We must recognise that we are in Major Account Management for the long term. It takes time to manage a major account and we will only receive a payback on our investment in time if we can have a long term result. In some of the organisations we have worked with this produces a tension because the whole culture is about creating a short term sales result in which product and profit are the main drivers and measures of success.

We should not underestimate what a challenge Major Account Management can be to the corporate culture. It emphasises relationship more than product, profit more than volume, and team more than individual, long term more than short term. At the same time the practical short term realities of business life need to be recognised.

One of the best ways of managing this tension is to have someone who acts as a mentor, conscience or guide to the account manager and account team. They are not involved in the day to day management of the account but are invited in to look at and comment on major proposals and presentations. Their main role is to be involved in reviewing the long term plan every few months to ensure that the relationship is as productive as possible and is reflecting the values of the organisation as a whole.

The role of the major account manager is to be responsible for the overall relationship. They influence all those involved in the account to ensure a co-ordinated, synchronised approach. The major account manager is responsible for drafting the account plan, gaining the agreement and commitment of the team and then monitoring implementation.

Major Account Management Involves Relationships Not Just a Mechanical Approach:

Under this heading we should discuss three main aspects of major account management.

• The importance of relationships in Major Account Management.
• The complexity of relationships in Major Account Management.
• Mapping relationships in Major Account Management.

Importance:
In Major Account Management it is essential that we manage people as well as processes. Of course we must get the product pricing right. We need to be excellent at administration. Our customer service and product range need to be strong. But “people buy from people” and “we are in a people business”. To manage the complex range of relationships within a major account is difficult and demanding but our ability to manage relationships will define whether or not we sustain success.

Complexity:
In a reactive sale there is only one relationship – that between the seller and the buyer. In major accounts the situation is much more complex. There are often contacts going on at many levels and many locations. In one major account, we have identified 1000 relationships between the account team of ten people and individuals representing the client. But it is not just a problem of numbers, it is often a problem of politics. Some contacts do not want us to talk to people in other departments or at different levels. It can also be that the complexity is caused by product range. The users of one product rarely speak to the specifies for another product. In any complex relationship some people will like us more than others. This is to say nothing of inter-departmental tensions. All these things make major account relationships complex and we need to recognise their complexity.

Mapping:
If relationships are important and if relationships are complex then it is essential that we find a way of mapping, analysing, planning and monitoring those relationships. Over recent years we have found that an approach based on the game of chess allows a very practical way of identifying the key issues.

If we can answer these questions confidently and communicate our thinking across the account team simply and clearly then we will be half-way to success. This approach has given people across a broad spectrum of organisations a common language and way of working.

It Can Only Be Done With Selected Customers:

The final word from this definition is selected. Choosing the right key accounts is of critical importance for three main reasons:
• We do not have the resources to treat every customer as a key account.
• Not every customer wants to be treated as a key account.
• Selection allows us to prioritise our activities in line with our overall business objectives.

Many organisations grade their major accounts simply by the size of sales for the year but the organisations we see that are really moving forward in Major Account Management take a number of other factors into account. They also make sure that everybody knows who the major accounts are and why they are major accounts. It is important to be rigorous with the selection criteria you use! You will also need to apply some form of weighting to reflect your priorities. The fact that a major account does not meet all your criteria will not disqualify it from being a major account. It will just need to score higher in other areas to qualify.

On the basis of this scoring, organisations can grade their accounts. They might be Premier, 1st and 2nd Division like a football league, or Gold, Silver and Bronze like Olympic medals or First Class, Club Class, Economy and Standby like an airline. The analogy of an airline is a good one because on one flight you can have people on Standby being entirely happy with the service they are getting, even though they know there are people getting “better” service in Club Class. Grading your accounts is not a matter of giving some customers better or worse service. It is a matter of giving all your customers appropriate service. When we select our major accounts and consistently deliver what we promise, we are managing our accounts professionally and effectively.

Today’s News: My good friend, David Bain of Purple Internet Marketing, informs me that he has a few places left for his seminar on October 2nd in London and you can obtain full details by clicking on the panel in the left hand column: I can thoroughly recommend David’s events – my own technical team attended the last one in Edinburgh and returned buzzing!

Tomorrow: A new piece from another very good buddy across the pond – “The Queen Of Cold Calling” Wendy Weiss, this week’s featured expert on Top 10 Sales Articles and you can read more about her there.

Rapport is the most important process in influencing others. It is vital if you want to maintain relationships. Without it, you are unlikely to achieve willing agreement to what you want. People who have excellent rapport with others create harmonious relationships based on trust and understanding of mutual needs.

Rapport is the cornerstone of all mutually effective relationships. It needs constant vigilance to keep it alive and effective.

Why Is It So Important?

Rapport is similar to money – when you are short of it, it increases in importance. Without rapport you will reduce your chances of getting:
• Unconditional agreement to your ideas and suggestions
• Full commitment from others
• Business, promotion, friends

The way in which you interact with others has a major bearing on your success as an influencer.

Being in rapport means that you are in agreement with others both verbally and non-verbally.

