Sales Blog with Sales Tips

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We’ve all done it. We throw a wrench in things with our prospects and customers by not getting them information on time, ordering and shipping the wrong parts, offending one of the decision makers, making promises that we aren’t able to keep, misquoting prices, etc.

There are a million things we can do to damage customer relationships.

When we find ourselves in situations like this we know to initiate all the standard recovery techniques such as bringing in our sales manager for help, readily admitting our errors, etc.

But what if those things don’t work? What if things are stalled and the customer doesn’t appear to budge or, even worse, appears indifferent?

When we find ourselves in this predicament we have a back door. I call it the Control-Alt-Delete Recovery. We’re all familiar with control-alt-delete; it’s the key sequence we hit when we want to reboot and start from scratch with our Windows computer when all else has failed.

When we initiate a Control-Alt-Delete Recovery with prospects and customers we attempt to initiate a second chance with them. By starting all over they see us differently and many times will be open to reconnecting.

There are three primary components of this strategy:

1. New sales team. We need to bring in a new sales team, both salesperson and sales manager. The prospect or customer needs to see all new faces. Once things start to recover there is a possibility that the original team could be slowly re-introduced.
2. Additional decision makers. Obviously we want to continue the relationship with existing decision makers, but we need to add additional decision makers into the mix to help create a new chemistry.
3. New products and services. Not only do we want to bring in new sales faces and add decision makers but we want to introduce some new products and services as well.

The objective is to create a whole new look for our sales approach so that the customer sees us in a different and favorable light. This strategy will take a degree of boldness and humility but it can help us regain momentum.

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

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

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

If you’re a sales representative you are skeptical of the leads your company provides to you. If you’re a sales manager, then at one time you were a sales representative and you know exactly what I’m talking about.

Is the world full of sales professionals that are just no good with leads? I don’t think so.

I have seen many sales managers bludgeon their sales team because they weren’t following up on the “good leads” that were provided to them. Studies have shown that 50% of leads are contacted just one time by the assigned sales representative, and then dropped.

Why is this?

1. The quality of the leads being provided to the sales force is bad. It is grossly naive for an employer to think they can just plug a SIC or NAICS code into one of the database services and hope to harvest a wealth of great leads. Come on. Nothing worthwhile is ever going to be that easy. This turns into nothing but a feel-good exercise for the employer and doesn’t help the salesperson a bit.

2. Sales management is fixated on the number of cold-calls and not the results. It’s as if the goal is to make prospecting phone calls and visits, not sales. Sales management thinks that if they throw a bushel of leads at the sales team it will help them increase the number of cold-calls which will then in turn lead to more sales. Talk about a long way around the barn.

3. The employer doesn’t really know where the best fishing places are so the leads are unfocused. Sales management has to know the types of leads that have the best potential in order to make the salesforce most efficient. The sales team needs to prospect where they stand the best chance of hooking up with the right kinds of potential customers.

4. Sales management doesn’t prospect with their sales force in order to show them how to best use leads. When sales managers participate in prospecting it has many benefits: it models the desired behavior, it lets sales management know what is working and what isn’t, it’s a great sales coaching device, it lets sales management evaluate the quality of leads being provided and does a lot for esprit de corps.

What is the fix?

1. Instead of going for quantity of sales leads, go for quality. Sales management can assign someone within the organization to scrub leads and also follow-up on those leads once they’re provided to the salesperson.

2. Provide sales coaching for the sales force on how to get their own leads. These kinds of leads are really the best in my opinion.

3. Ask salespeople on your team about the qualified leads they have in their funnel, not how many cold-calls they made yesterday. Focus on the end result, not the process.

4. Make sure that everyone knows your company’s ideal prospect and then target those companies.

5. Get sales management on the streets and on the phone prospecting with the sales force.

This is a common problem with many sales teams. It’s time to stop making prospecting just a mechanical exercise by throwing a bunch of leads to the salesforce. Start making your lead generation a serious exercise with an end game in mind - making new customers.

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

We seem to place a lot of emphasis on sales numbers, but we sometimes ignore what’s going on behind those numbers.

