How to double the effectiveness of your sales presentations

What is the most powerful sales tool there is?  What is the most compelling way of dealing with customer objections?  What can more than double the effectiveness of your sales presentation?

 

The answer of course is letters, or quotes from your satisfied customers. 

 

Customer recommendations committed to paper are much more credible than anything we might say about our own companies and products.  They provide the customer with social proof (what our peers do is important to us) and tell a story that helps the prospect to fully understand how he/she can benefit from our solution.

 

Here are some tips on using customer recommendations:

 

-          Don't be afraid to ask your customers for a letter of recommendation

-          Help the customer by suggesting what he/she might say

-          Focus the letters on key objections you regularly hear from prospects

-          Get them signed and on the customers letterhead

-          Put them in your sales kit (laminated pouches) and show them off

-          Give the customer who writes you a recommendation something in return

-          If the letters are long then highlight the key passages you want your sales prospects to read

38 ideas to drive your sales and marketing

What happens when you put heads together around how to drive sales?  Well, here is a good example, the result of just 20 people brainstorming for 30 minutes on the topic - a total of 38 good ideas to boost sales and marketing.  We have grouped them under 4 headings.

Why don't you do the same with your team?   Or else read through this list and see which ones you can apply to your business?    If there are any ideas that are not here, please let us know.

A.      Existing / Past Customers (4 ideas)

1.       Make contact with past customers

2.       Account management – make sure our customers are really satisfied – project reviews with all our clients – re-examine their priorities

3.       Up sell our existing customers

4.       Get referrals from clients / past clients

 

 

B.      How to Find Potential New Customers (11 ideas)

5.       Alliances – Co-marketing – Potential Partners

6.       Organise database  / Buy a database list

7.       Memberships , get on the governing board

8.       Contact people we have not dealt with

9.       Make use of all our contacts (people we know)

10.   Direct mail / mail out

11.   Networking – going to events

12.   More golf (networking)

13.   Trade missions – overseas markets

14.   Open day

15.   Telemarketing

16.   Check the newspaper, trade press, etc. for announcements

 

 

C.      Increase Profile & Awareness (12 ideas)

17. Signage at customer suites
18. Newsletter
19. Improve our Web site – get more web enquiries
20. Blogging
21. Brown bag sessions on U tube
22. Get client feedback
23. Advertise
24. Increase the profile of the firm
25. Publicize big / past jobs
26. Get PR – write articles / papers / publish
27. Tell about our awards
28. Competitions / Submissions
29. Talks / presentations

 

D.      Innovation; New Markets, Products, etc. (8 ideas)

30. Look at other markets, or sectors
31. Develop specialized skills in certain areas
32. Develop new areas of business
33. Find new projects earlier (pre planning)
34. Innovate (new products, services, etc.)
35. Other services
36. Gather market information
37. Develop new pricing /payment models
38. New approach to presentations, tenders, etc.
    
    

Don't be Afraid to Ask - What kind of job am I doing?

Yes you can.

There are few salespeople who at one time or another in their career have asked themselves searching questions, such as; 'what kind of job am I doing?', 'am I the best person to be selling this?', 'can I make a success of this role?', or perhaps even 'should I be in sales?.'

In particular, people who are new to sales related roles often ask themselves the question 'am I the right person for this job'. They often say 'well I am not a natural sales person' and express discomfort regarding aspects of the role and their performance.

Well to both, we say 'good question' and well done for asking it.  In our experience, the mere fact that somebody asks these questions suggests a characteristic that is essential to sales success.

Those people who occupy sales, or business development, roles are generally assumed to be highly confident and of course in their dealings with customers and prospects the need to be seen as such. 

However, the reality is that when you scratch beneath the surface they can be quite introspective.  As such they are not afraid to question their approach, success, or even skills.  Yet, rather than being an indication of weakness, such self awareness is actually a pillar of success. 

Great salespeople review the last sales meeting they just had, the last proposal they submitted, the last campaign they ran – constantly identifying opportunities for improvement, or greater success.  Could I have handled that objection differently?  Did I prequalify the opportunity sufficiently?  Did I use the language of the customer and avoid the technical jargon of our own?

The TOP 10 Demo Mistakes

An effective demo can play an important role in clinching the deal, however if it goes wrong you may never recover. 

So here is a checklist of the Top 10 Demo Mistakes and how to avoid them:

 1. Doing the demo remotely when it should be face to face.
Remote demos or leaving the customer to demo by him/herself mean you don't have control of how your solution is being experienced.

