In these turbulent times when things appear to be in flux, I came across this brief article by Dave Kurlan, author of Baseline Selling. It seems like business owners are sharing with me that their sales people are no longer able to simply take orders. Rather, they are now charged with prospecting and closing business. If that is true for you, please consider our next 2 Day Sales Training Boot Camp on Friday July 18th and Friday July 24th. Call me at 858 483-8888 for more details.
Kurlan discusses evaluating and hiring effective sales people. We use a pre-screen hiring tool that has a 95% predictive validity if sales people will be successful or not. Call me today and we can discuss this tool and a way to assess your people, strategies, and systems. Here is to a happy 4th of July and wishing you good selling! Enjoy the tips.
Darren
Top Ten Ways to Drive Sales
Let's assume that you have the right people, compensation, incentives, systems and processes in place. Are you all set? Hardly. You still have to drive sales because in most companies sales don't happen by themselves. The companies that do that the best follow these steps:
- Evaluate their sales force
- Set clear expectations
- Identify necessary behaviors required for the results
- Get buy-in and commitment from their salespeople and managers
- Support the effort with training, development and coaching
- Hold their people accountable for behaviors and results
- Frequently and clearly communicate the expectations
- Demonstrate top management's commitment to the expectations, behaviors, training, development and coaching through participation and communication.
- Replace non-performers
- Hire A players
(c) Copyright 2008 Dave Kurlan
Sweet Dreams: Are you hitting a homer,
striking out, or waiting for a walk?
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Well summer, sadly, is winding down which means baseball is heating up. My son, Christian James (CJ) who turns 9 tomorrow, attended the Aflac High School All American All-Star Baseball game over the weekend at Tony Gwynn Stadium. He and his mom sat behind the parents of the all-star shortstop for the East team. My wife, of course, initiated conversation with the all star’s mom. The mom told my son about the daily regiment consisting of exercise, diet, and discipline her son does every day. The dad shared his boy will be drafted next year by a major league baseball team. My son‘s eyes became the size of baseballs.
Yesterday something changed. My son went out to the backyard to hit his usual 100 baseballs off of a tee and into a net. He is not in the major leagues yet, so he can not afford to pay for the neighbor’s shattered window. He had a sincere look of concentration and determination as he slugged ball after ball into the net.
Later last night, he went back outside and hit 200 more baseballs. His mom asked him why. He replied “I can hit baseballs all day everyday if I believe in 8 years I can be a high school All American”. He also endured several push ups and sit ups. He drank milk at every meal; he wants to change his diet to ensure that good fuel enters the body.
What was the metamorphis that took place? He now has a vision. Sure we take him to see the Padres and Red Sox play games when we can. Saturday was different. He saw 17 year old kids playing before a capacity crowd and he could relate to them and he began to picture himself on that field. Sure, it is only day one. With only 2,917 days to go, time will tell if he will maintain consistency.
What does this have to do with sales? CJ has a vision in which he sees himself as succeeding. What is your vision? What will motivate you to do your psychological push ups? Develop a vision. See the possibilities and then you can form your plan to get there. Until you grasp a compelling why to do difficult or painful things, you will not be as successful as you wish. You probably have never been to a half day seminar and got all excited that your life will forever more be changed. A day later, you got stuck in the same routine. I have clients who experienced that. They, like CJ, need to do behaviors EVERYDAY that will help them reach their vision. Perhaps CJ may never play in the major leagues. He may not make it, but it won’t be due to lack of effort. His behavior, day in and day out, will translate into success no matter what he does.
P.S. I just finished typing this sales tip. “Hey Dad, can I tell you about my dream last night?” “I dreamt eight years had gone by. I played in the H.S. All American for the West team. We won.”
Sweet Dreams and Happy Birthday CJ!
Love always, Dad
I included an old Sandler article about creating a prospecting plan that I find helpful.
Wishing you good selling!
Darren
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Want to learn more ways to develop an effective prospecting plan? How about learning a systematic approach to sales? Attend our two day sales training boot camp on August 24th and 29th. Call me today at 858 483-8888. There are a limited number of seats available.
