Category: Sales Management

Planting the Seeds of Success or Doubt?

Sales Coaching, Sales Management

If we reap what we sow, then why aren’t we more careful about the seeds we choose to plant? As salespeople, it seems simple enough that we should scatter our seeds of success among the fields, but we sometimes hesitate along the way and grab for a handful of doubt instead. Customers can sense doubt a mile away and, if we are not careful, they can use it against us. This has a lot to do with our confidence, but why do we so often fall victim to our own inhibitions? 

Salespeople too often plant the seeds of doubt instead of the seeds of success within their customers by their own actions and lack of control. We plant the seeds of doubt without even realizing it simply because we do not have control over our own selves. The worst part is that we don’t realize that we are doing it until it is too late.  How can we expect to bring the sale to a successful close if we can’t control our own processes and emotions? The most common ways that we plant the seeds of doubt and hand over control of the sale to customer include:

  1. Demonstrating a lack of confidence – ‘I probably won’t be able to close this deal’. If you can’t see it, chances are you won’t get there. Customers want to do business with salespeople they perceive as winners, and if you don’t carry yourself like a winner, you have greatly narrowed your chances of success.
  2. Not executing a formal or deliberate sales process – ‘I’ll just make it up as I go along’. No one wants to do business with a sloppy and unprepared salesperson. It betrays the concept of trust from the start.
  3. Focusing on our fears – ‘I hope the customer didn’t see our bad online review’. Stop considering the worst-case scenario, lest it should find you.
  4. Acting on desperation – ‘I’ll do anything to make this sale’. I know, as salespeople, that we are supposed to do whatever it takes, but this often goes too far. Desperate salespeople actually scare customers.
  5. Becoming attached to false ideas – ‘The customer is only concerned with price’. Sometimes salespeople can make up really bad stories in their heads about what they believe the customer knows or is thinking. Don’t let what you don’t know turn into fear.

 

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What Keeps a Salesperson from Being Great?

Most people want to be great at what they do, and if they don’t want to be great, it makes you wonder why they want to even do it at all.  This is so true with salespeople, but considering how many people you have known in sales, what percentage of them would you consider great? What was it about the remaining salespeople that didn’t meet the mark? Can the gap be closed to create more great salespeople? Yes, if you can identify some of the key factors that keep them from being great.   

 

Sales is such an interesting department in businesses because it is so vital to the health of every single business, and yet we invest so little into this critical component. Training is lousy if it even exists at all. Very few managers know how to manage and coach salespeople well. To make matters worse, most salespeople are even embarrassed to admit that they are salespeople. They will go so far as to change their job titles to ‘account rep’, ‘business development’ or ‘client advisor’ to avoid any stigma associated with being a salesperson. As if customers couldn’t tell the difference. So it’s no wonder why so many salespeople don’t become great. Common reasons include:

  1. Lack of proper sales training – Very few organizations have a formal training program. This is especially true of small businesses. Fortunately, there are a lot of third-party options to help you with this. You can also find out more about Scorecard Basic Training and Sales Objection Training here.
  2. Lack of an effective sales process – Be honest; are you mostly winging it? Many salespeople are because they are too proud to write out their process. If you need help with your sales process, check out Scorecard’s Tools and Templates to streamline your organization’s sales process.
  3. Lack of sales experience – Hey, we all have to start somewhere. This is one that you cannot control, but it is important to use our experiences to our advantage.
  4. Lack of preparation – It is all too common that salespeople do not like to plan. Again, too often salespeople are winging it. Take the time to get organized and develop the necessary disciplines.
  5. Lack of self-confidence – We all have bad days, and sometimes our lack of confidence is easily detected by our customers. Read these tips to help with your confidence.
  6. Lack of self-control – We give in to our impulses too easily and lose control of our sales. This is usually seen as desperation by our customers. 

There are certainly more items we could add to our list, but these are usually the top issues. At least one of these reasons is constantly getting in your way. Customers, as a result, are taking control of the sale and taking your profits. It’s not that you can’t be great, it is that no one has shown you how to become great. Discover which area you need the most help with so that you can take your first steps to being great.

The Parable Of The Fruit Pickers

Sales Management, Strategy Planning

Salespeople like stories, yes? Here is a fun little parable about the 3 fruit pickers, and it goes something like this. There once was an orchard filled with beautiful ripe fruits. Apples, pears, peaches, cherries and nectarines. Anyone was welcome to come and pick as much as they liked from this orchard, so a manager came and brought his 3 best fruit pickers. He sent them into the orchard and simply told them that he wanted as many fruits as possible and to bring back the fruits at the end of the day. Take as many baskets as you like.

