Wednesday 26 February 2014

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 in 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.  It's awfully difficult to succeed in sales if you're not selling very often  You don't win every opportunity, so why not have plenty of opportunities?  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 your 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?

Friday 14 February 2014

Mean It!

Sales training is something we've all undertaken and, in essence, it is what this content is about.

We've spent hours working through the sales process, its various stages and how to deal with objections throughout.

Often, this is distilled down to either a hard script (exactly what you say) or a soft script (a framework) to help sales people work their way through to a successful conclusionwith their clients

Many of us have worked with sales people who can, with seeming ease, pick up a phone, ring a client they've never spoken to before and secure a meeting.  With enthusiasm, and after talking to them, we follow their script and ring and fail.

Similarly, we've all worked with the person who says anything to close the sale.  Sometimes they get caught out directly in their manipulations but whether they get caught out or not, everyone knows and their credibility is affected.

Why is this?

Success in sales doesn't come from blindly following a script, prescribed process or self serving sales.  Real success comes in sales not through saying the right things, it comes through meaning them!

Believe what you say, deliver on what you say, mean what you say.

  









Thursday 13 February 2014

Sales Process Milestones - Don't Forget Advocacy!

Often in sales - there is considerable focus on where a prospect or client sits within a pipeline.  More often than not, this is to help the business determine the likelihood of this potential business becoming real business and, therefore, revenue.  What is often not focused on is how this shapes the conversations and activity you undertake as a sales person.



A very important aspect of the sales process/pipeline that is overlooked is not just the importance of which stage the client is in, but the milestones throughout the process.  Before discussing the stages - let's spend some time on the milestones as these shape the discussions within the stages.

There are 4 main milestones that exist within the sales process:

Target Becomes Prospect

Many sales people have lists of names of 'ideal' businesses. At this point these names are just targets.  Many people protect these lists vigorously - but some actually struggle to act on them.

The first milestone is when this targets becomes a prospect.  For this to happen you have to engaged with the target and open lines of communication with them to continue talking (however irregular).  They can only become a prospect if you have this ability to continue to talk to them.  If they say 'go away' - they remain a target until you enter regular communication to create value (the next stage).

Prospect Becomes Opportunity

Following continued discussion with your prospect and through creating and demonstrating value - one of two things should happen.  You either figure out you can't do business with the prospect (this is a very real part of the sales process and how you deal with this is important and discussed later) or, ideally, your prospect turns in to an Opportunity and permission to provide a proposal for their business - whether formally or not.


Opportunity Becomes Client

Then, ideally, you have demonstrated enough value to your prospect that they accept yor proposal and become your client.  This is often the main focus for mainly businesses and sales managers - turning prospects in to clients.

What many forget is this isn't the last milestone at all.  The next milestone is often overlooked or forgotten - but is incredibly important.

Clients Become Advocates

Here, your new clients advocate your offering to others - whether unprovoked or at your asking.  They endorse your credibility to others.  This milestone is important for three main reasonsFirst, focusing on advocacy ensures a sales orientated business doesn't forget the clients it won yesterday in lieu of the tomorrows targets.  You deliver the promises made.  Second, advocates continue to do business with you and stay with you.  They form long term relationships around qualitative factors (like people) not just product, service and price.  And, finally, they can fuel your pipeline.  They will introduce and refer so others in their circle can experience the same service.

Milestones v Stages

It is always important to remember 2 things about the sales process: 
  1. Milestones are important.  Sure, the stage a client is in shapes how you should be interacting with a client but the milestone is the goal.   The stage provides the direction, the milestone the destination.
  2. Don't ever assume the sales pipeline finishes at 'Client' or 'Deal Won' - it doesn't.  Advocacy is the final step - and it lasts for a very very long time. 
Don't win clients or business, win advocates.  Keep advocates.  Focus on this milestone in the sales process and not only will you succeed in the long term, but your clients will as well.
 




Sales Pipeline - Milestones and Stages



Tuesday 11 February 2014

Aim For The Pin!

Is selling difficult?

The answer to this question is relative - and largely rests with you.  Using, yet again, another sporting analogy - to many who don't play, golf is difficult.  Hitting a white ball some hundred metres in to a tiny hole 18 times is frustrating.  Why?  It is hard because we don't take the time to make it easier.  Then, of course, a professional golfer will tell you it's hard as well!  Why?  Their view of it has changed.  They wish to hit the green from 200m out and have a 1 putt opportunity as a significant pay check rides on it.

Now to sales, is this hard?  We all know how to talk to people to varying degrees, we can all pick up a phone and have a conversation.  We should all be technically adept enough at our roles to discuss what our business does and how it helps a client.

So why is selling viewed as hard?  Is it ringing the client?  Is it the first meeting?  Is it following them up?  Is it pitching your offer?  Is it closing the deal?

More often than not it's YOU!  Like the golfer, you just aren't doing it enough to be comfortable with doing it.  You over think it - like a golf swing - rather than doing it.

You can all use a phone, carry a conversation and, hopefully, explore a clients position enough to see where you can add value - this is, in essence, sales.  How hard is that?

