Marketing/Sales = Water/Oil?

from Pat McGraw:

Are Marketing and Sales Working Together

The director of marketing was proudly displaying the new design for a 68-page 4-color brochure that was about to go to the printers. The project had taken her and her team almost 6 months of work because it was viewed as a ‘major deal’ and that meant that everyone and their spouse was involved in the process.

At the quantity they were going to print, the cost was slightly more than $1 per brochure and the total bill was in the low 6-figures. That included manpower (staff), outsourced services (writing, photography), printing and shipping.

The brochure was (and always had been) beautiful. And it offered a complete overview of the business and the many products and services offered.

At the end of a 45 minute meeting, one of the C-level executives asked me what I thought and I responded that I was impressed with the final product – but I did have one question.

“How are you going to use all those brochures?”

Now, you can probably imagine the reaction that brought. Laughter. Head shaking. Shifting in chairs. Whispers.

Finally, the marketing director spoke for the group and replied.

“We need to have this when people ask what we do – so we give them on these.”

So I asked another question.

“Do you qualify those people and make sure they are able to buy what you sell before handing them the brochure?”

More nervous laughter, whispering and shifting chairs ensued before the marketing director replied.

“I don’t know. That’s up to sales.”

Now, that’s a dangerous answer. The marketing team is spending a substantial amount of their resources (human, financial, technology) on something that looks wonderful – but it’s something they have no understanding of how it is used to achieve the goals and objectives of the business.

So I went over the sales department and asked the team how they used the 68-page, 4-color brochure. And, surprise – most weren’t. They thought it was too much information and it confused the prospect. (Most hadn’t gone past the first 30-pages before they lost interest and put the brochure down for good.)

Then I asked what they thought they needed and, together, we created a list of what they felt they needed to help certain buyer types at certain stages of the buying/selling process. I took this back to the marketing team and explained the rationale behind each one – and two important things happened.

First, the print run for the 68-page, 4-color brochure was significantly reduced – saving the company a solid 5-figures. (And that was before fulfillment costs that included postage.)

Second, within the next two months, the marketing team produced the collateral for the sales team at a cost far less than the 5-figure saving that came from the smaller print run for the brochure.

I went over to sales and asked how the new collateral was working for them. Moral went up. Conversion rates went up. Average order size was up.

Imagine what we could accomplish for your business if you took advantage of my free coaching session.

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Who Represents You?

from the Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo:

No, Please No..

Almost 3 years ago I started subscribing to job alerts from Monster.com, even though I was not actively looking, 2008 was a year anything could happen.

Working in the sales world however, as long as I brought in more than it cost to keep me, I was fine.

Anyway, I still get regular job alerts from Monster since I:

• Haven't figured out how to make them stop...
• I have friends who are looking for jobs

This was from a recent email:



Please...please...please...please...Please...PLEASE

Don't hire Hot Shot's.

They give a bad name to all sales people, even the good ones who put their clients needs first.

The term Hot Shot makes me think of this guy: Click here.

Hire professionals, but beware of Hot Shots.

The words of Scott Howard aka ScLoHo

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Worth your Money

Unfortunately the stories that Jim Meisenheimer shared in his latest news letter are too common.

Before I share them with you, a story from my family.

Several years ago, one of my daughters worked in car sales and wanted more training than what she was given by the dealership, so she reached out to me. This website is a result of that request as I began sharing sales and marketing Wisdom that I had Collected over the years.

Now a word about Jim.

I subscribe to his free newsletter.

We follow each other on social media channels.

I have spent my own money to purchase his sales materials and recommend you do the same.

Go to his site, sign up and buy a book or cd that could change your life.

Here's his contact info:

Jim Meisenheimer 13506 Blythefield Terrace Lakewood Ranch, FL 34202 Tel: 800-266-1268 Fax: 941-907-0441 jim@meisenheimer.com www.startsellingmore.com

And here's the excerpt from his newsletter I promised:

I hate it when I experience poor salesmanship.

Unfortunately it happened twice this week.

First up was Home Depot.

I purchased a Miracle Grow application sprayer. It didn't work.

No problem. I went back and exchanged it for another one. The second one didn't work either.

So I went online and looked at the product reviews and they all described exactly the same problem that I was having.

So I go back and returned this sprayer for the second time.

With my refund in hand I walked over to the Garden Center looking for a generic sprayer.

Before I get to the door I asked a salesperson if he knew where these generic sprayers are located.

He told me I would have to ask someone in the Garden Center.

I found the salesman in the Garden Center and told him what I was looking for and he walks me right back into the main store where the other sales person was and pointed to the sprayer I was looking for.

The next day I had to go back to Home Depot for some liquid ant killer stuff.

I meet up with the same sales person again. I told him exactly what I wanted and even spelled the name of the product TERRO for him.

He said they didn't have any such product. I thanked him and said I would look around a little on my own.

Within 60 seconds I find the TERRO.

I spotted the same sales person in a different aisle and I held up the product for him to see.

He apologized and said, "Sorry I didn't hear what you said."

A salesperson can't hear is like a pilot who can't see.

I'm not without empathy because my mother had severe hearing problems and my father has trouble hearing even with his hearing aid.

However, hearing is essential if you want to be in sales.

The second example of poor salesmanship happened in a Best Buy store.

My wife wanted to buy a GPS system for her car.

The salesman who is going to help us couldn't talk, but he could mumble. We had to ask him to repeat everything he said.

When he went to check the stock for a GPS system in the back of the store my wife, B, said at first she couldn't tell if he was a man or woman, and I said neither could I.

The four earrings in each ear didn't help.

