You know, virtually everything I do can be measured in “Pareto” terms: 80% of my business comes from 20% of my clients; 20% of my online promotion produces 80% of my results; 20% of my articles achieve 80% of my total readers – you get the picture. It certainly assists me to focus more dilligently on the areas of my business, and indeed my life, that really matter.

Pareto Analysis is a very simple technique that helps you to choose the most effective changes to make.
 
It uses the Pareto principle – the idea that by doing 20% of work you can generate 80% of the advantage of doing the entire job*. Pareto analysis is a formal technique for finding the changes that will give the biggest benefits. It is useful where many possible courses of action are competing for your attention.
 
How to use the tool:

To start using the tool, write out a list of the changes you could make. If you have a long list, group it into related changes.

Then score the items or groups. The scoring method you use depends on the sort of problem you are trying to solve. For example, if you are trying to improve profitability, you would score options on the basis of the profit each group might generate. If you are trying to improve customer satisfaction, you might score on the basis of the number of complaints eliminated by each change.
 
The first change to tackle is the one that has the highest score. This one will give you the biggest benefit if you solve it.
 
The options with the lowest scores will probably not even be worth bothering with – solving these problems may cost you more than the solutions are worth.
 
Example:

A manager has taken over a failing service center. He commissions research to find out why customers think that service is poor.
 
He gets the following comments back from the customers:

• Phones are only answered after many rings.
• Staff seem distracted and under pressure.
• Engineers do not appear to be well organised. They need second visits to bring extra parts. This means that customers have to take another day off work to be there a second time.
• They do not know what time they will arrive. This means that customers may have to be in all day for an engineer to visit.
• Staff members do not always seem to know what they are doing. Sometimes when staff members arrive, the customer finds that the problem could have been solved over the phone.

The manager groups these problems together. He then scores each group by the number of complaints, and orders the list:

• Lack of staff training: 6: 51 complaints
• Too few staff: 4: 21 complaints
• Poor organization and preparation: 2 complaints

By doing the Pareto analysis above, the manager can better see that the vast majority of problems (69%) can be solved by improving staff skills.

Once this is done, it may be worth looking at increasing the number of staff members.

Alternatively, as staff members become more able to solve problems over the phone, maybe the need for new staff members may decline.

It looks as if comments on poor organisation and preparation may be rare, and could be caused by problems beyond the manager’s control.

By carrying out a Pareto Analysis, the manager is able to focus on training as an issue, rather than spreading effort over training, taking on new staff members, and possibly installing a new computer system.

Key Points:

Pareto Analysis is a simple technique that helps you to identify the most important problem to solve.

In Summary -To use it:

• List the problems you face, or the options you have available
• Group options where they are facets of the same larger problem
• Apply an appropriate score to each group
• Work on the group with the highest score

Pareto analysis not only shows you the most important problem to solve, it also gives you a score showing how severe the problem is.
 
*This is only one application of this important 80/20 principle. It shows the lack of symmetry that almost always appears between work put in and results achieved. This can be seen in area after area of competitive activity. The figures 80 and 20 are illustrative – for example, 13% of work could generate 92% of returns.

Today’s News: Today is a very special day for Heathrow Airport in London: Finally, Terminal 5, or T5 as it will become known, opens it’s doors. My friend Carlos, whose nickname is “T5 Insider” kindly arranged for me to have a tour a couple of weeks back, but at the last minute, I had to cancel due to business pressures. However, he has kept me fully updated and I will share some stunning images with you on Wednesday.

Over at Top 10 Sales Articles there is a particularly good selection of nominees this week, do be sure to check them out.

Tomorrow: On the JF Guest Author Spot I welcome back good friend and best selling author, Anne Miller – you will not want to miss her words of wisdom.  

Decision making is an essential requirement of management and the very best leaders appear able to make crucial decisions effortlessly “standing on their feet”  But what exactly is a decision – and what is it not?

According to the dictionary, the verb ‘decide’ means ‘to determine, to end, to resolve, to settle and to make up one’s mind’, while the noun ‘decision’ is ‘the act of settling, making up one’s mind’, etc. Someone in a position of power is said to be a ‘decision-maker’ and we refer to those who do make up their mind as ‘resolute’ or ‘decisive’.

The Latin root of the word means to ‘cut away’. This points to what a decision really is: to cut away the surrounding clutter, to enable one to see a path to an objective and, by taking a decision (or a series of decisions), to follow that path with all of its implications.

What it is not – A decision is not allowing events to take their course willy-nilly. If you did, an outcome would still occur – but one not influenced or decided upon with due regard to the surrounding circumstances. Such an outcome represents an inability or lack of desire to analyse and reach a conclusion; control has been surrendered. This might not matter – for example, when merely choosing what perfume to wear – but can be of major consequence where commercial or other vital decisions are required

Decision-making is about deliberately opting for one choice from two or more, proactively to optimise a situation or outcome and not let it happen by default.

It is also about trying to minimise the element of chance or risk in life, by taking decisions and actions that will influence the outcome in one’s favour.

To sum up, decision-making is:

• The selection of an option over others (which could include no action)

• Under conditions that are uncertain

• Which exposes you to a risk

• In order to reach a specified goal, objective or outcome.

There must be a choice and it must be taken proactively, otherwise it is merely an occurrence.

Today’s News:

It is almost ready – ASP Profile is the most accurate and sophisticated sales competence assessment tool available and represents the culmination of fourteen years ongoing research and experimentation.

It has involved consultation with hundreds of individuals, including: captains of industry, psychologists, professional buyers and front line salesmen and women from every industry sector.