2. Failure to agree success criteria
Agree in advance what the prospect considers to be a 'success'.

 3. Not qualifying the audience
It is essential to find out in advance; the audience's level of experience, their particular interests/priorities/needs, available budget and timing.

 4. Leaving it to chance
Too many presenters do not adequately structure and script their demos.

 5. Not enough interaction
A good demo requires good interaction between the presenter and the audience.

6. Not focusing on what is relevant
To avoid your audience asking 'so what?' pick a demonstration scenario that is interesting and relevant to the audience in question.  Too often demos demonstrate the technology, but not the underlying business case/application.

 7. Focusing on features not benefits
If a demo focuses on technology features and not benefits the viewer won't really get to understand the advantages for their business.

8. A poorly prepared presenter
A good demo in the hands of the wrong person can spell disaster.

9. Assuming that the audience knows more than they do
Presenters often jump straight into the detail of a demo without setting the context.

10. Going too fast and trying to show too much
This is another reason why scripting, storyboarding and practicing demos is so important.

Top 10 Sales Priorities for 2008

We asked Managers about their Sales Priorities for 2008 to identify the following:

1. Closing More Deals 2. Quality of Sales Leads (not just the quantity) 3. Sales Methodology/Process 4. Selling Higher into Target Accounts 5. More Accurate Sales Forecasts 6. Boosting Sales Activity 7. Growing Key Accounts 8. Building & Managing the Sales Team 9. More Marketing Support for Sales 10. Growing Partner Sales   Click on any of above for more details from our web pages, or download 'TOP 10 SALES PRIORITIES FOR 2008' article.

Got the Sales Collateral You Need?

Do you have the sales and marketing collateral do you need? If yes, how can you be sure that it does not immediately end up in the prospects bin? We recommend you use the acronomyn IMPACT to measure the effectiveness of your sales and marketing collateral: 1. Impressive: Does it look as good, if not better than, competitor collateral and create the right impression (i.e. a successful international organisation)? 2. Memorable: Can the message be summarised into a memorable & succinct 'We have done A, B & C, for X, Y & Z Clients'? 3. Proposition: Does it clearly communicate compelling benefits to the prospect? 4. Action: Does it grab attention, encourage the reader to find out more? Does it educate, or change attitudes? 5. Content: Is the information presented useful? Is it Consistent across your web site, sales presentation, etc.? 6. Tailored: By decision maker level (functional area), vertical, stage of the buying process, event, campaign, etc? If you don't have something good to send to a customer who enquires, or to leave with a customer you have met, then it will impact on your sales effectiveness.

Cuting sales calls that 'go nowhere' by 10+%

Our research shows that most companies can increase the effectiveness of their sales meetings, presentations and demos by between 10% and 15% by addressing 8 key areas:

1. Preparation: Greater planning & pre-qualification of meetings. 2. Proposition: Communicating benefits in a more compelling manner. 3. Process: Adopting a more structured / thorough approach to meetings. 4. People: Developing more effective ways to build rapport and trust. 5. Presentation: Shorter but more effective slide shows. 6. Presenter: Focus on the sales person's appearance, enthusiasm & skill. 8. Post meeting: Systematic follow-up, managed by a SFA/CRM system.

Traditionally the sales person was considered to be the most important factor in the success of any sales meeting. However today's managers place equal if not greater importance on meeting prequalification, the value proposition, the sales process, etc.

How Architects, Engineers & Others Can Tackle The Slowdown

For more than a decade most architects, engineers and surveyors have had to undertake limited if any business development activity.    For many that means that they have lost this skill.   

Regardless of the market and when it changes the future for most practices will involve a more proactive approach to finding new projects and customers.

However in the meantime there are things that managers in architectural and related practices can do aimed at winning a higher proportion of a smaller number of projects during the down turn and being prepared to take advantage of a market turnaround when it comes.

Most architects, engineers, etc. are rightly cynical about sales and marketing. When we work with professional practices it is not to transform their people into sales people, far from it. That is not what is required. 

What is required is for each person to play a role in telling more of the right people about the projects, skills and awards of their practices. 

Everyday we help professionals to overcome their anxieties and discomfort regarding sales and marketing and to focus on small tasks that they could undertake in order to keep and grow existing clients and attract new ones.  

Inevitably this will generate better results, moreover it puts people back in control of their destiny and feeling better as a result.

Top 5 Priorities for Repeat Sales

Top 5 Priorities for Repeat Sales
We have been asking managers about their challenges and priorities in
terms of maximising repeat orders.