My wife ended up talking to three different managers, and each had a different story concerning discounts and accessories.

By the time we left we were both exhausted.

Here are few sales tips I started thinking about after running into these two people who were impersonating salespeople.

1. Smile when you're talking to customers.

2. Put your chin in the up and locked position and keep it there - it'll make you look more confident.

3. Don't mumble. You're mumbling if people keep asking you to say it again.

4. First impressions are very important when you're trying to build rapport and establish some credibility.

5. Know your products like you know the back of your hand.

6. Focus on facial expressions because they are usually a reflection of yours.

7. If you're a man avoid using too much cologne and body piercing.

8. If you're a woman avoid using too much perfume and limit body piercing to your ears.

Before you start believing how good you are in sales answer this question.

How many books and/or CDs on selling do you own? Please don't think you're good if you haven't read any books on selling.

If experience is your only teacher you'll never make it to the top, in your sales career.

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7 Steps to Follow

Excellent Advice from Pat McGraw:

---

How to improve lead management and conversion rates Posted: 22 Jun 2011 08:37 AM PDT Here’s a simple 7-step process that you should consider whenever your searching for ways to improve the performance of your sales team. Couple of terms to be defined here – a “lead” is a potential buyer that hasn’t been qualified yet; a “marketing qualified lead” requires marketing to examine the information provided by the “lead” and to determine if it meets certain established criteria so that the lead can be either handed to sales or placed in the nurturing process; a “sales accepted lead” is a marketing qualified lead that is sent to for review and it is determined that the lead should remain with sales; and a ‘sales ready lead’ is one that is asking for proposals and in the buying process. Develop a lead scoring process. This is simple to do – check out this video and template. For example, in a B2B setting, I recently helped a business develop a scoring process that focused on Industry (5 points for the primary target industry, 3 for secondary, 0 for other) Location (5 points for US based company, 3 for Canada and Mexico, 0 for other) Revenue (5 points for $250 to $500 million, 3 points for $100 to $249 million, 0 for other) Title (5 points for senior-level technology, 3 points for mid-level technology, 0 for other) Need (5 points for products we offered, 0 for other) Time Frame to Purchase (5 points for within 90-days, 3 points for 90-180 days, 0 for other) Their web forms and telephone scripts asked for this information, and it was captured in their database for automatic scoring. If the lead scored above a certain level, they were considered ‘marketing qualified’ and were sent to sales. Below a certain level, they were placed into the nurturing campaign so we could continue to develop a relationship and attempt to gain more information that impacted the score. Establish a set time frame for marketing to score the leads and send only the top scores to sales. Since research tells us that the timeliness of your response has a significant impact on whether or not you get the business, scoring leads should happen ASAP. That’s why an automated process for companies that drive a large volume of leads is key – but for companies that drive a smaller volume, I have seen a manual process work just fine. Require Sales to respond back to marketing that those leads have been accepted – this is called a Sales Accepted Lead. This is important for two reasons. First, there’s nothing worse than sending leads to sales and having them get lost in the process. Been there, done that. Second, by requiring Sales to accept the leads, you get them to check the quality and agree that they are valuable. This reduces, if not eliminates, the age old game of “…the quality sucks” because Sales has to accept the leads. Establish a set time frame for sales to contact the lead and determine if they are qualified so that a “Qualified Status” is inserted into the CRM file. Again, a timely response increases your chances of winning the business AND this is another way of getting Sales to buy-in to the quality. If they feel the leads are quality leads, more get worked and less get ignored which means your business has a great chance of closing more business with the same number of leads. Establish a process with strict time frame for lower scoring leads that have not been Marketing Qualified to be placed into the nurturing process. Sometimes you won’t get all the information you need right off the bat – but what you get indicates that the lead has potential. Those lower scoring leads need to get right into the nurturing process so you provide the lead with a timely, relevant response. (And make sure you continue to ask for the information you need in order to update the score!) Establish a process with a strict time frame for a Marketing Qualified Lead and Sales Accepted Lead to be returned to marketing for nurturing because the lead is not Sales Ready. This scenario is typical for a lead that meets most of your criteria and scores high enough to get handed over to Sales – but [ex] isn’t planning on making a purchase for the foreseeable future. By placing them into the nurturing process, you can manage the relationship in a more affordable way and position your company for the sale when the buyer is ready. Establish a specific time frame for sales to work Sales Accepted Leads before they must be returned to the nurturing program. Sometimes all the data indicates that the lead will buy soon but they don’t get off the dime and buy. Meanwhile, you are continuing to provide the salesperson with new leads – and since no salesperson can adequately manage hundreds or thousands of leads, it’s best to take those slow to buy leads and place them in the nurturing program. If they remain with the salesperson, chances are pretty strong that they will be ignored – and that could cost you that future sale. (I know this is a tough one – taking a lead from a salesperson who will tell you they can close anything. But it’s best for the business so let the sales team focus on selling, not nurturing.) Hope these help – let me know what you think and if you have used other approaches that have worked.

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Cut Some, Keep Some

Last weeks update from the Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo:

The 80/20 Rule

If you are not familiar with the 80/20 rule, it goes like this:

80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers.

or

80% of your business comes from 20% of your sales staff.

Go ahead and examine those figures in your business and see if it holds true.

Let's say you have 10 sales people and 2 of them are doing all the heavy lifting, 2 are paying their own way, but the other 6 are not.

How long are you going to keep those bottom 6?

Do they truly have the potential to pay their own way and become one of your top dogs?

Are you hanging on to them because you feel you need the "feet on the street" even though they aren't cutting it?

And why aren't they cutting it?

