Category: Sales Management

Am I a Bad Sales Manager?

Business Analysis, Posts, Sales Coaching, Sales Management, Strategy Planning

Nobody is perfect. You know this is true if you have ever had, or have been, a sales manager. We all make mistakes and I would believe that most of us want to do better overall. It is a wonder that there aren’t more self-help groups for managers in general; if there are any at all. So, are you a good manager or a bad manager? 

No one wants to be told that their breath stinks and I certainly don’t want to be the one that has to tell you that, but maybe I can politely offer you a stick of gum by calling your attention to some of the common mistakes many sales managers make. Here is a list of the top 10 sales management mistakes that you can easily focus on improving.

 

  1. Not running a good sales meeting – You have no written agenda, you don’t solve any problems and no one learns anything. Time to step it up a bit.
  2. Not maintaining the goals – Sales goals come too late, are ignored, changed or just aren’t being discussed.
  3. Not acknowledging successes and failures – No one is motivated or learns from experience because you don’t discuss what is or is not working.
  4. Withholding information – Your team doesn’t get reports and projections in a timely manner.
  5. Not establishing KPIs – Your team doesn’t really have a great sense of strategy because they don’t know or understand the key performance indicators that will make them successful.
  6. Not establishing a process – Salespeople are forced to make things up as they go along because you have not established best practices for your team.
  7. Not listening – You spend too much time talking to your salespeople because you are too excited to prove how much you know.
  8. Making friends instead of success – You are avoiding difficult conversations and allowing poor performers to continue doing so.
  9. Not spending enough time with each salesperson – You haven’t learned what each person needs, where they can be coached and how they can grow.
  10. Creating excessive pressure – You are over-stressing, possibly micromanaging, the team so that they can’t think straight. Be their partner, not their tyrannical overlord.

 

Is the New Salesperson Going to Make It❓

Uncategorized, Sales Management, Sales Training

Their resume looked great, they interviewed well and you can see that the new salesperson that was hired is going to be a great fit in the company. The courting was fun and the honeymoon is now over. So here comes the big question, is the new salesperson actually going to be successful. It is a question that everyone is wondering about, including the new salesperson. They talked a good talk and now it is time to perform. Chances are that you’re thinking about all the duds that have come through the company that showed a lot of promise early on, but somewhere along the way things went the wrong way and they maintained their employment much longer than they probably should have. Now it’s back to the pile of resumes and this time everyone is a lot more skeptical. 

New salespeople that are unsuccessful create an unpleasant experience for everybody; especially that salesperson. At what point can we tell that they are getting traction instead of offering excuses instead of results. Remember that this employment is a two-way partnership and the company is at least half responsible for their success. 6 months after the new salesperson completes their onboarding, you’ll start to know whether or not they have what it takes if you see them producing certain things. Here are the 5 things you should look for in a new salesperson to see whether or not they are going to be successful. 

 

  1. A good pipeline – Do they have a list of prospects that they are working on? Are they moving prospects forward through their process. Is the list of good quality and reflects the kinds of customers that the company wants? A good pipeline of great prospects is the first key to their success.
  2. A goal – Too often do salespeople and sales managers leave results up to chance. They have a hard time discussing goals because it suddenly makes everything seem too real. Don’t get your hopes up too high for a salesperson who has no goals. If you fail to let them know what is expected of them, the chances are that they will fail too. 
  3. Sales activities – Is the new salesperson actually picking up the phone, getting in front of people, and delivering a healthy level of sales activities necessary to build a book of business? Are they being bogged down by other responsibilities within the company? You definitely want to make certain that they are doing the work.
  4. Sphere of influence – Is the new salesperson out meeting with their sphere of influence? These would be old contacts, relationships, and influencers. They may or may not be an ideal customer for your company, but this is an excellent warm-up exercise for new salespeople because this network of contacts can start steering them in the right direction. 
  5. Getting meetings/ sending quotes – This is the biggest thing that you want to look for. If a new salesperson has been at it for 6 months and has not had any meetings or sent any quotes, they are not going to make it. It is time to break the relationship. However, if they are able to get meetings regardless of closing deals, then chances are that you have a winner. They may need some help with their presentation and closing techniques, but getting prospects to agree to a meeting is the hardest thing. Everything after that can be easily corrected. This one is going to make it. 

