Sales Answers

Focus on Sales Activity

 

I enjoyed reading another great post by Anthony Iannarino last week, The Case for Activity Goals and Metrics.  If you're not subscribing to his RSS feed you're really missing some great sales and sales management insight.  In this article he makes the case for maintaining momentum by always staying focused on sales activity.  His advice is similar to what we often tell our sales force development clients -- if you decide to take a day off from prospecting and business development today, you're also deciding to take a day off from closing new business in x weeks where x = your typical sales cycle.

I agree with everything Anthony Iannarino says in this article and would add the following thoughts:

1. Narrow your focus - pick just two (2), maybe three (3) key metrics to track and focus on.

2. Stick with it - once you identify 2-3 key metrics to track, stick with them for at least 90 days so you can see trends.

3. Proactively plan each week and each day - the 2-3 key metrics should be central to planning your daily and weekly goals.  If you don't put your sales activity focus on your calendar it won't happen as you'll fill your time with other activities.

4. Change your focus when needed - it's ok to change what you track from time to time. For example:

• If you're a new sales person or in a new territory you're probably focused on things like "conversations with decision makers" and "first appointments."  As you begin to fill your calendar, knowing the number of "conversations with decision makers" may not be as important (but having tracked it for at least 90 days you'll have a sense of how many dials it takes to have a conversation and how many conversations you need to have to book an appointment), so maybe you track "first appointments" and "qualified proposals."

• If you're in an established territory and have a solid book of business, you may track things like "year-over-year revenue growth" or "number of referrals" or "cross sales opportunities."

For sales managers keeping a narrow focus on the 2 (maybe 3) metrics that matter will make your life a lot easier.  It keeps the messaging for the team very clear and allows you to focus on different metrics for each sales person (depending on where they are in their account, territory or career development). 

What are your two (2) to three (3) key sales metrics right now?  Are they the right ones?  Will they help you reach your goals this quarter?  This year?  Do you need to refocus and recommit to them?  Why not start right now, today?

Effective Sales Listening

The first thing a sales person needs to do to listen more effectively is to stop talking. We've all heard the phrase "We have two ears and one mouth, so we should listen twice as much as we talk."  And yet many sales people forget this simple lesson and do most of the talking during a sales conversation.  If you want to have better sales meetings, stronger conversations and improve your sales results, work on becoming a better listener.

Here are two specific things you can do right now to work on your "sales listening." 

First, watch this 7-minute clip of Julian Treasure's TED presentation on "5 Ways to Listen Better."  Great insight and information.

Second, ask for our "Effective Sales Listening" checklist and implement it today.

Sales Winners and Sales Losers

Top producing sales people understand that every sales win - just like every sales loss - is temporary.  To stay on top they know they need to keep pushing themselves to get better, hone their skills, ask better questions, make more calls, reach out to more contacts, ask for more referrals, build stronger covenants, make more follow up calls, uncover more reasons for prospects to move forward, call higher and wider within the companies they serve, focus on their top prospects, proactively plan their week and their day, take a disciplined approach to following their weekly and daily plan, make one last call every night before going home, keep learning, focus on delivery, build relationships within their company, listen to books and self-improvement discs while they drive, and in general stay sharp and professional.

The exact same advice applies to sales people who are struggling.

The difference between sales winners and sales losers is that sales winners do these things no matter where they stand on the leader board.  It's how they're wired.  They have the committment to do whatever it takes to be successful and they know that if they keep doing the right things, day after day, week after week, month after month......the results will follow. 

Sales losers, on the other hand, rest on their laurels.  They believe they are brilliant when they land the big account or sign the huge project....and they stop doing the right daily behaviors and lose focus while taking their victory lap.  And when the results are bad?  It's not their fault....it's the economy, the competition, the company, the product, the marketing materials......anything but themselves.  They get down on themselves and everyone around them.  They spend more time focused on how unfair everything is and how difficult their job is and how things would be different if other things changed (not them).

Everyone in sales understands there will be ups and downs.  The difference with sales winners is when you look at their calendar and observe how they conduct themselves day-to-day, you can't tell whether their numbers are up or down because they're consistently doing the same things.  They know it's up to them and no one else.  What can you do, starting today, to get on this path?

Are You Selling Price or Building the Case for Value?