Ten Good Reasons To Build Rapport

• To really win friends and influence people
• To connect rapidly with a wide range of people
• To communicate magically
• To build solid, lasting relationships
• To create incredible results
• To help others improve performance and increase success
• To handle conflict
• To get promotion
• To talk your way in to things
• To talk your way out of things

A Recipe For Successful Influence

Ingredients:

Trust
Openness
Comfort
Acceptance
Empathy
Flexibility
Something in common
Shared understanding

Method:

Mix together as required. Notice changes and be prepared to maintain a flexible approach throughout. Keep communication flowing on all levels.

Self-Disclosure

Telling others how you feel and what you think and believe, as well as telling them about your background, is a kind currency. Give out information and usually you will receive a lot back in return.

People swarm, flock and group together by type, background, interests, beliefs, gender, work and so on. And one of the most efficient ways to get close to one another is through self-disclosure.

As we begin to experience a powerful common bond, so too does rapport begin. Mutual interests, ideas, values and beliefs are the wrap and weft of social interaction.

Most people like people who are like themselves!

Biographic Matching

It is rare for two human beings to be together very long before seeking to discover similarities about themselves. This biographic matching can be social or economic, achieved through outlook, education or background – common experiences of the world.

When you match, you reduce resistance by playing down differences while building on similarities.

Pacing

Once you are matching one another, you can continue to maintain the rhythm you have created by agreeing with one another, seeing from the same point of view. Pacing is a conscious continuation of matching.

When talking, you can pace:
• Words that are used
• Tone of voice
• Language patterns
• Volume
• Body language used

Don’t overdo it – you may be accused of mimicry. Be elegant – your skills should remain unnoticed.

Leading

One of the goals of matching and pacing others is to be able effortlessly to lead them in another direction. Once you are deeply in sync. With the other people, a change of pace from you will usually result in a similar change in others.

Matching and pacing help you share someone else’s experience and you will begin to know intuitively when it is appropriate to make suggestions, to influence, to lead.

Mismatching

You can also influence behaviour in others by mismatching. It is useful to mismatch when:
• You want a meeting to come to an end – clear up papers, put a pen away
• You want to conclude a telephone conversation – minimise responses and noises off
• You need time to think before acting – use the bathroom, make a telephone call, add up figures on your calculator
• What you are doing isn’t working – go for a walk, listen to some music, make a phone call
• Matching is affecting your mood negatively – break off the conversation, change the subject

Networking

Have you noticed how some people seem to be universally likes, trusted and respected? Chances are that they’re also good at networking – developing a wide network of friends, colleagues, allies and useful contacts.

Networking offers you a structured way of making certain that your ideas are effectively exchanged with others.

And Finally: Networking In Action

How can you get to know your team, other managers and clients better? Are there management associations you could join, luncheon clubs, your local Chamber of Commerce?

Organise team events outside working hours. Be seen at functions, offer to assist whenever you can.

Make yourself known – don’t stand on the edge looking in. Be part of the action.

The JF Guest Author Spot

“Aim Small, Miss Small” by Leanne Hoagland-Smith

In the movie “The Patriot“, Mel Gibson as a father tells his two young songs to “Aim Small, Miss Small” as this family works together to save a son and an older brother. Are business sales truly any different?

When we learn to “aim small, miss small”, we can better answer the 5 Why Questions of:

• Why me as the Seller?
• Why you as the Buyer?
• Why your products or services as the Seller?
• Why should I buy now?
• Why should I pay this price?

When you can answer each of these Whys, you are aiming small and therefore missing small. However, if you can’t answer each why, then you are aiming big and missing even larger.

In sales, when you determine the first why, you as the seller, you are actually creating a unique selling proposition. This may or may not be your tag line. As the market place becomes even more crowded, you may have to re-brand yourself to further differentiate you from everyone else. I call this being the “red jacket in the sea of gray suits.”

Within your strategic plan, there should be a marketing plan. This marketing plan helps to address the second Why. With greater clarity specific to your target market, there will be more small aims and more small misses.

Your business and therefore products or services were created to provide a solution. You saw a need within the market place and responded. This is the third Why. For example, I have 3 successful clients who are in promotional marketing, but are responding to different needs within the same marketplace.

To answer the fourth Why begins with your skills as a sales person. You have properly qualified your prospects. Now your open ended questions allow you to widen the gap between where your prospects are now and where they wish to be.

The fifth why is usually answered first and this haste in many cases loses the sale. I call this the 3Ps Sales Virus. What happens is that salespeople infected with this virus ending up puking product, price or proposal before the relationship is even established. As mentioned last week, many in sales answer the fifth Why question of price first. They are infected with what I call the 3-Ps Virus. Before the relationship is built, they puke one if not all of these Ps: product, price or proposal.

Would you like to increase your sales? Then, you may find Simply Speaking, Increase Sales By.. a combination e book and e workbook, of interest at re marketing, selling and planning skills are explored and leveraged to get you more money in the bank.

