Salesletics - An Introduction

Full disclosure: I am a sports fan. Not just "a" sports fan, I enjoy most sports, almost all sports.

I enjoy watching sports. I enjoy playing sports. In my younger years, there was basketball, volleyball badminton, running and ball hockey (as a Canadian I probably should be embarrassed to not be an ice hockey player, but ice rinks are cold and I have never really liked the cold). Now that I have transitioned solidly into my middle-aged years I find myself not able to compete in those faster-paced sports and I have taken up new pastimes like golf.

What I truly enjoy is competing. Competition is at the heart of all sports: team vs, team and player vs. player. This is what drew me to the career I am in, selling. Selling is pure competition, it requires the same preparation, practice, systems and execution that are required in all sports. In essence, selling is as much of a sport as anything.

Those who excel in a sales role prepare for every call, they practice their sales pitch and closing techniques, they have a system to cover their territory efficiently and they execute their plan to perfection. They do this every day of every week all year long. This is Salesletics.

There are no shortcuts to sales success, just as there are no shortcuts to sports success. To be a top performer a salesperson needs to a execute on all aspects of their technique. Dedication to practicing, to reviewing competitive information, to getting better every day, to winning.

If you are not putting in all the work required, ask yourself why? Is selling more of a hobby than a profession?

Are you a Saleslete? Do you have what it takes to be a Saleslete?

3 Things Sales People can Learn from Super Bowl LI

Just about everyone I know that has even the remotest interest in the NFL falls in to one of two categories: They either LOVE the New England Patriots or absolutely HATE them with a vengeance that is usually reserved for the most evil of criminals. The mere fact that this team was playing in Super Bowl LI was an apocalyptic circumstance that demanded all sane people cheer for their opponent.

By now almost everyone knows New England staged one of the greatest comeback victories ever in big game sports. Down by 25 points with just over 23 minutes remaining in regulation time all the Patriots haters were rejoicing. It looked bleak for New England, no doubt about it. What happened after that will be debated as either the biggest comeback to win a Super Bowl or the biggest collapse to lose a Super Bowl. Either way there are important lessons for sales people to pay attention to from those final minutes and overtime.

Lets pretend the Vince Lombardi Trophy is your sales quota and the two teams are competing sales executives for the top of the sales board. The season and playoffs to this point were merely a way to identify the top two and have them drive to the end of the month knowing they need to out sell the other on Super Bowl Sunday

I have seen this situation on sales teams many times, I've been the sales person that is behind the other drastically and fighting the uphill battle. I've been the sales person that jumps out to an early lead and needs to bring it home in a close race at the finish. The key, as the Patriots clearly illustrated, is to never lose focus. never give up and to never stop believing.

Understand the Objective

It seems obvious the objective is to win, but how? When an extra point was missed with just over 17 minutes remaining many New England fans may have felt the universe was conspiring to ensure an Atlanta victory. Down 19 points with just over a quarter of football remaining and having scored only 9 points in almost 3 quarters, the task of catching up seemed impossible. Someone on the New England side did the math - three scores ties the game. That became the objective.

Leverage Strengths

Again, this seems obvious but look at the reality of what happened. New England has possibly the greatest quarterback of all-time in Tom Brady, so when the chips were down they went with their strength. In the fourth quarter alone New England passed 22 times and ran 3 times. They stayed true to their short and middle distance pass plays and did not throw a "Hail Mary" pass in "hopes" of success. In Tom they trust.

Never, Ever Give Up

It would have been easy for the Patriots to fold like a lawn chair when the score was 28-3 for Atlanta, the Patriots did not. They chipped away at the lead and every member of the team on the field contributed. They played every down with the belief that they would prevail.

The same process will help sales people succeed against their monthly, quarterly and annual targets, moving them towards the top of the sales board. You need to understand what the objectives are (quota), you need to leverage your skills and training to build a sales funnel and close the deals that are closeable, focusing on what is immediately possible and not a long shot. Most of all you should never give up until the final whistle blows and the month is over.

New England did just that. They finished strong and played to the final whistle. As a sales executive, will you play to end, drive to the top of the board? Or will you be happy to achieve quota and just coast to the turning of the calendar?

** Disclaimer: I am, and have been for many, many years, a fan of the New England Patriots football team. 

The Voicemail Paradox

How many times have you called a prospect or suspect and leave a voicemail? Better yet, how many times do you get a call back from that voicemail? It can be the most frustrating part of the day for any business development rep, calling and leaving voicemail after voicemail after voicemail. Never getting to hear their own phone ring because not a single person is calling them back.

Leaving effective voice mails is both an art and a science, much like selling itself. It is a skill that can be mastered, and there are a number of rules that need to be followed.

