Recent studies have confirmed the obvious, that is to say that “fear of calling” in sales can contribute to a significant proportion of lost sales revenues. One study that I read recently found that as many as 40 % of established salespeople experienced periods of “fear of calling” severe enough to threaten their future in sales.

Stemming the ever-increasing costs of the “fear of calling” syndrome cannot be addressed by training alone. It requires an experienced coach or mentor to work with each salesperson’s particular set of beliefs, so that they feel truly empowered to breakthrough their self-created mental barriers. One particular statistic, in the following survey, should give any salesperson suffering from “fear of calling” renewed confidence.

How Customers Regard Salespeople Survey

• Salespeople who do not bother to make appointments  45%

• Salespeople who know nothing about the customer’s business 60%

• Salespeople who know little about their products and services 60%

• Salespeople who call too often 9%

• Salespeople who don’t call often enough 49%

• Salespeople who do not have the authority to negotiate prices 45%

• Salespeople who do not ask for the order 40%

• Salespeople who are not properly or sufficiently organized 55%

Most desirable quality customers want to see in salespeople?  Competence!

Customers Can Sense Fear

We must remember that a salesperson’s state of mind is instantly transferred to their prospect or customer, which means that the challenge for organizations is to constantly create a highly resourceful state in their salespeople. This is extremely important, because when salespeople lack belief in themselves, their product or their service, they unconsciously transmit their attitude to prospects in a variety of subtle and sometimes overt ways.

Summary – The Importance of Divine Intervention From Above

Most sales managers grasp the concept of activity management, skills development and knowledge development. Intuitively, Sales Directors also understand the vital importance of the right mindset. Yet, far too many feel powerless to help their salespeople turn their negative beliefs into positive ones. Those few sales managers who do tackle such negative beliefs and are able to change their salespeople’s self-limiting beliefs into empowering ones, have found an unbeatable path to success.

News: Very good chum, and the leading referral sales guru on the planet, Joanne Black, re-launches her site today – it’s looking great!! - No More Cold Calling  - take a look http://bit.ly/5e884

Plus: Some major cosmetic changes over on the TSW home page …. do look for all the “Best Sales Blogs in the World” all in one place – HERE

There are many definitions of Major Account management, but my favourite and one I have used throughout my work, is from the Financial Times:

“The art of developing long-term relationships with selected customers”

It is simple, clear and it shows us what is important.

I further believe that:

Major Account Management Is an Art, Not A Formula

One can often see two ways of managing Major Accounts that are certain to fail. The first is management by chance – There is no control, there is no plan. No one can explain why we are winning the business or forecast how long our success will last. We do not learn from our mistakes or from our successes. This is at one extreme.

At the other extreme is management by formula – Here everything is documented, controlled and decided. I have seen one account planning process which demands that for every account the team must hold a one day orientation meeting, then gather information for twenty-one working days and then hold a two-day planning session.
 
The timescale cannot be changed. The people who must be present, never change. The documents that must be prepared are described in detail. The process is a good one, but it leaves no room for flexibility, common sense or the differences that exist both between accounts and departments.

We need a way of managing Major Accounts that is effective, consistent and flexible. We need a way of working that is simple but strong. We need discipline and we need creativity.

So, how is Major Account management like an art?

Discipline

Artists need discipline. Think of the discipline of a dancer or a singer – they know that they work best if they create inside disciplines of their art. A poet follows certain rules of rhyme and structure and a painter knows the disciplines of color and line.

Practice

Every artist expects to practice. The painter sketches, trying different compositions, actors rehearse until the words are coming perfectly. The dancer works at the bar to keep fit and to perfect every movement and musicians play the piece over and over again. The performance often looks easy, but we know that it took a great amount of work.

Creativity

Discipline and practice alone will not make an outstanding artist. There needs to be a spark – something special that allows the artist to see what many others miss and to communicate their understanding powerfully and clearly. The artist allows us to see and hear things differently.