Many sales people struggle with how to handle pricing objections because they fail to build the case for making an investment in their product or service.  Some sales people believe that if they do not have the lowest price, it is nearly impossible to make a sale.  Even very strong sales people occationally struggle with pricing conversations and how to explain why their price is higher. If you find yourself in this situation you've probably failed to:

• Ask questions that help you establish a relationship with the prospect early in the conversation
• Ask questions that seperate you from everyone else trying to sell to them
• Ask questions that make the prospect think about their challenge or situation in a new way
• Ask questions that demonstrate your expertise
• Ask questions that help the prospect understand their situation more clearly or from a new perspective
• Ask questions that help the prospect gradually perceive the true cost of their situation
• Ask time-bound questions that help the prospect see the gap between where they've been and where they are now
• Ask time-bound questions that help the prospect see the gap between where they are now and where they want to be at some point in the future
• Ask questions that lead to a regular business conversation (NOT a gimmicky sales conversation)

In other words, if you're having a conversation about price you are having the wrong conversation.  And it's probably because you rushed through the discovery process and didn't slow down enough to ask lots and lots of great questions.  Like putting a puzzle together, take your time, focus on one piece at a time, and ask questions that help the prospect see how everything fits.

But if you're not comfortable talking about money.... or if your concept of "a lot of money" is too low..... or if your need for approval outweighs your desire to win the business.... or if you have self-limiting beliefs or other head trash getting in the way.... or if you get emotionally involved and begin to feel rushed when you get tough questions or objections.... you will struggle in sales conversations, will fail to build a case for your product or service, will ask your company to give up profit margin the moment you encounter pricing resistance, and will struggle to meet quota and reach your personal goals.

Want to see how you stack up?  Take our FREE Sales Achievement Grader and we'll send you your results.

Sales Advice From Mr. Spock - Use Emotion Not Logic

"Seems logical to me captain"             - Mr. Spock

Sales people who use logic to convince their prospects make selling a lot harder than it needs to be.  Mr. Spock might have struggled to make quota had he gone into sales rather than joining Starfleet because he would have been challenged to access emotions to move the sales conversation forward.  So unless your sales territory includes a lot of Vulcan clients and prospects, stop using logic and start using emotion.  You'll sell more.

• Buyers generally make their decisions at an emotional level and then use logic to rationalize and justify their choice.
• People buy from people they like and people who make them feel comfortable.
• When you start spewing facts and figures, most buyers will tune you out and stop listening.  Some will just get annoyed.
• If you can connect your product or service to your buyer's situtation at an emotional level (think pain, fear or pleasure) your conversation will get a lot easier.
• When your questions and statements lead toward features and benefits, buyers will see you as just another sales person trying to make a sale.
• When your questions and statements lead toward emotions and feelings, buyers will see you as a helpful problem solver.

 How to Help Prospects Discover Their Emotions

To illustrate the point let's use an example where you find out your prospect is still considering your product or service but is leaning toward a competitor.  At this point in the process many salespeople would start to make their case by highlighting the features and benefits that make their product or service better.  It might sound something like:

"I understand, XYZ Corp. has many strong features.  One thing you may want to keep in mind is that our service also provides Benefit A, Feature B, and Benefit C.  They don't have these things." 

And when you start to list these items a couple things happen:

1. First, you may be insulting your prospect.  You can say it as kindly as you like, but in many cases what your prospct hears is "You're stupid, how could you even consider a service that doesn't have A, B and C?"
2. Second, the prospect's sales defense shield will go up because they'll see you as a sales person trying to make a sale.  This makes them stop listening to you and starting planning how they're going to escape from the conversation.

Even when you know you're right and that features A, B, and C make your product or service a MUCH better choice (seems logical to me captain), you will have more sales success if you ask questions that help the prospective customer discover these things on their own.  It might sound like this:

"That's great, XYZ Corp. really offers a nice service.  I know many people who have been happy using them.  Can I ask you a question?  When they told you they don't offer Benefit A, what did you say?  When you asked them about Feature B, how did they respond?  How did you feel when they told you their service doesn't include Benefit C?"

Asking these types of questions.....

• When they told you.....
• When you asked them about....
• How did you feel when they told you....
• When you explained that feature C was important to you....

....will help your prospects discover the advantages of working with you on their own.  And when you help them reach these conclusions on their own - rather than having a sales person tell them the logical facts - they will be more comfortable with you and will perceive you as being helpful not pushy.

Increase Sales By Focusing Your Prospecting Efforts

When a sales person is struggling one of the first questions we ask is "how many people are on your target prospect list?"  Usually we find a list with everything and the kitchen sink.  Too many names.  Too many target accounts.  Too many titles.  Too many target industries.  Too spread out geographically.  In short, a target prospect list that shows a total lack of focus.