Less is More

Have you ever received a voicemail that went on and on? Did you listen to the whole message? Most people have an attention span of under 45 seconds when it comes to voice messages so I coach sales people to stay under 30 seconds. The catch is you need to say something that will interest the prospect enough to call you back, in as few words as possible. Leaving an entire 3 minute elevator pitch or value proposition will not get you a call back.

Regardless of your product and target market you can craft a creative and compelling short voicemail. Doing A/B testing is always a good idea. For some an ultra short vague first voicemail works best:

"Hi John, it's Paul. Sorry I missed you, I can be reached at 202-555-1212." 

Others require a bit more detail:

"Good morning Sandra. This is Anita at ABC Company. We provide specialized sales training that will increase the number of qualified appointments your sales teams make every week. We believe in our program so much we will guarantee the results. Call me at 202-555-1234 to learn how this program can increase your sales!"

Try a couple versions and track results to determine which will work best in your industry.

No Filler Words

This is one that drives me crazy. Listening to voice mails full of "ums" and "ahs" and "ers". If you are going to call a prospect you should know exactly what you want to say to them or their voicemail when connected.

Other words that fall in to the category of filler words include (but are not limited to):

just-basically-almost

virtually-somewhat-somehow

relatively-might-maybe-closely

should-probably-likely

Avoid these at all costs as they will weaken the impact of your message and reduce the chances of the desired call back.

Be Confident

Nothing encourages a immediate deletion of a voicemail more than a voice lacking in confidence and energy. Smile when you talk, stand up, move around if possible. Speak with volume (not shouting) and authority. Prospects can hear your smile, your energy and your excitement.

Be sure that your confidence does not grow beyond that in to arrogance or smugness. Speak slowly enough that the prospect will be able to write down your number the first pass through and not have to listen to the voicemail again.

Time of Day

Take the time of day in to consideration, remembering the goal is to speak to the prospect. If you know they will be available in the morning call then. The best voice mails are the ones you don't have to leave because you reached the prospect on the first call!

Any tips or tricks you use in your prospecting to increase call back rates? Leave them in the comments below.

How is That New Year's Resolution Going?

I have been reading a few things about fear of failure and relapses on resolutions and how most New Years resolutions don't ever last three weeks... sounds like a lot of doom and gloom out there!

This past Monday was allegedly "Blue Monday", the saddest day of the year. Likely because of bad /cold winter weather, holiday bills being due and yes the realization that we have once again failed to make a New Years resolution last in to February.

The key to getting that resolution to stick is to not be defeated by a lapse or two. Regardless of what the resolution is there is usually some element of breaking or forming a habit. Habits do not magically appear or disappear at the stroke of midnight the beginning of a new year, it takes time and it takes practice.

Changing behaviour and habits is a process, one that requires diligence, patience and persistence. Whether it is business behaviour (adding one extra sales call in every day) or personal (going to the gym every weekday morning) it is natural to have set backs as we adjust to the new behaviour and work towards establishing a new habit. Skipping the gym on Tuesday because you are tired does not mean you can't go on Wednesday, and again on Thursday etc,

Think of the first three months as the practice needed to perfect the new habit, but don't use that as an excuse. It is not failure if you miss a few days of your targeted sales calls, unless you give up and stop trying again. Use the practice time of  the first 90 days of 2015 so that you can hit your stride in Q2!

WIIFM? – It Could Increase your CRM Usage and Adoption

WIIFM? – It could increase your CRM usage and adoption

As sales leaders we always coach our front line reps to distinguish themselves and our products, to understand the clients decision making criteria and to customize a solution that aligns with their corporate and personal goals. These personal goals are often referred to as “What’s In It For Me” or WIIFM, and when addressed properly will lead to shorter sales cycles, usually with higher margins.

It is this simple concept that sales leaders often miss or disregard completely when selecting tools like Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, believing that tracking activities and documenting opportunities is what will make sales people more successful. This is completely backwards.

Any good CRM (and CRM implementation) will need to take in to account not just the reporting needs of management and executive leadership but also the Sales Force Automation (SFA) and usability for the front line sales people. A seasoned sales veteran once asked me “If I put all of this in to our CRM what is it going to give me back?”

It was refreshing to see the WIIFM in action coming from a sales rep, and highlighted the need to understand behavior and decision making drivers. With regards to the question though, in some instances CRM usage is so inadequate the unfortunate answer is “nothing at all”.

What would a sales person want from a CRM? The biggest request I have heard over the years is for a tool that actually helps them sell more, not for a tool that only allows management to review/inspect what they are doing.

Too many CRM’s are selected by sales leadership to enable “greater visibility and reporting” which may allow for analytics that can be used to sharpen marketing efforts to increase sales, but how many marketers at small to mid-sized businesses are actually using CRM analytics today? I would be interested to see some data on that. (Comments below are welcome)

Some of the SFA features that sales people would like include automatic follow-up appointment scheduling, lead creation based on past opportunities (lease term, product life or warranty driven time frames), email campaigns by themes, mobile access (iOS, Android and BB) and  have real time visibility to their person performance and commissions calculations.

