Oh my gosh, I didn’t think it would be this expensive!”

What happens next determines whether or not you will get the business.

When I say “get” the business, there are two sides to consider. The obvious is whether or not the prospect will award the business to you. The less obvious is whether your company will agree to their desired price level. The negotiation may get to a point where the prospect says they want to award you the business, but at a price unacceptable to your company. If you’ve ever been there, it is painful to say the least. As a sales person, you have a responsibility to facilitate the process in a way that leads to a mutually acceptable conclusion.

There is a trade secret in the purchasing world. They call it the “flinch test.” This is the test Procurement Agents and other professional buyers give to sales people when they provide pricing. “Wow! You are 25% higher than your competition.”

These pros are trained to react with surprise so that they can see if the sales person is confident in the price they have put forward. It is nothing more than a straightforward negotiation tactic. Often times, they overstate the price difference such that you can do some quick math and see that the differential is bogus. I can recall a time where I was told that we were 50% higher than the competition. When I reviewed the numbers, this meant that the competitor was losing 18% based on fixed costs that we both had. It was highly unlikely that the competitor was signing up for this kind of an account. When I asked the Procurement Agent about that figure again, he flinched and we ultimately won the business.

The key to passing the flinch test is to respond with confidence in your price. If you don’t believe you are providing a fair, competitive price for the solution, my question is why are you presenting it anyway? One would hope that you have integrity so why present something you don’t believe in?

Some responses that cause you to fail the flinch test.

• What price were you looking for?
• I’ll ask my manager if we can do better
• How about if I take 10% off?

The reason these are failed responses is that they create trust issues with the prospect. Were you trying to rip them off with the price you presented? One of two things is true. Either you were trying to rip them off or you believe you provided a fair price. What other option is there? Some will say that they were preparing for a negotiation. That’s a fair point; however, it is a terrible negotiation strategy to give the appearance that you will drop your price first moment someone balks. That approach gives the impression that you sought to gouge them.

Most negotiations end at the middle ground. They wanted 5; you wanted 10 and settled at 7.5. That seems logical. However, if you lower your price early, the middle ground is lower. In the same scenario, if you dropped to 8 right off the bat, the middle becomes 6.5. As I mentioned, you have to manage the negotiation such that the middle is not lower than an acceptable price for your company.

Successful sales people have a planned, or dare I say “canned,” response for the flinch test. They don’t expect a prospect to respond with excitement about a price. They anticipate shock and have a process to handle it. Here are their secrets…

1. They set expectations upfront. Early in the buying process, they set the expectation that they are not the low price provider. “To be clear, our company is rarely the low bid, does that mean that we won’t be working together on this project?” If they say no, you are set for the later phases of the process. If they say yes, at least you haven’t invested a ton of time in an account that you won’t win. If you are going to lose, lose early.

2. They don’t flinch! “I’m not surprised by your reaction. I get that a lot. As I mentioned at the outset, we are rarely the low bidder.”

3. They seek to understand. “When you say that you are shocked by the price, which part is surprising? This is the subject of another article of mine which addresses the importance of understanding the prospect’s perspective of price.

4. They reinforce their position. “Since we are rarely the low price provider, what do you think our 1000 clients see that leads them to pay a little more to have us?

Posted by Sales 2.0 at 06:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

The other day I was working out in the gym when a guy asked me to spot him on the bench press. For those of you not familiar with the term “spot,” it means to watch and assist the lifter if they need help. Of course, I agreed to do this. As is customary when spotting, I asked him how many reps (number of times lifting the weight) he planned to do. He looked at me very puzzled and said he didn’t know. Humorously, I followed that with asking if he expected to do it once or a hundred times. He laughed and said it would be more than one, but not sure how many he would do beyond that.

He began the lift and performed three reps. I asked him if he felt it was a good set. Was he happy with his performance? Did he achieve what he set out to do? He said, “Yeah, I guess so.” I went back to my workout wondering how he could determine if he had met his goal. If you don’t have a goal, how can you determine if you achieved it?

This experience reminded me of a time when I went to Chicago on a call with one of my sales reps. Prior to the meeting, the sales rep, his manager and I met at a coffee shop. Over coffee, I asked the sales rep to imagine that it was now an hour and a half later. The meeting was over and we were back sitting at the same coffee shop debriefing on the meeting. I asked what I thought was a fair question of the rep. I asked him, “This was a great meeting if what happened?” (By the way, this is one of my favorite questions to ask of sales reps.) I received a blank look and finally a request for help. Mind you, we were fifteen minutes away from being in front of a prospect and clearly there was no game plan.

We talked for a few minutes and developed our success metrics for this meeting. With those identified, we developed our game plan to achieve our success metrics. Many of you are thinking that a successful meeting is defined as being awarded the business. You would be right if it was that type of meeting. However, this was a second call in a business environment where the buying process is typically twelve to eighteen months. In this environment, other success metrics are needed for each step of the process.