Leanne Hoagland-Smith, The Chief People Officer, is a nationally (USA) recognized business expert who works with those who want to reach that next level of success. Contact her at 219-759-5601 or visit www.processspecialist.com
Today’s News: Some of you may remember the somewhat light-hearted JF 2006 Directory Awards which Chris Knight over at Ezine Articles picked up on: Why do I mention this today? Well, this year I am going to broaden the scope with more categories and open it up with a fully functional poll, which will open on December 1st and close at midnight EST on December 23rd – yep, I am going play Monsieur Claus this year and hand out the presents (prizes) on Christmas Eve – what larks!

Tomorrow: To wrap up the week appropriately: “What Exactly Is Rapport” – think you know?

So, just what are the success factors in Key Account Management & Development?

This list, whilst not exhaustive, is not far off and will certainly provide you with an excellent guide and prompt.

• Successful Development Of The Role:

o Effective working relationships with other members of the team.
o A continuing drive to improve account team productivity.
o Management commitment to the account team’s role with opportunities for career progression.
o Re-enforcement of the role through authorised career structures, job descriptions and core training programmes.

• The Key Skills:

o Understanding the financial and legal requirements of the account.
o Understanding of the company’s business objectives.
o Understanding of the company’s commercial policies.
o Build high levels of product awareness.
o Understanding of the customer’s business objectives.
o Identify the decision makers.
o Understand the customer’s purchasing strategy.
o Assess competitive activities.
o Put together an account development plan.
o Ensure effective sales order processing.
o Build the right levels of revenue and profitability.

• The Core Skills:

o Delegation
o Interpersonal skills.
o Consultancy.
o Financial control & analysis.
o Project management.
o Man management.
o Initiative & creativity.

The Secondary Skills:

E.g. Industry knowledge, competitive knowledge, product knowledge etc.

Success Factors In Key Account Development:

• The Stages Of A Long Term Process

o Pre-sales.
o Contract negotiation.
o Implementation / Delivery.
o Review.
o Exploitation.

• Objectives For An Account Team

o Ensure that the customer is presented with a coherent and professional image of your Company as a business partner.
o Secure a long term business relationship with the customer as the basis for growing business.
o Penetrate the customer’s organisation and decision making unit creating new opportunities that can be exploited to accelerate account growth.
o Understand and document, on an ongoing basis, the customer organisations strategic business direction and organisation.
o Provide the company’s senior management team with feedback on the long term growth potential in the customer’s market sector and on critical success factors for exploiting it.
o Ensure that the company’s solutions are technically solid and based on a proper understanding of the current requirements and re-inforce the customer’s perception of the benefits of the company’s market focus.
o Ensure that the company’s total resource is delivered in a way that satisfies customer requirements and supports the objectives of the account plan.

Conclusion:

An effective Key Account Management strategy depends on selecting your key accounts intelligently, creating a strong, consistent, flexible way of working with both major accounts and other customers and then implementing the plan in a disciplined, effective, efficient manner.

One of the successes of our Key Account Management programme has been the creation of common models and language that facilitate discussion and planning across units and departments. It has also stimulated a commitment for our clients to plan long term for key relationships. Key Account Management has many implications for individuals, departments and the business as a whole. It will always be demanding, but done right it will be highly rewarding.

Today’s News: Over at Top 10 Sales Articles we are beginning to plan for the grand finale on New Years Eve – “Top Sales Article Of The Year”. Typically, we will logically have twelve finalists, ie the monthly winners, but of course this year there will only be nine as we launched in April: The prizes are going to be fantastic but we need to consider how we decide on the winner and our two options are: A poll, where visitors can vote for their favourite piece of work or we follow our normal procedure and let the expert panel decide………. or a combination of both – what do you think? Let me have your thoughts. 

Tomorrow:The all action Leanne Hoagland-Smith – the Chief People Officer and ”Queen of Article Writing” – so you can be assured of a very high quality post.

The JF Guest Author Spot

“Career Sales Training – You Receive What You Believe” By Cheryl Clausen

What beliefs are you holding, that are holding you back in your career sales training? Mr. and Mrs. Claus are found dead on the floor. They are found in a locked room. On the floor is broken glass and water. There is an open window and a table in the room. How did Mr. and Mrs. Claus die? What do Mr. and Mrs. Claus look like? Are you thinking Mr. and Mrs. Claus are rather round older folks with white hair wearing red velvet garments? That may be your belief based on your past knowledge and experience, but Mr. and Mrs. Claus are gold fish. The wind blowing through the open window knocked their fish bowl off the table onto the floor, breaking the bowl leaving glass water and Mr. and Mrs. Claus on the floor. What beliefs do you hold about sales that are keeping you from the sales success that is possible for you?

The whole point of career sales training is to help you to obtain improved results. Improved results require positive behavioral changes. There is something either you are doing now, or something you aren’t doing now that is preventing you from getting the sales success that you know is possible. You may be wondering if it’s possible for you. What are the things successful sales people do that you don’t, and what things don’t successful sales people do that you do? Make a list of these do’s and don’ts. How could you start doing the things that would increase your success and how could you stop doing the things that are decreasing your success?

What were the positive behavioral changes you identified as either dos or don’ts? Positive behavioral changes occur because of your attitudes, skills, and knowledge; and as a result of your ability to accomplish your goals. Do you have specific sales goals that you hold yourself accountable for on a weekly basis? You know successful sales people set weekly goals, and take the actions they need to make those goals a reality. Knowledge comes from knowing what to do, and skills come from knowing how to do what you need to do. Are you lacking knowledge or skills? If you are, reach out to those around you and get what you need. That information is readily available and accessible to you. Is it your attitudes that form as a result of your beliefs that are holding you back?