Becoming a Great Sales Manager

Sales Management

The sales team is one of the most difficult teams to manage in any organization, which is why many companies are now turning to a fractional sales manager to provide the necessary structure and expertise. There are way too many moving parts, and as a top sales training company, we know it is subject to elements beyond your control. Not to mention the fact that more often than not, unless you are managing an inside sales force, your team rarely performs in your presence. How can anyone become a good, let alone a great sales manager under these conditions? Sometimes the title of ‘Sales Manager’ becomes the cruel fate to a once top-performing salesperson who was promoted based on their results and not management abilities and the one time darling of the company now finds herself struggling in a field that she had once mastered. 

One of the first mistakes a sales manager will make is thinking they must manage the people. Most people do not like to be managed; they prefer part-time sales management that focuses on systems rather than micromanagement. We often see leaders frustrated when trying to manage a team like a sandcastle too close to the water. If you want to protect what you are building, you need serious fortification. These 5 techniques used by every successful fractional sales manager will put you in the league of greatness.

  1. Manage the goals – This is a common mistake among sales managers as well as salespeople. There are either no goals in place, they are poorly communicated, they are rarely discussed, they are poorly conceived, or they are just not being tracked. You cannot manage any team if you are not constantly working together toward a goal.
  2. Manage the process – Nowhere do we mention managing people. Manage your process and let your process manage the people. Whether you are a full-time leader or a fractional sales manager, your process is everything. If each person does whatever they feel is best, you have no means of managing the team.
  3. Manage the KPIs – Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are not and cannot be your sales. Sales are the result of something you did in the past and there is nothing you can do to change it. KPIs are how you capture and measure the sales expectation and activities of your salespeople. Salespeople with good KPIs know how to manage themselves. This can be activities such as phone calls, meetings, visits, quotes, etc. 
  4. Manage the structure – Not all salespeople respond to structure the same way, but without it, they tend to get lost in their own ideas. Structures can take on simple forms such as scheduled meetings with defined agendas, reporting requirements, clear lines of supervision, and documentation. You cannot let any of these items up to chance with salespeople. 
  5. Manage the communication -To succeed, you must have the right conversation with the right person. This is a core competency for any fractional sales manager. You must listen, share feedback, and help your team grow through regular, intentional dialogue—ideally no less than monthly. The right conversation means talking with each person on your team about what is, and is not, working (that’s a two-way street). The right way means that you have to be willing to listen and share feedback. You have to help your team grow, and the more often you have these kinds of conversations (we recommend no less than monthly) the better you and they will be. 

 

What To Do When Your Customer Is a Bully

Marketing, Sales Management, Sales Training

I don’t like jerks any more than you do, and still, they exist. Do they even know that they are jerks? Do they even care? Why are there so many of them? Why are some of them trying to be my customer? How do I go about handling difficult customers? To be clear, I am not talking about customers that are angry or mildly difficult to manage, I mean customers that want to walk all over you, show you little respect, and constantly try to take advantage of you. A bully. These customers take an enormous amount of time and emotional energy and too often there isn’t a win/win outcome. They want what they want and they will stop at nothing to get it.

The first problem is that we believe these bully customers are in control and we let them have control because we fear losing the sale. We get caught in their trap of aggressive behavior and must constantly play defense. You’re a people pleaser and you want to make everyone happy. I don’t blame you. But there is a way to change the odds in your favor without stooping to their level. Assuming that you believe this aggressive customer is worth closing the deal with, there are 5 simple things you can do to keep these kinds of customers in check and start doing business on your terms.

 

  1. Listen Listen Listen – Sometimes the more we talk the more trouble we cause for ourselves and the same is true for an aggressive customer. Let them wear themselves down and spill their guts. This may take some time and test your patience but these type of people always need to hear themselves talk. Avoid the impulse to react and speak until the moment is right.
  2. Ask questions – As much as it might pain you, keep the aggressive customer talking by asking questions. This will change them from playing offense to defense. Even questions that allow them to clarify their position keep them responding to your cadence and takes them off their course.
  3. Normalize their irrationality – You can’t tell a crazy person that they are crazy, but you can win them over by normalizing what they feel is rational. I am not suggesting that you agree with them, but let them know you understand where they are coming from. In other words, tell them that if you were in their shoes, you might see how they arrived at their idea.
  4. Challenge what they say – You always have a right, if not the duty, to challenge any aggression from a bully customer and you don’t have to be aggressive to do it. Instead of telling them your position, ask them if they have considered the opposing viewpoint. Let them talk through that viewpoint and many times that will start to see things differently and, hopefully, your way. 
  5. Maintain your position – You cannot let aggressive customers bully you into getting their way. They won’t respect and they will have their way with you again. You don’t have to bully them back but tell them confidently and calmly your position and why you have no choice to maintain it. You do risk losing them as a customer, but that might not be such a bad thing. There is a better chance that you will get them to change their behaviors and start doing business on normal terms like the rest of your customers.