 

The first picker returned from the field early and showed the manager the two baskets she had filled, of which she was quite pleased. The manager asked why she had returned so soon when there was more fruit to be picked. ‘I brought you nice baskets full of fruit, are you not pleased?’ The manager showed her that there were other trees to pick from. ‘That’s enough fruit as far as I am concerned’, said the fruit picker, ‘why should I pick more if I am happy with two baskets full? You didn’t expect to pick more than I needed, did you?’ 

 

The second picker returned from the field to the manager and showed him the one basket of fruit he had harvested. The manager asked why he only filled one basket. ‘I picked all the lowest ones I could reach on each tree, are you not pleased?’ The manager pointed to the fruits higher up in the tree. They were bigger and more desirable. ‘But I really don’t want to jump or climb that high,’ said the fruit picker, ‘it’s too hard. You didn’t really expect me to risk falling, did you?’ 

 

The third picker came back with only half of his basket filled. He tried to hide his shame when the manager asked why he didn’t even fill one basket. ‘There were too many others picking the really good fruits from the trees. I was afraid that the competing pickers would hurt me if I took fruit they thought belonged to them. I just gathered a few I could find on the ground.’ The manager told him to ignore the competing pickers and to return to the field. ‘It is too hard and I am too afraid of them’ said the picker, ‘Isn’t half of a basket enough? Did you really expect me to compete with other fruit pickers?’ 

 

What’s the moral of the story? Salespeople are motivated differently than managers. Without structure, goals and direction, salespeople will always succumb to their own biases and desires. They will fill their baskets in a way that suits them best (working the compensation plan), they will go for the low hanging fruit (allowing great opportunities to pass them by) and avoid situations with too many competitors (allowing the competition to have the best sales). Don’t let your sales team leave fruits in the orchard. There are plenty of fruits for you to have when you challenge them to reach higher, push past the competition and gather more. 

A Cure For Sales Report Headaches

Uncategorized, Business Analysis, Sales Management, Strategy Planning

Sales reports. Do you feel a headache coming on? Do you feel fatigued? Sudden loss of appetite? Shortness of breath, and so forth? That seems to happen to everyone from salespeople, managers, CFOs and owners. Like so many other reports, it is difficult to read and you may or may not like what the report is showing. Like a child eating vegetables, you know you need the reports, but you sure don’t want them. 

In my experience, most sales reports need improvement. They have inaccurate data, they lack historical context, they are excessively complicated and they really aren’t telling you what you need to know. For most people, you check to see if the team hit their goals and, if so, you smile and move on, If not, you groan and move on. After all, it’s in the past now and there is nothing you can do about it. However, if you learn how to read a sales report objectively and reflectively, it can offer you so much more than a basic sales figure. Here are the 5 questions you should ask yourself every time you read a sales report to help make the headaches go away. 

 

  1. Can I understand it? – This is not a question of how easy or hard a report is to read. That’s out of your control and reports are hard to change. Every report is trying to tell you a story and, if you are paying attention, you should be able to see trends. That’s the real story. Hitting goals is important, but it is also short lived. Finding trends helps you to enhance strategic advantages or correct defects that block success.
  2. Can I explain it? – Do the trends make sense? Can you explain why the numbers increase, decrease or stay the same? If you can’t understand the trends, then you cannot make meaningful change and, in sales, change is constant. 
  3. Can I accept it? – Change is hard, and if the trends are indicating a need for a change or a change that is already happening, you must make a choice. If the trend shows that you are constantly achieving your goals, that is easy to accept. Not everyone is that lucky all the time.
  4. Can I change it? – Sales reports do not generate any action item other than to sell more. But there is so much more that we can do. You can identify the trend and if you choose not to accept it moving forward, what can you do to change it? This is where most of you will get stuck. 
  5. Do I need help? – Change is easier with help. The worst thing you can do is identify the need for change and do nothing. That’s why you have a team; to help one another when a problem or opportunity arises. Talk openly with the team not just about the numbers that the sales report shows, but what trends you see and what can be done to stay ahead of your goals. 

I Heard A Rumor About You 📢

Business Analysis, Sales Coaching, Sales Management

Your sales team sure is a talkative bunch; especially when you’re not around. The role of a sales manager is one of the most difficult ones in the organization. You must hold an alliance with your sales team and upper management even when they are at odds with each other. The bottom line is that the needs of upper management take priority over everything else. That’s the way it has to be done for a company to run effectively. Now you’re in a tight spot because the sales team is unhappy with an unpopular decision from upper management that you have to deliver. 