If you want your sales teams to be able to sell more they will need the tools you provide them to help them do just that. When selecting a CRM solution for your business did you consult your sales team? 

Quality vs. Quantity

As a sales leader I am often besieged by my direct reports about the number of calls/appointments/activities they are expected to complete on a daily/weekly basis. I have even read sales playbooks that out line exact metrics, as well as lively debate in a group on LinkedIn. 

The number is too high, the number is unrealistic, is all I want that “number” or do I want “real” data/activities. The real question sales people are asking is “Do you want quality or do you want quantity?”

My answer has always been the same – “Yes!”

The issue should not be how many, it should be how many done well. I want quality and I want quantity, in fact I require them both. What has always perplexed me is why sales people tend to look at this as an “either/or” problem while I look at is as the perfect “and” situation, since quality and quantity are not mutually exclusive.

Activities do drive results, no one can argue that. For sales to happen, sales people have to do something and calling on clients is one of those things. Better quality activities will drive better results, I think it is equally difficult to argue against this point also.

Think of sales calls as golf strokes (there will have to be a separate blog post on this idea soon), the fewer the number of calls to get the sale the better your score. Why? Because better calls mean that sales people can make more calls with more clients selling more dollars making more commissions. Quality should never replace quantity, it should magnify it!

How many sales calls are needed to close a sale? More than one? Less than five? There are a lot of variables, I’m interested to hear your thoughts so feel free to leave a comment. 

Prospecting - It Needs to be a Habit

Recently I overheard a salesperson say “I’d rather clean the office bathrooms than prospect” and it got me thinking about why prospecting has such a bad rap. More importantly why average salespeople procrastinate and find excuses not to prospect.

A sales funnel is a precious thing that too many salespeople take for granted. It is the beginning of the sales process and without a beginning there can be no successful ending. Knowing that why is it that salespeople resist prospecting to start the sales process? Better yet what can salespeople do to make prospecting less painful?

The best way to answer these questions is to examine the habits of serially successful salespeople to understand what they do and how they do it. There is always more than enough in their pipeline every month for them to achieve and over achieve their quota. They understand the importance of adding to their sales funnel and “book” time in their calendar everyday to do quality prospecting.

Prospecting is hard work. Prospecting effectively takes dedication. Prospecting is a requirement for sales success and needs to be a habit.

It is the concept of a structured day that most average salespeople ignore. They intend to prospect for 1 or 2 hours every morning but allow any and all interruptions to distract them from this commitment. Maybe a current client called with a billing issue, or an existing prospect emailed a question about the proposal sent two weeks ago. Whatever the excuse that is all it is, an excuse to not prospect.

Do you put off prospecting for any other activity? Would you rather clean a bathroom than pick up the phone a make a cold call? What do you do to make prospecting more bearable or fun? Feel free to add your comments!

Sales and Golf - Success Starts With Preparation

This is a follow up to my post last year titled Why Sales People Love Golf that I posted on my blog You Don't Have to Read This.

 

I believe there are many similarities between the craft of selling and the game of golf, more than can be detailed in this one post. The best place to start the comparison is with preparation.

 

Before I step up to the first tee I like to stop by the course driving range and hit a few balls. It allows me to limber up a bit, to loosen the “golf” muscles so to speak. It also helps get me in the right frame of mind, to focus on the golf and not the 10,000 other things I have going on at any moment in time.

 

After hitting 20 or so shots with various clubs I like to visit the practice green to get a sense of the speed of the greens and complete my preparation process. Before each practice shot, I go through my pre-shot routine, just as I will during the round ahead.

 

I do all this to hopefully eliminate a 50-yard slice off the first tee.

 

So what does this have to do with sales?

 

How many times have you made cold calls and stumbled through the first few only to hit your stride after five or so? What if you could have had your A game on the first call? Preparation will help with this.

 

Rehearse what you will say a few times before you make those first few calls, role play with a colleague or your manager. Everyone can have a different pre-call routine and a different way to warm up before the first call.

Have a pre-call routine that you follow before every call. This will help you start with purpose and focus, and keep you on track if you encounter any challenges.

Do you have a pre-call routine? What do you do before your first cold call to focus and get in the game? I’d love to hear how you plan for your success!

The Skill of Listening

Sales people know stuff, lots of stuff. They want their clients to know that they know this stuff, so they tend to talk about the stuff they know. They are experts in their field and believe that if the client knows how much stuff they know, the client will have no choice but to trust their advice and buy from them.