Your sales attitudes and beliefs developed over time, and you will need to make a concentrated effort to make changes to those long held attitudes and beliefs. Your attitudes and beliefs started when you were a little kid and the adults around you told you not to talk to strangers, and not to speak unless you are spoken to, and not to go where you aren’t wanted. Your beliefs are the engine that pulls your sales train down the track. Your sales will continue to suffer until you identify the beliefs you hold about sales that are holding you back, and make a determined effort to change those beliefs based on current facts.

Do you believe you can accomplish the sales you need to have a sustainable and viable business? A positive attitude is important in sales, but when you try to tell yourself things you don’t believe to be true, your inner voice calls you a liar and it’s actually more harmful than good. For example, let’s say that you are telling yourself every day that you are going to sell $X in revenue this week when it’s twice or three times more than you’ve ever sold in your life. When you don’t believe it to be true your inner voice says, “no you’re not, you’re a big liar”. You are out of integrity with yourself and your mind tends not to believe anything you say, and consequently you don’t hit your targets. Work on your beliefs first and then your attitudes.

Would you like to learn more about your sales skills? Try this Sales Skills Analysis and find out where your opportunities for improvement are.

Start your journey for success: Your journey starts here.

From my experience working with clients at certain points in your business you just get really stuck and you don’t know what to do to get you where you want to go. My purpose is helping insurance agents, financial advisors, and other service professionals to get unstuck and get going again.

If you’re hungry for insurance and investment sales success, if you want to master success to get you where you want to be, and if you want to develop the time strategies that allow you to live the life you want to live I can help you get there faster and more easily. Visit my blog to read a daily article to get yourself or your team unstuck and going again. 

Cheryl A Clausen – http://CoachingMegaAgents.com

Today’s News: It’s true, the Top Sales Experts team are appearing at four venues next June: London, Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh to deliver a series of two day master classes. I will be announcing the final line up a little nearer the time, as well as the names of a few very special guests. You can be assured, it will be the selling event of 2008.

Tomorrow: “The Complete List Of Success Factors In Key Account Management Revealed”

I am often asked to define the essential qualities necessary to be successful in a front line sales leadership role and the difficulty is, that there are so many: For example, within the leadership model of our ASP Profile, we benchmark against one hundred descriptors in fourteen categories.(Please e-m me if you would like to learn more about our profiling services – JF@thesalespractitioners.com)

However, if I absolutely had to choose just six, it would be these.

Enthusiasm:

We will all agree that enthusiasm for what one is doing is one of the first traits. No man or woman can install much enthusiasm in anyone else for something about which they themselves are not enthusiastic. Genuine enthusiasm does not mean a glib, backslapping, plastic smile type attitude. More often, the genuine leader’s enthusiasm is likely to be of a more quiet nature – but it is there! It is shown by the manner in which they go about their work. Their manner of handling their job seems to say to everyone. “This is important! It must be done right. It must be fairly and squarely done! And -“You Can Do It!”

Unless a person feels right down in their bones that the work they are doing is worthwhile, they can never consistently (day in and day out) act as though they do. So, if they have any feelings or doubt about the importance of their work and cannot get enthusiastic about it, the trouble is in the person himself or herself. Whether they realise it or not, those around them sense their feelings, their attitude is showing!

Courage:

Leadership takes “guts”. The true leader has the ability to “take it” when the going gets rough. Often the leader has to “take it” for the whole organisation to keep its morale high. The leader has to face up to a new problem all the time. Indeed, many successful leaders invite difficulties just for the sheer joy of coping with them. The genuine leader approaches each day with a sort of “joy of battle”.

Courage in leadership sometimes takes unexpected forms; it may mean standing up to a principle. (Has anyone ever known a real leader who was a “yes person”?) It means having the character to stand up for what you believe in without comprising or cutting corners.

It may mean taking a bold approach to a new idea – sticking your neck out in support of something, which you think is worth trying. It means loyalty to your conviction.

Self Confidence:

An important requirement for the leader of today is self confidence. However, in making decisions about people, their motivations and the way they act or react, the leader can never feel completely sure they are right. The best they can do is to make a sort of “educated guess” based on the facts they can assemble and then depend upon their past experience and knowledge to interpret them.

However, a leader can be self-confident. A great help is to know and work within their personal assets and limitations. They know what they can personally do and what they are unable to do. They are willing to listen to other opinions, assess them and be big enough to adopt the meritorious ones even if they do not square with their original thinking. They can take small reverses in stride.

A self-confident leader is never satisfied with their present accomplishments, does not spend their time in useless longing for things they cannot have. Rather, they set about realising their immediate and realistic goals.

Integrity:

A leader keeps promises. They keep their promises to their associates as meticulously as those made to their superiors. They keep promises made to themselves, which are the hardest to keep and failure in this is the easiest to rationalise. They can keep all these promises because they never commit themselves rashly; but always within the limits of reality and their present capabilities in terms of personal ability. Part of this matter of integrity is certainly, unquestioned loyalty to their organisation – to its reputation as well as their own. Also they must have loyalty to their products and to their associates and loyalty to their industry.