Is it a lack of training? A lack of ____________ that can be fixed?

Or is it time to trim the fat and become leaner?

Before you get rid of those that are struggling due to your lack of ____________, make sure you do an honest evaluation.

Then if you need to cut them loose, do it.

It will help you in the long run.

The group of radio stations I worked for recently did this a few years ago. We went from 25 to 6 on our sales staff.

The result was we reversed the 80/20 rule and then slowly added 1 new salesperson at a time.

Do you have the courage to make the hard choices?

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Do the Hard Stuff Too

Last Tuesday's chapter on the Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo:

Too Easy or Too Lazy?

Or just afraid?

This is about sales.


On May 12th I received the following email:

Hello Mr. Howard,

My name is Name ReMoved, and I’m with the Name Removed Ham Company of Ft. Wayne. I was writing because I realize that there are times during the year, where you may need to order lunches. If that’s the case, would it be okay for us to email over some information regarding our program?

We have a wonderful catering program with boxed lunches, buffets, platters and more. Our ham is our classic sandwich option, but we also have a variety of other great sandwiches, including turkey, roast beef, chicken salad, vegetarian options as well as some amazing specialty sandwiches. Chips or Deli-Sides come with every meal, and we also have amazing dessert choices as well.

We can deliver it right to your door, and always provide complimentary set up. We’d love the opportunity to work with you, if we can.

Have a great weekend, and please let me know if I can be of any assistance. Oh, and please keep us in mind for those end of year Gift ideas.

A month has passed.

I have not contacted him, he did leave me his email, phone number, cell number and fax number.

I have never met him and I doubt that I will.

If his only method of reaching out to me to get me to do business with him is one long email, we both loose.

Because as I re-read his email, the food sounds good, but the only reason I read it more than once is because I knew that this would make a good lesson for all of us.

And that Lesson?

Follow up.

Make a phone call.

Send another email.

Contact them on Social Media.

Do what it takes to get a yes or no.

It's too easy to hide behind an email campaign, if you were to call this one, which it really isn't, since it is just one email and nothing else.

Or is it just being lazy?

Don't let fear hold you back, and don't be lazy and only do the easy stuff.

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Cooking & Sales

Check out this article from Pat McGraw:

Are you cooking up a recipe for success?

Posted: 13 Jun 2011 11:19 AM PDT

When my younger sister entered middle school, our mother decided she wanted to go back to work. And that meant that some days, our dad got home and cooked dinner. Now I love my dad but, God bless him, he isn’t a cook.

So I decided to give cooking a try and I turned to the cookbooks we had around the house. I figured, when you don’t know what to do, you go look at those that do know what they’re doing and you watch, learn and attempt to replicate. (And if the meal sucked, I had someone else to blame!)

Over time, as I grew more comfortable in the kitchen, I started to improvise. Add a little more of this, little less of that – I wonder what this would taste like if I added some of …

I asked my parents and my sister what they thought of my effort – did they like it? Did they notice that it had more of X or less of Y? Did it work for you? Would you like me to cook this again or would you rather I stick with the original recipe?

Based on that feedback, I developed my menu. Popular meals got heavy rotation, less popular meals got served up less frequently and the bombs were cut.

And I also paid attention to what my baseline recipe was, and how I modified it, so I could replicate the meal after it proved to be a hit.

Four decades later, I am happy to report no deaths and only a handful of occasions where the meal was pushed aside and an emergency call for pizza was placed.

I approach my career in sales and marketing the exact same way. When I get started, I look at the competition and figure out what they do right. Then I take a look at what I have in my own ‘refrigerator’ and figure out what I can prepare that will make my audience happy. Over time, I play with the recipe – sometimes focusing on certain ingredients more than others, other times going out and buying a little something extra to test out. My goal is to keep the base happy and (ideally) appeal to a wider base.

Now, when the meals (as well as the sales and marketing) are well received, everyone is happy and few questions are asked.

But when the meal (and the sales and marketing performance) aren’t meeting expectations, the questions get tougher and I find that I am being asked for a specific plan for turning things around. So I know what was changed, how it was received, and what needs to go back to the baseline because the change had a negative impact.

So what do you have cooking at your business? Are you testing some new ingredients? Will you be asking your diners what they thought of the meal and if they would order it again? And are you using that approach to attract a wider audience?

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Good vs. Great

from my email:

Daily Sales Tip: Good vs. Great Salespeople

Good salespeople are polished and professional. And just a little slick. They've got a great pitch. They might be very likeable, but they make most prospects just a bit wary.

Great salespeople might be as polished as the Crown Prince of Moravia, if that's who they are, or they might be as folksie as Will Rogers or Abe Lincoln. They might be a disorganized sloppy mess and not particularly articulate, though they're always likeable, very likeable. And somehow they do always say just the right thing. Since they so obviously seems to believe in what they're saying, it doesn't seem to be a pitch. They "just seem to make a lot of sense."

And they're never slick. They're genuine. The longer they talk, the less wary the prospect becomes. When the time comes for the great salesperson to close, buying from him or her is often as natural and as easy as ordering a fine meal at a favorite restaurant.

Great salespeople are aggressive and persistent and non-threatening: Which means they're subtle and likeable enough that few ever perceive them as aggressive and persistent.

If a prospect tells you you're a great salesperson, you aren't. What he's saying is that he feels that he's being "sold" something he would never purchase on his own. He may roll over and buy, but he won't be happy about it. He won't be happy to see you on your next visit, and he's far more likely to develop buyer's remorse and re-contact you the next day.