Would you like to learn more? Check out Aaron Jacobs e-book, “Controlling the Sale”, The New Way To Win Customers, Deals & Profits On Your Terms.

Do You Understand the Sales Equation?

Business Analysis, Sales Management, Strategy Planning

There are many elements that go into sales and to list them all would be overwhelming. That’s one of the reasons why so many of us struggle in our sales careers because we are all over the place looking for answers. The unfortunate thing is that is what we are taught by our managers, experts, consultants, co-workers, blog posts, etc. We search for the latest and greatest solution for what are really some of the oldest problems that salespeople have and it all orbits around getting results. 

We all have that moment where we quietly wonder, “What in the world is wrong with me? I’m trying everything and none of it is working”. There is a simple solution to almost all of your sales problems and it is based on the Sales Equation: Pipeline + Sales Activities = Results. That’s it. Naturally you will ask, “What about marketing, messaging, strategy, leadership, pricing, and so on?” Yes, these items are also important, but they are not often the core issue with your sales success. Here are 5 ways to use the Sales Equation to your advantage.

 

  1. Make the pipeline crucial – The first thing I examine when helping someone with their sales is their pipeline; the list of prospective clients they are working on. It is surprising how this is often non-existent, not current or lacking in quality. Without a good pipeline you cannot get results. You must always be hunting.
  2. Examine the activities – Let’s say you have a great sales pipeline, but it isn’t producing. You must track and examine your sales activities. This is where you will most often find your defect. Activities such as meetings, phone calls and emails are crucial to cultivating your pipeline. If your pipeline is good, chances are there is either not enough activity, the wrong mix of activities or not enough touch points in your activities sequence (you are giving up too soon).
  3. Experiment with the other variables – If your pipeline is strong and sales activities are high, now you can start to tweak your messaging, strategy, promotion, etc. Any sales person with a good list and determination can be successful without the other elements of marketing, although he will perform much better when it is aligned with his plan.
  4. Stay focused on the Sales Equation – You don’t get what you expect, you get what you inspect. Review your pipeline and activities frequently and your results will drastically improve. If you focus too much time on the other variables, the important sales activities tend to be delayed along with their results. 
  5. Put it to the test – If you are not convinced, examine your own pipeline and activities, or that of your team, and match it with the results (or lack of). Does it add up? It should. Any time you suspect you have a sales problem, always put your problem to the test of the sales equation and you will usually find your answer there. 

The Yellow Brick Road of Prospecting

Marketing, Posts, Sales Management

There can be nothing more daunting to a salesperson than to be handed a list of prospects to begin calling on. The list usually has hundreds of names and, at first glance, it looks like you have a mountain to climb. In some ways, it really is a mountain as you prepare to introduce yourself to new people. Who knows what this list has in store for you. One thing is for sure, it’s going to be a lot of work as you head into the unknown world of cold prospecting.

 

“Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!” as Dorothy and her entourage declared in the Wizard of Oz as they embark on their yellow brick road. You have your own golden path to follow, but instead, you find dead leads, rejections, and voicemail hell, oh my! Yes, prospecting is an adventure for sure and it can be an exciting one if you adopt the right attitude. Here are some helpful reminders if you’re starting with a new list of prospects.

 

  1. There are no witches – No one on your list can hurt you. They can’t physically attack you, they can’t have you arrested because you asked for their business and almost none of them will be downright nasty to you. There isn’t much to be afraid of other than ‘no thank you.’
  2. Be persistent – There may be rejections, objections, and other flying monkeys along your journey, but push beyond them. Don’t let one ‘no’ hold you back. That one ‘no’ does not represent the rest of your list. Keep on going until you get to the end.
  3. Work steady – Prospecting is exhausting and although you must remain consistent, you have to choose a pace that you can maintain. Don’t burn yourself out by burning through your prospects just for the sake of getting to the end.
  4. You will make new friends – Somewhere in your list are people who will like you, be glad that you called, and actually need what it is that you are selling. Who knows, there may be a few new friends for you to make along the way. They just don’t know it yet.
  5. Your treasure awaits – Work through your list with full knowledge that there are nuggets of gold to be uncovered. There may be a lot of sifting, but it is there somewhere, you just have to find it and there is no other way to do this than to begin your prospecting. Good luck.