Enjoy the article!
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Prospecting with a Plan
A good pool of prospects is one of the keys to a successful selling career. Knowing how to prospect effectively keeps a career vital, and is truly the lifeblood of sales. Yet, so many sales professionals overlook the crucial element of having a prospecting plan. With a plan to follow, you can measure your efforts and results.
The Mix
A good prospecting plan includes several types of activities. Some examples include: cold phone calls, referrals, talks, mailings and networking. While most salespeople have a variety of activities available to them, they tend to use only a few, either because they have a certain comfort level with some activities, or a discomfort with others. Mixing your activities takes the pressure of any one activity to provide your livelihood. If you're not comfortable with an approach, invest time to improve your skills, and ultimately your comfort level, to make other activities work for you.
The Action
Prospecting activities are either active or passive. Active prospecting gives you complete control over how the activity is carried out. For example, making cold call is active. You control who you call, how often you call, how many calls you make, and what you say. Advertising is passive ? you can't control whether a piece gets to its intended destination, is read, or generates a response. Although you can increase your response rate by offering free samples, a bonus or other premium, you give up most control by advertising.
To achieve desired results, mix your active and passive prospecting. Passive activities may be more comfortable, but comfort may not be the answer to your prospecting challenge.
The Plan
When you've decided which activities to pursue, put them on your calendar. Schedule your activities according to time, budget, resources and target audience considerations. And be sure to put your preparation activities (preparing a seminar, writing your newsletter or composing your mailing) in no-pay time. A budget should accompany your prospecting calendar. Will there be labor, equipment, facility or print costs? These elements all factor into your choice of prospecting activities and their weight in your mix.
The Results
Once you've chosen your mix, planned your actions, scheduled your activities and carried out your plan, what were the results? Where did your leads come from, and which activities generated the leads that translated into appointments? Although different activities may produce varying results, you'll probably find that a plan that reflects a variety of methods will pay off. And you may even find success with an activity you thought wouldn't work for you, or that you were reluctant to try.
Each prospecting plan is unique, but all have elements in common: they should include a mix of activities that are feasible for your situation and have action steps for those activities based on resources available and scheduling constraints. As the saying goes, "If you don't know where you're going, how will you know when you get there?"
© 2000, Sandler Systems, Inc. |
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The TACTIC: The "Send me some literature" brush-off.
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The STORY:
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At last, thought Tim, I've finally gotten past the secretary screen.
"Hello, this is Ms. Freed. I understand you might have something I would be interested in."
"Yes, I do," responded Tim with enthusiasm.
After a pause of a few seconds, "Well, what might that be?" she asked.
"I understand that you are in the market for the products and services my company offers, and I'd like to make an appointment to discuss it with you."
"That's nice, but I don't know just what it is that your company offers."
"Well, we have a complete range of products and services that can significantly affect your bottom line."
"Well...could you do something for me?" she asked.
"Of course," answered Tim, "Anything."
"Before we talk further, I really need you to send some literature about what you offer. Could you do that?"
Tim sensed that getting the appointment was slipping away.
"I think it would be better if I could stop by and spend a few moments going over the literature."
"Tell you what," she said, "You send me some literature, and I'll call you after I review it."
"Promise?" asked Tim.
"It's a promise. You send it over, I'll look at it and get back to you."
"I'll get it out this afternoon. And thank you." Tim put down the phone and jotted down in his Day Timer that this prospect was warm.
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The RESULT:
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Everyone who is selling anything has been in this situation over and over again. And, unfortunately, 99 percent of those selling have tons of literature for just this occasion when the prospect requests it. And 99 percent of the literature that is mailed out to prospects never gets read nor is an appointment ever made. The salesperson has the illusion that something is going to happen. What really happened is that the prospect got rid of another salesperson that got past the secretary screen.
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DISCUSSION:
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Sending literature is good for the postman, the printer, the copywriter and the envelope manufacturer. You and your company pay all of these people to get that literature into the hands of someone who just brushed you off.