To me, the highest praise a salesperson can receive from a prospect is simply, "You make a lot of sense." People who say that don't feel sold, and they feel their needs are being met. Of course, they may never have realized they had those needs until you walked in the door. And I guarantee they'll buy more from the salesperson who appears to make sense than from anyone they consider "a great salesperson."

Source: Sales consultant/author Barry Maher

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The Worst You Can Be

from my email:

Daily Sales Tip: Salespeople Are Pushy

We've asked hundreds of people what word comes to mind when we say "Salesperson." The most common answer is "Pushy." It's likely when you cold-call prospects they think you will be pushy so they refuse an appointment.

Here's how you earn their respect as a sales professional:

-- Identify the decision-maker. Research who you want to talk to before trying to talk to that person. Research online, by calling the business, or by stopping in. Ask staff who makes the decisions, obtain information about the decision-maker, and how does that person like to communicate: phone, e-mail, or drop-by.

-- Get to the point. Be direct and concise. Tell decision-makers why you are contacting them and what your intentions are.

-- Give them a benefit. Tell them what is in it for them if they take time to meet with you.

-- Be persistent, not pushy. There's a fine line. If at first you do not get an appointment, send marketing articles that can be helpful to them and their business. Let them know you want to provide the best service, but not be pushy and it is up to them to tell you if you cross the line.

Source: John Potter, VP/Training, RAB

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Are You Surprise-Proof ?

from my email:

Daily Sales Tip: The Planned Presentation

The best sales presentation possible is not vastly different each time. There are certain benefits and features of every product that must be communicated, and those benefits and features must be communicated in the best way possible. Best, by definition, means one, exclusive, alone; the best way is better than any other way by its very definition. There are not five best ways; there can be only one best way.

Your goal is to give the best presentation you can to each and every prospect. How do you get there? You have a choice based on your experience -- shoot from the hip, go with the flow, or plan your presentation. It's your choice, but the only way to give the ever-elusive "best" presentation and to give it every time is to plan it.

Here are some thoughts about why it pays to plan your presentation:

I. Have Planned Responses
If your presentation is planned, you'll have time to think about your prospects' verbal and non-verbal reactions and comments. If you have to think of what you're going to say next, you simply can't do that.

II. Gain Heightened Efficiency
Efficiency is the second advantage of planning your presentation. No non-relevant material can creep into your presentation to distract you or your prospect. You don't repeat yourself. You cover all the salient points in the most efficient manner possible.

III. Guarantee Thoroughness
Third, you guarantee that you are more thorough. Perhaps that is really just a part of efficiency, but it helps to think of it separately. You never leave anything out, and you never present important points in the wrong place in your presentation if you've planned and practiced.

Unplanned presentations can go on forever, leave important points out, and in general be wastes of qualified prospects' time. You can also miss important buying signs, interest signs, and signs of concern because you have to worry about what you are going to say next rather than pay attention to the nonverbal communication that is taking place. If you are only listening to yourself, you can't listen to the prospect!

IV. Practice to Make Perfect
Another reason for giving a planned presentation is to better gauge your results. No professional athlete experiments with his shot, stroke, or swing.

All the pros tweak and constantly strive to improve, but their basic motions stay the same. It's when they stray from that basic motion that they have slumps or bad games.

The same is true in sales. Great salespeople can have bad days, bad weeks, or longer slumps when they stray from their basic planned presentation.


Source: Author/entrepreneur/sales coach Tom Black

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Wrapping it Up

from my email:

Daily Sales Tip: Five Key Closing Questions

Recently I got a request for questions that could be used during the close or presentation stage. These questions will vary from taking a prospect's pulse, to seeing if they are with you, to finding out if a benefit you just listed would work for them, all the way to a trial close.

1. After giving any part of your presentation, you should ask, "Are you with me so far?" You can vary this with, "How does that sound?" Or, "Do you see what I mean?" and, "Does that make sense?"

Always listen carefully to not only what they say, but to how they say it. And always allow a few seconds after they respond to give them time to add something else.

2. Any time you give a benefit, ask, "How would you use that?" or, "Could you use that?" Or, "Would that work for you?" Or, "Would that be of benefit in your situation?"

Again, LISTEN to what and how they respond...

3. Another good question to ask throughout your presentation is, "Do you have any questions so far?"

This is one of the best questions to ask, and it's also one of the least used. You'd be amazed by the kinds of questions you'll get, and each one reveals what your prospect is thinking. You must use this question often!

4. Trial closes are always good -- "Does this seem to be the kind of solution you are looking for?" or, "How is this sounding so far?" or, with a smile, "Am I getting close to having a new client yet?"

Even though that sounds cheesy, you'd be amazed by how it will often break the ice and get your prospect to lower his/her guard.

5. When you're done with your presentation, always ask, "What haven't I covered yet that is important to you?"

This is a great way to end your presentation, because if they tell you they don't have any questions, then you get to ask for the order! If they do have questions, you answer them and then ask for the order!

The bottom line is that asking questions -- and then shutting up and listening -- is still one of the most important things you can do either during the qualification stage or during the close. Use the above questions during your next presentation and watch your closes get stronger and your income get bigger!

Source: Veteran sales consultant Mike Brooks

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You Need These Answers

But are you asking the questions?

I read this last week from Pat McGraw, (it came in my email and I also follow Pat on Twitter) and was a bit envious that he wrote it.

Not really, because he saved me the work!

And that is the whole purpose of this website, Collective Wisdom:

It's a collection of wisdom from others on the subject of Sales, Marketing, Advertising and Media, updated 3 times a day, 7 days a week.

