Sales Tips From Jonathan London

Are There Labor Laws for Salespeople?

  

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I am working this week and next with a large, well established company who is asking the following of their salespeople:

• make 250 prospecting calls a day
• have 5 appts/day
• make 3 renewal sales and 1 new sale a day
• and do it the old fashioned way, with brute force

The resistance to change is remarkable. I expect it from old timers (and there are plenty of them) but I am getting the same resistance from people who have been in the job for 4 months and average 23 years of age. Here is what they have been taught:

• make 250 calls a day
• don't give them any benefits or reasons to meet. Just say you are a specialist in their industry and geography and you want to meet with them
• ask them a series of questions to uncover a requirement
• “sidestep” any objections to get the appointment
• just call people off the list you are given without any filtering, prioritizing, etc

We are trying to warn them that they wont get as many appointments, or good appointments as they need doing it this way, and they might suffer other serious side effects, including:

1. arthritis, especially in their dialing finger
2. chipped nails
3. back problems from sitting and calling
4. broken fingers from slamming the phone down
5. high blood pressure from too much Red Bull to keep up the pace
6. customer complaints are increasing
7. competitors are rejoicing and dancing in the streets
8. new world records for time being wasted are being established
9. really good prospects being ignored or marginalized
10. communications costs reaching new highs in their company with all the phone calls being made
11. “Death of a Salesman” is becoming a must read

 Here is what we are teaching them:

1. You can have high volume and quality by defining your sweet spot and using social media more effectively
2. You will have more appt’s that are pre-qualified and thus have higher close rates
3. You will cover your territory better by focusing on the best deals and using email, social media, networks and more to cover the rest
4. You can reach as many people as you want at one time by using Linkedin, Facebook, email and running webinars
5. When you reach people, tell them the benefit to them of meeting so they will have fewer questions or objections, and those they do will have relevance
6. Try it in steps, not all at once so you can ease into this better behavior

Sales Tips and Advice: 1 More Hour a Day = 5 More Weeks to Sell

  

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It is amazing to think that if you can give yourself 1 more hour a day, it can equal up to 6 more weeks of selling time. Here are some sales tips and advice on how:
• Let’s say, with vacation and holidays you work 48 weeks a year
• 5 days a week x 48 = 240 days
• 1 more hour a day to sell = 240 hours
• 240 hours divided by a 10 hour day = 24 more days
• 24 more days divided by 5 (days a week) = 5 weeks (-1 day)

So how can you give yourself back 1 hour a day? Examine the list below and ask yourself where you might waste too much time doing any of these items:

1. Do I check my e-mails at pre-designated times or do I react to each one as it comes?
2. Do I “batch” certain administrative functions (paperwork, quotes, proposals) and do them all at once, or do I do them as they are requested?
3. Do I qualify requests from customers, prospects and internally regarding when they need something vs. just jumping at the request?
4. Do I leave a voice/e-mail message letting people know when I am/not available?
5. Do I delegate and follow up many tasks, vs. doing them all myself?
6. Do my customers know the right people to contact for different needs, vs. coming to me for everything?
7. Do I have ONE system where I keep notes, to dos, etc?
8. Am I good at multi-tasking (for example checking e-mails and talking on phone)?
9. Do I type well?
10. Do I know how to operate the software packages and internal systems well?
11. Do I procrastinate and push off the lengthy or difficult tasks (even though they may be the most important)?
12. Am I good at handling all the different paperwork that comes my way?
13. In working my territory, do I try to make multiple appt’s. in the same area at the same time so I don’t have to waste time traveling back and forth?
14. Do I browse the web on unrelated work items?
15. Do I gossip too much?
16. Do I qualify appt’s. as to whether I can do them on the phone vs. in person?
17. Do I qualify internal appt’s. as to whether you should attend or not?
18. Do I use my selling hours to sell and do non-sales tasks at the appropriate time?
19. Do I plan and prioritize the events for each day or week ahead of time and try to keep to it as much as possible?
20. Do I set proper expectations with all as to when I will respond to them or do I just do whatever they ask whenever they ask?
21. Am I still smoking which is wasting time and killing me?

Another way to look at is via the old proverb “time is money”. Look at the table below to see how much money you are losing by wasting 1 hour  a day:

However you look at it, even if you want to give that hour a day back to yourself for non-work related areas, it pays to be focused and organized!