There will be the argument that if you don't send the literature, you might be missing out on a potential sale. "If I don't send it, my competitor will."
Start keeping track of how many people actually purchase something from you, when the first step in the sale was sending literature. If you are consistent in tracking this, you will find the number is very low.
If the prospect cannot spend fifteen minutes in person telling you what he needs, sending literature is like throwing a pail of water into the desert hoping it lands on a plant.
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APPROACH:
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You are in total control of whether or not you agree to send literature. There is no reason that you should unless you know exactly why the prospect needs it and exactly what is going to happen once the prospect has it. The only way you can learn these two things is to ask, ask, ask until you get answers.
Tim has no idea why he is sending literature other than he can write down in his DayTimer that he has a warm one. Tim is deluding himself into thinking that something might happen.
Unless you have a thorough understanding of what the person is looking for, and a firm commitment from the person to do something once he has the literature, don't waste your time and the company's money.
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THOUGHT:
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"Send me some literature" is the same thing as "I already gave at the office."
)1992, 2007 Sandler Systems, Inc and TEM Associates, Inc. All rights reserved. S Sandler Sales Institute 1800 From Traditional Sales Training (with design) is a registered service mark of Sandler Systems, Inc. Tactics for Sales Professionals is a service mark of Sandler Systems,
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Attend our two day sales training boot camp on August 17th and 24th from 8:00am-5:00pm. These are not typical results but never the less are true stories. One participant sold $28,000 in one day after attending. Another woman walked into a meeting and walked out with an order worth several thousand dollars. She said that she had been chasing the prospect for months. We gave her some tips and she closed the deal. Please read the information below and you may become the next great boot camp success story.
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In this intensive, experiential, entertaining and informative two day session participants will learn to:
- .Keep control of the sales process
- Turn a suspect into a prospect in 90 seconds
- Stop giving away profit by selling on price
- Effectively handle stalls and objections
- Shorten your selling cycle
- Get more referrals
- Find the power to eliminate unpaid consulting
- Effortlessly prospect for new business
- Uncover the true reasons why people buy
- Quickly identify the decision maker(s)
- Ask effective questions to close the sale
- Nurture the client into the sale
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Call us today at 858-483-8888. Seating is limited. Chamber members receive a 10% discount.
Wishing you good selling!
Darren
No Suprises
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Surprises can sometimes be fun, but not when you're dealing with a prospect or customer. Surprises during a meeting, either from the prospect or from you, can be a deal breaker, or at the very least compromise a positive relationship between you and your prospect. But there's a Sandler technique to avoid this pitfall: Up-Front Contracts.
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Up-Front Contracts, or UFCs, assure that you and your prospect will understand before each meeting what will take place during that meeting. One of David Sandler's core rules is "No mutual mystification," and his method of using UFC reflects that rule.
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Beyond eliminating unpleasant surprises, using a UFC allows the salesperson to maintain control during all phases of the selling process. Control of the selling process is vital to a salesperson's success. If that control is lost by allowing the client to orchestrate meetings or introduce unexpected elements it is difficult, if not impossible, to effectively follow the Sandler method and close the sale. If a UFC is established, the salesperson can confidently guide client interactions and keep the sales process on track.
Each up-front contract should include five elements:
- The purpose of the meeting, contact or future action.
- The prospect/client's agenda for the meeting and his or her expectations of the salesperson before and during the meeting.
- The salesperson's agenda for the meeting, and his/her expectations of the prospect before and during the meeting.
- The date, location and duration of the meeting.
- The expected outcome of the meeting or interaction.
It's important to make sure that the prospect understands to and agrees to all the terms of the UFC prior to the meeting. So when the salesperson is talking to the prospect to schedule a meeting, the salesperson should be sure to review the contract with the prospect before hanging up the phone or leaving the office.
