Monday 29 July 2013

Surf That Pipeline...

'Manage Your Pipeline' is a phrase much used in sales - but often an activity that isn't very well undertaken. 

A healthy sales pipeline is crucial to long term continued success in sales.  This includes a variety of activities, including:
  •  Finding, qualifying and engaging with new opportunities.  This is prospecting activity - this is the activity within the funnel that points opportunities to your pipeline.
  • Managing opportunities within your pipeline.  This is healthy sales activity to move opportunities from the top to the bottom of your pipeline
  • Closing opportunities. 
So managing your pipeline is just a consolidation of many of the sales activities you do in isolation anyway - so why is it so difficult for many to do?

It is very easy in sales to become excited over an opportunity - this is what we're there for.   Accordingly, a lot of time is focused on the bottom of a pipeline as this is where the opportunities are most pressing.

The sticking point in many sales peoples' pipeline management is continuing to do all the activities even when they're busy - particularly those at the top of their pipeline.  

Failing to do this creates gaps in your pipeline - areas where you have dead spots of no opportunities.  These will typically happen a period not long after you've been busy working on the bottom of your pipeline.  The trick is to have many people at many stages of the sales process throughout your pipeline.

None of the individual activities that make up 'managing your pipeline' are unique or bespoke.  The trick is doing all of them, all of the time - regardless of how busy you are.   



Find The Right Line

In motorsport, you often hear the expression 'go slow to go fast'.  The fastest car on the track often looks the smoothest, the neatest, the most composed - in fact, they look slower than some behind them.  They are perfectly on line with no wasted motion.

Absolute speed is critical - but wheel spinning, over steer etc scrub this speed and means you need to go quicker to recover the lost time.

Selling isn't much different as an analogy.  There is always pressure to sell quickly - targets, deadlines, management.  Like motorsport, the ultimate speed of the sales process is dictated by many variables - client circumstances and pressures, you and your team, the complexity of the sales process and client need. 

It is your skill as a 'driver' of this process, being able to see and react to the conditions, which determines how you and your finish.  Too slow, and you won't win, too fast and you won't finish. 

These many variables in sales often mean mean you need to slow down and take the time to find the right 'line' through the sales process.   Of course, this line differs for each client and, unfortunately, the client can change the conditions at any point through the process. 

How good a 'driver' are you?

As a 'team manager', do you have the right skills in the right places to find this line? 

Wednesday 24 July 2013

Superior Service



Success doesn't come from doing your job.  

You pay someone to build you a house to a certain budget and within a certain time frame - and they do this.  Is this good or great service?  

Some clients would think so.  It is actually disappointing that some clients think someone doing what they agreed to do and you paid them to do is good or great service.  This is just the definition of service.  
 
Memorable service doesn't come from meeting an expectation it comes from exceeding it..

You need to redefine the expectation of the client and yours.  This isn't about under-promising and over delivering - it is about proper client centric, solutions driven service aimed at helping your customer (not just  you). 


Sure, you need to do the piece of work the client engaged you for well - but memorable service comes from the extra service you deliver that the client didn't expect you to deliver but is meaningul to them.

Also refer Win, Win, What?



Wednesday 17 July 2013

I'm Glad You're Happy With Your Current Supplier

'I am quite happy with my current supplier' or 'I'm not looking to change suppliers'

Is this an 'objection' or a statement of fact?  In sales, we view this as an 'objection' - but is it?

For some who despise direct sales - this is the perfect excuse to thank them for their time and exit the conversation striking a number against their sales activity and reinforcing in their head why direct selling doesn't work and is a waste of time.

There are some scenarios to consider here amongst other possibilities
  1. The are genuinely happy with their supplier and their supplier with them.  The relationship is more of  a partnership. 
  2. They think they are happy with their current supplier as nothing is going wrong.  They may be oblivious to what they don't know and what they could be getting. 
  3. It is merely the business equivilent of 'I am just looking' that the retail sector gets as they're busy etc
Having completed your preparation properly before making the call, you understand that they are a desireable client.  You want to work with them or at least explore the potential to do so - hence your call.