There have been countless studies that demonstrate that it takes a salesperson about six contacts, on average, with a prospect before they start to buy. These studies were done with inside salespeople using the phone as the contact medium. Other studies have shown that it can take somewhat fewer face-to-face contacts before a decision maker buys, but the number is not significantly different.

Why do most decision makers not buy on the first through fifth contacts? Why does it take six contacts on average before prospects buy? Are they just trying to be difficult? Not really. Let’s think about what is going on in the prospect’s head each time they interact with you. What are they trying to discover?

1. Trust. They are gathering information from you so they can at least make an educated guess about the risks of doing business with you and your company. Prospects ask themselves, “Can I trust this company and this salesperson to do what they say they can do?”
2. Service. Each time you talk with a prospect you are giving him or her indications as to the level of service you might provide. Prospects know that your attentiveness will never be better than when you are trying to get their business.
3. Likeability. Potential buyers want to know if they would like doing business with you. This is especially important if you are in a business where repeat sales over a long period could be expected. Each interaction you have with them during these initial contacts will assist them in deciding whether they’d like to interact with you on an ongoing basis.

Many salespeople think of prospecting as just building “mindshare” with the prospect. If someone ran a red light and hit my car, they would definitely get a large amount of “mindshare.” “Mindshare” alone will not do the trick with prospects. We’ve got to provide them information and build a positive relationship if we hope to turn them into customers, not just make them aware of our existence.

I am asked this in one form or another on an almost daily basis, “Scott, isn’t sales just a numbers game? The more contacts we make the higher our sales numbers. Right?” Our real goal is not to make as many contacts as possible; that misses the point.

We must focus on satisfying the trust, service and likeability questions the prospect has about us and our company. If we focus on just making a maximum number of contacts to gain “mindshare,” we’ll be satisfying our need for activity versus the prospect’s need for information about us. Feeling good about the large number of contacts we are making will not inspire a single prospect to buy from us. Making the prospect feel good about doing business with us will inspire prospects to turn into customers.

Our primary goal is to connect with prospects in a way that will turn them into customers, not to just check off how many times we’ve dialed their number or left a brochure on their desk.

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

Summary: Sales is a soft science. When four top sales trainers were recently surveyed about sales training issues there was suprisingly little overlap in their responses.

Why is there so little commonality in sales training?

Sales management hires sales trainers, hoping that they will increase the sales performance of their sales force. Simple enough. Over time, however, most sales managers realize that every sales trainer has their own unique materials and techniques. The sales manager is forced to decide:

a. None of these people know what they’re talking about.
b. One of them must know what they’re doing.
c. All of them know something, and blended together it’s somehow helping my sales force.

After observing countless sales trainers I believe that most sales trainers can bring value to an organization. But what are we to make of the broad range of content and training methods used by different sales trainers?

Selling Power Magazine recently surveyed four top sales trainers. Below I’ve summarized and paraphrased the questions and answers to two of the questions that were posed to them.

What is the biggest mistake most companies make regarding their sales force?

Howard Stevens: Companies focus too much on business development and not on customer service.
Jerry Acuff: Sales representatives not focusing on the customer’s needs.
Linda Richardson: Sales representatives that don’t customize their sales presentations according to the customer’s needs.
Joanne Black: Lack of preparation and planning on the part of sales representatives, especially when prospecting.

What sales training has the biggest impact on sales performance?

Howard Stevens: General business training in order for the sales representative to understand the context of his or her selling environment.
Jerry Acuff: How to build valuable business relationships.
Linda Richardson: Training sales management on sales coaching.
Joanne Black: Sales training alone will not work; start with your goals and fill in the blanks.

See what I mean? These respected trainers are all over the place. Are none of them right? Are all of them right? Is it a healthy blending of information?

The truth is that in sales training there are many variables that can affect which kind of sales training is best for an organization. Size of the sales force, industry, sales channels, etc. all impact the correct choice of sales trainers and methodologies. Sales management has to actively look for a trainer or training organization that understands their business and markets.