Defining success metrics allows you to formulate a game plan for your meeting. If you know what you need to accomplish, the road map becomes very clear for what you need to achieve. If your success metric is defined as your having a comprehensive picture of their challenges with their current provider, you can prepare questions that will expose their challenges. If your success metric is to gather all of the data needed to put together a pricing proposal, the game plan is to ask all questions needed to craft a solution for this prospect.

Ask any successful person how they became successful. They will tell you that they had a vision and developed a game plan to achieve that vision. Sales is no different. Know your success metrics and develop your game plan to achieve them.

Posted by Sales 2.0 at 05:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Admit it! There are some subjects related to your product, service or solution that you dread talking about. Perhaps your offering isn't the most "leading edge." Maybe your pricing is much higher than competitors. Or maybe you're a boutique firm without the full spectrum of services of the bigger companies.

Whatever it is, you hope like crazy that your prospects won't bring it up. Yet you know deep inside that the topic is unavoidable. No matter how hard you try to dance around the elephant in the room and pretend its not there, it's just a matter of time before someone asks about it. Then you stumble through a lame response that makes you sound like a total patsy and your credibility plummets.

So what's a seller to do?

When I was in college, I worked at the Ground Round Restaurant as a waitress. On weekends, Leroy Larson played his banjo and sang the old favorites. After months of working there, I developed quite a liking for his rendition of songs by the Kingston Trio. (MTA & Tom Dooley)

Twenty years later, this group came to Minneapolis for a concert. I persuaded my husband to go with me – even though he wasn't enamored with their music. After the warm-up singers, a booming voice came over the microphone announcing the main act: "Ladies & Gentlemen … (long pause) … The Kingston Trio."

There was a roar of applause as we waited for this much beloved group to appear. Instead, from the left side of the stage, three old bald slightly overweight guys hobbled slowly to the center. One was leaning so heavily on his cane, that we weren't sure if he'd make it.

The audience was in shock. We were in the midst of geriatric unit. The once vibrant Kingston Trio looked like they belonged in the old folks' home.

The lead singer limped up to the microphone. When he got there he stopped. Slowly he scanned the audience, practically making eye contact with each person. As he looked at us, his head started shaking back and forth like he was in disbelief. He still was silent.

Finally he spoke. With a twinkle in his eye, he looked straight at us and said, "My goodness you've gotten old!" 

The crowd erupted in laughter. That was the elephant in the room that needed to be spoken. And once it was out on the table, it totally lost its impact.

How does this apply to selling?

When I sold for Xerox, my most feared competitor had a switch that automatically turned its copiers off after not being in use for 20 minutes. This was at a time when gas prices were high and people were big into conservation.

I lost more sales over this stupid feature than I care to admit. My competitor kept emphasizing its value. All my responses made me sound like I was on the defensive.

The truth was that the annual cost savings were miniscule. Plus waiting for the system to warm up again drove people nuts. But it wasn't till I started bringing up the subject myself that I regained my competitive edge.  Early on in the sales process, I would say:

"As you're evaluating systems you're likely to hear some vendors talk about how great it is to have an automatic off/on switch. For your information, when copiers are in the "wait mode" they're using about the same amount of electricity as a standard light bulb – which is minimal.

"What people don't realize when they get copiers with this switch is that you have to wait 30 seconds for it to warm up again each time its in use. I don't know about your employees, but find it unacceptable to wait for 30 seconds for their copy. They want it immediately."

I never lost to that competitor again. That's what can happen when you face into those dreaded subjects, think about them ahead of time and plan your response.  You might even need to experiment with several variations till you find a good way to say things.

What other elephants could be in the room? 

If it's pricing, address the fact that you're not the low cost provider head on and tell them why it's to their advantage. If you're a small company without the breadth of coverage of a corporate giant, point that fact early on in your discussions. Then follow up with several statements about why that's good.

Recently I noticed a corporate giant using this strategy in their television advertising campaign. SAP, a firm that offers a comprehensive range of enterprise software applications, is perceived by many smaller firms to be too complicated, sophisticated and pricey for their business operations. In their ads, executives/owners of these growing firms express surprise that they can get SAP's capabilities at such an affordable rate. It's very effective.

So what elephants are you tiptoeing around? What areas do you dread talking about?  Once you name them, start working on how to proactively bring them up when you meet with prospective customers. That's they only way for them to lose their impact!

Posted by Sales 2.0 at 05:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I am "huge" on preparing for sales meetings but I am "tiny" on preparing slides for sales meetings.

Quote of the week from a sales manager friend:

"Our best sales people really don't take anything to a sales meeting - they just have a conversation with the prospect"

Amen!

Your goal in a sales meeting is to listen.  Not to present.  You don't need slides or stacks of brochures to listen.  Ask questions and listen.  Sure, take some blank paper on which to write notes, so you remember the prospect's answers to your questions.