Here's Pat:

5 Steps to Improving your Customer’s Experience

Posted: 23 May 2011 01:00 PM PDT

Knowledge is power – and the best way to educate yourself is to make the time and have a clear plan of action. When you want honest insight into your organization’s strengths and weaknesses, ask potential, current and former customers. And then do a little ‘shopping’ yourself.

Here are some questions to get you started…

Interview a former customers.

• Who did you buy from prior to buying from us?
• What motivated you to buy from us for the first time?
• Were we your primary, secondary or tertiary source?
• Why?
• What did we do well?
• What could we have done better?
• What didn’t we do that you wish we had done?
• Why did you take your business elsewhere?
• Is your new supplier meeting or exceeding your expectations?
• Is there anything we could do to win-back your business?

Interview a current customer that has been buying from you for more than 12 months.

• Do you consider us your primary, secondary or tertiary source for the products/services you buy?
• How did you become aware of us?
• What motivated you to buy from us the first time?
• How have your needs changed since you first began doing business with us?
• Do we consistently meet or exceed your expectations?
• What do we do well?
• What do we need to improve?
• What do we need to do that we currently don’t do at all?
• Who do you see as our competitors?
• Why?
• Would you recommend others to buy from us?
• Why/Why not?

Interview a new customer that made their first purchase from you within the past 30-60 days.

• How did you become aware of us?
• Before buying from us, who did you turn to in order to fill your needs?
• What motivated you to look for a new supplier?
• What is our unique value to you?
• What do we do well?
• What do we need to improve?
• What don’t we do at all but need to offer?
• Who do you view as our competitors?
• When compared with us, what do you see as their strengths and weaknesses?
• What do we need to do in order to strengthen our relationship so we become your primary source?

Interview a prospective customer.

• Who have you been buying from?
• What do you feel they do well?
• What do you feel they could improve?
• What do you wish they did?
• Why are you considering us as a supplier?
• What is your perception of our business and products?
• What are your expectations?
• To date, have we met or exceeded your expectations?
• Ask for specifics.
• What could I do right now to motivate you to buy from us?

Be your own customer. Call and see how your team handles your inquiry. How long does it take to get literature and product information? Does that information answer your questions – or is it missing the mark and need to be modified? Call the wrong department and see if they can quickly get you to the right person to answer your questions. Buy something and see how long it takes to arrive – then try to return it.

Do these things a couple days a week and you will learn how to improve your customers’ experience – and your business will see higher conversion rates, retention rates, order size, order frequency and referrals.

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Feeling Unloved

Unloved is a pretty strong emotion, but it's appropriate as you read the following from the Wizard Chronicles email I received recently.

Why Do Businesses Lose Customers?

The biggest reason may surprise you.

By Steve Clack, CEO of New School Selling

According to well documented studies your business loses customers for the following reasons:

1% die

3% move away

5% leave because of a recommendation from a friend or relative

9% leave because they percieve that another company has better products, serivces or prices than you do

14% leave because they are dissatified with your product or service

Add all of those together and you only have 32%.

That leaves 68% of the customers who defect to your competitors unaccounted for. What other reasons could there possibly be for why customers defect? It is not what you think.

Buckle your seat belt because the answer will knock your socks off. Here it is. Sixty-Eight (68) percent of customers who leave your company and start doing business with another company do so because they feel taken for granted by employees who display an attitude of indifference.

That’s right they don’t feel appreciated, valued or cared for. It is the same reason why many employees leave jobs and why many wives leave husbands. William James, the father of modern psychology, said that the greatest human emotional need is the need to be recognized and appreciated.

In Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs the need to be loved and cared for is the third most basic human need behind the physiological need for food and water and the need for shelter and safety.

In our fast paced dehumanized world employees and customers are starved for a little personal attention that validates their existence.

• What are you doing to teach your employees how to value and appreciate your customers?

• Do you have a customer and employee appreciation practice at your company?

• Do you really care enough about your customers and employees to make the effort to change?

PS. New School Selling Web Based Training New School Selling is changing salespeople. It’s changing their language, their appreciation of the individual, the way they feel about selling, and the way they feel about themselves. And by the way, it’s helping salespeople sell more. Find out more about this web based program.

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4 Tips for that Big Meeting

Hope your holiday weekend is relaxing, mine is filled with all kinds of family stuff.


It includes 2 daughters, 2 husbands, a wedding and a baby.

For a behind the scenes look at what's happened so far go here: http://www.sclohoreally.com/2011/05/from-first-photo-to-first-dance.html



Last summer I ran this piece and it's always good advice:

Don't Do This

from the RainToday.com folks & Jill Konrath:

Whatever You Do, Don't Do This during a Sales Meeting

By Jill Konrath, Contributing Editor

After months of trying, you land an appointment with a major account that uses your competitor's services. It wouldn't be unusual if you now feel an overpowering urge to cram as much as possible into this one meeting. You need to tell them about your firm's new directions, latest technologies, unique services, competitive advantages, and more. So much to cover, and so little time!

Whoa! Slow down. Prospects who receive massive information dumps unconsciously erect barriers to slow or even derail your sales efforts. How? They tell you everything is fine, even if they're dissatisfied with their current vendor. They rule out doing business with you if your service lacks a minor feature. Your pricing is never good enough. Or they simply thank you for the update and promise to contact you when the need arises.

Sound familiar? It's the result of trying to convert long-standing relationships in one sales call. Prospects distrust motives when they perceive a lack of concern for their needs. And that's exactly what happens when you spend most of your time doing all the talking.