Here are the top 5 challenges:
1. Ensure Initial / trial orders repeat
2. Building loyalty & depending relationships
3. Exceeding customer expectations
4. Up selling & cross selling
5. Over-dependence on key customers

Here are the top 5 Priorities:
1. Targets for growing revenue from existing customers
2. Feedback – client side reviews
3. Key account plans & proactive CRM (supported by a system)
4. Reinforcing perceptions of value
5. Customer referrals and recommendations

--
Ray Collis
Director - The ASG Group, Ireland.

p.s. Have you seen my sales blog recently?

+353 (0)86 82 95 338 +353 (0)1 44 044 00 +44 (0)870 977 0167

http://www.theASGgroup.com
The ASG Group registered business name of Accelerate Sales Growth Ltd.
3rd Floor Harmony Court, Harmony Row, Dublin 2

Top 5 Priorities for Winning Sales Orders

We have been asking managers about their challenges and priorities in
terms of sales prders and boosting win rates.

Here are the top 5 challenges:
1. Revenues falling short of target
2. A 'sure thing' deal(s) is lost
3. Win rates are 'below par', or falling
4. Too many opportunities are stalled or 'in the valley'
5. Order size, or profitability needs to be increased

Here are the top 5 Priorities:
1. Involve the customer in creating the proposal
2. Avoid surprises - trial balloon price and other aspects
3. Go back to the start with stalled decisions
4. Get feedback before submission & post submission meeting
5. Track conversion rates & analyze lost deals

Top 5 Priorities for Sales Cycles

Top 5 Priorities for Sales Cycles
We have been asking managers about their challenges and priorities in
terms of managing sales cycles (as measured by win rates).

Here are the top 5 challenges:
1. Not enough genuine opportunities in the pipeline
2. Difficult to predict what deals will close & when
3. Getting real involvement / commitment from buyer
4. Surprises regarding buyer needs, budget, timing, etc.
5. Balancing sales cycles with prospecting, etc.

Here are the top 5 Priorities:
1. Sell higher and cover the buying unit
2. More interaction to jointly uncover needs and explore solutions
3. Build and gauge commitment throughout
4. Expert & trusted advisor, not sales person
5. Compelling business case and 'trial ballooning' price

Top 5 Priorities for Sales Meetings

We have been asking managers about their challenges and priorities in terms of maximising the effectiveness of sales meetings (as measured by conversion rates from meetings to sales cycles).

Here are the top 5 challenges:
1. Not enough sales meetings
2. Getting past the first meeting / advancing fast enough
3. Meeting the wrong companies/people
4. Uncover & build consensus around needs & payoff
5. Expert not sales person

Here are the top 5 Priorities:
1. More systematic needs analysis
2. Greater pre-qualification & preparation
3. An expert led approach
4. Communicating a more compelling reason to buy
5. Adopting a multiple-meeting approach

Right back to square 1

It can be the most difficult thing to do, but when a key aspect of the buying decision changes you have to go back to step one of your sales process. 

For example:

You find out that you are not talking to all the right people

You find out that the needs or priorities of the buying organization have changed

You find out that the budgetary situation is not as you anticipated

The customer tells you that the solution you have been pushing does not address their needs

You become aware of new competing choices being considered by customer.

So, what is square one?  Well listening to understand what the prospects needs are (implicit and explicit) and their business impact.  You have to revisit the buying process, the decision makers and influencers, the timeline, etc.   Go through all that again?  Yes.

Why purchase decisions get stalled

Sales people often complain that 'sure thing' purchase decisions are increasingly getting stalled – often at the last minute.  It is all the more frustrating because salespeople feel there is nothing that can be done about it. 

However, looking beneath the surface there are reasons why buying decisions get stalled and things that we, as salespeople, can do to avoid all our hard work being 'put on ice'.

Situations change – the customers priorities, needs and budget have changed and this has caught the sales person off guard.

Failure to proved the value – that is quantified the benefits and in particular gained agreement as to the business impact of the solution.  The sales person did not present a sufficiently compelling reason to buy at this time.

Getting ahead of the customer and failed to notice that he/she was falling behind.  You failed to interact sufficiently with the customer, or to incrementally build commitment and gain agreement throughout the sales cycle.

Don't surprise them!  They did not see or agree to what you were proposing and what it would cost before you submitted your proposal. 

Failure to talk to the right people – or to systematically covered the buying unit.

The leap to be made by the customer is too big – the level of risk on the part of the customer might have been reduced by means of a pilot, a phased approach, etc.

Before Your Next Sales Meeting Consider This...

Before you race off to your next sales meeting, what type of meeting
have you in mind? Is that what your customer is expecting and how
effective will it be.