Loyalty to one’s associates is extremely important in any leader. They should never allow themselves or others in their group to ridicule, or down grade other leaders or people in the industry, as it is a sign of jealousy and this is one trait that cannot exist in a true leader. Part of this loyalty is a sense of stewardship – a feeling of responsibility for the welfare, progress and security of the industry as a whole, and that includes everybody who ethically runs a business, everyone in their organisation, their customers and their family.

Interest:

Even the Oxford Dictionary has difficulty in describing the meaning of the word “friendliness”. Of “friendliness” it says, “it signifies befitting or worthy of a friend”.

A leader has a genuine and sympathetic interest in and a respect for, people as individuals. A very high percentage of any leader’s day is spent working directly with individuals.

Be careful – do not go overboard. Here there could be a danger signal. Friendliness can, of course, be overdone. Although interested and sympathetic, the true leader stays firm – never getting so involved in the personal lives of people that he forgets the implications of their role as a leader. They never play favourites – and should never play one personality against another. They know where to draw the line.

Humour:

Whilst not advocating that the leader be the ‘life and soul of the party’, it is essential that they have a keen sense of humour. There will be times when an appropriate joke or light hearted remark, will do more to relax and motivate than all the arranging in the world.

These then are the six basic characteristics, which help a person to be a successful leader. Think of others. Upon reflection, you will probably agree that your ideas are closely allied to or even a part of the six detailed here. They are not by any means a guaranteed panacea that will assure success as a leader. Though all leaders possess them to a varying degree, all of us have known people who have had them all, but were still unsuccessful as leaders.

Characteristics or traits by themselves do not make leaders, certain core skills are equally necessary.

Question: Can you think of any other characteristics that are more important than these?

Today’s News: SLZ – that’s Sales Leadership Zone for anyone who hasn’t visited the blogit for more than a month, is running late: No single reason, in fact a host of them including Corporate registration forms, additional material being added etc…. Latest launch date is September 25th, but it will be worth the wait, I promise. You can pre-register your interest here: www.salesleadershipzone.com

Tomorrow:First time on The JF Guest Author Spot for a very switched on lady, Cheryl A Clausen, winner of last week’s “Top Sales Article Of The Week” over at www.top10salesarticles.com

Also advanced news of the Top Sales Experts going on the road next June in the UK -more tomorrow

It’s Friday, so why not a sales lesson  

Actually more seriously, I really do believe that the first meeting is the most important in the sales cycle and I am continually amazed at how few sales professionals are accomplished at obtaining all the information they need.

The “Exploratory Meeting” is the key element in the sales process.

Typically the meeting will have been arranged after qualification via the telephone and a decision made by both parties that it would be mutually beneficial to meet. It is the exploratory meeting that will allow the professional salesperson to set the ground rules and get a feel for the client and their needs.

As this is normally the first meeting it is also where the potential client will get his first impression of you, therefore the way you look, act and conduct the meeting will have a direct bearing on whether or not you are able to proceed to the next stage. Finally, the objective of the meeting is to gain commitment to the next stage and NOT to try and get the order.

Key Elements to a Successful Exploratory Meeting:

Pre-planning & Preparation:

• You will have confirmed your appointment in writing or e-mail.
• You will have already carried out some initial investigation into the company, the ethics etc and if time has allowed, you will have probably obtained some company literature and a copy of their annual report.
• You will be armed with names of clients your company has already successfully helped within their market.
• You will arrive in plenty of time.
• You will act professionally and friendly to the receptionist,they may be a relative of the Chairman.
• Remember: Never sit down in reception areas, be psychologically prepared.

Rapport/Empathy:

It is important that you do not ‘launch’ into your sales pitch as soon as you meet, but that you try and put your client (and therefore yourself) at ease by finding some common mutual ground to ‘break the ice’ with e.g. the weather, their premises, pictures on the wall, sports trophies etc. Good rapport will result in the potential client being less defensive.

Remember: 86% of buying decisions are based first on emotion, i.e. do they trust you?

Courtesy:

This should be obvious but is often forgotten through nerves etc. Remember you are a ‘guest’ in their environment so always be courteous.

Time:

Ask the client how long he/she is able to put aside for the meeting and adjust your itinerary accordingly, if the time allocated is insufficient then you need to make a judgement as to whether you wish to carry on or reschedule when they can give you more time.

If a time is given and agreed upon. Do not ignore it, they may have a meeting with the Chairman!! Five minutes before the time allocation is up, reconfirm that they need to finish, more often than not if they are interested they will find more time,if they can’t then use the last five minutes to summarise and agree the next stage.

Notes:

You will need to make notes, these are invaluable as they are a record of your meeting and you will find yourself referring back to them throughout the sales cycle. Ask the client if you can make notes,it’s polite!