The end result is that we are now able to recognise the three levels of selling that exists – four in fact, if you include sales management – and as a consequence, we have produced a model at each level that accurately profiles the characteristics and working styles of the very best performers. It assesses existing strengths, limitations, and ongoing development requirements in three specific areas: – Attitude, Skills, and Process.

ASP Profile is totally interactive and reports are generated within minutes, enabling you to make rapid decisions.

Next week, you wll be able to download a copy of the prospectus, but in the meantime you may want to find out more here

This advertisement was brought to you by The JF Consultancy

Tomorrow: France play Wales to decide the winner of the Six Nations – that’s Europe’s answer to Super Bowl, but without all the body armour and advertising

But, I do have so much reading to catch up with, so maybe, just maybe, a day off? Wherever you are, have a great w/e – JF

The JF Guest Author Spot

Independent, tech-savvy, social, and optimistic – why are these “kids” so hard to manage?

The New Millennial’s, people born after about 1981, are now entering the work force en masse. Even seasoned sales managers are having challenges helping these people become productive. They have a different approach to life, which greatly impacts their ability to sell effectively. Understanding them and some key events that took place during their youth will help you get a handle on their outlook on life in general and work in particular.

While they were growing up there was a technology explosion. Their every day reality included video on multiple devices, mobile phone, computers, and iPods. They have been bombarded with marketing messages that are constantly changing. School violence and global terrorism (specifically 9-11) have made them wary about the world and helped them develop a global perspective. For the most part, poverty is something that they have seen on television. Watching their parents get downsized in the 80s and 90s has caused them to question loyalty to the company. Reality television, MySpace, Facebook, Second Life and Google have caused them to believe (and experience!) that information is available for the asking so being “transparent” (putting everything out there for all to see) is the way things should be.

While I often hear comments about their lack of work ethic, those are the same comments that were leveled toward Generation X and Baby Boomers when they first entered the work force. Neuro research now tells us that the prefrontal cortex of our brain continues to mature until about the age of twenty-six. So Millennials may continue to be a little irresponsible until they’ve been on the job for a while. It’s neurological, not attitudinal. So make life a little easier on yourself and cut them some slack.

What is different is their work style, motivations and view of the world, especially the corporate world. These individuals do have loyalty, which is focused on their social network and specific managers and members of the team – not on the company.

Generally they have an ability to find information about anything at a rate that far exceeds expectations of management.

What they lack is discernment about the accuracy of the information. If it’s on the Net they tend to believe it must be accurate. They can instantly communicate this information to their social network via Blogs, Instant Messaging (IM), personal Web pages and cell phones. Some companies have found out the hard way that their management mistakes are common knowledge within days, if not hours.

Many of these people had parents who hovered over them during every waking hour, giving birth to the term “Helicopter Parents.” With probably hundreds of possible activities, from soccer to music lessons, Millennials have been over-committed and over-scheduled. They also have been smothered in praise with constant reinforcement about how great they are: blue ribbons for the entire team, there are no losers, etc.  They expect recognition for everything, even the most mundane activities. They may not know their own strengths and weaknesses because there have not been many opportunities for self evaluation or honest, constructive criticism.

This creates your greatest management challenge. How do you help them understand that there are indeed losers as well as winners in the sales world? How do you provide constructive criticism without devastating their psyche?

Keep in mind that these people will tend to look at you as a parental substitute. I know that makes most sales managers more than a little uncomfortable. Nonetheless, since their parents didn’t wean them, you get to do that. And, generally, this is going to be a shock to the Millennial. You’ll need to teach them basic decision making by coaching and guiding them step-by-step, before you tell them, “You decide.” Don’t be surprised if they’re calling you constantly asking the simplest questions.

Here’s a four step process that can be helpful in guiding them in decision-making (this process may take two to six months total):

1. The first time they approach you, work with them to think through at least three options. Then make the decision for them. Having them consider options is the first step of developing the ability to reason.

2. After this, when they want your input, make sure they come in with the three options already thought about. Then help them understand the consequences of each option. Add in other options if they haven’t considered all of the consequences. Then, you make the decision.

3. The third stage is that they come in with three options, understand the consequences and a recommendation for the course of action. Either agree with their course of action or make suggestions. Essentially they will be making the recommendation which you are approving.

4. The final stage is to cut them loose and have them handle a situation on their own. However, also have them provide a written report (IM or Text message is OK). The report needs to tell you what the situation was, the options they considered and the decision they made. This step won’t last that long as their need for independence will kick in and they’ll just stop coming to you with every little situation.

Keep in mind that these individuals are going to need much more coaching than their predecessors. The good news is they are used to being coached. After all, many of them have been on soccer teams since they were four or five years old.

Like all previous generations they’ll be coming into the work world thinking that they have all the answers and know how to do the job better than you do. Once we turn about 35, we begin to realize that we don’t have all the answers and things may not be as they seem. Developing mastery at work requires us to listen intently, understand the history of each situation and gather the different perspectives of each of the players involved. However, growing up protected and interacting with others largely through technology, has created a generation whose people savvy is very limited. Their ability to read a person in a face-to-face situation (and almost all selling is face-to-face) will tend to limit their success, especially when selling to people of a different generation. Help them understand the nuances of body language, the uniqueness of each person’s office and what the contents of that office reveals about the customer. (Shameless promotion: Our book, PeopleSavvy for Sales Professionals covers these points in detail.)