24 Ways to Get People to Call You Back When Prospecting

  

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Below are several questions, sales tips and advice on how to get people to respond to your sales calls:
1. who called who initially (if they called you, they should be interested)
2. should you have met in the first place (did you pre-qualify before you had your meet)
3. after you met, should you have met again or are you chasing bad business
4. did you already give them what they need (i.e. a proposal) so they no longer need to speak with you
5. was there any real interest to start with (did the prospect have a compelling event with a time frame and executive sponsor)
6. are you talking to the right person (maybe they aren’t calling back because they are waiting for someone to tell them what is going on)
7. are they so busy with so many things that your project gets yo-yo’d with everything else
8. have you gotten a firm commitment on a specific date and time to talk or are you chasing them
9. is it easy for them to buy you? is the offer too expensive or above their approval level
10. try writing a post card or old fashioned letter with an envelope or stamp (you can look up any of these items online if you don't know what they are)
11. how many different ways and times did you try calling them?
12. what do you say in your voicemails so that they would be interested or curious about calling you back?
13. have you used *67 (or whatever you use) to block your id
14. how about calling the receptionist and getting an internal transfer if you have been trying them direct
15. or have somebody else call them
16. have you sung the song “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg Sweet Darlin” in their voicemail
17. what about LinkedIn or other social media to see if you know anyone who knows them that can tell them to call you back
18. how about accidentally bumping into them at the local Starbucks or coffee shop (no stalking allowed)
19. is their an event you can invite them to
20. have you tried calling somebody above or below them in the organization? do you even know who that might be
21. how about incriminating digital photos (ONLY KIDDING)
22. how many times do you try before you realize you might be wasting your time, or do you have no limit (which is fine – no stalking allowed)
23. have you expressed concern that you haven’t heard back if the first meeting really did go well
24. do you have enough in your funnel/pipeline (whatever you call it) that it doesn't matter if they call you back or when they do. You will still make your target/quota, etc.

Internal Sales Process vs. Customer Decision or Buying Process

  

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In a recent discussion on “Sales Training Execution” a LinkedIn group, the question of whether an internal sales process is still relevant. I find this question fascinating because if the internal sales process doesn't factor in the customer buying process, then it's doomed to failure. Experts in this group are talking about all the changes in sales, what is or isn’t relevant any more, and what needs to be done.

My experience in selling to this day and training people is, nothing much at all has changed much. It is just the difficulty in implementing some of the steps.

Some thoughts:

1. It is harder to get to people, thus the idea of referrals is more important, but it is not "new".
2. SEO and lead generation have become much more important and must be a part of any effective sales plan.
3. Qualifying whether an opportunity is real requires much more probing since people are way too busy and much less loyal or open.
4. Once this has been done, you need to work their process, meet their people, and present your solution to win it or to influence the RFP (if that is their process).
5. No question, prospects have much more information available to them to decide and use as a filter for what a vendor says.
6. Decisions in some industries have become much more quantitative and qualitative as well.
7. Having said all that, any good sales process HAS ALWAYS understood the customer's buying process, whatever industry you are selling into, and worked inside that, (used resources properly, etc.) or worked to accelerate the customer process as best they can to win more business.

Please tell me what I am missing?

Sweet Spot Selling - Get Off to a Great Start

  

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From a prospecting perspective, starting the New Year correctly depends upon your quota and how many, if any, prospects you have in your sales pipeline.

A few examples:

- Several industries that rely on MRR (monthly recurring revenue) and the Rule of 78 needs to have all of their customers (not prospects) in no later than mid-year.

- Other industries that have a 6 month sales cycle need to have all of their prospects identified by mid year so they close by the end of the year.

So, you need to determine:
- how long is your average sales cycle
- how big is your average sale
- how many sales do you need to make to meet your quota
- what is your close ratio (of initial prospect meetings to making a sale)

An easy formula to use is delineated below. Let's say:

- Your  monthly quota is $100,000
- Your average sales is $25,000
- You would need to make on average 4 sales per month
- Your close ratio is 25% (from initial meetings to closing a deal. I hope it is higher. If not, we need to talk)
- Therefore you need to have 16 new opportunities per month to close 4 deals (25% of 16 is 4)

A very important question is how much time do you need to spend prospecting to get 16 appointments (these numbers will change  based on how effective you are at prospecting, how well you prospect into your existing accounts, avg. deal size and close ratio, how many good leads come to you, etc.).

Using the same numbers as above:

- Let's assume you need to make 30 attempts (phone, email, voicemail, etc.) to get 1 appointment
- And each attempt, on average takes 3 minutes (this includes the first call which should take you much longer because it includes the research, preparation, etc.)
- 30 attempts x 3 minutes = 90 minutes = 1.5 hours to get one appointment
- to get 16 appointments you would need to spend 24 hours in a month or approximately 6 hours per week or 1.2 hours a day.

So there you go. In the above example, you would need to dedicate 1.2 hours a day. Very easy stuff. Let me know if you have any thoughts or questions!