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And what if the UFC is breached by the prospect? The salesperson must, at that point, determine why the prospect reneged on the original agreement, and decide whether to continue with the meeting under the new conditions, reschedule the meeting with a new Up-Front Contract, or to end the relationship with the prospect.
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The Up-Front Contract is a crucial element in using the Sandler Selling System. Making a contract, and sticking to it, gives the salesperson the ability to control the selling process, and focus on the specific needs of the prospect. With an Up-Front Contract for each and every meeting or interaction, salespeople can take the element of surprise out of the selling process.
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The ABT’s of Selling
Whatever we do, whenever we interact with the world, we do so through our attitude, behavior and technique.
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As managers, we must get to know our salespeople well enough to be conscious of how these three dimensions may appear to prospects and how they may affect the sales efforts of our salespeople. And that's not always easy. After all, when we attempt to understand any of these traits, we quickly move into the realm of psychology or the social sciences. But there's nothing to fear if we keep it simple.
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Attitude often can be controlled and directed. But that requires people to explore the roots of their attitudes, and then take positive steps to banish negative feelings by focusing on the positive. As managers, you must encourage the spread of the positive roots, and "root out" all the sources of negativity.
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Attitude influences people's choices in life. A positive attitude moves us toward a positive result, and a negative attitude toward a negative result. Even better, positive results lead to even more positive attitudes. Attitude, then, affects behavior.
Behavior is affected by other influences, as well. Some influences can be controlled, while others cannot. But we can't know what influences are controllable until we attempt to master our fate and consciously guide our behavior. Encourage salespeople to repeat positive behavior until it becomes habit.
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Behavior is often the simple acting out of a role. But, again, we must try to control the performance. Help your salespeople determine who they want to be, then, encourage them to play the role until they become it. That's not masquerading; that's personal growth!
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Technique, too, stems from conscious striving combined with unconscious impulses. But technique can be mastered even more easily than behavior, through training, observation, practice and mentoring. The sky's the limit with technique.
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Technique can compensate for poor attitude and poor behaviors, but only to a very minor degree. A bad attitude and inconsistent behavior will torpedo even the most polished technique. All three aspects of our professional tool kit must work together for us to be complete and successful as sales professionals.
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If we focus on attaining a positive set of attitudes; repeatable, systematic behavior; and consistent, professional technique, then over time we can ensure success.
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I Didn’t Go to College for This
By Darren Cecil, M.A.
We spent years studying for tests, learning cases, formulas, and codes. Then, we landed that first job post-degree(s). The boss welcomed us to the firm of Uon U. Own and Howe. Now, we must figure out how to get business, close deals, and engage in client development. Personally, I didn’t go to college, study my tail off, only to feel like a lowly sales person. Welcome to your dream career.
You go out and you might engage in the ‘beauty pageant” in which your law firm parades all the successes and Ivy Leaguers on staff. The potential client may ask you for advice on the case. They went with Ms. Texas instead. Perhaps, as an accountant, engineer, or consultant you meet with a client who asks you how to solve challenges to see how good you are. You demonstrate your expertise but do not get the business. Finally, as an architect, you might even do some preliminary drawings to prove that you are not just Mike Brady that designed a house with 6 children and one bathroom. The prospect likes your work so much that he gives it to his architect that he had working on the project in the first place. If you can relate to any of these experiences, you witnessed and fallen victim of the buyer’s system first hand. You may have even felt like an “unpaid consultant”
You can sit around get angry, feel sorry yourself, or learn something that might change the way you conduct business for the rest of your life. Whether you are fresh out of college, been in the business for twenty years, or are a partner or shareholder, at some point you will need to book business. Law school, grad school, or college never taught you how to establish client relationships, close a deal, or even networking skills.
What is a professional to do? Relax you can attend a two hour seminar with Sandler Sales Institute entitled. I didn’t go to college for this…Sales Strategies for the Non-Selling Professional on July 17th from 7:00p.m.- 9:00pm at the Four Points Sheraton at 8110 Aero Drive. We invite you to view our website www.sdsales.sandler.com or call 858-483-8888.