Confirm Company Business:

You need to confirm the market they are in, ask them who they supply to, who they buy from, who are their competitors, they may be clients of yours,if so tell them,it’s reassuring to a potential client that you have knowledge of their industry. If they are not clients and you get this order, they should definitely become prospects,so make a note of them. By asking what the company actually does will differentiate you from the traditional sales rep, who is only interested in the sale, you will get an insight into the companys culture, its strategies etc. People like people who are interested in what they are doing and trying to achieve or have achieved,that’s a fact!

Remember: Every organisation has commercial concerns,what are theirs?

Confirm Position, Role within the Company:

Check that they are who you believe then to be, find out if their title is indeed just a title or whether they have the authority that goes with it. Never assume because they have the title that they have the authority, life is not always that straight forward. Remember also that people like talking about themselves, their responsibilities, their achievements so ask the questions and then listen, it is at this stage you can often pick up the political elements of the company, it will also enhance and strengthen the rapport between you, especially if nobody has ever bothered to ask them in the past about themselves and their background.

Decision Making Unit:

Ask who else is involved in this project, identify the buying influences, but also ask what the process is going to be, what are they expecting, benchmarks, reference visits? If you have already enquired as to their position and role then asking about the DMU will be a natural progression and should not attract any resistance. Remember though do not use the term DMU in any shape or form.

Budget:

You need to know whether there is a budget, has it been approved and if so how much. There is no way of hiding this request for information. However if you have followed the previous elements your client should by now see you as a partner, someone who can help and therefore should not feel threatened by you asking such a straightforward question. If they ask why you need to know the budget,tell them you need to ensure that neither of you are wasting your time nor that you can supply a solution that they can afford.

Time Scales:

Part of your telephone qualification should have been to establish timescales, however these can often change so you need to confirm them not only in this meeting but also periodically throughout the sales cycle.

Resistance/Constraints:

You need to be aware of any resistance that the client feels may occur to this purchase and where possible offer advice on how to neutralise such resistance, e.g. if they feel that the IT department are going to resist then would it not be wise to get them involved or at least keep them informed so they do not feel threatened, maybe that is something you could do?

If the resistance could come from the users, you can get them or a representative of theirs involved, so that they feel they have some ownership.They are then less likely to resist when the goods are delivered. Is there anything that may restrain them from progressing further? E.g. is the purchase directly linked to them receiving a large order?

Buying Criteria:

You need to find out how they will decide upon the final supplier or solution, what will differentiate them or it from the rest? You then need to match your solution and credentials with their buying criteria.

If you are dealing with a larger company they may have a preferred suppliers list so ask how you get on it, who can you talk to in the buying department so that you may introduce yourself as a potential supplier and find out what they require it will save a lot of headaches if you establish it now rather than at decision time. It is also advisable to find out what their standard terms of payment are as you will need to bear this in mind when you quote.

Competition:

It is imperative to find out who else they are talking to and why, e.g. are they the existing supplier. If so how have they been performing, although it would suggest not that well if the client is talking to you, but remember never assume, it may be company policy to go out to three suppliers, in that case are you just making up the numbers? Never criticise the competition but rather emphasise your strengths that will illuminate their weaknesses.

Expectation:

Ask them what are they hoping to achieve? The answer to this question is always interesting, hopefully it will confirm what you have already surmised but sometimes it can throw up some unusual reasons for wishing to purchase.

If the latter is the case you need to ensure that this is a good enough reason to progress with the sales cycle and for both you and the company to spend further time and money on your solution. Whatever they are hoping to achieve you must ensure that your proposal proves that it can match that achievement.

Other Information:

Always ask if there is any other information that they feel would be useful for you to have at this point. This will give them the opportunity to volunteer any other data which you may not have asked for,it is also a great get out clause if during the sales cycle something crops up that you are not aware of, after all you did ask them if there was anything else they felt you should know.

Summarise:

A good exploratory meeting will contain a number of summaries to confirm that you have interpreted the answers to your questions correctly. If you are unable to summarise during the meeting you must ensure that you at least do so at the end of the meeting, it is a neat way of bringing the meeting to a close and it proves to the client that you were listening and understand his requirements it is also good way of achieving commitment.

Commitment:

By this time we must obtain commitment from the client to progress to the next stage whether it is another meeting, a demonstration or presentation. By using the summary you will be able to introduce the next stage, and therefore get commitment to it easily.

You must always leave an exploratory meeting with commitment from the client to move to the next stage.

The JF Guest Author Spot 

“Sales Managers: Invest in the Best” by Wally Bock  

Sales managers make a difference to your company every day in many ways.

They help top producers produce even more. They help high potential sales people develop into stars. They help the consistent, steady producers keep chugging away. They weed out the underperformers who can’t make the grade and they help others to improve.

You would think that you’d want to pick the best sales managers you could find, give them the training they need and support them. But, in many companies, that simply doesn’t happen.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics tells us that 2.2 million Americans have some kind of sales management job. They work in all kinds of settings, large and small, retail and business and industrial. The majority of them have three things in common.

They were promoted for the wrong reasons.

They received no training in supervisory or management skills.

They have people working for them. That means that if they sink instead of swim, they can take a whole sales team to the bottom with them.

It doesn’t have to be this way. To change things, you need to pick people who have a shot at being successful managers, give them training in supervisory skills, and give them the support they need to grow and develop as managers.