In your coaching efforts with Millennials, your focus and approach may need to be different from others you have worked with. You’ll need to provide structure and give information in bite-size pieces. Praise for what they do is important to their self-esteem. If they’ve messed up you’ll need to present it as a development opportunity. Course correction instead of scolding or brow-beating is a better approach.

Millennials generally have short attention spans, so keep your coaching sessions short. If you go beyond about 20 minutes you will lose them. Use technology freely before and after the session; they’ll come in to the session better prepared and will actually appreciate the follow up. If you’re not comfortable using IM, it’s time to learn. Their mobile phone is like a third arm and gives you more access to them than you’ve probably ever had with anyone.

Have frequent coaching sessions. Remember they’ve been sitting in front of video games knowing instantly what their score is and how they compare with others. Waiting to give them feedback at their annual performance review won’t work. In fact, without feedback, they will probably be long gone before that performance review happens.

Provide the rationale behind your coaching. This generation is hungry to learn and if they feel they’re learning from you, they will be loyal—to you. If they feel like their skills aren’t being developed, they’ll leave.

In some ways you’ll need to teach them patience. They’re used to instant gratification. On the plus side, their impatience for results can be a bonus in the sales world. On the negative, they can be easily frustrated when they don’t get immediate results.

Work/life balance is important to Millennials. One of the biggest challenges to Baby Boomer managers is that Millinnials don’t want the same life style. Many Baby Boomers were brought up in sales to believe that if you were working from 6 AM to 6 PM, you were still only working half days. Millennials want “time and flexibility” often before financial compensation and benefits. No other generation has had “time and flexibility” in their top three drivers.

And finally, transparency or confidentiality is often mismatched between Millineal and manager. It is not unusual that a private discussion between a manager and employee becomes public. You’ll need to teach your Millennials why discretion is important, and it may be difficult for them to understand. If your entire life is on the Web for anyone to see—even pictures in a drunken stupor at a college party—they just won’t understand why someone wants to keep something private or would be embarrassed about it being public. Be patient and explain why it’s to their benefit. In other words, you may need to sell them on the idea.

Smart managers that focus on developing Millinneal’s people savvy and who understand flexible work roles and effective virtual teams while leveraging technology will help them become a valuable asset sooner rather than later. Managers who meet the challenges of working with, not against, this generation will reap the rewards that come with shorter ramp times and more rapidly gaining some very valuable sales professionals.

Dr. Greg Stebbins is an internationally recognized authority on Sales Psychology with an emphasis in individual and organization transformation. He is the President of the Stebbins Consulting Group and a master at improving the greatest asset of any business—its people. With more than 30 years of business experience, he applies a wealth of knowledge, street smarts, and high impact ideas to the challenges his clients have. He is also the author of the best selling and widely acclaimed book, PeopleSavvy for Sales Professionals. www.peoplesavvy.com

Greg is also a senior member of the Top Sales Experts team and you can read more about him here

Today’s News: A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that my Elves had got their hands on David Bain’s new product, “The 26 Week Internet Marketing Plan” and were highly impressed. So impressed were they, that I decided to make some time to have a look through it myself, as a complete novice, always anxious to expand my “online bandwidth” and be able to hold my own when the Elves start getting “geeky” down the pub.

I have known David for almost two years now, and he is someone that I respect and admire for his wisdom and plain talking, no-nonsense style.

So what is this course all about then? And who’s it aimed at?

Well its aimed at marketing managers, business leaders, entrepreneurs and anybody who is looking to make an impact online and is serious about it.

The 26 week Internet marketing plan contains 4 DVD’s, 8 Multimedia CD’s and 4 ring-bound workbooks; plus a wall planner and 10 step quick start guide. It is written in a no-nonsense, pragmatic and conversational way – this is a reflection of David’s clear understanding and experience in the Internet Marketing community.

To give you an idea on its depth and breadth, this is what is provided out of the box.

Phase 1: Website Structure
Business Strategy
Keyword Research
Site Architecture
Conversion Rates
Viral Coefficient
Visitor Tracking

Phase 2: Automation and Launch
Blogging
RSS
Email Updates
Blog Communities
Blog & RSS Directories
Press Releases
Pay Per Click

Phase 3: Broaden Your Base
Major Directories
Industry Directories
Local Directories
Article Marketing
Competitor Backlinks
Forum Interaction
Blog Comments

Phase 4: Broaden Your Horizon
New Website
Social Networking
MyPage Marketing
Podcasting
Video Marketing
Visitor Analysis

As I mentioned the workbook writing is hype free, clear, easy to read; but most importantly littered with examples that make the content easy to read and understand.

But whilst the four workbooks form the core of the 26 week Internet Marketing Plan, they really are just the tip of the iceberg. And that leads me to the next great thing about the package. It’s loaded with MP3’s of interviews, documented transcripts and .pdfs which really help to contextualize what you can learn in the core workbooks.

Contributors include: Me and Yaro Starak by the way.

And finally what I really like is the overriding candid, honest, hype free approach that David has taken in producing this package.

There are numerous starter courses that prospective Internet Marketers could take – seminars, courses, training sessions etc. The trouble is they’re slick, polished but ultimately forgettable.

For £399 (about $795) I would be amazed if you could spend your hard earned money more wisely. Highly recommended- you can find out for yourself here

Tomorrow: I endeavour to send you into the weekend with some thought provoking commentary regarding decision making

“Experience informs us that the first offence of weak minds is to recriminate” Samuel Taylor Coleridge
  
Negative people typically suffer from what I call the three “C’s” and are usually found to be: Criticising, condemning or complaining.
 
Here are some tips to help you overcome negativity and to recognise it in others.
 