There are lots of different types of 'sales meetings' and
understanding the differences between them is key to success.
However, salespeople and sometimes even the customer get it wrong,
with the result being a mismatch of expectations. Here are two classic
examples:

1. A buyer makes an enquiry and the sales person visits as a result.
The sales person arrives expecting to listen and engage with the
customer to explore his needs and requirements, but it does not turn
out as planned:

- To his surprise the buyer is withdrawn and says very little. It
becomes more like an interview of the salesperson, than a two way
conversation, or exploration of needs. The salesperson ends up doing
most of the talking and leaves confused about why the buyer even
wanted to meet.

- Worst still the sales person arrives to be led into the board
meeting, introduced to a number of people from the buyers side and
shown where he or she can connect a laptop in order to deliver a
presentation.

2. A sales person arrives to meet a potential customer for the first
time. After a few short pleasantries, the salesperson powers up
his/her laptop and launches into a slide presentation about his/her
company and its solutions.

After a dozen slides the buyers eyes glaze over, but with a lot more
slides to get through the sales person does not even notice. When the
presentation is over the buyer wants to get out of the room as quickly
as possible.

The sales person has used up all the time talking about himself and
has found out little about the buyer and his requirements. Because
he/she delivered a presentation before finding out what the customer
wants, there is no way of ensuring that the content of the
presentation reflects the requirements of the customer.

All too often when a sales person visits a prospect the objective is
to deliver a sales presentation – a slide show, or powerpoint
presentation. But, although that is the most common approach, it is
suited to only a small proportion of all sales meetings. The problem
is that it means the sales person ends up doing most of the talking.

Successful sales meetings are conversations - purposeful two-way
conversations that explore needs, the implications of those needs and
the potential solutions that can address the same. The word purposeful
is important here – in that you have giving the buyer a reason to meet
and that reason is clear. There is no mismatch of expectations.

For almost all sales meetings the salesperson almost always does more
listening than talking, although the balance can shift as the sales
cycle / relationship develops.

Selling - The Characteristics of Success

It struck me following two conversations yesterday with a sales
manager and a highly experienced and successful CEO that there are a
number of key characteristics to those people who will continue to
sell successfully and those who will continue to struggle. These are
three I noted from my conversations. There are many more but I would
be here all day if I tried to list them all.

1. Sales is a tough profession, sales people who recognise this and
take the good with the bad are the ones that do the business. Don Juan
in Carlos Castaneda's A Seperate Peace puts it well - The difference
between a warrior and an ordinary man is that a warrior sees
everything as a challenge, while an ordinary man sees everything as a
blessing or a curse". The sales people who succeed may not know it but
they are following Don Juan's philiosphy.

2. Sales people who are at the top of their field are the ones who are
always looking to learn, they read, attend sales conferences and are
hard on themselves after sales calls. Some food for thought:

* what was the last sales book you read
* when did you last attend a sales training course
* when did you last ask for frank feedback after a sales call
* have you ever asked a customer/prospective cleint for feedback
after a sales meeting?

Sales people who read and are looking to develop their sales
management skills will sell more.

3. Maybe old school given the new web 2.0 generation that is emerging
but you know what when you are selling complex products you will need
to be willing to build a relationship with the customer. As Brian
Tracy (www.briantracy.com) says the customer doesn't care how much you
know until they know how much you care. Its worth buying one or two of
Brians' books.

All the best

John - www.acceleratesalesgrowth.com

Is your USP a Compelling Reason to Buy?

Small, medium and large sized company directors are telling me they
need to review their unique selling proposition.

I ask them what they mean when they say this and I get a blank
response……should they not be thinking about the compelling reasons
they should give their customers to buy their solution rather than a
unique selling proposition which 9 times out of ten is internally
focused and product led?

I have no doubt customers will buy if you give them a compelling
reason to. Your sales results can drastically improve if you focus on
the compelling reason you give your customer to buy.

Lessons from the man who sold buckets!

I picked up a book on success stories in Irish business last week and
in between my golf and changing nappies I got the chance to read the
chapter on John Concannon from JFC manufacturing. For those of you who
haven't heard of John he was a framer who came up with an idea to link
three buckets together which ultimately got him on the road to develop
a 250 person organisation with €40-45 million turnover (Source That'LL
never work by Gaffney and O' Brien, its worth a read).

I suggest we should take note of John Concannons leaning mindset. It
seems John knew nothing about sales and marketing when he started off
but to his absolute credit he did realise he needed to "educate
himself" in sales if his business was to succeed. In his story he
talks about reading, studying sales and delivering to client
specifications when tackling markets. Sounds simple.

I say we all need a learning mindset don't we.

