Sales Blog with Professional Sales Tips

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As salespeople we have to manage a million emails and files. We constantly need to find information on customers, products, proposals, presentations, etc. that is found in emails and files scattered throughout our computer.

It’s there somewhere, but we have no idea where to find it or when we created it.

There is an answer and it’s called Google Desktop. It’s free and provides search capabilities that will save you hours of wasted time trying to find information.

I’ve been using it for years and it definitely falls into the, “How did I manage without this?” category. People think I have magical powers of recall, but Google Desktop is doing all the work.

Once you download the program from Google Desktop it will index your emails and files and will instantly retrieve your documents and emails based on search terms. It works exactly like Google’s search engine except it’s searching on your files and emails.

Recently I needed to find a customer presentation from an event that occurred in 2005. I had no idea where to look. Was it attached to an old email somewhere? Was it in an old Word document stored in some folder? I just typed in “presentation, Chicago, 2005″ and it brought up the email with the attached Word document I was looking for in about one second.

In addition to finding emails and documents it will also help you find web pages you’ve viewed and it will even help you retrieve deleted files that you accidentally deleted but now need.

Microsoft’s latest version of Windows (Vista) has this feature built in, but Google beat them to the punch and has a product that is better suited to sales professionals and their needs in my opinion.

Get it on your computer and let me know what you think.

To receive this sales tips blog by email <click here> to receive by RSS <click here>. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer

Chris R. of Lincoln, Nebraska submitted the following question, “Scott, I’d be interested to hear your take on leveraging social networking to develop prospects and clients.”

What a great and timely question. I’ve noticed recently that many sales professionals are not aware of how much things are changing when it comes to networking for business opportunities. I’m going to provide just an introduction to this important topic.

We’re all familiar with what I call “Legacy Networking.” This consists of schmoozing at your local chambers of commerce, leads groups and professional organizations. These forums work well, but there are new and potentially more effective ways to prospect using, you guessed it, the Internet.

MySpace.com and Facebook.com are the two giants in social networking on the Internet. These sites allow users to store all kinds of information about themselves and share this with others with similar interests. The only problem is that these sites have a social focus and not a business focus. They are trying to have more appeal to business professionals but still need further development in this area.

LinkedIn.com, Plaxo.com and Ryze.com are three social networking sites that are oriented toward business professionals. These sites can be a source for finding information about prospects. However, none of them are specifically designed to aid sales professionals.

Jigsaw.com is a social networking website that is specifically made for sales professionals looking for leads. It works like a leads group but with a lot more horsepower. You build up credits by submitting information which in turn gives you access to information. Because it’s web based the only geographical limit is the planet.

This site is an outstanding tool for those of us in sales and I would encourage everyone to take a look. The larger your geographic sales territory the more you could benefit from a site like Jigsaw.com.

We are in the early stages of social networking sites that are geared toward businesspeople. We are in even earlier stages when it comes to social networking sites that are specific to sales professionals. This is a trend that will continue and is going to provide tools that will ultimately change how we share information about prospects.

Thanks for your question, Chris.

To receive this sales tips blog by email <click here> to receive by RSS <click here>. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer

Sales would be so much easier if all customers were the same. But we all know that we are paid to discern and act on the subtle differences between people.

One of these key differences is how people like to communicate. Our customers normally have a preference for one of the following types of communication and we would be smart to know which they prefer:

1. F2F (Face to Face Communicators). These are individuals who like to talk person to person. This is by far the most effective type of communication because it allows for all the subtle, and important, nuances of the interchange to be observed.

F2F requires a bigger time commitment from our customer, but the time investment is worth it to them in order to increase the quality of the communication.

2. EC (Email Communicators). People who prefer to deal indirectly with people usually prefer email. They like it because it allows them to control when they communicate and it provides a permanent record of the transaction.

Email communicators can frequently feel overwhelmed by salespeople whom they perceive as too aggressive. This is a way for them to feel in control of any communication they have with us.

3. PC (Phone Communicators). While many people consider the phone intrusive on their time, it is less time consuming than F2F and still provides a fairly high level of communication quality.

Customers who prefer the phone are trading off some of the quality of F2F communication for a smaller investment of their time. They’re usually busy individuals who want more than an email.

When we use the communication mode that best fits each of our customers, it can be amazing how positively they respond. We are appealing to their unique personality and isn’t that what the sales game is all about?

We have to be sensitive to the communication preference of every person we deal with and leverage this subtle, yet amazingly important and overlooked customer preference.

To receive this sales tips blog by email <click here> to receive by RSS <click here>. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer

Peggy (not her real name) recently submitted a sales career related question and asked me to answer it.

“I attain my sales goal almost every single month and have done so for many years. I told my boss during an annual review that money doesn’t motivate me that much. He couldn’t believe that anyone in sales would want to be in sales if they felt that way. Am I wrong to feel this way? I love sales, but money is not the main reason.”

Just because many, if not most, sales professionals say they are in it for the money doesn’t necessarily mean they really are. In some sales circles it would be considered politically incorrect to enjoy a sales career for anything other than compensation.

This kind of one-dimensional view of our sales careers can rob us of some of the joys of selling.

Lots of research has been done as to what motivates people at work and, surprisingly, compensation does not come in as number one in most of them. Furthermore, most studies of sales contests indicate that the majority of salespeople prefer tangible awards instead of money.

What motivators are there in a sales career other than money? They include, but are not limited to:

1. Ability to develop significant relationships inside and outside of our company.
2. Outside sales positions provide significant freedom and mobility.
3. Real feeling of accomplishment and contribution, and one that is measurable.
4. Develops personal confidence because we work for a very important department at our company while we simultaneously interface with important decision makers at our customers.

Peggy, I think it’s commendable that you are aware of what does and doesn’t motivate you. Everybody has different motivators and you appear to be tuned into them and obtain your sales budget on a regular basis as a result. I would urge your sales manager not to ruin the soup. Don’t question good results.

Sales can certainly be financially rewarding, but there are many other factors that can make it a fun and rewarding career. Carry on Peggy.

To receive this sales tips blog by email <click here> to receive by RSS <click here>. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer

There is a stealthy serial killer in sales that many of us aren’t even aware of. It can kill deals and inflict injury on our relationships with customers. It is most frequently found in quotes, emails and other customer correspondence.

What is this silent sales assassin? The offender is the incorrect spelling of a customer’s name or getting their title wrong.

It doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it is a big deal to our customers. Dale Carnegie said that a person’s name is music to their ears. We love hearing our own name and our customers are no exception. People are also very proud of their titles and usually have worked hard to earn them. They want their name spelled correctly. They want their title stated accurately.

When we get a customer’s name or title wrong it communicates three not-so-good things.

1. It reinforces a negative, and incorrect, stereotype of salespeople. We don’t want our customers to perceive us as slap-you-on-the-back carnival barkers.
2. It communicates that we really don’t care that much about their business or about them as individuals. It doesn’t get any more personal than a person’s name or title.
3. It announces to the customer that we’re not too worried about details. If we can’t get their name or title correct, how persnickety are we going to be about other important aspects of the sale?

The larger and more complex a sales transaction becomes, the more the customer will view these kinds of mistakes as potentially fatal to the relationship.

While customers may not mention that we got their name or title wrong, rest assured that they have noticed and will not be impressed. We have to be careful not to think that their silence indicates this issue is not important to them. It is.

To receive this sales tips blog by email <click here> to receive by RSS <click here>. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer