Should You?

When single - one is often in the pursuit of a relationship.  It is seldom you strike a situation where you are prepared to ask someone to marry you on the first date.  And, if you are one that does, it is even more seldom that this relationship lasts.  Sure, you may be lucky - but more often the not you won't be.

You spend some time assessing whether they are right for you.

Sales isn't much different - it is a relationship after all.  You court your client in a manner not unlike a personal relationship - not just to see if you could do business with them, but also to see if you should.

It is the should aspect that is important.  Often we can pursue a business relationship with someone (or personal) - but this doesn't always mean we should.

The purpose of talking with a client through the 'courtship' process helps you determine how well you fit together:

• Is there mutual trust?
• Are your values aligned and to what degree?
• Are they similarly minded to you?
• Do you compliment one another - is there mutual benefit to the relationship?
•  Are you heading in the same direction?
• and a myriad of other factors

See the synonym's with a personal relationship?  Are they that different (parking any physical aspects of course)?

Should means you have determined that they are an ideal client of yours, you want to work with them and the reciprocal is true for them.  This determines a long term, mutually beneficial relationship.

Some times, you could actually sell them something.  If your business is transactional, you may get away with this.  But if you are in a sales relationship with them over time - you could be buying you and them a problem.  Often, we are thrust in to sales relationships with clients by a variety of factors (we inherit them, we grab any client during low periods, they come to us and we are spellbound by the sales opportunity, etc) - whilst this can generate an immediate benefit through a sale - if mismatched, it can derail at a later date and do more damage than the benefit you received.

Yes, sometimes this means you walk away from a sale (or conclude it at a later date), but looking for the right clients is a skill you eventually learn painfully. 

Next time, instead of asking could I do business with them, ask should I do business with them!

 Refer:   Where is Your Pyrite
To help determine what you ideal client should look like...

Who's To Blame?

A good sports person reviews their performance after the event.  They are looking for a constructive criticism of their performance to reduce or eliminate their shortcomings and accentuate their strengths.  When they sit there, they aren’t using the excuses of ‘he bowled to fast’ or ‘the other driver had a faster car’.  Sure, these are sometimes factors, but not ones they can influence.

Some sales don’t go our way – sometimes there is a real reason why the client didn’t proceed with your offer.  Often in sales though, it is easier to blame our clients for why things didn’t follow the path we wanted.  They were too focused on price; they are wedded to their current supplier; they were just using us for leverage and the list goes on.

A good sales person realises most of the reasons are a by product of them and their process – not those of the client.  It is just easier for some of us to blame the client than address the real challenge.

For example – some clients are unashamedly focused on price.  But are you comfortable you showed them that sometimes paying the same or a higher price is actually in their interests if they get more value for it or did you just fall foul of racing to the bottom on price as well?  Did you demonstrate your value to the client to justify your price?

Often the issue is, unfortunately, just you as a sales person.  You didn’t connect with them interpersonally, you didn’t have the knowledge base (or didn’t show it) to convince the client you’re an asset to work with, you didn’t invest enough time in knowing and building trust with the client before asking for business, you were mismatched with the client.   

Healthy self criticism and reflection are important aspects of sales.  Whether you win or lose – you need to review what happened and why.

We don’t get it right all the time – but next time you reflect on a lost sale, make sure you ask yourself who’s truly to blame?

Identify That Pyrite...

Refer Where Is Your Pyrite?

Pipeline Model

Refer Surf That Pipeline

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? 

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?