So how does all this relate to Sales growth. My response if you talk
to the right clients, listen to the client and deliver to their
expectations you increase your chance of success. So for all you sales
managers, sales trainers, managing directors, entrepreneurs a word to
the wise listen more, speak less and deliver exactly what the clients
wants not what you think they want.

John at www.acceleratesalesgrowth.com

Selecting a Telemarketing Agency - Key Questions to Ask

8 out of ten companies say they need help with lead generations.  But, before you engage the services of any lead generation/telemarketing company ask them the following questions:

1. Will they allocate a dedicated resource to your account?

2. Generally how long does it take to access a decision maker?

3. How do they track and record call backs?

4. What do they see as the KSF to a lead generation campaign are? If
they don't say lead generation is about a programme of activity and
ongoing communications then end the conversation

5. Will they run a pilot for 3 months?

6. Can they show you sample qualification information they look for???
The good ones can

7. What are the common objections they get over the phone? Again the
good ones will rattle off an answer to this question.

Lead generation comes in many guises. It requires a system and process
not just a person on the phone making calls.

Your sales team need to be either prospecting, presenting or advancing
sales cycles. If they aren't generating leads you will need to get
them some support. If you do get outside help ask the right questions.

John O' Gorman DirectorAccelerated Sales Growth, sales managment

Selling in tough times means doing more of the tough stuff

Yes times are not as good as they were. However I sat with a company
last week who closed three new deals .

Their people have realised they have got to do more prospecting, more
phoning and more meetings, the hard part of sales. One of the
directors gave me an insight into the attitude of the sales people who
are succeeding right now. He said prospecting and following up on
opportunities has become a daily goal for the guys that are uncovering
opportunities. They are doing the things they don't normally like
doing first.

John O' Gorman Director

Accelerate Sales Growth, sales management

Secrets of the Black Art of Sales

In my travels over the past week I have met with 10 senior managers
all looking to sell more. They want sales now. Nothing new there.

It struck me over the course of these meetings that sales managers and
business owners need to get back to basics; focus on what it is they
have or do that makes a difference to their clients lives and increase
their level of customer/prospect facing activity.

As my old marketing professor used say, "face the customer, listen to
what they are saying and then uncover the personal win your prospect
will get from buying your product/service/solution".

Selling is still the toughest profession in the world. But it is not a
black art. It can be made much easier and less stressful if you
listen, ask the right questions and stay in contact regularly.

John from The ASG Group: www.theasggroup.com

20 Tips From High Performers

I have been jotting down sales tips that I have noted from working
with several high performing sales people over the past few weeks.

Here they are.

1. Sales is a game of confidence
2. Two ears one mouth – the best sales people use them in that proportion
3. Increase sales activity – set some goals and make the calls
4. 80% of sales will be made by 20% of sales people , those 20%
will have clear priorities
5. Sales people must be confident in the value and skills they
deliver to their client
6. Develop relationships of trust, telling someone you cant do
something isn't the end of the world
7. Conduct effective needs analysis – 8 out of every 10 sales people don't!
8. Face the fear of rejection, head on, what's the worst that can
happen, a client says no
9. Have thought through the objections you will face before you
meet/call a client
10. Ask the customer/prospect is there anything else on their mind
before wrapping up a meeting
11. Set clear goals for meeting and gain commitment to a next step
12. Will block time in their calendar to call on new prospects
13. Apply the 80/20 rule to all sales activity
14. Be absolutely clear on the ideal customer
15. Plan visits around locations – don't waste time
16. Listen to CD's, read, uses travel time effectively, make the car
your place of learning
17. Be consistent with your message and make sure what you say and
do are aligned
18. Transfer knowledge and ideas into concepts that clients can
easily understand
19. Do the sales activity you least like doing first thing in the morning
20. Present yourself as an expert, people want to talk to experts

John O' Gorman Director

Accelerate Sales Growth, sales management

Put them to the side, or Keep In Touch!

For those of you who think selling is about just making sales calls and getting someone to buy, think about the following.

You meet say Mr. X and they don't buy from you and have no short term intention of buying from you. What do you do? Well, 7 out of every ten sales people just push Mr X. to the side and forget about him.

Well I can tell you from personnel experience recently that those 7 sales people need their heads examined. Mr X may not be in a postion to buy from you know, but he may know someone who is and if you keep in touch with him and think of him he is likely to recommend you to his contacts. One of our customers did this recently and now have a €100,000 opportunity in their pipeline that they wouldn't otherwise have

Lessons to be learned from this: Adopt a KIT mindset - Keep in touch

If you think of others, and send them something of value from time to time, they will more than likely refer you to someone who could buy your product or service.