While every sales trainer is not a superstar, it is my opinion that most bring value to an organization. Deciding who is most appropriate for your training needs and moving away from the one-size-fits-all concept will get you better results for your training investment.

There’s almost certainly a sales trainer out there that is a good fit for your organization, but not all of them. Do your due diligence in finding one.

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

Summary: Surveys have shown that virtually 100% of those in the sales profession think they are extremely competent. But those are just surveys of what salespeople think, not actually how competent they are.

Just how competent are you as a sales professional? Read the descriptions below to learn more about the four categories of competency. Being honest in your self-assessment will give you a springboard for improvement.

Competency Level 1, Blind and Unknowing - This salesperson has no awareness that they have little or no sales knowledge and skills. They don’t know much about sales and don’t realize they don’t. Ironically, as a result of their lack of understanding and knowledge, they think they know everything. Just like teenagers, they think they’ve got everything under control, but the reality is quite the opposite. You might see this level in very young and inexperienced salespeople.

Competency Level 2, Seeing and Unknowing - This category represents the salesperson that has realized they have some learning to do when it comes to the sales profession. They have learned through experience how limited their knowledge and skills are. Since they have an awareness of what they need to learn, they can do something to fill the gaps. Salespeople normally move from level one to level two after they’ve had a few bumps early in their sales careers. It’s the beginning of learning for them.

Competency Level 3, Blind and Knowing - The salesperson in this category has become competent in their sales skills and knowledge through experience and study. But they aren’t aware of the large amount of skill and knowledge they’ve gained along the way. They still think of themselves in the Seeing and Unknowing category. They don’t realize that they actually do know what they are talking about these days. You’ll see this in sales superstars who just can’t believe how lucky they are to be the number one salesperson month after month, year after year. Luck has nothing to do with it.

Competency Level 4, Seeing and Knowing - This is the sales professional who has worlds of experience and know-how, and knows it. He or she really knows what they are talking about, but is confident and humble in that knowledge. When you’re in this category salespeople will frequently come to you for advice and your expertise will be respected. Salespeople in this category are always looking for more things to learn; they are never satisfied.

Take a good hard look at yourself. All of us start at level one and progress forward through our careers. Knowing which category currently applies to you will help you move on to the next.

Where do you fit?

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

Summary: Let’s get real; salespeople really don’t like making customer calls with their sales manager. It doesn’t really have to be that way if both parties follow some guidelines.

Do you hate making customer calls with your sales manager? If you’re a sales manager, do you dread making account calls with your sales team members?

When I was selling I did what most other salespeople do when their sales manager works with them. I would set up my day so that I only called on my best customers and those prospects that were on the precipice of closing. I always had high volume sales days when I worked with my sales manager as a result.

This kind of not-so-productive strategy goes on everyday around the globe with salespeople and their managers. But it makes no sense. I’m going to suggest the following guidelines to sales managers and salespeople when working together:

Sales Managers

1. Focus on one or two things when working with a salesperson. You can’t effectively help them with 18 things at once.

2. Put your money where your mouth is. Actually demonstrate to the salesperson how to prospect, how to demonstrate products and how to handle customer service problems by taking the lead on those types of calls.

3. Tell the salesperson you’re working with that you specifically do not want to go to their best accounts. Let the salesperson know that you want to help them with their problem customers.

4. Let the salesperson know that you want them to be themselves, use their own personality and not try to mirror you.

5. Be open to learning some new things from the salesperson.

Salespeople

1. When you work with your sales manager be sure to be on time and be prepared. Don’t get in the car with your sales manager and say, “So, what do you want to do today?”

2. Don’t take your sales manager to your best customers. Take him or her to your problem customers. When they were a salesperson they had plenty of problem customers too and they understand.

3. When your sales manager makes a suggestion to you, be sure to immediately implement their idea. This shows the sales manager that you are listening and it also gives them a chance to provide you with feedback.

4. Be yourself. You will not do well if you are trying to be a clone of your sales manager. Your sales manager has his or her style and you have yours. Listen to and incorporate what they are teaching you, but do it with your own personality.