Slower Strategies for Faster Results

Top sellers realize that replacing an incumbent is a slow, deliberate process. They understand it takes time to demonstrate value and develop strong relationships. Knowing this, they put together a one-step-at-a-time account-entry strategy that advances the sales process much faster than if they tried to do everything in a single call. The steps:

1. Do your homework—Learn as much as you can before your meeting. Review your prospect's annual report and website. Look for gaps between where he is and where he wants to be. Identify his primary initiatives. Figure out how your product helps him achieve his objectives or ties in with his critical business drivers. For example, if “Earning Customer Loyalty” is mentioned repeatedly, determine how you can contribute.
2. Think and talk results—Your service is a tool, nothing more. People buy it because of what it does for them; make sure you know what that is. Talk about the business results clients achieve when using your service. Explain how he can reduce time to market, increase operational efficiency, or reduce costs.
3. Establish a logical next step—Before your meeting, determine how you want it to end. A successful advance might be an information-gathering meeting, an analysis of current work flow, or a presentation. Most sales to large accounts require multiple calls, so build this into your planning right from the beginning.
4. Plan your questions—Questions are key to your success. They demonstrate interest and concern. Prospects feel you are more knowledgeable when you ask good questions. Questions provide valuable insights into client needs and the decision-making process. They are the basis for developing a strong relationship. Plan at least 10 questions ahead of time.

The sales process can't be short-circuited. If you go too fast, problems are guaranteed to arise. And your opportunity will evaporate into thin air.

The Big Meeting

At last it's time for the big meeting. Get down to business fairly quickly, minimizing chit chat. Start by stating your purpose. It's enough to simply say, "I'm here today to understand your organization better and see where we can improve your business results." Next share a short story about how your company helped another client and the specific results they attained. Talk results, not products!

Explain your process in working with accounts. Tell your prospect it's essential to fully understand his objectives, needs, issues, and challenges in order to determine the value you can provide.

Transition to questions and spend the bulk of your time investigating. Ask about the current situation: "Tell me about your workflow." Find out about any problems, challenges, or difficulties he has. Explore his answers by asking about the ramifications of these problems and the value of eliminating them.

Even though he asks, don't be tempted to talk about services. If you get caught in this trap, your chances of sales success decrease significantly. Graciously explain that a discussion about specific services is premature until you understand their needs better and then get back to asking questions. Before you leave, share a few key benefits and suggest the logical next step.

This is what the top sellers do. They don't rush the sale, and as a result they get the order. And they get them quicker. Follow their example, and you'll soon be enjoying the same success.

---

Jill Konrath is a Contributing Editor for RainToday.com and is a recognized expert in complex sales strategies and creating business value for B2B sales organizations. She's the author of Selling to Big Companies, a Fortune "must read." Her new book, SNAP Selling, focuses on fresh sales strategies that actually work when selling to crazy-busy prospects. For more information, download two chapters of SNAP Selling and start using these four sales-accelerating tools. Email Jill at jill@sellingtobigcompanies.com.

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Handling Rejection

One of the toughest parts of sales is that you will hear no more than you will hear yes.

Here are 5 tips from the DLM blog:

Facing Rejection? Here Are 5 Key Steps To Handle Them Like a Pro

Posted: 17 May 2011 08:28 AM PDT

Rejection can be tough to handle. I know because I face them often in my life.

As a personal development blogger, some readers reject what I write in my articles, sometimes writing lengthy personal emails to tell me why I'm wrong. In my work as a speaker, there are times when participants reject what I share during my workshops. In growing my business and blog, there have been countless times when I reach out to others for collaboration opportunities, only to get turned down.

Even in my personal life, I experience rejections too. For example, my family members are private individuals - they don't like to talk about themselves. There have been times when I try to connect them on a personal level, with limited results. Some of my friends can be quite nonsocial - Often times I contact them to arrange for a meet-up, only to receive lukewarm responses. Here, their rejection comes in the form of non-reciprocated efforts.

Needless to say, rejection can be quite a downer, especially when you're banking your hopes on a positive outcome. No one likes to receive a "No", when it's so much better to get a "Yes".

The thing is, rejection is part of growth - be it in work, relationships or life. In the past few years of actively pursuing my growth, I've learned it's not possible to avoid rejection if you want to truly develop as a person. Rejection helps you to uncover blind spots, to learn more about yourself, and ultimately to grow.

The only way to avoid rejections is to box yourself tightly in your comfort zone, in which case you fail to live by default. This is not how you want your life to be - You're capable of so much more.

While rejection isn't easy, there are ways to deal with it and make it manageable. Here, I'd like to share with you 5 key steps that have worked very well for me:

1. Don't take it personally
   When you approach someone, you open yourself up, so getting a rejection naturally makes you feel like they're rejecting you. That's why most people tend to take rejections personally.
   
   For example, when I get rejections on things that are very important to me, I feel hurt. I'd wonder if there's something wrong with me or if I'm not good enough. I'd also wonder if there was something I could have done to make things different. This puts me in a state of self-doubt.
   
   Of course, such thinking doesn't help. It only makes you feel bad about yourself. For whatever rejection you've faced, recognize it's a rejection of the request, not you. Your request is merely an extension of your thoughts; it does not represent you as a person. Both are two entirely separate things.
   
   Recognize that many rejections are rarely personal. They usually reflect more about the other person and how the request doesn't meet his/her needs, than about you. By taking yourself out of the equation, you'll realize a lot of your emotional responses with the rejection are unnecessary.
   


2. Expect rejection
   Anticipating rejection helps me in 2 ways.
   
   First, it challenges me to set a high benchmark to what I do. Since I'm expecting a rejection, it forces me to push my boundaries and put my best work forward, so as to increase my chances of a "Yes". Secondly, even if a rejection does arise, it helps me to handle it better, since I'm already prepared for it.
   
   This doesn't mean you start going "Oh the world sucks and no one will accept what I do/say" and adopt a doom-gloom view. The underlying principle here is to do your best, while preparing yourself to handle the worst.
   
   Make sure you don't end up procrastinating instead. The point is to use rejections as a driving force to become better, not as an excuse to put off the work.


3. Maintain your focus of control
   There are 2 focuses of control in life - External focus, which refers to anything outside our sphere of influence, such as our environment, colleagues, society and the world out there. Internal focus refers to what's within our sphere of influence - our thoughts, feelings, actions, behaviors, etc.
   
   Someone with an external focus of control sees the world as the main controller of his/her universe - He/she feels that he/she has no say in his/her life, and everyone has power over him/her. On the other hand, someone with a high internal focus of control sees that he/she is the sole determinant of his/her reality. He/she recognizes he/she has the power to do what he/she wants.
   
   Most people will adopt a high external focus of control in the face of rejection. They lose self-confidence and see themselves as incapable, lousy, or even worthless.
   
   Yet, doing so does not address the situation. It only sends you on a downward spiral, which serves absolutely no purpose other than to feel like crap about yourself. Not only that, you're also relinquishing your power to others. That's not good at all, and you definitely don't want that!
   
   The best way to handle rejection is to maintain your focus of control. In life, there are always going to be naysayers - the key is to learn to tackle the naysayers vs. let yourself be beaten down by them. Focus on the things you can action on. What can you do about this situation? What have you learned about it? (See point #4) How are you going to apply what you've learned? What are your next steps? The more you focus on actions you can take, the more you empower yourself.


4. Learn from the rejection
   There's always a reason behind each rejection. Sometimes it may be a lackluster idea, a mismatch of needs, bad presentation (of the idea), bad approach, incompatibility of values, misunderstanding, and so on.
   
   If you can understand the reason behind the rejection, you can do things differently next time. This will be immensely helpful in your growth.
   
   One easy way is to follow-up and ask why. This can be done for almost any situation - interviews where you were rejected, client proposals, suggestions your managers turned down, and business meetings. Let them know you accept the rejection and you sincerely want to learn what went wrong, so you can improve. When done in an appropriate and sincere manner, the other party will often be more than willing to share and help you to improve.
   
   The second, less direct way is to objectively analyze the situation and troubleshoot what went wrong. Why did the person reject this? What was the person looking for? Did the request not meet his/her needs? What could I have done better? By way of self-questioning, I'm able to uncover a lot of learning points that I was not privy to before.


5. Realize rejection is progression, not regression
   Most people dislike rejection because they associate it as regression - moving backward. To get a rejection means to face a dead-end in your goals. It means you have wasted your time and effort on this for nothing.
   
   Right? Wrong. Contrary to popular belief, rejection is progression, not regression.
   
   It took me sometime to realize this, but I finally did so a few years ago. It wasn't a sudden a-ha moment, but more of a gradual realization over time. I realized all the fears about rejection are just mental, and rejection is actually a step forward to knowing what people want, what's out there in the reality, and how to improve ourselves to achieve our goals.
   
   In fact, the more times one gets rejected, the better - because then you'll have such an extensive understanding of your blind spots and what people are looking for that nothing can take you by surprise anymore. In which case, rejection becomes your best friend and partner in growth.Learn to handle rejection, and it'll become your vital tool to your growth and success. Today, I integrate rejection as a part of my daily life, where I constantly challenge myself to new opportunities that may well result in rejections.

The result? It has made me a more active participant of life and I'm totally loving it. Rejection has turned into one of my best tools for growth, just as it will for you too as you embrace it into your life.

Written on 5/17/2011 by Celestine Chua. Celestine writes at The Personal Excellence Blog, where she shares her best advice on how to achieve personal excellence and live your best life. Get her RSS feed directly and add her on Twitter @celestinechua.

Photo Credit: Bryan Gosline

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They are not the Same

from my email:

Daily Sales Tip: Are All Sales Opportunities Equal?

The most widely accepted definition of a qualified sales opportunity is a decision-maker with a budget to purchase a product or service. But are all sales opportunities equal? Are identical offerings to two different buyers equal in value to the sales rep?

In the 1940s, Frank Bettger, author of the sales classic, "How I Raised Myself From Failure to Success," made several game-changing observations over a 12-month period:

-- 70% of sales were closed on the first meeting.
-- 23% closed on the second meeting.
-- 7% closed on the third meeting or after.
-- 50% of his time was spent chasing the 7% that closed on the third meeting or after.

By eliminating sales that did not close by the second meeting, Frank doubled his income!

When I learned Frank's simple and brilliant philosophy, I wondered if I could eliminate weak sales opportunities on the front end. How could I avoid high-effort, low-return sales, and sales I would never close?

Qualifying by itself is not enough for evaluation, so I assessed my best and weakest sales with questions like these:

* Which sales netted the highest profit with the least effort?

* What did those sales look like, including lead origin, products and services sold, price range, discount, and cycle length?

* With which types of customer was I most successful, company size, organizational makeup, decision-maker's position, buying committee size, and personality types?

From the answers, I developed a quantification method that helped me evaluate and segregate new sales opportunities.

By eliminating high-effort, low-return sales that pay lower commissions, wear you down, and drain your enthusiasm and passion, you can focus that lost time with a better attitude on high-return, lower-effort opportunities. This is a secret of top producers.

Source: Sales/marketing consultant Gary S. Hart

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3 Times to Say Thanks

My Mom would have called it the ultimate follow up.