Should you expect that if you view them as a desirable client - their existing supplier does as well? 

If you were their current supplier, would you want your clients to convey this level of loyalty and satisfaction?

The very reason you're calling is why they are happy with their current supplier - they are a good business.  This isn't an objection - it is an indication that this is the very type of client you want to work with.

Should you then go in to every call expecting this response and be able to deal with it? 

It isn't the reason to stop making direct calls - it is the indication you're making the right ones!

Monday 15 July 2013

Where Is Your Pyrite?

Growing a portfolio is an important part of a sales person's job in most instances.

'Prospecting', as this behaviour is often referred, comes from mining as they explore for minerals, ores etc. 
You don't see a seasoned miner digging holes everywhere in the vain attempt to hit the mother lode.  Sure, not every hole they dig is a success, but they look for the 'markers' that are likely to mean what they are looking for is nearby to improve the odds.  For example, iron pyrite is often found near gold deposits or kimberlite near diamonds.  So miners look for these to help point them to what you're looking for.

Prospecting for clients isn't much different - you need to think about it before 'digging many holes'.  Here are 5 key questions to ask yourself when developing a prospect focus:
  1. What does my ideal client look like?  What are their characteristics - eg size, staffing, activity etc.  Of these, which are the most important/crucial to making them 'ideal'
  2. Where are you most likely to find them?  What industries, areas, markets, associations, advisers/partners/intermediaries will you see them most often? 
  3. Why would they do business with you?  What is your message, your value add or USP?  This should align to what makes them ideal (a value match)
  4. Who are they?  Knowing the above - who are these prospects?  Who should you be doing business with?
  5. How do you connect with them?  What is the most appropriate way to engage with them and their business.  Is it directly or being introduced?  Do you know someone who knows them (from Where)?  Do you need to participate in an industry group/association (again, from Where)?
Understanding the above helps distill who you should be connecting and talking with to develop meaningful, value based relationships.  It helps minimise wasting your and your prospects time and energy digging for something that isn't there.

Where is your pyrite?
  

Thursday 11 July 2013

Who Fails?

Do you expect your surgeon to prepare for your surgery?  Read your notes, understand your condition, review your procedure and importantly - do the job properly?  Of course, preparing is entrenched in medicine because of the consequences of the outcomes.


'Failing to prepare is preparing to fail' - is the adage.  It is squandering an opportunity as a minimum.  At worst it can be professional negligence.  In the surgeon's case - fatal.  

Does your 'failure to prepare' affect just you?

Sales is a profession.  Clients rely on your advice.  You endorse their decisions.  You shape them.  You help deliver their results.  They expect you to prepare.  The outcomes of you not preparing may not be fatal like the surgeons', but may be important to your client.

If you don't prepare, who fails?

Don't Hit More Balls!

Using a sports analogy; a sports coach doesn't just measure how many times a sports person hits the cricket ball (inputs) and how many times they score runs (outputs).  They also invest heavily in ensuring that person knows how to hit the ball properly, how to remain calm under pressure, how to be goal focused etc. When the sports person isn't scoring runs, the coach doesn't just say 'hit more balls'. 

It is easy for sales leaders to focus on the numbers.  This can be the 'outputs' or sales results and the 'inputs' or sales activity.

If you solely focus on measuring outputs or results you are reactionary.  You have to wait until you have an output (or don't) to react.  This doesn't tell what is being done to generate these outputs - and this assumes your sales team knows what to do to generate these outputs.  You can also get outputs which aren't aligned to how the business would like this to occur.  You risk a sales 'at all expense' type behaviour. 

In focusing on inputs, there is a risk here of getting what you measure.  If you ask a sales person to make 10 sales calls a week - it is highly likely you will get 10 sales calls a week. 

