Sales Blog with Professional Sales Tips

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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