Usually when we point this out to a struggling sales person we hear something like "Yes, but anyone of these prospects could potentially buy from me."  And that's probably true and some probably will, which will only reinforce the belief that casting a wide prospecting net is an effective sales strategy.  In our experience it's not.

On the other extreme, when we look at the target prospecting list of a highly successful, top producing sales person we usually see a much more focused and narrowly targeted list.  They have usually found their niche and are concentrating their sales efforts on being the dominant provider in that niche.  It could be a specific industry, it could be a specific title or functional role within a prospect's organization, it could be a narrow geographical area, or it could be a combination of multiple characteristics.

To get started, take a look at your top client successes (or the client successes of the top sales people on your team) and ask:

• What does my dream client look like? 
• What characteristics should they have? 
• What do I like about working with them?
• Who else has those same traits? 
• Is it role-specific? 
• Is it industry-specific? 
• Is it situational? 

Then ask yourself the following tough questions:

• Who do I need to become as a sales person to effectively serve these dream clients?
• What do I need to STOP doing so I can focus my sales efforts exclusively on those ideal clients?
• What do I need to do to get out of my comfort zone to target decision makers at my ideal cleint?
• How can I leverage this renewed focus to improve my networking and referral strategies?

Instead of casting a wide net and just hoping for the best, take ownership of your sales success by narrowing your sales focus.  One way to do that is to use our Free Sales Focus Worksheet.  Thanks and good selling!

Sales Systems and Super Bowl Champions

What a great Super Bowl game last night!  As a lifelong Green Bay Packers fan it was especially sweet.  

Do you think the Green Bay Packers won the NFL Super Bowl yesterday by chance?  Or do you think there was a little bit of planning, strategy and the consistent execution of a proven system involved in helping the Green Bay Packers overcome tremendous adversity and a tough competitor to win it all?

With key players going down - not just during the big game last night, but really all year - the importance of having a strong system in place could not be more clear.  Charles Woodson goes down with a broken collar bone?  No problem, just use Jarrett Bush to blitz from the slot.  Dropped passes?  No problem, just keep running the plays you know should work and focus on the execution next time (thank you Jordy Nelson!).

The Green Bay Packers beat a quality Pittsburgh Steelers team to win the NFL championship last night because they had a strong system in place that allowed them to continue to function even through adversity.  So what does that have to do with sales?  Everything!

How strong is your sales sytem?  Have you studied your prospects and competition enough to be able to anticipate their likely moves?  Do you know where you need to focus your initial efforts and what to do when the conversation breaks down?  Do you have a logical progression from A to B, then B to C, then C to Close?

Or do you just wing it and hope for the best?  Sometimes that works - Green Bay had another quarterback famous for his ability to improvise and still succeed.  But as Aaron Rodgers proved last night - focus, preparation, discipline and following a proven system works great too.  And which is more repeatable?  We'll find out over the next few seasons, but I like the odds of continued Packer success with the system Ted Thompsen and Mike McCarthy have put in place. 

As our clients have heard me say over and over again, great systems beat great intentions every time.  Is it time to take a closer look at your sales system so you can have the same odds of repeatable success?

Does Your Attitude Support Sales?

"Ability is what you are capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do.  Attitude determines how well you do it."  - Lou Holtz

What seperates top producing sales people from the rest of the pack?  Do they have better sales skill?  More talent? Do they build relationships faster?  Ask better questions? Are they great presenters? Stronger at prospecting?  All of the above?

Of course all of these things help, but in our experience the single most important factor that seperates successful, highly productive sales people from everyone else is their attitude.  If the first thing a customer buys is you - the sales person - and your attitude sucks it's going to be terribly difficult to get them engaged and excited about your product or service. 

A great attitude can make up for a lot.  In our sales coaching business we have seen many sales people with what might otherwise be fatal flaws - poor organizational skills, lack of follow up, little to no technical or product knowledge, inappropriate timing and other sales weaknesses - succeed in sales because they have a great attitude.  They bring a passion and enthusiasm that is contagious and makes clients want buy from them.  Imagine how well they do once we help them acquire stronger sales skills and use a better selling system?

On the other hand, a bad attitude can destroy profit and revenue faster than you can imagine.  We have seen sales people with all the right skills and technical knowledge absolutely flop because they have a horrible attitude.  And while a great attitude is contagious, it seems a bad attitude can spread even faster.

How is your attitude toward sales?  Do you have the passion and enthuiasm to effectively transfer emotion and get your prospects as excited about your product and service as you are?  Do you look forward to sales meetings and coaching sessions with your manager?  Are you upbeat and positive no matter who you're talking to?  Do you have a positive outlook and do you see the impact that has on those around you?