Doing the activity is easy - but does this always lead to the outputs?  No, in fact in many situations the activity focus can just create noise in the network.  Wasted effort.  People doing things to meet numbers, not to achieve results.  As a leader, you need to be mindful that asking for more activity isn't always correlated to results.

Outputs matter.  Sales exist to produce or retain revenue.  This is the single most important sales metric in most situations - it must be measured.

Input measures get activity.  Output measures show the outputs (they don't necessarily produce them).  As a sales leader - you are accountable for shaping the quality of these activities and outputs.

What your sales team do and achieve is important - but these are just factor of how and why they do them.  Yes, that sales call is important as an activity - but how the call is actioned is more important (the content, the cadence, the engagement with the client) and WHY the call was made in the first place is even more important.   

Sales success comes from doing the right things properly and for the right reason, not just doing things.


Tuesday 9 July 2013

Square Peg, Square Hole

Customers don't need to alter to fit your business, you need to alter to fit the clients need!

Ever been a client and had a conversation along the lines of 'In order to improve our service to you, we've changed what we do, you now need to do X'?  Did the improved service actually eventuate?  In most cases it doesn't. 

A paraphrase of this statement in many instances is 'In order to make your interaction with us more efficient and therefore reduce the cost of doing business with you so we make more money off each interaction, you now need to change what you were doing and do it this way'.

The tail wags the dog.  You should, within the realms of sensibility, do business with clients the way they want.

Clients don't have to do business with you and, when they are, why give them the excuses to reconsider this decision.  Unless your client wants to alter the way the do business with you or, geniunely, the change does improve their experience - resist pushing your internal issues out to the client to resolve.

If your client is a square peg, you become a square hole.

Own That Dog, Bark Loudly!

Sales is an incredibly important part of nearly every business. 

It often starts with the sole proprietor, some shoe leather and a firm belief in a product or service and the difference it can make for clients.

As a business grows, a sales force is often hired to find, court and manage clients of the business. 

Do you manage this sales force from the 'hill over looking the battlefield' - sending messages out to redirect the front line with the benefit of your birds eye view?

Or, are you leading from the front of the offensive line, sword in hand?

It's your company, your blood, sweat and tears - your livelihood.

Employing a sales team isn't a case of 'owning a dog and not barking yourself'.  You should be at the front of the pack, your bark the clearest, your bark the loudest. 

Are you part of your sales team?  Are you barking loudly?

Monday 8 July 2013

You Say Price, I Say Value

There is one thing the Financial Crisis has created - a 'sale' mentality.

Walk in to any mall or down any retail area - what do you see?  Sale sign after sale sign - trying to entice clients in to a shop on price and the promise of a heavily discounted opportunity.

What do we often always then assume when a client debates our price?  We must lower it.

Really?  By discussing price, all a client is really telling you is 'I don't see enough value in what I'm buying to warrant the price you're asking of me'. 

Price is most certainly important - but value is more important.  The price someone is prepared to pay is set at how much value the client places on what the product will do for them. 

Go in to every relationship focused on improving the clients situation and price becomes less of an issue.  To add value, you need to know your client, where they're going and their freedoms and constraints.


Lead with your value - not with your price.  Show your clients where your value sits - don't hope they see it - show them.  Demonstrate it.

Friday 5 July 2013

Sell Today, Deliver Tomorrow

Some products and service sales are instantaneous - the exchange of the product or service happens at the point the client agrees to partake of it.  FMCG is a prime example - you want groceries, you can pay for them and walk out the door with them. 

Other times, whilst this exchange can happen instantaneously, the value or benefit the client receives occurs after the exchange.  Sometimes days, weeks, months or longer still.  This is a harder sell as you are having to convince a client to commit to something today (often with a financial consideration now ) on YOUR commitment what YOU promised them will happen tomorrow.  You are selling deferred value.

How do you deal with this?