John O' Gorman - Director of Accelerate Sales Growth, Sales
Management, Sales coaching

http://www.acceleratesalesgrowth.com/

The big lie - Great sales people are born, not made

Despite the traditional misconception, great salespeople are not born, they are made.  Ok there are personality characteristics that indeed can help in selling, such as; an outgoing personality, the ability to develop rapport easily and maybe even the ability to deal with rejection.  However the reality is that a great many of those qualities traditionally associated with the natural fast talking and super-confident sales person are a hindrance, rather than a help.

However, the core skills essential to sales success are not part of the DNA, but are learned, practiced and perfected over time including; listening, asking questions, empathizing, building rapport, expertise / product and industry knowledge, determination, communication skills, etc.  These skills are the difference between the average sales person and the sales champion. 

The profession of selling is open to everyone.  The price of success thereafter, is the continual learning and refinement of a set of skills – the skills involved in helping people to buy.  You don't have to be the perfect or natural salesperson, just one that is committed to getting better all the time. 

Like any other profession selling requires continuous improvement and refinement of skills, attitude and approach.   And the most important way to learn is not necessarily through training, or from books, but by doing.  The good salesperson always analyses the last sales meeting, the last sales campaign and the last proposal to identify opportunities to refine their approach and thereby increase their success.  With every sales call the good salesperson gets even better.

Average sales people can achieve extraordinary results if they following the right approach to selling their product, or service and if they are provided with the right systems and supports.   A great sales person in the wrong environment with the wrong sales approach, will achieve only average results.    In particular, sales success is increasingly about process - a consistent set of steps, governing key activities; such as pre-qualification, relationship building, needs analysis, etc.

The Different Types of Sales Meetings

There are lots of different types of 'sales meetings' and understanding the differences between them is key to success.

However, salespeople and sometimes even the customer get it wrong, with the result being a mismatch of expectations. Here are two classic examples:

1. A buyer makes an enquiry and the sales person visits as a result. The sales person arrives expecting to listen and engage with the customer to explore his needs and requirements, but it does not turn out as planned:

- To his surprise the buyer is withdrawn and says very little. It becomes more like an interview of the salesperson, than a two way conversation, or exploration of needs. The salesperson ends up doing most of the talking and leaves confused about why the buyer even wanted to meet.

- Worst still the sales person arrives to be led into the board meeting, introduced to a number of people from the buyers side and shown where he or she can connect a laptop in order to deliver a presentation.

2. A sales person arrives to meet a potential customer for the first time. After a few short pleasantries, the salesperson powers up his/her laptop and launches into a slide presentation about his/her company and its solutions. After a dozen slides the buyers eyes glaze over, but with a lot more slides to get through the sales person does not even notice. When the presentation is over the buyer wants to get out of the room as quickly as possible.

The sales person has used up all the time talking about himself and has found out little about the buyer and his requirements. Because he/she delivered a presentation before finding out what the customer wants, there is no way of ensuring that the content of the presentation reflects the requirements of the customer.

All too often when a sales person visits a prospect the objective is to deliver a sales presentation – a slide show, or powerpoint presentation. But, although that is the most common approach, it is suited to only a small proportion of all sales meetings. The problem is that it means the sales person ends up doing most of the talking.

Most sales meetings are conversations - purposeful two-way conversations that explore needs, the implications of those needs and the potential solutions that can address the same. The word purposeful is important here – in that you have giving the buyer a reason to meet and that reason is clear. There is no mismatch of expectations.

For almost all sales meetings the salesperson almost always does more listening than talking, although the balance can shift as the sales cycle / relationship develops.

Winning Advice - Do Fewer Presentations and Proposals!

Ironically, fewer presentations and proposals generally results in more sales!

Traditionally the view was that the more customers you presented to - the more sales were likely to result. However sales presentations where the salesperson does all the talking (with or without the aide of a set of powerpoint slides) are not an effective way to sell. Great sales people will give a presentation if they have too, but prefer conversations instead. In this way they can clearly establish requirements and more successfully match solutions to needs.

Traditionally managers saw a direct relationship between the number of proposals prepared and sales revenues. However, that has changed. In fact, many managers complain that their organizations are writing too many proposals, or that win rates are slipping. Great sales people write proposals, but only as the culmination of an extensive two way process of understanding the buyers needs, exploring solutions and trial ballooning price/other key aspects of the proposition.

Too many proposals are prepared unilaterally and at an early stage in the sales cycles. But that means they generally involve the salesperson 'going out on a limb' to propose something without the confidence that it will be well received and without a thorough understanding of the customers' requirements.