Pick people who have a shot at being successful managers.

It’s almost a cliché that top salespeople often make poor sales managers, yet that’s exactly who many companies promote. Instead of looking at sales success alone consider the following.

Pick people who like helping others succeed. That’s a big part of any manager’s job. Select candidates who’ve gone out of their way to help others and seem to be good at it.

Pick people who are willing to talk to others about behavior and performance. This is a tough one.

Many salespeople have a strong need to be liked. In management that can be deadly. Select people you’ve seen deliver tough messages to their colleagues and customers without setting off a nuclear conflict.

Pick people who are willing to make decisions. You can’t teach this. You can teach techniques to improve decision making, but your candidate needs to show up willing to make decisions and be held accountable for them.

Pick people who are credible. Almost all promotions to sales manager are from inside. That means that a person’s reputation follows him or her. Part of that reputation involves sales skills.

I’ve found a difference between retail and industrial selling here. In industrial sales management, the manager spends less time with his or her salespeople than the retail sales manager, who works the floor and usually sells.

The difference is important when you’re considering someone for promotion. In retail, you want a person who delights in helping others and who is also a great salesperson. That’s because he or she is on the floor all the time. How the sales manager sells sets the example for everyone every day.

Pick people with integrity. This is another one of those things you can’t teach, but it’s essential. You have to be able to trust your managers. Their team members have to be able to trust them.

Pick people who like to learn. A good sales manager will always be learning. He or she will learn about technical matters, about sales techniques and about supervisory skills. That learning starts with training.

Give them training in supervisory skills.

Get a bunch of top company executives and ask them what they do to train their salespeople and the noise level in the room rockets upward as they describe one thing after another. Ask those same executives what they do to train their sales managers in management and the room goes silent.

Supervising salespeople is a distinct kind of work. To do it well, you have to shift your thinking from being an individual salesperson on a team to being the leader of the team. And you have to master some specific skills.

Help them understand their new role. New sales managers need to spend time clarifying their new role. As sales managers they are responsible for making goal through the group. As sales managers they are responsible for helping their people succeed and develop.

Help them develop skills necessary to talk to people about their behavior and performance. New sales managers need to learn the basic tools. They need to practice them in exercises before they go back on the job.

Help them identify good role models and possible mentors. Initial training should point out the importance of role models and mentors. It should help new sales managers identify good ones. And it should teach the new sales manager how to use them.

Help them put together their own development program. New sales managers will leave their first training with most of their learning still in front of them. Give them tools and connections that will help them learn on the job.

Give them the support they need to grow and develop.

Supervising others is an apprentice trade. You learn a small portion of it in classrooms and from books. You learn most of it from others and on the job.

Give your sales managers lots of feedback. Feedback is the key to improved performance. New sales managers, especially, need lots of feedback on their management work in the months immediately following promotion.

Help them connect with peers. Strong peer groups can help a new sales manager get advice, feedback and support.

Bring them back for frequent training during the transition period. My research says that it takes twelve to eighteen months for most new sales managers to settle in to their new role and their new job. During that time, training on analyzing performance issues and talking to people about performance can really help.

Sales managers don’t just have an impact on the top line by increasing sales. They also have an impact on the bottom line by reducing turnover and keeping selling expenses under control. They’re important you need to select, train and support them like the valuable assets they are.

 Wally Bock helps organizations improve productivity and morale by selecting and developing great leaders at all levels. He coaches individual managers, and is a popular speaker at meetings and conferences in the US and elsewhere. This article first appeared in the Three Star Leadership Blog ( http://blog.threestarleadership.com/ ). It is based on material in Wally’s Working Supervisor Support Kit ( http://www.threestarleadership.com/supervisorsupportkit/ )

Personal Note:This was voted “Sales Article Of The Week” over at Top 10 Sales Articles and in fact I have just received all the votes in and can confirm that it has also been voted “Top Sales Article Of The Month”

So, congratulations to Wally who will now go forward to the “Top Sales Article Of The Year” final.

In today’s business world of ‘quality circles’ and ‘managing for excellence’, the most successful individuals are often accomplished presenters.

That’s because a successful presenter is more than just a fact dispenser – he or she really knows how to communicate with their audience, someone to whom people listen. The effective speaker in business, just as in the political arena, is the one who can make people hear the facts and believe the message.

Unfortunately, public speaking is not something that comes naturally to most of us. Without prior training in the basics of timing, body language, humour, organisation and all the other skills that go into the act of public speaking, even the smartest, liveliest and most articulate individual can wither in the glare of “the spotlight”.

What Do Audiences Want?

• To feel you ‘know your stuff’
• That you look the part
• That you respect them and acknowledge their situation and views
• To find what you say links with what they want from you
• To have sufficient information to make a considered judgement about what you say (they will ‘weigh it up’)
• To be clear about any action necessary – at the end.

And above all to find it understandable, interesting and a good fit with the audience and the occasion.

And In Summary: What They Most Definitely Do Not Want?

• To be confused
• To be blinded with science / technicalities or jargon
• ‘Lost’ in the structure (or lack of it)
• To be talked down to
• To be made to struggle to understand inappropriate language
• To be made to make an enormous jump to relate what is said to their own circumstances.