 

Now you have to do damage control. You’re getting word that so-and-so is saying such-and-such and the rumors abound. Let’s face it, you and everyone else has better things to do than to play the gossip game, but we are humans and the truth is that you have to deal with it. The only way to deal with any issues like these is to have the right conversation with the right person in the right way. Here are 5 tips to help you calm the waters in troubled times.

 

  1. Signals and noise – Sometimes the feedback you are hearing is just noise; a passing moment in time. Someone needed to vent and the moment has passed. You can’t chase every little issue that comes your way. Are you seeing a trend that must be addressed, such as the team being upset about the new compensation plan, or is it just a fleeting moment. Choose your battles wisely.
  2. Check your communication – Sometimes we can let a couple weeks slide by without regular meetings and things can fall apart at the seams. How often and effectively are you communicating with the group both as a team and as individuals? This is your opportunity to control the message. 
  3. It’s nothing personal – It is easy to get emotionally invested in a situation, but chances are it is really not about you. Even if people are gossiping about you. It is really about them.
  4. Confront the issue privately – As I said earlier, it’s all about having the right conversation with the right person in the right way. Discuss the issue privately and be willing to listen. Chances are is this was all that was needed to calm the situation. 
  5. Respect – Be respectful and especially if others are not. Most people will change their demeanor when they believe they are being treated with respect. If you always take the high road, others will eventually follow.

 

Does Success Sabotage Your Pipeline?

Business Analysis, Sales Management, Strategy Planning

Managing and maintaining your sales pipeline is difficult. Trying to keep fresh opportunities to work on while servicing existing customers is more than a full time job. And yet, that is what is expected of us as salespeople. If we had our druthers, we would have a healthy book of business with happy customers that keep us busy with constant new order. Rinse, wash, repeat, right? Most of us are not that lucky. We must continually be on the hunt for our next opportunity; especially while we are working on the existing ones.

 

Although successful sales is the name of the game, it also creates one of the biggest problems with your sales pipeline. No, it’s not just that you’re now busy with your success, but you find yourself becoming complacent as well. Why worry about tomorrow when I have plenty today. But there is a situation that is even worse; when we think we have major deals in the pipeline, we let off the gas pedal, but the deals never close. Now you’re left with no deals and no opportunities to work on. You’re back at the start and hungrier than ever. Here are 5 ways to make sure this doesn’t happen to you.

 

Be accountable – Accountability is one of my least favorite management buzzwords, but it doesn’t make it any less true. Be honest about your pipeline and don’t make excuses for letting it dry up. Excuses are a lot harder to sell when you’re not meeting your goals.

 

Set your minimum – What is the minimum amount of prospects you should have active in your pipeline? Most people can’t answer that and therefore they don’t know what to watch for. Even if it is just a 3 – 5 prospects over a month, it is much better than a dry pipeline.

 

Monthly pipeline review – It is hard to prime the sales pump when the pipeline runs dry. Make a habit of having a monthly pipeline review with a co-worker or supervisor. Discuss the opportunities, where they are in the process and which new ones do you want to focus on? You’ll find that just vocalizing these issues with someone else is enough to keep you focused and accountable. 

 

Mind your activity – Sales work is hard so it is no surprise that we love our breaks whether others are looking or not. A sales pipeline alone is not enough to keep you going. There has to be sales activity. Pipeline + Activity = Results. Make sure you are doing enough to keep the ball moving forward.

 

Remember your goal – Never take your eye off the prize. You won’t get there with just one sale. You may feel that everything is going your way right now, but chances are you still have a ways to go. Not to mention the fact that there will soon be another new goal that you have to set yourself up for. Your goal should keep you focused on your pipeline. Don’t let your success sabotage your pipeline. 

The 5 KPIs You Should Be Watching For Sales

Business Analysis, Sales Management, Strategy Planning

There is a quote I really love when it comes to sales management, “You don’t get what you expect, you get what you inspect” from Louis V. Gerstner Jr. In fact, it has several applications across business, but let’s just stick with sales for now. Everyone wants a crystal ball to forecast sales, but it is not easy to do. One of the main problems is that we focus on the wrong number for our key performance indicators (KPIs); sales. Yes, it does make sense to follow sales results closely, but doing so only really looks backward, not forward. Past performance does not predict future results. 

 

Keeping your eye only on sales is a common mistake that both salespeople and sales managers make. Actual sales are in the past and there is nothing you can do to change that. You must start working for tomorrow instead of yesterday if you want to sustain or improve your sales. These are the KPIs that you must inspect if you expect good results.