--
Ray Collis
Director - The ASG Group, Ireland.

Win, Lose, or worse of all Stalled!

There was a time when the worst that could happen to a salesperson was
that he, or she would lose the sale. But, even more dreaded are those
sales cycles that are stalled.

A stage cycle gets to the stage where a salespeople needs closure.
That is a definitive yes, or no, that would enable him, or her to move
on. Instead it is a 'not now', 'we are still evaluating what to do',
or worst of all there is a deafening silence from the prospect.
For many sales people the stalled sales cycle is worse than the sales
that is lost.

Today's buying decisions are more complex – they involve more people,
information and stages. That means it is more difficult to predict
what deals will close and when. Once more in a time of great
caution, owing to the slowdown, gitters in the buying organization can
easily derail a sure thing sales deal.

A sales person and his/her team may have been working on a sale for
many months, getting all the right signals from the prospect and
increasingly confident that the deal will close. Then all is laid to
waste, with the moment of the buyer stalled and so often the
salesperson helpless on the sidelines to do anything about it.

There are a myriad of factors that can cause a sale to get stalled and
some are beyond the ability of the salesperson to control, or perhaps
even anticipate. However, it is important to say that the number one
reason for stalled decisions is a failure among the buying
organization to match the purchase with a key business imperative, for
example cutting costs, driving sales, etc.

The number two reason for stalled decisions relates to the sales
approach and in particular the sales person getting ahead of the buyer
assuming that he, or she is following. Hence the importance of;
gradually building, gauging and seeking commitment consistently
throughout the sales process, ongoing prequalification (in terms of
budget, timing, etc.) and working closely with the customer to
establish needs, implications and the ideal solution.

Top 10 Opportunities to Improve Win Rates

Half of sales managers say they can gain further efficiencies in terms
of their sales approach.

This desire is driven by longer sales cycles, the difficulty of
forecasting what deals will close and pressure on win rates.

The Top 10 opportunities identified by managers are:

1. More systematic approach to the management of sales opportunities
(ie. sales process)

2. More structured and interactive approach to needs analysis, with a
focus on implications as well as needs

3. Greater coverage of the buying unit and selling higher generally

4. More systematic pre-qualification earlier and ongoing throughout
the sales cycle

5. Working more closely with the buyer to find solutions to their problems

6. Incrementally building and gauging buyer commitment throughout the
sales process

7. Quantification of business impact and benefits

8. Trial-ballooning price and other aspects of the solution

9. Bi-lateral approach to proposal preparation

10. More systematically building relationships

More Tips on Selling in a Slow-Down

You may have read my complaints about the level of negativity at some recent business events I attended and my conviction about staying positive in spite of the market downturn.

Well, when up to a hundred consultants get together there are certain to be lots of ideas shared on how to take business challenges and that most topical one of the moment – the slow-down.

Here are some of the most useful pieces of advice shared among consultants recently:

- Demonstrate that you can really add value, explain a drop dead difference and be clear about the business outcome of what you are proposing.

- Reflect the clients changing priorities (cutting costs, etc.) and help them to deal with the impact of the recession. Empathize with their business challenges.

- Recession is the motivation for many firms to fundamentally change their business model (out-sourcing, new routes to market, etc.). Those companies that implement 'knee jerk' reactions to the slow-down (e.g. making less than surgical cost cuts) significantly underperform in the longer term those that take a more strategic approach to dealing with a slow-down. So, there is a positive side.

- It is not about relying on RFPs – you have to talk to prospects about new ideas that can impact on their business – you have to create the opportunities not just reply to requests for tender.

- Sell higher in prospect organizations, it is not enough to sell to the IT director, you have got to create the business drive behind the IT solution that you are selling with the COO, CEO, etc. In times of a slow-down decisions must be shown to impact on business performance and must win the approval of the CEO.

- If you are a consultant, be careful as it is often the first and often the least painful area to get cut in a slown-down. That is because consulting has an image problem and its professionals need to do something about it. What is the problem? Well, value (as addressed in the points above).

See here for more sales related tips on selling in a slow-down.

Stop Trying to Demotivate Me with Talk of Slowdown

I travelled across town this morning to have an early breakfast with up to 100 management consultants and to benefit from the wisdom of two guest speakers. I should have gone to the office instead.

The breakfast was a solid base for the day (although not one my cardiologist would approve of), the rest was not. It was a diet of 'challenging times', 'slowdown', 'very difficult time', 'worst recession since the 1990s if not before', 'financial turmoil, etc.'