If you are challenged by any of these obstacles
- Uncomfortable being perceived to be in the selling role
- Too much unpaid consulting
- Hesitant asking for referrals
- Frustrated with committees or long selling cycles
- Discomfort discussing money
- Don’t charge enough
- Difficulty asking potential clients for a commitment
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You Will Learn:
- Why people really buy and how to overcome the buyer’s system.
- 4 Key elements to growing revenue
- Overview of the Sandler System for Professional Client Development to permit your client to say yes without pressure
- 5 Hidden Weaknesses that will cripple success of your or your firm’s success.
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It does not matter if you call it Client Development, Business Development, Practice-Building, or Marketing-everyone sells but not everyone is comfortable selling. How about you? You didn’t go to college for sales. You went to college to be the most successful attorney, accountant, architect, engineer, or consultant that you could be. Closing more deals and booking more business will lead to your success!
Darren Cecil
Darren R. Cecil, President
San Diego Sales, Inc.
Telephone: 858-483-8888
www.sdsales.sandler.com
sdsales@sandler.com
How Much Will it Cost?
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What happens when a prospect asks your price upfront before you’ve discussed any aspect of the business? Are they just shopping around or maybe they don’t see a difference between you and the competitive product?
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If you fire off a quote, put together a beautiful package of information with some great brochures and a cover note what are the chances you will get the business? Is that different than what your competition will do? You can always send the stuff and hope or you can ‘plant your feet’, save you and the prospect some time, and operate like a business person in sales rather than a vendor.
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Price is rarely the determining factor when buying. An incredible rock-bottom low price isn’t all that great if the quality sucks, or you have to call 1-800-Who Cares when you need service. When you buy, is price the ultimate factor in every purchase? Do you drive the cheapest car that runs like a tank, live in the worst neighborhood because the price was right? I doubt it and I also doubt that your prospects buy that way. Many times price is not a factor, it’s a means of negotiating and that’s a completely different circumstance.
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Price is an intellectual decision factor but most people buy on emotional decision factors. That doesn’t mean price isn’t an important factor but after people have made an emotional buying decision they’ll justify it intellectually. You need some skills to get there .
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Finally, any inquiry will get you an intellectual response first. You have to ask a minimum of three questions to get to the emotional reasons.
WEEKLY QUOTE
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ASK YOURSELF THE FOLLOWING... - Are your prices being shopped all over town? Are you tired of hearing, "I'll need to think it over?" - Is your selling cycle getting longer? - You know what to do differently to increase sales yet you just can't seem to pull it off? - Are your prospects stalling you with excuses? - Do you find yourself giving away your product, service or your companies information and becoming an unpaid consultant? - You know how to handle objections but you can't seem to get the words out of your mouth? These are painful questions. But they're questions all sales professional have to answer at some point, and if you or your salesperson answered "yes" to one or more of these questions, then Sandler Sales may be for you! Please take the next step and... LEARN HOW TO: - Double your sales while giving yourself more free time - How to take the fear out of prospecting and build confidence in yourself - Turn "think it over" into new business - How to get rid of unwanted, limited thoughts - Stop becoming an unpaid consultant - What Prospects do to keep you from being in control - Overcome your fears and become the sales person you want to be!
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Attention Sales Managers!
Call us today at (858) 483-8888 and find out how you can attend our Strategic Sales Management Program. Hear from other sales managers facing similar issues you are also facing and learn ways to solve these challenges.
Attend our Two Day Sales Training Boot Camp on Thursday June 21st and Tuesday June 26th. Check out www.sdsales.sandler.com <http://www.sdsales.sandler.com> for additional information. Call today there is limited seating available
Attention attorneys, accountants, architects, engineers, consultants and others. Attend our Four Hour Session, I Did Not Go To College For This: Selling Strategies for the Non-Selling Professionals. Look for Information coming soon!
Wishing you good selling!
Sales Tip of the Iceberg
Like the iceberg that sank the Titanic, there are at least four major weaknesses lurking beneath the surface of any potential new hire and perhaps even your current sales force. Don’t wait till your ship starts taking on water to uncover and shore up any potential threats.