 

  1. Pipeline – With no sales pipeline to feed your sales process, there are no sales. Simply put, inspect the list of leads and opportunities that you will be working on for the coming month or quarter. Is it sufficient  to reach your goals? Never overlook your sales pipeline. It is one of the single most important predictors for sales. 
  2. Activities – Is the sales team executing the right activities and how do you know? This is the one that we all take for granted. The question is, is the sales team being productive or busy? When you find that sales are down, every salesperson will tell you that they have been busy. Set the expectation of how many phone calls, meetings or presentations you expect over a period of time to achieve success and inspect it.
  3. Closing Rate – Are opportunities falling through the cracks? If so, why? There are several reasons why this can be the case, but if you ignore it, it will not improve. If you want to close more opportunities, then you must inspect the close ratio.
  4. Meetings – How often is the sales team communicating? Are you hands off or perhaps even excessive? The less communication and meetings there are with the sales team, whether as a group or individually, the more performance suffers. 
  5. Strategy – This may be a hard one to measure, and it may be more binary than anything. Do you have a strategy? Are you following it or falling behind? If you and your team are not in sync with your strategy, then chances are that old and unfruitful habits are starting back up again. Inspect your strategy often if you want meaningful results.

Are Your Customers Cheating On You?

Business Analysis, Sales Management, Sales Training, Strategy Planning

Have you ever met up with one of your customers only to find them holding the pen of one of your competitors? BUSTED! They were cheating on you and you feel your eyes turning red. “But wait,” the customer says, “I can explain.” Okay, perhaps it didn’t go down like a lovers quarrel, but for you it kind of hurts the same. If they are an important client, chances are they have a desk drawer full of your competitors pens, magnets, note pads, drink cozies or whatever clever swag they came up with. But is your customer cheating on you? The answer is ‘maybe’, depending on what your definition of cheating is. 

 

Let’s face it, most (if not all) of your customers are considered attractive to your competitors. In fact, it is your competitor’s job to woo the customers away from you in the same way that it is your job to do the same to them. When it comes to customers, it is only a marriage when it is a well written contract, but in most cases, it is just casual dating. They can talk to whomever they choose. 

 

The question is whether or not you should be worried. Chances are probably not, but it does raise an interesting point, who is getting more face time with your customers; you or your competitors? How often do you interface with our customers? Let’s assume at least once a quarter. Is that enough?

What does the math say? Let’s say you have at minimum 3 strong and aggressive competitors and each one reaches out once a month whether it is a phone call, email blast or whatever. Here is the annual net sum:

 

You x 4 = 4

Competitors x 3 x 12 = 36

36 > 4

If you courted your clients as much as your competitors do they wouldn’t stand a chance. This isn’t feasible but it has to make you wonder, are you making your customers feel special in the same way that you competitors are trying to do? Examine your book of business closely, track how often you are staying in touch as well as the quality of that touch. Are you looking for new ways to add value, or just filling orders and collecting checks? If you’re doing everything to create a great customer experience, delivering value and in good communication with your customers, chances are slim that they have no intention of cheating on you and your competitor’s swag stays in the junk drawer. 

5 Ways to Fix Your Leaky Pipeline

Sales Management, Sales Training, Strategy Planning

A salesperson without a pipeline is like a farmer without seeds; that said, he’s not much of a farmer. Most salespeople understand the need for a healthy and robust pipeline of leads and opportunities so that they can hit their sales goal and earn a good living. Without it, you are stuck hoping for a few opportunities to drip in, but that won’t be enough to quench the thirst for sales. But let’s assume that by now, you already understand what your sales pipeline is and why it is important. Instead, let’s talk about the fact that your pipeline has several leaks that you didn’t even know about. Not only can you fix those leaks, but you probably caused them in the first place.

A leak in the pipeline means that there are good opportunities that have escaped you and you didn’t even know it. If you get enough leads to close then you may find this acceptable, but leaks, in any sense of the word, cost money. These are potential leads that fell through the cracks because there is a deficiency in your process. In other words, we don’t always do the best we can to develop the leads we have been given. Here are a few ways you can fix some of the leaks in your pipeline.

