If you have been in sales for any length of time you have probably read, or been told of the importance of using stories in your sales presentations. Although this concept is far from new, it is not used as often or effectively as possible. One of the objectives of telling stories is to help [...]

After spending hours trying to connect with a new prospect, you finally get an appointment. You prepare diligently for the meeting and create a list of the key points you want to make. You run through your presentation several times to make sure it sounds natural and relaxed and you incorporate the use of props [...]

Not long ago my wife and I were planning a get-together with some friends and wanted to serve a cheese board after dinner. So, we ventured to a local market to look for some cheeses. Our experience there prompted this article because I noticed how vendors could increase sales and sell more without even trying. Fortunately, one cheese vendor got it right. Anyway, I digress, here’s an overview of our experience.

We asked for one particular cheese at the first vendor we visited and were told that they did not carry it. No effort was made to recommend anything else and we left without making a purchase.

As we walked through the market, I noticed the cheese we wanted at another vendor. After tasting it and several others, we selected two cheeses. Total sale: $17

A few moments later we ventured across yet another cheese vendor. As we looked at their selection, an employee asked if she could help us. We told her that we were looking for some cheeses to serve at an upcoming dinner. She immediately asked us what we had already selected then made several suggestions and gave us the opportunity to sample them. However, instead of providing the sample on a toothpick like the second vendor, she placed each cheese on a cracker. And, as she handed the first sample to us, she pointed out where the crackers were stocked. As the conversation continued she asked us several more questions and recommended several other cheeses which we purchased.

When we had finished selecting our cheeses, my wife stated that she was interested in buying some of their fresh olives. The sales person got us started by suggesting her favorites, encouraged us to sample the variety of olives she had on display, then left us alone while she took care of other customers. A few minutes later she returned, portioned out my wife’s choice and suggested that we come into the stall to look at fresh dips and spreads. She followed this by stating that she had put our purchases in a basket and would help us with them we were ready to leave. How could we refuse?

Of course, once in the “store” we spotted some additional items that would complement our meal. When we advised her a few minutes later that we were finished she took the basket with our purchases to the cashier and wished us a great day. Total sale: $70.

There is no doubt in my mind that this particular vendor generates a lot more revenue than her nearby competitors. Not to mention the repeat business she’ll get from in the future. And she did it without really trying.

First, she took interest in our particular situation. Her approach to the sales process and desire to help us select the best cheeses for our dinner helped her stand out from her competitors. Zig Ziglar once said, “You can get anything in life you want if you just help enough other people get what they want.” Her attention made us feel special and prompted us to spend more money.

Second, she asked us a few questions. Unlike the first two cheese vendors, she found out what we liked, what we had already bought, when we were planning to serve the cheese (after dinner versus before dinner), and what types of cheeses we liked. Although virtually everyone in sales is told to ask questions, my experience has taught me that most people, especially retail staff, have a tendency to skip this step. However, a few key questions can help you uncover vital pieces of information that will help you make more appropriate suggestions or recommendations to your prospect, customer or client. Remember, you don’t have to conduct an interrogation—you just want to learn a bit more about your customer’s wants, needs and particular situation. And depending on what you sell, this can expand to their likes and dislikes.

Third, she increased the size of the sale by pointing out additional items such as the crackers. Plus, when she did the samplings, she used these products which gave us the opportunity to try them with zero risk. Now, I’m not suggesting that you give every customer a free sample of your product—that’s not realistic in many situations. However, think of how you can reduce the risk of doing business with you especially if you are dealing with a first time customer or client.

Fourth, she dealt with, and took care of, multiple people at the same time. Although she invested some time dealing directly with us, she did excuse herself to help other customers several times. And my wife and I certainly didn’t take offense to this because we knew she’d return to help us.

Regardless of what you sell and to whom, you can probably make some changes to your approach to stand out from your competition and make it easier for people to buy from. When you do this you can sell more without even trying.

Popularity: unranked [?]

5:45 PM. Rick Johnston, VP Business Development, sank into his office chair, dialed his voice mail pass code and was greeted with, “You have seven new messages.”

“Hi this is Sean Preston from HiTech Corporation. We’re providers of customized software solutions that help companies like yours streamline their ordering processes. I’d like to…” Rick pressed the delete button and started listening to the next message.

“Mr. Johnston, Susan Meyers from Analytic Metrics. I’d like to schedule a short meeting to show tou how our newest product will save you time and money…” Delete.