No Apologies For Prospecting

Marketing, Posts, Sales Management, Sales Training, Strategy Planning

Have you ever been cold-called by a salesperson who opens the call with ‘Sorry to bother you, but…”? You should never apologize when selling and prospecting. How many of your co-workers in other departments, such as operation or finance, have to spend their time apologizing for doing their job? So why should you apologize for doing yours? Timid and weak salespeople bring timid and weak results. Why? Because they have a poor self-image that they project onto prospective customers who will, in turn, reinforce those beliefs.

 

If salespeople could accept the hard truths about prospecting and the benefits it brings, the less reluctant they would be to do these essential selling activities. Frankly, these aren’t big mountains for us to climb, they are little bumps that trip us up every once in a while. Prospecting new customers not only works, but it is the best way to acquire new business. So embrace these 5 realities of reaching out to new customers.

 

  1. Your call is unexpected – Of course, it is. So what? The day can be filled with a lot of unexpected things and many of them can be good? Why wouldn’t you and what your selling be one of those things? If you didn’t have something great to offer, why would you bother them with an unexpected call?
  2. You are calling at a bad time – Yup. At least that’s what prospects will tell you. My advice? Open your call by acknowledging this. “Hi, did I catch you at a bad time?”. It’s a personal favorite way to cold call. They will always say ‘yes’, but ask you what the call is about. This means they have given you permission to start selling. Go for it.
  3. You are a disruption – Salespeople who are not willing to disrupt their prospect’s day will not bring in new business. Period. You have to be a disruption to get their attention. Today, phone calls achieve this better than emails for sure (for those of you who say that phone calling is dead). If you don’t disrupt people, you will not get noticed. 
  4. You must get noticed – This is the fact in sales. You have to get noticed in order to begin any sales process. Unless you have a fantastic marketing plan that brings in a lot of new leads, you will need a campaign that gets you in front of people one way or another. 
  5. It takes more than one try – It can take as many as five, ten, or more tries to get time with your prospect. Be persistent and don’t give up too easily. Be willing to try several methods including phone calls, emails, cold call walk-ins, social media, and so forth. Sooner or later they will have to notice you good, bad, or otherwise.

Small Fires Make Little Heat

Marketing, Sales Management, Sales Training

A salesperson without desire is like an oven without a flame. You can’t cook much with it. Salespeople should be the most goal-driven in any organization because, without their hard work of bringing in sales, no one else really has a job. So, it would stand to reason that a salesperson with a passion for achieving great things for themselves or their company will usually produce average results. Should this be fixed? Yes. Can it be done? Of course. Will it be easy? Well, that depends.

 

All salespeople like the lowest hanging fruit. In a world of constant rejection and uncertainty, who could blame them. It’s the easiest way to explain the high resistance against prospecting and cold calling. But small fires make little heat and little desires bring little results. Who can cook great things in an oven with little fire? What is a salesperson with tiny goals and small desires? You want a sales team that hungers for success and here are 5 simple (but sometimes hard) things you can do to build big fires that make a lot of heat.

 

  1. Set lofty goals – Too often we are afraid of scaring away salespeople by giving them goals that might be too hard that cause a rift between sales and management. Set low goals, get low results. Remember, you don’t get what you expect, you get what you inspect and you aren’t inspecting the progress of lofty goals, the goals will not likely be met.
  2. Create proper incentives – Management gets this wrong more often than I care to share. The ones that get it right have a strong sales force. Remember, the more a salesperson sells, the more the cost of sales associated with them decreases. They become more profitable. Tiered incentives demonstrate to the salesperson that not only do you believe that these lofty goals are possible but worthwhile.
  3. Don’t be afraid to challenge salespeople – Many owners and managers feel like they are being held hostage by their salespeople. As long as they are bringing in sales, that means they have control in the employment relationship and if you disrupt this you risk losing them and their sales. This is rarely true and, unless you have a real rockstar on your team (why challenge them when they challenge themselves), most salespeople will usually not push back? Why, because pushing back is too challenging. Do you see the fallacy in this loop?
  4. Stop rewarding mediocrity – How many times have you given salespeople a participation trophy? Way too many of us do. Your reasoning is noble in that you want to offer positive reinforcement and help people improve. But over time this becomes enabling and we communicate to average salespeople that being average in sales is ok. Is it?
  5. Coach them – Most salespeople are too proud to ask for help and some go so far as to resist it. Don’t let them fool you. Show them that you care by showing them that you care. You don’t have to micromanage them, but show them that you are paying attention because you want them to succeed and help them through their challenges. 