In the only moment of levity one of the speakers (the head of one of the big multinational consulting firms) joked that things were so bad that when another consultant asked how business was and the presenter replied 'challenging' that person whose business was obviouslyin even greater distress expressed surprise and responded 'that good is it?'

Stop right there! I refuse to be de-motivated. It is too easy to focus on the negative. There is a job to be done and moaning about an economic downturn won't help in doing it. Am I in denial (see the psychology of a slowdown)? No.

The facts about the economy are as undeniable, as they are outside my control. What I can influence is the level of sales activity I undertake and the degree of energy and enthusiasm that I bring to it. This is where depressing stories about the economy won't help.

After all, it's not the recession that really matters, it is how you react to it (see strategies for selling in a downturn). Thanks for the breakfast, but I left the negativity at the door on my way out!

http://www.theASGgroup.com

The verdict on what makes a good sales person

What makes a good sales person? Now that may sound like a difficult question to answer, but as you will see it's not. In fact, there is no mystery to what makes a good sales person.

To see what I mean - think of the salespeople you have dealt with over the past 12 months – both on the home front (e.g. buying a car, or a suite of furniture) and at work (e.g. the stationery salesperson, or the IT vendor).

First, think of the bad ones and what made them bad. That is an easy list to create and typically includes such items as; arrogant, insincere, pushy, overly-friendly, fast talking, does not listen, lack of product knowledge, un-trust worthy, just wants to sell, interrupts, etc. Yes, we are all too familiar with that type of sales person.

Then think of the good salespeople that you like dealing with. They may be fewer in number than their bad counterparts, but their characteristics stand out. They are generally described as; good listener, asks questions, respectful, polite, does not interrupt/arrive uninvited, not pushy/gives us space, knows our industry, offers good advice, has our best interest at heart, trustworthy, looks to build a relationship, etc.

I have been asking these questions of groups of managers up and down the country for two decades and they have no problem clearly identifying the characteristics of both good and bad salespeople. The guidelines for all of us in sales are clear!

Always give the customer a chance to say No!

The golden rule always was 'don't give the customer a chance to say NO'. That is don't ask any questions that could result in a 'NO' answer and consequently sabotage your sale.

For example, don't ask the customer 'is this something that you might be interested in' if there is a chance he/she could say 'NO'. The logic was keep listing the benefits, the features and with persistence and charm you will eventually get the sale.

Now, if you are selling door to door, or over the phone that logic is fine. But, if you are selling complex or high value B2B solutions you will want to hear a 'No' as much as you will want to hear a 'Yes '. That is because the nature of the answer is irrelevant in terms of prequalification and consultative selling.

With sales cycles lasting months, you had better find out as early as possible if what you have could be of interest to the customer. If it is not, then either you need to go back to the drawing board and find another solution, or go back to your prospect list and find another potential customer.

Getting a 'NO' in week 2 is much better than getting it in week 22, after multiple futile sales calls, presentations and even a proposal. Your sales time is precious so make it easy for the customer to tell you if you are wasting your time, or at least going in the wrong direction.

Here are some of the questions you want to ask, regardless of whether the answer is YES, or NO:

· - I am not sure if this is something that you might be interested in?

· Is now a good time to talk?

· Is this the right time for you to consider this option?

· Is this a priority for your business at this time?

· Do you have a budget for this?

· Do you have decision making responsibility for this?

· Is there a reason why you are talking to us, given that you have been a customer of our competitor for so long?

If 'NO' is the answer then how will it help you advance your sales process, or does it suggest that your sales efforts would be better invested elsewhere.

Now more than ever you need a plan…

Do you have a game plan for how you will see out the market slowdown? Is everybody clear on what needs to be done, when it needs to be done and what it will cost?

With so much talk of a slowdown there is a fair degree of panic among sales people and their managers. How to keep your head when everybody around you is losing theirs? Well, by putting an action plan together and then putting it to work.

No more than ever you need a plan. With the economic slowdown taking effect it is vital that you respond to the challenge in a proactive and thought-through manner, focusing your limited sales resources clearly.

The Chinese saying warns that 'planning without action is a dream and action without a plan is a night mare'. So, let's be clear about the type of plan that is required - an action plan, including priorities, tasks (over 30, 60 and 90 days), budget, responsibilities, timeline, etc.

Brian Tracy suggests that every minute spent planning saves 10 minutes in execution, as a result giving a 1,000 percent Return on Energy. Well, I am not sure about the maths, but I sure do believe in the necessity of planning.

Click here if you would like to read more on what should be in your plan, or the questions others are likely to ask regarding your plan.