Develop and build your own understanding of what is really negative. Do remember that constructive criticism is not negative.
 
Check your conversation with others, are you being negative? – Check your thoughts and thinking process – remember that if you are thinking negatively the only person you will harm is yourself. Remove those thoughts as you would a faulty slide from a projector, discard them, you have the capacity to do that and your mind will respond if you are strong enough and willing enough to discard a negative thought.
 
Build a bullet proof screen around you, so that negative comments or behaviour from other people cannot penetrate. You can do this by instantly recognising negative criticism or conversation.

From time to time, check the company you are keeping. If you have been mixing in the wrong environment, talk to people who are positive. Go out and mix with people you know have positive, constructive ideas. Mix with people who are doing better than you.
 
If another person’s negativity does get through to you, say to yourself “Why did he or she say that”? You must remember that no positive person becomes so unfeeling that they can’t see life from another person’s point of view. It could happen that someone very close to you says something that can be construed as negative; it may be because they are worried, they are concerned or they have fear. By asking yourself “Why did he or she say that?” You will more than likely be able to understand and by reassurance, conversation and looking at the worry from a different point of view, turn the negative into a positive process.
 
Have your own negative repellent whenever anyone says anything really negative to you just say “fantastic” – no truly negative person enjoys hearing that word; they really run for cover!
 
 In Summary:
 
• Remember, the negative is always stronger than the positive.
 
• Never allow anyone to pollute your thinking
 
• As a professional you must take care of your attitude

 “The most evil, dangerous and cancerous complaint that humanity inflicts upon itself is to be negative” Anon

Today’s News: I often talk about networking sites and whilst some of them can be irritating, providing a constant stream of requests from people you have never heard of wishing to link with you, others have some real benefits: As an example yesterday, we decided we needed to recruit some additional programming resource with PHP/MySQL experience, so I logged into LinkedIn and sent a question to seventy of my contacts, asking if anyone had advice. Within four hours, more than fifty of them came back to either say they couldn’t help or providing details of people they would personally recommend – fantastic  

Over on Salesopedia this week, the hot topic is interpersonal skills, and there are some excellent articles providing advice – you can check it out here

Tomorrow: On the JF Guest Author Spot my guest is my good friend, best selling author and internationally acclaimed sales psychologist Dr.Greg Stebbins.

Do you have what it takes to become a superstar in sales?

No, I’m not talking about having superior product knowledge or knowing some sales strategies.  I’m not even talking about having a real desire to reach the top.

I’m talking about, do you have the real foundation that is mandatory for becoming a top producer.

• Do you know which markets that you will really dominate?

• What marketing and prospecting methods are best suited to your strengths and skills?

• What sales process will make you the most successful?

• What your real strengths and weaknesses are and how to take full advantage of them to sell more than you thought possible?

• Exactly how and where to spend your time and energy to make the most money?

• How to make sure your prospects and client always welcome your calls and emails and never consider your competition?

• How to eliminate price as a primary issue?

• How to set and actually reach goals that will take you to the top 10% of the salespeople in your industry?

Everyone knows that top salespeople are made, not born. 

But what do they REALLY do that is different than everyone else?  What do they know that so few others know?

In a sense, it’s pretty simple.  Instead of leaving their sales businesses to chance and accident as most salespeople do; top producers have learned how to control their sales business to GUARANTEE their success. 

And so can YOU.

My friend, Paul McCord has just released SuperStar Selling: 12 Keys to Becoming a Sales SuperStar, the most detailed guidebook to creating a top producing sales career I’ve ever seen. 

This isn’t the typical book with some tips and strategies to close a few more sales or to find a few more prospects.

Hardly.

SuperStar Selling: 12 Keys to Becoming a Sales SuperStar (http://tinyurl.com/3x5rf5 ) is a guide to finding YOUR personal keys to success–your keys to controlling your career and insuring you are one of the top salespeople in your industry.  No longer do you have to allow chance to determine whether or not you reach the top of your field.

SuperStar Selling doesn’t have any canned answers.  No quick miracle fixes.  No fluffy promises of easy success.

Instead, SuperStar Selling challenges you to examine everything about your sales business and then to make RADICAL changes.  It forces you understand how you’ve gotten to where you are in your sales career and why you aren’t where you want to be.

Then it not only demands you make radical changes to what you do, why you do it, and how you do it, it guides step-by-step through the process of finding exactly what markets and marketing methods, and what sales process will take you from where you are today to where you want to be.

This is absolutely a career changing book.  McCord walks you through every major area of your career, not only demanding you examine each area in detail, but works with you to create real plans, real goals and real solutions to your problems that will make you a top producer.

You’ll learn:

• Why it is absolutely necessary to understand your sales history to know how to get to the top

• What your real behavioral, personality and sales strengths are and how to find the markets, marketing methods and sales process that will highlight your strengths and minimize your weaknesses

• You’ll determine exactly what you’re really willing to commit to your success in time, money and energy

• You’ll find out how to make realistic, attainable sales and income projections and goals that will get take you to where you want to be

• How to establish an accountability system that will force you to meet your goals

• How to overcome the negative thoughts and self-criticism that destroys most sales careers

Here’s what a few other experts are saying about this book:

“Paul McCord has written the most complete sales bible for aspiring sales superstars I’ve ever read!  His 12 Keys will become your “Ten Commandments” to both a far more profitable career and fulfilling life!”
Dave Anderson, best-selling author, How to Deal with Difficult Customers