And they do not want to listen to someone whose lack of preparation makes it clear they have no respect for the audience. As with most things in life, preparation and planning is everything.

It is important to remember that as the presenter or speaker, we are there for our audience, they are not there for us – we must earn the right by proving our credibility, to be standing in front of them.

Tomorrow: On The JF Guest Author Spot – Wally Bock with the award winning “Sales Managers: Invest In The Best”

The JF Guest Author Spot

“A Clearly Defined Sales Process Yields Big Results”
by Jacques Werth

For my first college degree, in 1955, I majored in Industrial Sales. What they taught back then was called “Needs Selling.” Needs Selling was the first “scientific” selling system because it was based on psychological research. It worked better than any previous selling system. More importantly, it worked far better than no structured selling system at all. Needs Selling gradually evolved into Consultative Selling, which does not work very well anymore.

Other Things That Do Not Work Very Well Any More:

Becoming a “Trusted Advisor”

During the seventeen years that I have been in the Sales Training business, I have seen thousands of salespeople struggling to become trusted advisors. They say that will enable them to help prospects with their problem situations.

When you cast yourself in the role of a Trusted Advisor, your persona will not ring true, unless you are dealing with someone that wants your advice and is willing to use it. No matter how honorable your intentions, it is highly unlikely that you can get people to accept your advice when the problems that you can solve are not top priorities for them. It is also highly unlikely that you can convince them that those problems should be top priorities.

When you are trying to persuade and convince people to do something that they do not already want to do, most will resist. If you persist, their resistance will increase and they will not trust you. Furthermore, you are intruding on their time, and therefore in their lives. Thus, it is more likely to establish yourself in their minds as an annoyance.

Wowing Prospects with Technical Brilliance or Product Knowledge

Few salespeople succeed based on their product knowledge or technical brilliance.

Building Rapport

“Rapport-Building is an inherently manipulative process. Rapport-building techniques may get prospects to like you, but they will also lower their level of trust in you, as well as their respect for you. Rapport Building “feels good,” but lowers the probability of closing the sale. Trust in the salesperson is the #1 factor in Buying Decisions.

Developing Your Own Sales Process

Many salespeople are trying to develop their own sales methods based on what they think will work. Many are trying to adapt Consultative Selling methods to what they feel comfortable doing. Those objectives are contrary to what works best in selling. Furthermore, it is highly unlikely that the attempt will result in an effective sales process. That is why most salespeople fail, or fail to attain the level of success that they want.

Your best chance for outstanding success is to become as skilled as the top salespeople in your industry. For most salespeople, that means dealing with a new learning experience that, in the beginning, may be quite uncomfortable.

What Does Work?

Abandon the idea that Prospects Need to Be Educated

The Market for every product and service has changed radically in the last 35 years. Since the 1980′s, the advent of desktop computers fueled an explosion of all communications media. The wide adoption of the Internet greatly increased that information flow. We are now bombarded with information about every conceivable subject. That condition is called Information Overload. Now, the need to educate prospects has been largely eliminated.

Information Overload has created a niche market that we call High Probability Prospects. These people already know that they want the benefits that your products and services can provide.

Prospect like the Top 1% The Top 1% of Salespeople change their selling process to suit current market conditions. They are no longer looking for prospects that merely need the benefits of their products and services, norare they willing to spend their time educating “interested” prospects. They now concentrate their efforts on finding prospects that: 1) already want the benefits of their products and services, and 2) are ready, willing and able to buy now.

This takes the pressure off the prospect and the producer, giving them the best chance of successfully doing business together. It also eliminates most of the time spent doing “Needs Analyses” and preparing proposals for prospects that will not buy. Thus, most of your time is spent working with people that are genuine prospects.

Practice Full Disclosure

Top sales producers practice total disclosure with no hidden agendas. They do not try to fool their prospects, or themselves, about their own primary motivation: To earn money for themselves by providing valuable services for their customers.

Salespeople who persist in Rapport Building, Overcoming Objections, and Closing Techniques are utilizing an outdated selling paradigm that is not effective in today’s market. Those “selling techniques” leave success to chance, and that chance is low.

If you want to dramatically increase your probability of success, you must learn the selling skills that are most likely to yield the results that you want. In High Probability Selling, we know what works: Every step of the sales process is statistically validated to produce the most sales volume in the shortest time.

These new, highly effective selling skills are not easy to learn. Ultimately, you must learn them, or find another way to make a living. In order to achieve outstanding success, you must decide how you will make it happen, and when.

©All Rights Reserved

Jacques Werth, the President and founder of High Probability® Selling, is a lucky man: He discovered his passion for selling early in life, and has enjoyed success in his chosen profession for over 40 years. After four decades in the “sales game,” Jacques has earned, and deserves, a comfortable retirement. But he continues to develop High Probability Selling, because Jacques truly believes that he can change people’s lives. Consider him a man with a mission: To revolutionize the sales process through his system of “radically honest selling.” High Probability Selling is based on the deceptively simple concept that people buy from people they trust and respect.Read more http://www.highprobsell.com/