Much of it comes down two 2 things
  • A fear of failure:  People don't like hearing 'No' - it implies failure through rejection.  So, of course, it is easier to not put ourselves in the position where this could occur.  In sales, this means we choose the path of least resistence - those who we think will never say no.  A great example of this is meeting with intermediaries/rainmakers.  Do you actually outright ask them 'is their anyone you can introduce me to?'.  Often, not, but we have a coffee with them, make small talk and hope this statement is inferred and they're just throw us some names without asking
  • A desire for failure:  Some people actually do the process, but poorly or uncommittedly so they fail.  This then proves their internal view that it was a pointless exercise.  You see this at work when people say 'my clients won't like this' and then, lo and behold, after they've spoken with their client, the client doesn't like it.  Yet other managers have no issue.  Any cyclist/skier etc will tell you, you look to torwards where you want to go, not where you don't...sales is no different, a focus on failure rather than success will likely bear it true.

Sure, in sales you don't always win.  Sometimes timing is off, or another competitor is sharper or a client just doesn't make a decision to change.  However, by not calling that client you are making the decision for them.  You are choosing to not play that shot.   Worse, you could be calling the client believing it won't work.

Sales isn't difficult - though it does require effort and tenancity.  Does a professional golfer not aim to land the ball 10' from the pin when 200 out because there's water in the way?  Or do they hit the water to prove it was a silly shot?  No, they trust themselves and aim for the pin.  So should you!

Saturday 1 February 2014

Sales Activity Not Working?

Are you finding your sales generation activity isn't working or has stopped working?  It happens to us all...sometimes it is just the ebb and flow of business cycles and this is normal.  Other times it can be because some things have decoupled in how you go about your sales.  Whether new to sales and you're being asked to go out and find some business and what you're doing isn't working, or an old hand that has found themselves in  a rut - have a look at the below as common reasons why you're sales generation has stalled or not fired:

No Clear Targets

When we're told to sell, the first thing people often think to do is pick the phone up and ring someone.  You shotgun the sales process aiming to ring many to find the one that wants to work with you.  You have no clear line of sight to your ideal clients.

In order to be more successful in your growth activities, the first place to start is to develop a list of those clients who you wish to work with and you think you can add value to.

Sales generation is much easier if, in your own mind, you've determined you wish to deal with the client.  Your activity has more conviction.

No Plan / No Process

Again, like the above, sales activity often happens in a scatter gun approach.  It is done when we're quiet, have some spare time, have the pressure put on from above, when we're in the hole in our pipeline et al.  A scatter gun approach gets scattered results!

The best approach is to treat sales activity seriously.  Block time out of the diary regularly, plan who and why you're calling businesses, research them, find the appropriate person to call, work out your approach.

Following up is as important as making the call - actually more so.  You are far better off to keep a promise to an existing prospect (eg a planned call) than to ring a new prospect - why?  The new prospect has no expectations yet.   So it is important you treat the sales process with respect.

The old adage of 'failing to plan' is very true in sales.

Too Little 

Many sales people do 'just enough' sales activity to keep the wolves at bay - but seldom go much further.  Their manager or business tells them to make three calls - so they make 3 calls - no more, no less.

Using an example in golf - when you start playing golf, it may take you 120 shots to get through the 18 holes.  A professional can do it in the 60's.  Sales isn't different.  Sometimes you need to do more activity that the 'prescribed' minimum to be successful.  Your inputs should be reflective of your outputs, not the other way around.  As you get better, you get more efficient.  But you have to hit the ball 120 times to begin with!

Also, like a golfer that only plays one game of golf every few months - you may have the odd good round, but you won't get much better.  Also, one bad round shouldn't deter you.

More activity, if done properly, equals more results.  More importantly, practice makes perfect.  As per the above when planning, block out enough time to do all your calls together.  Sure the first call may be hard to kick off, but you'll be on a roll by the last one.  You get better by doing more activity - and, of course, you tend to get more results.

Your Why Is Flawed

Some people undertake sales because they view they have to, or they're told to.  Some people are in sales roles, but don't like the sales activity.  If you call or approach a client from this position - customers feel it.    Sure, you can say all the right things, but do you mean them?  Do you want to help the client and make a difference to them and their business?

Undertaking sales activity because you have to or are told to isn't sustainable.  It is human nature to resist being told to do something.   You either need to adjust your mindset to want to do it, stop doing it, or leave your role.

When I say 'want to do it' - I don't mean the activity of making the call/contact.  I mean the act of connecting with a person and business to understand can you add meaningful value to their business.  This is the why.  The call is just the how.

When you get your 'why' right - sales is not only easier, but far more enjoyable.  You ask questions wanting to know and act on the answers, you drive solutions to problems and create opportunities.

Its All You

Sales activity is demanding - especially if you try to do it all yourself.  You can become task focused in sales - ring this client, ask for this referral, close this deal.  The weight of targets can weigh you down - the blinkers start to close in.

Professional sports people have coaches - even those at the top of their game.  The people around you can coach and support you in your sales activity - often you just need to ask.

Whether this is internal support like a sales manager or a colleague who's knowledge can support a customer or proposal.  Also, good sales people know how to use their network effectively.  To gather information, introduce you to prospective clients, to solve customer problems or help capitalise on opportunities.  Who you know is often more important than what you know in sales.

It is useful to review this regularly as often it is one or a few of these things de-railing which slows or stops your sales success.  Some are easier to fix than others but, like many things in life, identifying the problem is the first step to fixing it.