If you can say yes to these questions you're probably off to a great start this year.  If you find yourself rolling your eyes as you read these questions, you may still be off to a good start this year, but it's probably inspite of what you've done instead of because of what you've done.

Your attitude is your choice.  And every day you get a new opportunity to make better choices.  Good selling!

Talk Less to Increase Sales

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal looked at which NFL announcers are the chattiest.  They actually counted the number of words per minute (wpm) for both the play-by-play and the color man for various broadcast teams.  The results were a bit surprising -- ranging from the chattiest team of Kevin Harlan/Solomon Wilcots at CBS at 189.2 wpm to the least chatty team of Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth at NBC at 137.33 wpm.  The top team at FOX, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, were a close second behind Michaels/Collinsworth, averaging 138.33 wpm.

What's interesting when you look at the list is the top broadcast teams - those that are generally assigned to the premier games or the nationally broadcast games - are also less chatty.  That is, they talk less but seem to say more.

How can you apply this to sales?  How often do you find yourself doing more talking in a sales meeting than the prospective customer?  As you get nervous, do you tend to talk more or talk faster?  As you feel pressure, get uncomfortable, or encounter resistance do you immediately run to your comfort zone and start talking about the features and benefits of your product or service (even though you KNOW you should ask questions and help the prospect discover the problems and challenges you can solve)?

This is perfectly normal behavior and easy to change.  The first step is to recognize when it happens and remind yourself to slow down.  Do you remember Al Michaels' call when the US Hockey team defeated the USSR team (the "miracle on ice") at Lake Placid?  He was silent, letting his viewers soak in the moment and listen to the crowd.  And then he asked a great question - "Do you believe in miracles?"

What can you do to apply this philosophy to your next sales call?  Can you remind yourself to talk less and ask questions?  What will that mean for your sales productivity?  Why not try it on your next call?

Cold Call Strategies – How to Overcome Your Sales Call Reluctance

Believe it or not, there are sales people who absolutely thrive on making cold calls.  But for most of us sales mortals picking up the phone to call a perfect stranger is not a natural behavior.  That’s why in our business consulting practice we spend a lot of sales management coaching time helping our clients hold their sales people accountable to hitting certain targets for prospecting activities (number of dial attempts, number of conversations, number of appointments, etc.).  We find that if you manage a sales team’s daily activities and make sure they “do the work” of prospecting, the results will follow.

So what can do to get back track if you’re a mere sales mortal and are not one of the rare sales people who absolutely loves making cold calls?  Here are five ideas you can put to use right away, plus a bonus opportunity if you want to explore your call reluctance further.

1. Know Your Target – you can’t make calls if you don’t have the right list.  And if you invest your valuable time calling the wrong people you will quickly get frustrated and give up.  If you don’t know where to start, ask your sales manager for a list of your firms most profitable and productive accounts and start to identify companies and people at those companies that look like them.  Tools like www.jigsaw.com and www.zapdata.com can help you get started.
2. Call Higher Than You Think You Should – once you understand who your target should be, call higher than you think you should.  Many sales people spend their prospecting time calling the people they’re comfortable with or who will talk with them.  If these people happen to be the decision makers, great.  In many cases they’re not so you need to go up a level (or two).
3. Make it a Habit – making cold calls is like anything else you know is good for you but don’t want to do.  If you allow yourself to find other activities you’ll never get to it and you’ll go home at the end of the day making promises to yourself about how many calls you’re going to make “tomorrow.”  But then you just repeat the same routine.  Schedule time with yourself on a regular basis (daily is ideal) to make your prospecting calls.  In general, the earlier in the day you can do this the better.
4. Make it Fun – what can you do to make it a game?  Can you keep track of how long it takes to have five (5) conversations and always strive to beat your personal record?  What would happen if you started your call with a joke or asked a trivia question to every gatekeeper you encountered?  Can you make your calls standing up and moving around?  What can you do to make it fun and bring positive energy and enthusiasm to your prospecting efforts?
5. Be Prepared – this advice isn’t just for boy scouts.  How much more confident will you sound when you have a clear opening and can quickly explain why you’re calling (from the prospect’s point of view)?  How professional will you look if you have timely, relevant examples and questions to peak their interest and get the conversation started?  You don’t want to read from a script, but just winging it every time doesn’t work either.

If you’re serious about overcoming your call reluctance and improving your prospecting skills I urge you to sign up for the webinar we’re sponsoring on Tuesday, January 11 at 1:00 pm Central Time.  Last bit of advice – don’t hesitate, just do it.