Promise Properly
  • This isn't a case of 'under promise/over deliver' or vice versa.  These strategies don't always work.  If you 'under promise' - unless you know your client well, you risk losing the opportunity today on the hope you will show them more value than they committed to tomorrow.  You need to ensure you commit upfront to what you will do for them tomorrow.
  • Scope well - you can't promise properly if you don't have the foundation of knowledge on which to build the promises. 
  • Commit to real things you can deliver - not concepts, not hypotheticals.  Real Things!  Commit to things in your sphere of influence - unless you can direct others, don't make promises that other people have to deliver.  Promise what YOU can do, not what you hope you can do.
Client Commitment
  • This is often a two way street - sometimes, both parties will need to do something along the journey to realise the value.  Articulate this to your clients. 
  • Prime example are weight loss gadgets.  They gloss over the fact that, in order to lose that X pounds over 12 weeks - your diet is equally, if not more, important than the machine itself.  They fail to set the client expectation of what is required from THEM to enjoy the benefits.
Execute As You Entered
  • Too often clients receive more attention before they are clients than they do once they become one.  Sales people quickly move on to the new target and, unfortunately, forget about the ones they've onboarded. 
  • Your clients expect the same level of service, love and attention every day of their relationship with you!   You set a service expectation - it's your rod hitting your back! 
  • We see this regularly - discounts/incentives/concessions for new clients, little for those who are already clients.  Your clients aren't stupid - they see this, don't kid yourself in to believing that they don't, or they don't care.  Don't love that which you don't yet have at the expense of that which you've already got and committed to.
Regular Review
  • Make sure you are talking with your client regularly.  Things change - they change, you change.  Talk to them regularly, revisit the promises/commitments made, adjust as required to fit their 'new' circumstances. 
  • Delivering the promises today is based on the assumptions of tomorrow - you need to ensure these assumptions are still valid regularly. 
  • Sometimes a promise becomes impossible to deliver due to changes - tell you client, don't just hope they forget about it.  Look for new promises/commitments as well.
Selling deferred value is often difficult - but not impossible.  A client is making a commitment to you, your organisation and product/service.  They are saying 'I believe that you will deliver this value, so I will commit to you today'.  They do this on the strength of your relationship and commitment!

Wednesday 3 July 2013

Wants, Needs & Desires


You have to WANT to help your clients

You NEED to understand their current and preferred position

The DESIRE is to improve their position and add value

Who You Are Is What You Sell

This doesn't mean the brand you sell or represent - it means YOUR brand.

Have you stopped to consider your brand and your values?  Your clients buy from you because they trust you - they subscribe to your brand and your values - what you stand for.  Similarly, does the 'brand' your colleagues see match that your clients experience?

Invest in yourself - think about your personal brand and brand values.  For example: 
  • Works well with others!  Do you acheive at the enhancement of others rather than their expense?  Do you take people along for the 'sales journey' or get to the finish line not worried about collateral damage?  Do others successes spur you on rather than promote jealousy.
  • Accountability!  Does your manager need to continually refocus you - or, once armed, do you self guide to achieve your goals?
  • Outcome Focused!  Do you act with confidence rather than arrogance? strength rather than agression?  Are you assertive rather than pushy?  Are your decisions and strategies always focused on the optimal client outcome - or yours?
  • One Trick Pony!  As per a previous post, are you delivering the promises made to your clients?  Like any good relationship - the work starts when they say yes, it doesn't end.
  • Pound of Flesh!  Are you tenacious?  Do you procrastinate or act towards your objectives.  There's 8 hours in the day - use them
  • Substance!  Do you actually believe and act on your words?  It is easy to say something but fundamentally more important to mean it and follow through on it.  
  • The Extra Mile!  You don't stand out by doing what everyone else does.  Different isn't better neccessarily - but it can be if it isn't what the client expected but is what they value.