Here’s the issue I have with this overly simple idea. The stuff that is important to the customer is usually unknown to the sales person because they are spending all of their time talking about the stuff that they know. Ironic isn’t it.

I am a firm advocate that the most powerful sales technique a sales person can employ is listening, and the best tools for this is their ears. I have also witnessed many sales calls where the sales person has talked themselves out of a deal.

Multitasking is all the rage these days. We all do it from time to time. I admit that I have sat through conference call or two while clearing out emails. Inside sales people are excellent at adding notes in to a CRM tool while actually on a call with a client. I hope most of us can walk and chew gum at the same time. Regardless of the above it is impossible to talk and listen simultaneously.

I remember attending a sales training event many years ago that opened with a questionnaire containing 20 questions. At the top of the page were instructions to read the ENTIRE questionnaire before answering any of the questions. The last question asked us all to answer only questions 2 and 10 – most of us had already answered questions 1 through 19! The purpose of the exercise was to highlight a (possible?) misconception that sales people don’t read.

This is nowhere near as frightening as the possibility that sales people don’t listen. Not wanting to paint all sales people with the same brush, I know there are some very successful people that do a great job listening to their clients. I also know there are a large percentage of sales people that would be just as successful if they listened more. Here are some tips to help you be a better listener:

If you are explaining something and your client starts to ask a question, stop talking IMMEDIATELY and listen.

Chances are that what is about to come out of your customer’s mouth is pretty important, and could help you close the deal. They may even be about to say “I’ll take it!” but as the expert that knows stuff you keep talking about this stuff and say something that causes them to question something else.

Do not finish any sentence or question on behalf of your client.

This is never a good idea in any relationship, especially a business relationship. What you are actually saying to the customer is that you don’t care enough about them to hear them out. What you know about stuff is more important than anything they may know about stuff.  You may finish their sentence correctly but you also may not. Then you miss the opportunity to really learn about their interest in or concern with your offering. Do not assume you know what your customer is thinking.

If your customer asks you something that you do not know the answer to, admit it. Commit to finding the answer by a specific deadline and keep the commitment.

Many times I have seen a sales person answer a question with a bold assumptive answer to a question that they do not know the answer to. Their first assumption is that if the customer wants to know this I should probably know the answer. The second assumption is that if I do not know the answer then I will lose some credibility with the customer.

Sales people, while very knowledgeable, are not expected to know the answers to every question. That is why there are sales managers, product specialists and program managers in many industries. It will add to your credibility when you admit that you do not know the answer and that you have a resource that you will contact and get the answer on their behalf.

Do not, under any circumstance, answer your own question.

If you are going to answer it, why did you even ask it? One of the most uncomfortable situations on any sales call is silence; it is also an incredibly strong tool in its own right. If you ask a question, let the client answer. No hints for them either. If they didn’t understand the question they will eventually admit it, if they have other questions they will ask.

When you let them off the hook by breaking the silence you don’t get to listen to the silence. You don’t get to eventually hear what is on the client’s mind; you lose the advantage of knowing even more stuff, Stuff about the client, their interest and concerns. Not knowing stuff like this is much worse than not knowing stuff about your product.

As we start a new week, month and quarter remember that we all have two ears and only one mouth. We should all listen more and talk less. We will learn more, sell more and earn more.

Happy selling!

Under Promise and Over Deliver

The first piece of coaching I always give a new sales professional is to under promise and over deliver. This holds true for dealings with their customers as well as with their manager.

When working with a customer if the sales professional knows that their proposal will be ready for presentation by Thursday at noon, set the expectation that the client will receive it on Friday. If a product is on back order and won’t be delivered for two weeks let the client know that the product will be there before the end of the third week.

There will inevitably be times when the two week delay turns in to a four week delay, and how this is communicated carries just as much importance. As soon as the sales professional is aware of the extended delay they need to act. Contact the customer to explain and apologize for the inconvenience this delay may have caused. Be proactive, is there a possible substitute that is in stock that can ship right away?

Keep appointments and time frames. If you booked a 30 minute meeting at 2pm, be there early and make sure the appointment does not last past 2:30, unless your client requests it. Always leave yourself some extra time between appointments so that you are not late for the next one.

How does this impact the customer? It shows that the sales professional is organized, diligent and is respectful of the clients business. It adds to their credibility with the client and builds valuable trust.

When communicating with a sales manager many sales professional’s initial instinct is to impress. Instead of giving a conservative (and accurate) forecast of the business they put on their rose coloured glasses and estimate a higher number. The other side of this coin is that they estimate a lower number in order to over achieve it by a large margin, believing it will make them look like a superstar. Neither of these will scenarios will give the sales manager any confidence that the sales professional has any understanding of the business environment they are in.

A lot of this seems like common sense, and it is. It just seems like common sense isn’t so common these days.

Happy selling!