“Rick, it’s Brian from logistics. We have a major problem with the Global Software program. Call me right away.”

And it continued. Fortunately, Brian’s voice mail was the only one Rick needed to take action on. However, his email in-box was another story. Forty-two new messages waited for him and that was just since 2:30 this afternoon. Today, like every other day, was a blur.

He had arrived in his office at 7:15 AM and spent forty-five minutes responding to outstanding issues from the previous day. Then, for the next several hours, he hustled from meeting to meeting. A half-eaten sandwich on his desk reminded him of the minor crisis that had interrupted his lunch. Unexpected problems with their new CRM system they had recently implemented company wide absorbed his afternoon forcing him to cancel two other meetings and delay a decision on yet another prject he was overseeing.

On top of that was the directive to reduce spending yet again. It seemed that the CFO was completely out of touch with reality. “How can we possibly run so lean and still cut resources?” Rick had challenged. The CFO simply shrugged and said, “That’s why you get paid the big bucks.”

But the biggest thorn in Rick’s side was the political battle he was fighting with Drew Strick, VP New Accounts. Every time Rick attempted to implement a change that would improve the company’s results, Drew challenged him and attempted to derail his efforts.

He broke away from his reflections and sighed. Another three hours of work to do and I still feel that I haven’t made any headway. He grimaced and dialed Brian’s extension to discuss the problem in logistics.

And that, my friends, is a typical day in the life of a corporate executive and decision maker. Internal politics, budget cutbacks and spending freezes, an impossible amount of work to accomplish, and limited resources. It’s little wonder that they don’t return your calls or seem to take forever to make a decision. Even if you have a solution that is a perfect fit for your prospect’s company, it’s going to take a lot of work and patience to get through to your decision maker. Put yourself in the shoes of your buyer, customer, or prospect. How would you manage their situation?

In today’s hyper-speed, octane-fueled business world the outdated and traditional methods of selling are now ineffective. Yes, you are under pressure to reach your sales targets but your prospect is under similar, albeit different, pressures.

Welcome to the jungle!

Popularity: unranked [?]

Sales quotas are a source of contention in most companies. Having worked with sales people since 1995 I have seldom encountered a rep who said, “Gee, that’s all I need to sell this year?” Let’s face it, in many cases the selling organization has a completely different objective than the sales reps it employs. However, just because your objectives differ doesn’t mean you both can’t win.

The objective of this article is to shed light on the process of setting and achieving sales targets from both perspectives—the company and the sales rep.

Let’s start with the company’s perspective. Regardless of how well they performed during the previous year, I have yet to encounter a company who says, “We had a great year last so let’s just coast this year.” It simply doesn’t happen especially if the organization is publicly traded. After all, shareholders want—no, expect—a return on their investment. That’s just smart business.

Now, let’s look at this from the sales reps perspective. No one wants to earn less money than they did the previous year. This means that most sales reps resist an increase in their sales targets because they know they will have to work harder (or smarter) to achieve those goals. Human nature dictates that most people will naturally take the path of least resistance and that means working harder to achieve the same result goes against this instinct.

Most sales-based organizations make a variety of mistakes when establishing sales targets for their reps; here are two of them.

Mistake #1—Arbitrarily Assigning an Increase
While I agree that every company needs to project an increase in sales, picking a number out of the blue and applying it across all regions or divisions is not the best approach. This all-too-common mistake often negatively affects the performance and motivation of the sales team.

Mistake #2—Not Involving the Sales Team
Most companies do not involve their sales team in the development of their quotas and targets. I will be the first to admit that this may not be possible if you employ hundreds of sales reps; the logistics would be impossible to manage. However, you can encourage key people such as regional or division managers to actively involve their team in the quota-setting process.

Okay, now it’s time for you, the sales rep, to assume some responsibility. Here are two scenarios to consider.

Scenario 1—Arbitrary Quotas
Let’s assume that your company has arbitrarily assigned you a target for the upcoming year. You may not agree with it, but I hate to tell you, that’s irrelevant. Your target is established and the company expects you to achieve it. Rather than bitch, moan and whine about it, you need to figure out what you can do to achieve that goal. Evaluate your results from last year and determine what percentage of business was recurring and how much was revenue from new sources. Calculate how much recurring revenue you think you will generate in the upcoming year. Then, look at how you generated the new business last year and determine what action steps you need take to increase that figure.