R.E.A.L.™ Sales Tips: 10 More

  

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Sales Advice and Q&A with Jill Konrath

  

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Sat in with Jill Konrath, best selling author of S.N.A.P. Selling on Tuesday for 2.5 hours with people calling in from all over the world looking for great advice.

We talked about prospecting, stalled sales cycles, start-ups, value propositions, LinkedIn, competition and much more.

The audio is long,so listen at your leisure. But please listen in. You will get some great advice.

Sales Performance: Architect Your Sales Foundation

  

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Taking advantage of all the amazing advice and information that is available to us online, and, learning to be a better salesperson or sales manager has to be built on a strongly architected foundation, or it will be difficult, if not impossible to absorb and use the advice properly.

Just recently I participated in a webinar by a company in the sales training industry. The presenter was talking about selling into complex environments, and I was pleasantly surprised to learn some new things would benefit me in my own sales efforts, as well as when I teach my students.

I started to take notes and write things that would translate well into my training, and realized that the reason I could do so was because I had a strong foundation to work with. To extend the foundation analogy to the foundation of a home, I was adding to and building on the foundation of my home with this new learning. But without my foundation, I would have been confused, distracted and potentially worse off.

So, what are the tangible foundations of sales?

1. Setting goals and priorities - knowing what you want to achieve from the effort you will be making.
2. Time Management – making the best use of your time based on your goals.
3. Defining your Sweet Spot - the opportunities where you have the best chance of winning.
4. Prospecting effectively - so you get more appointments, at the right time with the right people.
5. Discovering, Qualifying and Influencing – asking the right questions to determine if there is a sales opportunity and if you can win. Influencing is “planting seeds” about your offer to influence how the person thinks about you.
6. Presenting – your solution in a relevant, compelling and differentiated manner
7. Handling Objections and Closing – during the sales process from prospecting to negotiations.

The intangible elements may be more important. To mention a few, they include:

1. Working hard
2. Being empathetic
3. Becoming a SME in your industry and your product
4. Being well intended
5. Being driven to be successful

Once these foundational elements are built, you can then build or add on the more “advanced” elements, including:

1. Negotiations
2. Team Selling
3. Executive Selling
4. Selling Strategically
5. Financial Selling  

There are no short cuts to being great. You can compress time by working harder and smarter, but you must go through the steps. Let me know if I can answer any questions or help in any way.

Increase Sales By Asking: What Do I Have to Do with MY Success

  

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It is always good fortune to have a good or great product in a good or great market. It makes it easier to be successful.

But it can also make it much more difficult to delineate what you are doing that makes you a better salesperson than others in your company or industry.

Ask yourself these questions and take actions if necessary:
1. Are you outperforming others as a % of quota?
2. If you are, is it because you have one great account, and if that account was taken away, you would be in big trouble?
3. Have you outperformed others year after year or just 1 year?
4. How do others see you, as lucky, talented or talented and lucky?
5. Are you still working as hard as you can to maintain this tremendous success you are having?
6. Can you be successful when you lose the incredible advantage you have because of your selling skills?
7. Do you know what makes you so successful? Can you delineate it clearly? Is it you work harder, smarter or both? Do you know your offering so well you can make it do more than anyone else? Do you have more activity? Are you selling to higher levels in your prospect’s organization? Etc, etc. etc.
8. If you were responsible to teach new hires, what would you tell them are the keys to continual success vs. being a one trick pony?
9. Are you doing everything you can to take advantage of the opportunity you have?
10.Are you not taking success for granted?

Sales Performance: Develop Yourself

  

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My clients often ask me to assist in developing existing personnel, or help in developing a New Hire Sales program. I ask them to define the requirements for success in each of the following areas for sales personnnel:

- Skills
- Knowledge
- Attributes/Qualities

Let’s look at each:

Some basic skills include:
- prospecting
- discovery and qualification
- presenting
- objection handling
- closing

Some skills not looked as often are:
- strategic thinking
- problem solving
- negotiations
- selling to C Level executives
- understanding ROI
- time and territory management
- putting together a solution

Knowledge would include:
- business
- industry
- company
- resources
- competition
- product
- who to go to for what
- how to work the systems the company uses

The attribute least examined and perhaps the most important to create an effective sales team in Attitudes/Attributes and Qualities requirements include:

- self starter
- team play
- honesty
- initiative
- ability to work in a chaotic environment

This definition also helps with hiring the right people by adding experience to the criteria in hiring.

Do yourself a favor. Delineate the knowledge, skills and attributes that are the most important to be successful and pick the one or 2 most important to improve for 2012.