Passing The Persistence Test

Marketing, Sales Coaching, Sales Management, Sales Training

Sales is not a quick path to riches for all of us, but it certainly can lead us there. Some people take to it like a duck to water while others seem to slowly trudge along. Are the successful ones just having a run of good luck or possess exceptional skills? Maybe, but there has to be more to it than that. It’s not so much a matter of what they have, but what is it that you are lacking? There is a very good chance that you don’t invest enough in persistence. Napoleon Hill once suggested something along the lines that great success is given to those who pass the persistence test. In other words, those who work through their fears and failures are eventually rewarded.

The persistence test, like so many other tests, is one that most of us want to skip. It is a difficult test because it requires both hard work and a willingness to make mistakes. If the definition of insanity is doing something over and over again with the same results, then ignorance means doing nothing at all. Persistence falls somewhere in the middle. It is your ability to achieve your goals by following your plans while overcoming obstacles. And there will be plenty of obstacles in sales. If you want to be successful then you must pass the persistence test. Here are 5 tips to help you with this test. 

  1. Have a goal – Simple enough, but have you really identified in great detail what your desired outcome is? It can’t be a vague vision of yourself sitting on a beach somewhere with bags of money. It needs a number and a timeline.
  2. Have a plan – You can’t apply persistence to an idea without a plan. It just doesn’t work that way. I understand that telling you that you need a plan isn’t anything new to you, but if you aren’t successful, then I suggest this is one of the places you look first.
  3. Avoid shortcuts – When the plan is hard, shortcuts are tempting. There are times when they make sense, but shortcuts usually lead to shortfalls when it comes to your goals. You cannot be afraid of putting in the hard work. Shortcuts counter persistence which means you are trying to avoid the persistence test. Don’t do that.
  4. No more procrastinating – Inaction breeds inaction and delivers no rewards other than the certainty that you can play it safe and stay where you are. There is a difference between careful planning and prioritizing instead of moving forward into the unknown. That’s what successful people have to do.
  5. Permission to make mistakes – You are going to make mistakes along the way in the sales. Some of these mistakes will be painful and perhaps expensive, but they are unavoidable. Persistence is all about confronting these mistakes, learning from them, and moving forward. If you do not allow yourself to make mistakes, you will paralyze your plans and goals for success.

Close the Deal or Walk Away

Posts, Sales Management, Strategy Planning

Sometimes it is hard for a salesperson to know if they should close the deal or walk away from it. You have arrived at the moment of truth and it is time to ask for the sale. You have done everything necessary to control yourself, your process, and the customer up until this point. There are only 3 choices for the customer: yes, no, and maybe. Let’s face it, you are not going to win every sale no matter how much control you have in the process. What you are selling is not going to be a fit for everyone and sometimes you have to simply walk away from the sale. If you did not get a ‘yes’, then everyone must decide if, or how, to move forward. If you get a ‘no’ or a ‘maybe’, that does not mean that the sale is over yet, but there is certainly a barrier for you to work through. Before you decide to work through the barrier or walk away from the sale, there are 5 stages to complete to see if you can still reach a ‘yes’.

 

  1. Maintain your position – Don’t back down immediately just because the customer did not say ‘yes’ right away. Especially if the barrier to the sale is price. Remember, never lower your price until you ask twice. Even if there are other objections to the sale that aren’t priced, resist the urge to go immediately into negotiation mode. Always ask twice.
  2. Check for fitness – Be honest, are you trying to fit a square peg in a round hole? Is the sale really right for you and the customer or have you been ignoring important cues all along?
  3. Negotiation – Some barriers in the sale are negotiable, but do you have enough cushion to work with? Are the customer’s objections reasonable and workable? Do not create promises you can’t deliver on for the sake of making the sale.
  4. Managing expectations – You’re so close to making the sale. If you can cross the finish line, how well can you manage the customer’s expectations? Are you creating more problems with this sale or can you reasonably deliver on their expectations?

Is it worth giving up control? – If you have to adjust your deal to the customer’s satisfaction, that means they now have control. This may be ok, but there is a good chance that the customer will remain in control now that the sale has been made and they may become unreasonable to deal with moving forward in some fashion. If they changed the terms on you once, then they are likely to try again. It may be better to maintain control and walk away from the sale rather than developing a difficult customer relationship.