Ice Issue in the Need for Approval
When salespeople need approval from prospects, they are unable to close effectively. They cling to comments like, "we really appreciate what you did for us". They are too fearful to get the business. They usually find it difficult to ask tough questions because they're afraid to upset prospects.
Freezing due to Emotional Involvement
Some salespeople are worriers. They strategize on the fly, are excitable, creative, or analytical. After a sales call you might hear them say, "Oh jeez! I should have said..." They weren't able to execute during the call because they were caught off guard, became emotional, and over-analyzed. Panicking, they began to think about how they would handle the obstacle. When your salespeople talk to themselves they can't effectively listen to their prospect.
Icicles in Non-Supportive Buy Cycles
Buy Cycle refers to how your salespeople make purchases for themselves. They will tolerate bad behavior from their prospects when it is similar to their own. A buy cycle that fails to mirror a proper selling process causes many obstacles your salespeople have been unable to handle. Anyone who bargain shops, does extensive research, and clips coupons will be more vulnerable to stalls, put offs, lies, excuses, procrastinators, comparison shoppers, sob stories and other forms of "think it overs.".
Cold Feet Talking About Money
My parents told me never to ask questions about how much money people made, had, or merely mention the word money. Discussing money is impolite. Right? Wrong.
When salespeople are uncomfortable talking about money, they can't ask a prospect how much money (s)he has, where it might be coming from, or how to come up with more. Therefore, they fail to accurately learn how much money a prospect will spend with them. This becomes even more difficult when the prospect is equally uncomfortable.
You run a tight ship and don’t shuffle the deck chairs on the Titanic. You systematically assess all your new hires freezing out anyone who can’t or won’t sell at the margins you require. You also have a good plan for supporting your existing team so these icy issues don’t cause their blood to run cold. As a result your sales are hot.
If for any reason you want a screening or a sales force evaluation process more streamlined and fluid, please contact us at the Sandler Sales Institute and will help your ship come in.
Attention Sales Managers!
Call us today at (858) 483-8888 and find out how you can attend our Strategic Sales Management Program. Hear from other sales managers facing similar issues you are also facing and learn ways to solve these challenges.
Attend our Two Day Sales Training Boot Camp on Thursday June 21st and Tuesday June 26th. Check out www.sdsales.sandler.com for additional information. Call today there is limited seating available
Attention attorneys, accountants, architects, engineers, consultants and others. Attend our Four Hour Session, I Did Not Go To College For This: Selling Strategies for the Non-Selling Professionals. Look for Information coming soon!
Win Without Fighting
In The Art of War, Sun-tzu wrote, "The best victory is when the opponent surrenders of its own accord before there are any actual hostilities? It is best to win without fighting."
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The same holds true in the "art of sales." Even though the prospect is not always right, he or she is the judge and jury.
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So, how do you respond when you are under attack - being reprimanded for something, rightfully or wrongfully? Rather than stand your ground and attempt to explain, justify, or defend your position, fall back.
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For example, your company missed a promised shipment date and the customer called to let you know how upset he is. Rather than try to explain about the trucking company's delay, which was out of your control, you could fall back. Here is what that sounds like: "Bill, I know that you must be upset about the order arriving a day late. And, I'm sure it wouldn't do any good to try to explain what happened. I don't know if you've issued a 'shoot on sight' order, or if I should show up in your lobby, but I would imagine that you've made up your mind never to do business with our company again. Would that be a fair statement?"
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It's hard to fight with someone who surrenders up front. In this case, the customer would likely reaffirm his displeasure about the late shipment, but would just as likely back away from "never" doing business with your company. He might even ask you to explain what happened. After explaining the situation and the measures you have taken to make sure it doesn't happen again, you could ask, "Bill, if you were in my shoes, and I know that's the last place you would ever want to be, what would you do to fix the situation?"
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By using this technique, you've made the customer part of the solution, and more likely to stick with you.
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