The Thank You Note.

From MarketingProfs.com:

Three Ways to Thank Your Loyal Customers via Email

"Unless you were raised by wolves in the wild," writes Karen Talavera in an article at MarketingProfs, "at some point you learned that it is polite to say thank you. It's not merely proper etiquette; it's just downright considerate and gracious."

Customers need to know you're grateful for their business, and adding thank-you emails to your marketing "illuminates the human side of your brand," she argues.

Talavera breaks down the thank-you email into three categories:

The Immediate Thanks. It's important to acknowledge any transaction or communication right away; be sure to do it in a tone, style and design that match the channel in which your customer took action. And don't skimp on the gratitude if they spent lots of money. "Match your thanks, in magnitude, to the action you are thankful for," Talavera advises. "The last time I bought real estate, for example, I received a huge housewarming gift basket, not a lame postcard or text message."

The Seasonal Thanks. Holidays—especially Thanksgiving—are a natural time to thank loyal customers. "[B]ut go beyond national or religious holidays," she suggests. "Are you also thanking your customers on the anniversary of their relationship with you? Of their first purchase? On holidays relevant to them (Mother's Day, Father's Day, New Year's Day, Veterans Day, Grandparents Day)?"

The Surprise Thanks. Even the most jaded customer will likely appreciate an expression of thanks that comes for no particular reason. "To start," she says, "weave a quarterly or (if you're ambitious) monthly thank-you campaign to reward repeat business and customer loyalty." You can establish a regular schedule, keep customers guessing or tie the program to behavior.

The Po!nt: It's OK to show you're grateful. Like friends, your customers won't feel valued if you contact them only when you want something from them. Thank them once in a while.

Source: MarketingProfs.

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Summer Sales Slump?

from SalesDog.com:

Five Ways to Have Sizzling Summer Sales

by Mike Brooks

I'm amazed when I hear sales people and managers tell me how slow summer is for their business. It's almost like they're resigned to the fate of poor summer performance and are already thinking about how to make up their losses in the fall. Now I understand that many people take vacations in summer - a week or so here and there - but they are working all the other time aren't they? Even if your particular business slows down during the summer months (trade show, etc.), that doesn't mean you can't pre-book business or build relationships, or get referrals.

The fact is, top 20 percent producers still find ways to make their quotas in summer, and they also find ways to set up the end of the year so they exceed their revenue goals, earn their bonuses and have a great holiday season. And you can, too.

Here are five ways to make sure your summer sales sizzle, and ways to make sure you end the year strong as well:

#1 Have a strategy. Eighty percent of your competition approach summer like they approach everything else in their sales career -- they ad-lib their way through this season and hope to run into business. The top 20 percent, on the other hand, know exactly what objections they may encounter, they are prepared for them, and they have a specific selling strategy in place before they pick up the phone.

Do you have your "summer special" ready to counter the "slow summer price objection?" Do you have your "pre-fall purchase special" together to get pre-orders from those companies who are waiting until mid September? What is your compelling reason for your prospects to act now? Will they increase market share while other companies are sitting on the sideline? If you don't have a compelling reason as to why they should buy now, then develop a pitch today. Whatever you do, don't go in blind.

#2 Make more calls before noon. In summer, most people can't wait to leave the office and enjoy the sunshine while it's here. It's a proven fact that during summer most of the work, and attention given to that work by employees, takes place during the morning hours.

You need to capitalize on that work-flow energy and dedicate yourself to making as many of your calls as you can before noon. That doesn't mean you stop calling after noon, but try to put off your other activities like paperwork, quotes, etc., until later in the day and do the bulk of your calling in the morning.

Also, try to make an additional 5 calls per day. If you can accomplish that, you'll put in over 315 additional calls this summer. That, combined with morning calls, will pay off for you big time.

#3 Be prepared to talk vacation. Need an instant rapport builder? Ask your prospect where they are vacationing this summer and then let them talk! Did you notice that I used an assumptive question here? I didn't say to ask, "Are you taking a vacation this summer," rather ask "Where are you vacationing this summer?"

After you listen and ask some questions about their vacation, it's time to get back to business. Try a good transition sentence like, "You know _________, many of my clients are taking vacations as well and they are making sure to get all the business done that they can ahead of time so they can relax and enjoy their time off. I'm taking orders now for (your product or service), how many (your product or service) do you think you'd like to order before you leave?"

Adapt that script to fit your selling situation, but use it after talking vacation - you'll get more order than you think.

#4 Set your prospect up for the fourth quarter. Many fourth quarter deals are set up - and sometimes even completed - during the summer months. Here's the key, though: Don't do what 80 percent of your competition does which is simply to get a time to call back in the fall, but rather, get a "pre-order" from your prospect up front.

What you do is get all the information on a possible order size, need, circumstances, dates, etc., and then tell your prospect that you will "Have that order ready," and that you'll leave it open in case they need to add or subtract from it when the time comes." Then go ahead and send your prospect out the order form, contract, P.O., etc., along with a date of follow up or fill.

#5 Invest in your own training. Now that the summer is here, if you've got some additional time (or your team does), this is the perfect time to invest in their development. The smart companies use the summer months to improve their team's selling skills so they are sharp and ready to take advantage of the fourth quarter.

Remember, if you're not doing something to improve, then you probably aren't improving.

So there is your summer recipe for sales success. Use any of these five ideas to improve your results and you're sure to have the best summer (and fall) yet!

Mike Brooks has over 20 years of inside sales closing experience and has been billed nationwide as Mr. Inside Sales. For more information visit www.MrInsideSales.com.

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