  1. Add more touches to your prospecting sequence – Too many salespeople are ready to throw in the towel after 3 attempts to reach someone. I don’t blame you for feeling discouraged, but you really don’t start making meetings and money until you try 6 to 8 times. In fact, 10 would be the minimum amount of times you should try to reach someone before you decide to move on. You missed a lot of opportunities just by giving up too soon.
  2. Diversify your approach to reaching prospects – So many of us rely on one or two methods to connect with people, and we prefer more passive-aggressive tactics with email because it is easier and faster. However, is this less effective? Prospects will never tell you this, but many actually like to be courted. There are a variety of ways to get your prospects’ attention besides emails and phone calls. Maybe it is time to brush up on your Linkedin and Facebook skills. You’d be surprised at how much a handwritten note sent in the mail can really get someone’s attention. Be creative and differentiate yourself from the start by adding fresh approaches to your prospecting.
  3. Increase your frequency – Sometimes we let too much time pass when trying to get the attention of new customers. I understand that you don’t want to be annoying or pushy, but one of the primary functions of your job is to interrupt people. If you are waiting more than a week for your follow up attempts, chances are you have already become forgettable. Try to schedule your touches in 3-day intervals instead.
  4. Change your message – We condition our prospects to tune out our message as it becomes noise among the other messages they are receiving. Perhaps they just aren’t connecting with what you thought was compelling. There is a good chance that there are customers that are a great fit for you, but they didn’t understand your message and they leaked right out of your pipeline.
  5. Embrace persistence – This is more than adding more steps to your prospecting sequence, this is about adopting a mindset of not giving up. Believing in yourself and acting tenaciously gives you the drive to explore the potential of every opportunity you receive. Make sure you give the opportunity your best shot before you let it leak out of your pipeline. You’ll be surprised at how many more yes’s you are going to get by pushing onward.

For more help developing your pipeline, consider sales training and coaching with Scorecard. We help create great salespeople through training, technology & coaching. Find out more and sign up ,here.

5 Tips To Keep Your Sale Moving Forward

Sales Coaching, Sales Management, Sales Training

We all had a sale that got stuck somewhere along the way. We thought everything was going great because the customer was responding so positively to everything. In fact, you felt like they were almost ready to sign, but they held back at the last minute for whatever reason and left the conversation promising to get back to you soon with an answer. Then nothing. All you have left of that opportunity is a trail of follow up voicemails and emails that feel a little more hopeless and desperate with each message. The sale is not only stuck; it is sinking, sinking, sunk. But why? Where did we go wrong? We were so close. What could we have done differently?
There is at least one mistake that you made that you can be certain of; you left the sale without any planned follow up with a definite time, method and place on everyone’s calendar. Trusting a customer to plan and execute the next step in a sale is almost certain failure and we have all done it. ‘Take a couple of days to think it over and get back to me’ is often the kiss of death for a sale. The customer now has no expectation or obligation to follow up with you unless they feel like it. Sometimes you will get lucky, but often you play a waiting game when you could have done something simple to keep the sale moving forward in that moment. When you reach the end of your sale and there is no conclusion, try these simple tips to keep the opportunity in play.

  1. Address the objection – When a sale reaches the think-it-over phase, you have arrived at a moment of truth. Do you know what the customer is hung up on? Did you ask them? Make sure you have covered all of their concerns by empathizing and asking. “I don’t blame you for thinking it over. I do that too sometimes. Do you mind me asking what portion of this sale has you the most concerned? What is the most important factor for you to make this decision?” If you haven’t already, take time to address their concern and make sure there is nothing left unspoken.
  2. Set the next meeting – Don’t leave a meeting without having the next step firmly established. Need time to think over the proposal? No problem. Let’s get a date on the calendar now for next week. If the customer cannot commit to a follow up meeting you can probe them for more information. “I sense that you are hung up on something. What is your biggest concern about making this purchase?” If there is still no commitment, it is probably time for both parties to move on.
  3. Extend an invitation – Unless you already had your customer at your office or facility, invite them to do so so they can get a sense of your quality and customer care. If they are serious about the deal, they will often want to take you up on your offer. If they agree to your invitation, there is a strong chance that you will close the deal.
  4. Perform a demonstration – Again, unless a demo is already a part of your pitch and presentation, this can be a great next step for your customer who is not ready to sign yet. Allow them to touch, test, and sense the experience of your product. Much like a facility visit, if a customer agrees to a demonstration, you have greatly increased your odds of closing the deal.
  5. Create an expectation – No one wants to be pressured in a deal, but we still have to treat one another with respect and professionalism. Some people need more time to research and think than others, but almost everyone has an end date in mind and your job as a salesperson is to learn what that is. Let the customer know what your expectations are as well as finding theirs. ‘Mr Customer, in my experience, most customers make this purchasing decision by 2 weeks. When do you expect to make your decision and can we agree on a time to meet on that date?

Did you find this helpful? Want to learn more techniques to keep your sales moving forward and close more deals? Check out Scorecard training ,here or contact us: ajacobs@scorecardsales.com.