Do take time to prepare for the meeting.  Spend this time on researching the prospect's company and the prospect themselves from as many angles as possible (relative to the importance of the prospect).  Develop key questions based on your research aimed at further understanding the prospect's goals, challenges and constraints.  Write these questions down on your piece of paper so you remember to ask them when you are actually in the meeting (it's easy to forget a question, or two, while in a live sales meeting).

So next time you go to a sales meeting don't spend hours preparing your Powerpoint slides, spend hours understanding your prospect and developing your questions.  Put your questions in your pocket and leave your hands free for a pen to write down the prospects answers.

Posted by Sales 2.0 at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (2)

Edward Golod, the founder of Revenue Accelerators and a successful Fortune 100 sales professional, entrepreneur of three business, and impassioned sales evangelist offers up an excellent post in the Adotas Weblog: How to Sell without Actually Sounding Like a Salesperson. Here are several excerpts:

The best salespeople know that selling comes down to relationship building, and doing it very quickly. And since just about everybody resents being in a relationship that feels disingenuous, it’s crucial that you do NOT sound like stereotypical salesperson.

Here are several ways to help you avoid coming off like a used car seller:

1. Put your self-interest on the back burner - Your goal is to make quota. But all those proven, consultative sales techniques you have learned will NOT work unless you put your self-interest aside while you build a new relationship.

2. Listen, listen, listen… 80% of the time - When you’re building a relationship, you’re selling trust, and trust comes from “active” listening.

3. You must ask the correct questions - Since selling is about helping executives make buying decisions, the best thing to do is ask questions to help the discovery process along.

4. Become an equal to the executive - Decision-makers do not usually want to spend time with salespeople. Period! They want to work with businesspeople that provide solutions, and fix problems that address painfully business situations. Be an equal and be confident.

5. Count before you respond - When responding to common objections, take a deep breath and hold it for 3 seconds. You need to be calm, focused, and fit the context of the relationship you are building.

6. Trust comes from sharing…do NOT interrupt - Do NOT sell to your prospect while they are sharing.

7. Do not abuse knowing their name - When talking; do not over-use the prospect’s name.

8. In essence, care about them! - When relating to people, care about them and tell them.

Conclusion - Selling is hard work, especially in the online media world. You need to stand out, be unique, and quickly sell your value to higher-level executives. Using a disciplined, structured approach will get you there faster, as it has over the last 20 years in filed selling across the country. Practice well, practice smart, but practice.

Posted by Sales 2.0 at 12:54 PM | 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)

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)

What kind of job may require you take an aspirin after a particularly good meeting? Answer: sales.

During the last 24 months I think I have held some of my best sales meetings (this is reassuring since I am always trying to improve my own sales skills).  Thinking back on these particularly well run meetings I realized they were very tiring and I really could have used an aspirin after many of them.  But the end result was a couple of deals that made my year… not a bad trade-off.

So why might you need an aspirin after a good sales meeting?  During a sales meeting you should be listening with intense focus.  You need to really understand and to some extent take on the buyer’s pain.  When you are doing things well you really start to step into the buyer’s shoes, feel their pain and try to figure out solutions.  Dealing with the buyer’s problems; thinking of solutions and staying intensely focused on the other person all at the same time is really hard work.

So the next time you hold a sales meeting ask yourself “Was that too easy?”  “Did I stay as intensely focused as possible?”  “Did I leave everything on the court?”  “Do I need an aspirin?”  (Tip: a cold beer works too).

Posted by Sales 2.0 at 07:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by Sales 2.0 at 02:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Small and mid-size IT firms are constantly tackling the issue of "getting into the doors" of senior target buyers. The market for IT is very competitive, so senior executives (business as well as IT executives these days) hear from hundreds of IT companies every year. Small IT companies have limited existing relationships and no known brand to leverage in their efforts to set the elusive meeting.

So here is a key thought for business developers at IT firms.  Do your homework! 

When preparing for a call or letter to a senior buyer you should make sure you customize your communication as much as possible.  You need to do a significant amount of research to find out some key issues that this executive cares about.  Only then can you tie one of your business value propositions to one of their "hot buttons" that will get you the meeting.

If you know your target market well, you develop a knowledge of the key issues that you can use to get you in the door.  Keep in mind though that this list is not a one-to-one list and is not as effective as if you knew the exact issues faced by your target buyer individually.  You will need to know this person's specific issues sooner or later in the sales process. If you have any difficulty getting your meeting, it means you need to find these issues sooner.

If you are networking correctly and building up a network of contacts in your target industry, you may not need to make cold-calls, you may be able to call your target executive(s) with a referrer's name and hence have a higher probability of gaining access.  Keep in mind however that knowing your target's issues and having a referral is even better yet (now we are talking!)

In summary, homework was, and is, a pain but you don't become an "A student" without ever "hitting the books"...

Posted by Sales 2.0 at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)