”Think top sellers are born, not made?  If so, you’ll learn otherwise in this straight-shooting book by Paul McCord.  He takes the mystique out of their stellar results and shows you exactly what top producers do differently than the Average Joe. Best of all, he shows you how you can replicate their achievements, capitalize on your personal strengths and take charge of your success.”
Jill Konrath, best-selling author, Selling to Big Companies

“If you’re still dreaming of becoming a sales superstar, or simply need to *finally* make a decent living, then this book will meet you where you are today, and show you the steps.  No vague fluff.  No impractical methods.  Just training of the highest order. Paul’s a ‘Dr Phil’ for no-nonsense sales training.”
Dr. Martin Russell, WordofMouthMagic.com, Australia

“Paul McCord provides a step-by-step approach for separating yourself from the crowd of faceless salespeople scrambling to survive.  If you are ready to be a Super Star sales professional, buy this book, study its truths, and apply its powerful lessons for achieving outstanding results.”
Randy Pennington, Author Results Rule! Build a Culture that Blows the Competition Away

“If you’re tired of chasing, pursuing, and begging for sales, read this book immediately. Paul McCord knows what it takes to become a sales superstar and knows how to make you one too. I know because I’ve seen him do it for countless salespeople firsthand.”
Frank Rumbauskas, NY Times Bestselling Author, Never Cold Call Again

Purchase the book today at Amazon http://tinyurl.com/3x5rf5 and You’ll get over $2,500 in Bonuses from top experts such as:

• Dr. Joe Vitale
• Jill Konrath
• Dave Lakhani
• Frank Rumbauskas
• Randy Pennington
• Dave Anderson
• Sales Dog.com
• Kelley Robertson
• Keith Rosen
• SalesGravy.com
• Dr. Martin Russell
• And many more

See all of the great bonuses at:  http://www.thetwelvekeys.com/html/bonus.html

Get your copy at Amazon right now! http://tinyurl.com/3x5rf5

Once you have bought your copy from Amazon, go to: http://www.thetwelvekeys.com/html/register.html to claim all of your bonuses.

No more excuses for not becoming a sales superstar.  No more having to guess.  No more trial and error.  No more floundering.

SuperStar Selling: 12 Keys to Becoming a Sales SuperStar is the REAL THING. 

Get real guidance. 

Change your career forever. 

Buy your copy NOW:   http://tinyurl.com/3x5rf5

Today’s News: We have just announced February’s “Top Sales Article Of The Month” over at Top 10 Sales Articles and it an excellent piece of work – do check it out here

Tomorrow: Negativity, that most destructive of all emotions – how you can create your own “neg repellent”

To increase the revenue and margins of an order by selling products and services at a higher price i.e. up-selling or by selling additional products and services i.e. cross selling, we must be able to prove to the customer that there is something in it for them. We must show them increased, i.e. added value.

Value is the worth of something when compared with something else. For example, value would be a high pay back for small outlay, also discussed in terms of ROI i.e. return on investment. Pay back is the tangible return delivered by the benefits of your products and services. The greater the pay back, the greater the value to your customer and customers certainly want value.

The Value Formula:

The formula for calculating value is the benefit minus the cost of achieving or acquiring the benefit i.e. value + benefit – cost. So, it is important that we use rigorous questioning techniques to uncover as many needs as possible, for which we can offer, benefit oriented solutions. We need to be able to explain and sell benefits. The more needs we can uncover, the more benefits we can deliver, the more benefits the greater the pay back, the greater the pay back the higher the value, the higher the value, the better the chance to up sell and cross sell.

Proving Value:

Using the funnel questioning technique will uncover needs, if they are there to be uncovered. However, it is one thing to uncover the need it is another thing to prove that there is adequate pay back and value in fulfilling the needs.

Having uncovered the needs we must probe and find out as much as we can about those needs and the implications to the customer if they are not met or fulfilled. We do this by asking past, present and future questions i.e. “How did you use to do this?” (Past), “How do you do this now?” (Present) and “How do you plan to do it?” (Future).

What we are trying to establish is the difference between what the customer used to do and how he does it now. If we can establish this then the comparison between what they are presently doing and what they may be able to do based on our solution, will be easier to grasp. This is important, because the difference between them doing something and not doing it is the “value gap”. We need to find value gaps that we can attach a price to, so that we can justify the benefit in terms of added value.

Let’s take an example:

Your support customer used to have a manual stock and inventory system. Using your database for an automated system has enabled them to increase shipments by 20% per day. With the shipments of goods totalling $10,000 per day, the value gap i.e. system or no system, is $2000 per day. If the system is down it would cost $200 to $400 in lost or delayed shipments per hour. Staying as they are or going for a support agreement that would reduce down time is the value gap opportunity. That gap is worth $200 to $400 per hour.

Value Added Arguments:

You should always be looking for opportunities to offer more features that will be of benefit by asking the customer to tell you areas in which they would like to see greater support or additional services. If you say “Mr Smith we would like you to upgrade to our gold support agreement, you will receive earlier notification of software upgrades” the usual response will be, we don’t need them. Far better, using reasoning and questions to manoeuvre the customer into a position where they ask or enquire about additional services, explain to you what the possible outcome would be if they did not have those additional services and then you present a value added argument, to fill the gap.

Summary:

The best product, at the best price does not always win the order; we have all been outsold by a competitive salesperson probably offering less of a solution and sometimes even at a higher price. By selling benefits, not telling about features, the prospect will understand the pay off that your solution will deliver. Do not leave them to work it out for themselves, they might not bother!

If you can identify the need for more services and explain, using benefits, how you can meet those needs, it will be a lot easier to up sell and cross sell.