If you work in a sales environment where you deal with the same accounts or customers you need to figure out how you can sell more to these customers. Sometimes, all it requires is more face time. In other situations, it means you need to learn more about their business and their goals and objectives because this will help you better position your products and services.

Scenario 2—Calculated Quotas
If you are lucky you many work for an organization who involves you in the quota-setting process. That means you are given the opportunity to actively participate in establishing your own goals. Here is the biggest mistake sales reps make when given this opportunity—they under-estimate. I know, you don’t want to bite off more than you can chew. After all, a mistake could seriously affect your earnings for the upcoming year. However, when you set your target too low, the company is only going to increase it anyway. The best sales reps don’t wait for their manager to set their sales target, they take action and establish their own goal, and in most cases, it’s higher than the quota their manager would have set. Use the process outlined in the first scenario to calculate your quota or target.

Regardless of your position (sales rep or sales manager) you are ultimately accountable for your results. Doesn’t it make sense to do whatever is necessary to achieve them?

Popularity: unranked [?]

Journal entry: December 3, 2009
“My calendar is full and my sales are on track. Looks like I’ll end the year ahead of target. This means my boss will finally stop bugging me to get my sales on track. After several years of developing my client base, I’m making headway. That means I can finally relax and start taking it a bit easier. I can’t coast but the momentum should carry me well into next year and by then I’ll have even more customers to which will make it easier to reach my quotas.”

Journal entry: March 21st, 2010
“Sales are below target and it doesn’t look like I’ll reach my quota this month. I was on track earlier this year but now it seems like I’ve lost my momentum. I thought the recession was over and that business was supposed to improve. Companies are still reluctant to move forward and the people I have sold too aren’t reordering. Guess I’ll have to step it up a notch to get back on track. It seems like this is a never-ending roller coaster ride.”

Sound familiar?

It’s a very common problem that far too many sales people encounter. They forget that the action they take—or fail to take—today, will affect their results several months down the road. They get caught up in the “moment” and fall into the trap of reducing their prospecting efforts when they are busy or when sales are on an upswing. They mistakenly believe that their sales will continue to improve even though they cut back on prospecting. Unfortunately, this creates the “peaks and valleys” syndrome whereby the sales person has a great month followed by one or two month of mediocre performance. As sales decline, the rep increases his/her efforts and a few months later their sales begin to improve again. As their sales start to climb, they scale back on hunting for new business. And they continue the pattern.

Unfortunately, every company and every person has to work at generating new business. Age, experience, seniority or expertise does not exempt you from this. I recall a conversation with a colleague who said, “I’ve been at this for 20 years; I feel a sense of entitlement and I don’t feel that I should have to work this hard to get new business.” We have all seen and heard about companies who went out of business after several decades of success. The business landscape constantly changes. New competitors enter the marketplace and erode our customer base. Products, services and solutions that were once state-of-the-art are now obsolete. And customers who were once loyal to you and your company abandon ship and no longer buy your product, service or solution.

This all means that you need to take consistent action to generate new business leads, regardless of how long you have been selling and how well established your business is. When my wife first started her business almost 15 years ago, her accountant suggested that she invest a specific amount of time each week marketing her business. It was wise advice then, and with the increase in competition that most businesses now experience, his words are even more valuable today.

This is even more important if you work with only a few customers and each company represents a large portion of your revenue. Many sales people and companies have found themselves scrambling to find new sources of revenue because a major client stopped using their services. It’s a tough wake-up call that can be prevented by avoiding the complacency trap and assertively prospecting for new business on a regular basis.

So, what do you need to do to ensure that your sales don’t suck in March?

It is essential that you block time in your schedule for prospecting. Otherwise one of two things will happen. First, the busyness of your day will take over and you won’t invest time on prospecting activities. Or, you will spend too much time in just one area and will neglect other opportunities to prospect. It’s easy to get caught up servicing your existing customers, dealing with emails, and other tasks. Whether you make cold calls, send direct mail campaigns, attend networking functions, ask for referrals, give presentations, or participate in social media; you need to determine exactly what type of prospecting activity you will do each day/week. Control and manage your time by blocking each activity in your calendar as an appointment. If you are diligent at keeping these prospecting appointments, your March sales won’t suck.

Popularity: 6% [?]