Tuesday 2 July 2013

The Hard Part

Many in sales view obtaining the fist visit as the hard part of the sales process. It isn't...but what is?

Many prospects will see you once. Assuming you've done your research properly, approach the call appropriately and convey the correct message - most will hear you out. They're in business - they're always looking for improved value which may help them.

 The first meeting is important, of course, but the hard part is what happens after this meeting.

Can you secure the second meeting?
Can you continue the relationship with the client?
Did you ask the right questions to uncover where, how and if you can add value to them?
Can you honour the promises made in the first meeting?
Did you show the clients you genuinely want to help them?

 The first meeting is a dress rehearsal to your continued relationship with your client...it's what happens after it that is hard!

Know Your Client

Sales is easy to be considered a 'transactional' interaction - a point in time transaction (or number of them). Real sales is a relationship - one of constant communication in both directions looking to solve challenges and identify & capitalise on opportunities.

Sometimes this solution comes from within your tool box (your products and services) - you get to sell something. This is, unfortunately, where most people focus their time. This means most sales conversations are centred around YOUR products and services. They are constantly angling for a opening/opportunity to sell their wares.

What if your client has a more pressing issue? Will you have their attention?

Clients and prospects, like you, are people. They have issues and opportunties at work - some of these rank higher than your products/services and what they do.

If you fail to connect with the person you are talking to - to understand them, what drives them, what is keeping them awake at night, what the dream is - how can you correctly determine where you can add value both today and, more importantly, in the future?

The Unhappy Sales Person

Do you know one?  Are you one?

Sales is a stressful area - you are very much like the proverbial olden day hunter.  Finding, stalking and dispatching your prey for the rest of your community to survive.  Failure means hunger or, in extreme situations, worse.

However, unlike the hunting analogy, in modern terms nataural selection doesn't always weed out the unsuccessful hunter.  Some turn in to the unhappy sales person.

Like this hunter however, they often only have themselves to blame.  The prey is still there, it may move, be smaller, be more cunning and be a focus for more hunters, but it is still there.  It is their own shortcomings that is creating the unhappiness. 

How do you become a happy sales person?

  • Learn from the good 'hunters' - this is how we've always learnt.  In the hunting analogy, children of the village learned and watched the elders.  You should too.  Find a successful sales mentor (real or virtual) and leverage their knowledge.  Every challenge is sales has been encountered by others - why try to solve it yourself from scratch?
  • Stop making excuses.  Most excuses in sales are externally projected internal issues.  'My customers won't like that', 'No one does this', 'Cold Calling doesn't work' - are your own excuses, not those of your clients.  When unhappy in sales, it is easy to blame others.  Look at your reasons/excuses and determine which are real and which are your own roadblocks.
  • Practice.  Whether in real terms in front of targets or in role playing situations - practice your craft.  You don't get better at sales by not selling.  Revise your mindset that you aren't making mistakes, you're learning.  This goes hand in hand with learning from others. 
  • Do more of it.  One kill doesn't maketh the hunter - doing it regular does.  Good sales people sell whether busy, whether quite, whether happy or sad.  You're likely hired to sell - so why aren't you doing it more often.  Like practice, there's no better training than game time.
  • Reflection and Feedback.  Mistakes only become a problem if you don't learn from them - we've all heard this.  However, similarly, successes are hard to repeat if we don't reflect on why we succeeded.  Review you wins and losses.  Ask those around you for feedback.  Growth comes from this process.
Do you want to stay unhappy?  Whilst you may not like being unhappy, it often feels easier to stay there than the effort required to change.  Worse, sometimes you don't even see yourself as unhappy so see no need to change.

Ever watch Kitchen Nightmares?  Most people hate the position their business is in, resist all attempts to fix it and then, when out the other side, wonder why they didn't change earlier and, suddenly, love what they're doing.  Yes, they may have to work harder and differently - but the reward more than offsets the extra effort.

It's all a choice.  So why choose to be unhappy?