Today’s News: I have discovered an extremely good, new, sales community, owned by Monster.com. It’s called Sales HQ and you will find lots of familiar names over there. It’s free to register and you can check it out here

Tomorrow: Is a very big day for a very good friend – Paul McCord launches his superb new book and you can enjoy some very special offers here.

Many organisations do not know who their major accounts are. Certainly many of the people who manage the relationships do not know and even if they know, very few people understand why this customer is a major account but that one is not.

A quick way to test this is to ask ten people in your organisation who your ten most important accounts are. You can be sure that you will receive more than ten answers. In one company we worked with, we received 56 different answers from 10 senior managers! The clarification of major accounts has been a critically important part of our work with a number of the organisations with whom we have worked.

Understand:

We need to understand our major accounts better than our ordinary customers. We need to understand the world they work in, the challenge of their markets, the competition they face etc. We need to understand the individual projects (be it fighting to win new business or managing an existing project for maximum profitability). Major Account management involves understanding who takes decisions and how, who are our competitors, how does our offering impact on the customer’s business? Those who manage, need to keep developing their skills of questioning and listening, of networking and analysing.

Plan:

If a customer is worth being called a major account, then they are worth a plan. It is of course possible to sell successfully in an unplanned way, there are always opportunities to be seized by chance. But if we are serious about developing a long term relationship and if this customer is really important to our success as a business, then we need to plan. We will look later at two types of planning. One of the most encouraging spin-offs in our work with clients is when we see the emergence of succinct, professional business plans for major accounts that cascade down into satellite plans for other parts of the business.

Influence:

There are many people to influence. We need to influence technical people and commercial people; we need to influence our customers, their clients and our colleagues. The major account manager often has little authority to tell people what to do. Instead he or she needs to influence and persuade.

Deliver:

It is good to plan and understand and influence, but our business will depend on our ability to deliver what we promise. This is often seen as the responsibility of customer service but in fact the whole organisation needs to be committed to delivering what the customer needs, the right quality, at the right time and to do it in such a way that the customer feels good about it.

Manage:

Any major account needs managing because success does not just happen. By manage, I mean doing all those things which make things go smoothly. It may be arranging a regular review meeting with the customer, or training the account team to understand the customer better or handling problems or managing complex projects. If we work hard on all six areas of account management and if we gain the trust of our customers, then we will greatly increase our chances of long term, sustainable success.

Today’s News: Very interesting message in my inbox this morning:

Hi Jonathan,

I am sending you this note to let you know about an initiative that you may find interesting for your blog.
 
Third Core works with enterprise sales organizations to hone the execution of sales and sales management behaviors. We come across many organizations, of all sizes, who either don’t have access to training and information on the basics of business-to-business sales or simply don’t know where to find it.
 
To help companies and individuals who find themselves in this position, we’ve produced a collection of video material that covers these common-sense principles of business-to-business sales and sales management. The collection also contains interviews with senior business executives as well as a number of principles-focused role plays. Our goal is to provide a collection of resources that sales organizations and individuals can use to augment their professional development efforts.
 
The material, which we will be updating regularly, can be viewed and downloaded with no controls or constraints. Best of all, access to this material is absolutely free. This means that organizations or individuals with limited to no funds can access useful resources without worrying about the cost.
 
Third Core is one of Canada’s fastest growing companies. We help our clients achieve great successes in performance by improving their sales and sales management execution capabilities. We really hope the video resources we are providing can help to share this success with organizations of all size, and look forward to hearing feedback from people who use the material.
 
The material is available at www.professionalsellingnetwork.com. No personal information is collected. There are absolutely no strings attached. We hope it helps.

Do check them out

Tomorrow: I am still on my travels, so it’s another w/e of catching up with everyone and working on ASP Profile so as ever, wherever you are, have a great w/e and be sure to be back next week. Oh, and please bookmark any posts you enjoyed this week – thanks.

The JF Guest Author Spot 

When it comes to difficult customers, you know the warning signs—they nickel-and-dime you on price, don’t return phone calls, tell you they’re the decision makers when they’re not, threaten you with your competitors, make unreasonable demands, and expect fast, complete, and reliable delivery of your service.

I call those customers PITAs: “pain in the ass” customers. PITA customers are never happy. They’re emotionally draining and they use up your valuable resources. Collect too many PITA customers and watch your profits dwindle—not a compelling scenario. Yet companies continue to accept this bad business, all the while thinking it’s better than no business.

But is it?

When organizations take bad business, they are paying a hidden opportunity cost—the opportunity lost to use their resources to go after the phenomenal clients they want and need to make money! Servicing a PITA customer takes away time we could use providing something extra for our truly great customers.

How is it we end up with a few customers that drive us crazy when we can see the warning signs a mile away? Sometimes it’s because we have a quota to meet, or our company insists we do a deal, or we think that we can turn a bad situation into a good one. We’re dreaming. Bad business is bad business. Period.

We need to attract clients who are the opposite of the PITA—clients who value what we have to offer, who communicate well, are forward-thinking, reasonable, have a good sense of humor, and will give the time, money, and resources to make any project successful. Plenty of these people exist. Since we will get what we ask for, we need to be better at asking for good clients.

Salespeople frequently say that they will sell to “anyone who fogs a mirror.” Avoid that kind of thinking. We shouldn’t target just “anyone.” “Anyone” all too frequently turns out to be a PITA customer, the one who plays the nickel-and-dime game.

You need to create a profile of your “ideal customer” so you can recognize perfect opportunities when they arise. These ideal customers are those you want to serve and the ones you will bend head over heels for. You will also use this profile when you are asking people to refer you. Think of yourself as an artist—the more color and lines you put in your description, the easier it will be for others to recognize the picture of your ideal customer and refer them to you.