Both sales manager and salesperson can benefit by calling on customers together. If you are a salesperson, quit trying to set up the perfect day; let your sales manager help you with your problem customers. If you are a sales manager, see your role as a doctor. As a sales manager you are not there to observe healthy customers; you are there to help the salesperson with their sick ones.

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

Summary: A key ingredient to stir into all of your sales techniques is creativity; it will make you more effective and your job more interesting.

I’m going to bet that if you’ve been in sales for more than a few years you’re probably a little boring to your customers and prospects. You may also be down on your energy level. This matters because customers and prospects respond positively to energy and creativity.

I was talking recently with a very young and green salesperson that works for a Fortune 500 company in a relational sales position. His company has been trying to get an appointment with the VP of a very large prospect for years. Within six months of being assigned to this prospect he had an appointment with the targeted VP. How? The VP gave as the reason for not seeing this salesperson that half of his office was out with the flu. Two days later the salesperson delivered to the VP’s office three certificates for flu shots with a note that said, “I’m not going to let something as simple as the flu keep us from meeting.” One week later the appointment was set and the VP told him, “Every time I was told someone else was out with the flu, I thought of you.”

Was this technique a little corny and maybe even aggressive? It may have been, but the new salesperson correctly calculated that he had nothing to lose and that the traditional techniques obviously were not working. This is but one example of a million new and fresh ideas that you can use when selling. Customers and prospects know all the old and tired sales techniques; try something new! Climb out of your box. Think of your customers and prospects as sleeping beauties that you need to wake up. You don’t want a competitor to be the handsome prince that kisses them and wakes them up.

An added benefit of introducing some novel thinking into your sales techniques is that it can make your job more interesting. Do you think the salesperson had some adrenalin pumping when he delivered the flu shot certificates to the VP’s assistant? Of course he did, and that’s what can make sales exciting.

Get back in the game. Amp your energy level up and introduce some fresh and off-the-beaten-path ideas with your customers and prospects. It won’t be easy and will probably scare you a little at first, but it will increase your sales and make your job more fun.

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

Summary: Even though Microsoft’s PowerPoint presentation software controls the majority of the market, there are other products to consider.

Just like most areas where Microsoft competes, they dominate in presentation software with 90% of the market, so competition is fragmented. Below I’ve listed some of the better known product alternatives and an enhancement to PowerPoint. Please keep in mind that poor presentation skills won’t be remedied with different presentation software tools (see my other posts on using PowerPoint).

1. Ovation by Adobe is a $99 enhancement to PowerPoint. I tried this product and found that it can provide some animation beyond what is available in PowerPoint. The real standout feature is the ability to include moving backgrounds. For the most part it doesn’t really provide animation that is significantly sexier than what is possible with PowerPoint. At $99 the investment is not that substantial however.
2. Google has just rolled out a competitor to PowerPoint called Google Presentation. This is available for free and if you know Google you know that they will limit features to achieve ease of operation and that is exactly what they have done here (i.e., no sound, video or animation capabilities). This is a very easy tool to use with the strongest feature being the ease in which you can share and store presentations on the Internet. Google is not really trying to play nice with Microsoft when it comes to this product; you can import PowerPoint presentations but you can’t export from Google Presentation in PowerPoint format. This will become a problem if you need to share presentations and the recipient isn’t in the Google fold. This one is worth trying because it’s free and you’ll never have to worry about upgrading software again because it’s all online.
3. If you have an Apple computer you know that they make a competitor to PowerPoint called Keynote. This product is only $79 and has Apple’s customary outstanding graphic capabilities. There are features on Keynote that will probably show up on PowerPoint someday. The only big negative is that the audience for this product is limited to those with Apple computers.

4. If you hate Microsoft, love PowerPoint and don’t want to spend any money, then you need to go to openoffice.org and download their free competitor to PowerPoint that has essentially the same look and feel of the older versions of PowerPoint. This product is an Open Source project that is contributed to by Sun and a host of volunteer coders.

You can opt for different presentation software, but at the end of the day please remember that it is the presenter that will have the greatest impact on any presentation, regardless of the software used.

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