For a lot of salespeople, being too specific in describing their ideal customer may seem like they might be leaving good business on the table.  We often think that if we don’t mention everything we do we’ll miss a sale. This is exactly the opposite of what happens. The more specific you are, the easier it will be for someone to refer you. A long list of the things you do¬ blurs your image. For someone to be able to refer you, they need a clear picture of you.

Create a description using the following categories:

Industry: What industry do you want your clients to come from; where does your company have a track record?

Geography: Where would these customers be based—regions of the United States, North America, Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa?

Size Of Company: How large would the company you would most like to work with be and how do you measure its size (i.e.: number of employees, revenue, age, geographical coverage)?

Business Unit or Function: What group of people within the company are your ideal contacts—CEOs, CIOs, COOs, HR employess, salesmen, marketing people?

Type of Person: What are the personality traits (sense of humor, responsible, dedicated, integrity) of your “ideal customer?”

Situation/Need: “What sort of situation is your ideal customer in that creates the need for your help? Here are some ideas:

“My salespeople aren’t performing, our teams are not working together, we’ve just acquired another company, we have difficulty recruiting the right talent, we don’t have enough clients, our systems are at capacity, we’ll be acquiring more companies.”

And if a prospect doesn’t meet your criteria: Say NO! A PITA prospect is just the beginning of a bad relationship. The downward spiral will have begun. The cost to you will be exorbitant—your resources will be drained, you won’t make money, and you will have lost the opportunity to focus on good business. Say “No!” and a big weight will be lifted off of your shoulders. And, I’ll bet that your “ideal customer” will be right there waiting for you.

It’s not about the number of proposals we write or the number of clients we have. It’s about getting and keeping the right clients—the clients who will produce the revenue and profits we want, and who will readily refer us to others just like themselves You’ll be talking to exactly the people you want to meet and who want to meet you, and you will begin to see that you can actually have fewer leads and get more business. Your biggest challenge will be following up on all your great leads. Won’t that be terrific?

Joanne Black is a professional sales speaker and America’s leading authority on referral selling. She is the author of No More Cold Calling™: The Breakthrough System That Will Leave Your Competition in the Dust from Warner Business Books. For more information, visit www.NoMoreColdCalling.com. Phone: 415-461-8763 joanne@nomorecoldcalling.com

Today’s News: Over on Salesopedia Media, my good buddies Clayton Shold and Joe Heller are in conversation about referral selling and you can listen in here

Tomorrow: Do you really know who your most important customers are?

In many companies, very little systematic thought is given to the design of a sales training programme. Very often one of the following fallacious schools of thought is encountered.

* “Salespeople Are Born Not Made”- therefore the selection process is the only step to getting the right man. Having been chosen, the new recruit is then either successful or not, without any help from the company. Research does not bear out this theory.

* “Must Know The Product From The Ground Up” – all training is therefore devoted to lengthy product training, working on the shop floor, progressing paperwork etc. Whilst product knowledge is very necessary, it is questionable whether this is the right way to learn it or whether this is sufficient on its own.

* “Watch Me Son” – the new Salesperson is sent out with an old hand to watch (and thus learn) the experienced person’s techniques. Thus the new salesperson may not only pick up bad habits from the experienced person (who usually is not as trained as a trainer) but also mere observation will not teach.

If a successful training programme is to be developed, it must be planned with careful thought given to the following questions:

* What are the key objectives?

* What should be taught?

* Where should it be taught?

* By whom? And most critical

* How?

For Example: Typical Objectives Of A Training Programme:

* Increased sales

* Reduced individual selling costs

* Increased individual earnings

* Reduced personnel turnover

* Reduced need for supervision

* Improved employee morale

* Stronger customer relationships

Therefore, the objectives have to be formulated in these terms, i.e. turning the company’s investment in personnel into an asset producing an increased return on that investment.

Today’s News: Time, as I suggested only last week, is a very precious commodity for me, but I do endeavour to make time to read, particularly if the next book at the top of my pile of “must reads” looks exciting. This was certainly the case with Joe Capista’s new book – I haven’t finished it yet but I will this week, but you can’t wait until then, because Amazon are running a special offer now. Here is the marketing overview:

In ”What Can a Dentist Teach You about Business, Life and Success? Discover Secrets to Achieving Total Success!” Dr. Joe Capista guides entrepreneurs and salespeople through the successful techniques and strategies he used to build a multi-million dollar business. The book begins with a glimpse into Capista’s upbringing in an average, blue-collar neighborhood, his struggles with school, his burning desire to fulfill his dream of being a dentist and his own personal journey of discovering what it takes to build a wildly successful business and life.

He has a refreshing approach to each person’s responsibility to achieve success in order to more fully contribute to the lives of others.

This book is a must read for anyone who wants to learn systems and strategies for achieving a life of Total Success.

 This book is a great resource for anyone looking for both a pragmatic and spiritual approach to building a life of Total Success. Order you own copy of What Can a Dentist Teach You about Business, Life and Success? within the next 24 hours and receive over $2,551 in bonus gifts from experts around the globe. Go to  http://www.joecapista.com/amazon.htm

About Dr. Joe Capista

Dr. Joe Capista is recognized for his unique approach to business, life and success. As the owner of one of the most successful dental practices in the United States, Dr. Joe Capista has an exceptional understanding of what it takes to create a successful business and a successful life while maintaining balance both personally and professionally to create Total Success.

Dr. Capista oversees operations for Williamsburg Dental, a multi-million dollar practice located in Broomall, Pennsylvania metropolitan area.

Williamsburg Dental has been serving clients for over 25 years and has an outstanding reputation for quality patient care. Dr. Capista and his entire team deliver the most advanced, proven dental treatments to their patients. Dr. Capista is The Cosmetic Dentist for the NBA Philadelphia 76ers Dance Team.

For over two decades, Dr. Capista has been on the leading edge of business trends including understanding what drives your team to perform at top level, what motivates a client and customer to do business with you and how to create a life most only dream of.

His unique approach to marketing a business is fast becoming a highly sought out strategy by numerous types and sizes of businesses. Joe combines a unique understanding of the workplace, personal development, implementation of effective systems, spirituality and overall balance and possibility into all he does.

He is highly recognized for his ability to teach clients how to maximize dollars for both Internal and External Marketing in order that they gain optimum results.

Dr. Capista has successfully incorporated overseeing operations for his business into being a highly requested speaker and trainer. A content driven, inspirational speaker, Joe makes audiences think and leaves them wanting more. His message is simple: be committed, do what you love, love what you do, live with passion, give back to your community, and create balance in all areas of your life to enjoy a life beyond your wildest dreams.

Dr. Capista presents to groups ranging from small business owners to CEOs of Fortune 100 corporations. His easygoing presentation style makes him an audience favorite

Tomorrow: The doyen of referral selling, good friend and author of the classic, “No More Cold Calling” Joanna Black is my guest on The JF Guest Author Spot

The JF Guest Author Spot

“Pearls of Sales Wisdom on Vacation”
By Steve Martinez

Shhhhhhh, My wife will probably never know I wrote this story about a vacation experience unless you tell her. It is just too good of a story to pass up. It is a great example of using a small gift to get attention and sell something. It all starts when we are on vacation at a typical tourist trap and we are looking for a gift for our Grand Daughter. Our budget is about $25.00 to $50.00 and we aren’t sure what to purchase so we stroll around the shopping center. We end up exceeding the budget and it isn’t for the Grand Daughter.

As we enter the building, a young lady approaches me and offers me a key to open a treasure chest on the counter. I thank her and walk by since I’m on a quest for a gift for our Grand Daughter. My wife stops and accepts the key and sure enough, her key opens the box. Inside the box is a free opportunity to try her luck at an oyster for a pearl. The young lady picks out a pearl, gets my wife’s name and rings a loud bell before she opens up the pearl. This becomes an event and my wife feels special. This induces a little excitement for my wife in the hope that she is lucky. Well, wouldn’t you know it; the oyster has a pearl inside. Who would have guessed? At this point I have wandered around to another area seeking to find the gift for Taylor, our Grand Daughter. My wife is all excited about her new success, the lucky pearl.

Every Pearl needs a setting.

At this point, I find all of this too obvious but I don’t want to spoil my wife’s fun since we are on vacation and we have plenty of time. My wife learns that there is a small cost to purchasing the pearl, which seems very reasonable. However, every pearl deserves a setting. Next thing I know, my wife is looking at various settings for her new lucky pearl. At this point I remember hearing those bells ring again because another key had opened the box to find a pearl inside. Was my wife really that lucky? I must tell you that while we were in the store, those bells rang many times. It seems that every key opened up the little treasure chest and every oyster had a pearl. As you might expect, every pearl needs a setting so this is where the store makes its profit and my wife adds to her collection.

Why coupons and special offers work.

Coupons, special offers, gifts or certificates apply the law of reciprocation.  This law isn’t found on law books but it does exist. It exists in our minds when someone is nice to us. The urge to reciprocate back to the business or person who gave us something is a strong emotional response.  In my wife’s case, she felt a small obligation after winning the lucky oyster. Although It might seem small, the purchase advantage went to the salesperson.  My wife, Sallie stayed there and ended up buying something she never thought she would. Sallie is very pleased with her purchase and enjoys her lucky pearls. The sales clerk succeeds with a sale because she quickly profiled my wife as an outstanding prospect. My wife was wearing a pearl ring which the clerk determined made her a good candidate for pearls. When the sales lady offered multiple compliments on my wife’s jewelry and I knew we were in trouble. My wife beamed with pride as she spoke about the history of her pearl ring.

The power of reciprocation can be applied to almost any sales situation. What amazes me is how any small gift will work. Donuts, coffee of cookies and gestures of kindness apply this law with impact and allow us to secure a little more time with a customer or prospect. The compliments we offer work wonders for us too. If you are in sales, and we all are, add a little kindness to your customer contacts, you might be surprised how these acts of kindness return huge dividends in sales.

Steve Martinez is the author of Sales Impactivator a sales e-publication for success oriented individuals. As the President of Selling Magic, his company teaches business professionals how to automate the selling process, preventing sales people and business owners from experiencing the hard lessons in selling. Steve has consulted with businesses around the country sharing his 25 years of sales and marketing experience to eliminate sales failure. Steve uses his experience as a National Sales Manager and National Account Executive to share the real-world lessons in sales.

When you want to impact sales with advanced selling strategies — signup for Impactivator our sales e-newsletter. Selling Magic teaches businesses and salespeople how to automate and customize CRM programs. http://www.sellingmagic.com

He is also a member of the Top Sales Experts team and you can read his full profile here.

Today’s News: Steve has done a lot of excellent pioneering work in the field of sales automation and you can see an example here 

Tomorrow: “How To Turn The Company’s Investment In Personnel Into An Asset Producing An Increased Return On That Investment”