Managing a Major Account needs all three parts – Discipline helps us follow the plan, to be self-controlled. Practice means that we do not expect to be perfect overnight, we think and plan and prepare for every important “performance”. Creativity allows us to change the past, to find new ways to solve problems and to win opportunities.

If we think of Major Account management as an art, then we will avoid the two dangers of working randomly and working rigidly.

News: New “Diamond” Account Level Unveiled – “To recognize those “Best of the Best” Expert Authors, we are adding a Diamond level to the peak of our membership pyramid.” Chris Knight CEO, EzineArticles More

And yes, I am, and very honored too!! After all, they have 377,000 contributing authors JF on Ezine

Relationship marketing is no longer a new buzz word (or even two) and obviously it’s here to stay.

Relationship marketing is all about looking at your customers and your relationship with them in a new light. Rather than develop a product or service and market it to the customers, relationship marketers think about what the customers want and adapt their product development strategy accordingly.

It’s about customization to meet the needs of the individual. Relationship marketing is based on getting feedback and using it to develop and improve your service. In relationship marketing, feedback is sought before a complaint occurs.

This helps to:

• Identify potential problem areas before the customer does
• Customize

For many companies, it has become practice to encourage customers to provide such information via the website. You need good quality information if you are to have a two-way relationship with your customer.

Customer Expectations:
 
Have customers changed? In a word – Yes! But you knew that already. How have they changed?

They ….

• Are more demanding
• Have higher expectations
• Have a more pressurized lifestyle
• Want everything, but don’t necessarily want to pay for it
• Are less tolerant
• Want more for their money, time and effort
• Are much more aware of their rights – influenced by consumer rights programs
• Are driven by customer service issues in their own workplace
• Are more likely to seek recommendation from friends and colleagues than rely on advertising
• Are driven by new technology – particularly the internet
• Don’t want to be sold to – they want to be part of the process, not part of the audience.

But – the key to supplier differentiation lies within these increased expectations, since customers now value closer links with efficient, competent suppliers, who are willing to act as long term allies, and that means speaking their language.

They have absolutely no interest in you, your company, your past successes, your ability to stage a dynamic presentation, even your products/solutions - unless they impact on their own commercial objectives, profitability, market share, overall success etc.

In short, customers today buy for their reasons, not yours!

We have met the Sales 2.0 sales professional, welcome to the Sales 3.0 customer.

News: Today’s “Worldly” advice for you ….

Top Sales Article of the Day: ”Dangerous Knowledge: What We Know Can Hurt Us” by Keith Rosen

“I recently purchased some advertising space in a national magazine. I have been a subscriber for years and knew everything I needed to know to select them as an advertising vehicle. I called them with one intention, to place an order….” More

Plus: Smart Selling Tools Publish Volume 2 of The Ultimate Buyer’s Guides: This time SST focus on “Web-Based Scheduling”

Download your copy HERE

And do not forget that you can catch fifty – yep that’s 50 – of the world’s top sales blogs all in one location now - “Best Sales Blogs in the World”

Recent exhaustive surveys suggest that only 5% of professional salespeople reach and remain at the highest level, which we call ‘Level 3’.  A further 15% attain ‘Level 2’ status, but the majority – i.e. a massive 80% – remain at ‘Level 1’ in terms of potential achievement.

‘Level 1’ salespeople sell products and depend on having the right technical solution for the customer’s specification.

‘Level 2’ salespeople sell solutions, which changes their image from sales rep to business consultant and positions them as a potential strategic resource.

Most salesmen and women manage to advance from Level 1 to Level 2 fairly easily, but unfortunately, many find breaking through that final glass ceiling extremely difficult – i.e. moving from competitive sales professionals to collaborative sales consultants.

‘Level 3’ salespeople are able to first identify and then capitalize upon the political component within the buying process. They develop and sustain strong commercial relationships at all levels within their accounts. These relationships endure, because they are based on mutual respect and trust. Their clients feel secure, so secure, that they would be fearful of changing supplier.

‘Level 3’ salespeople rarely, if ever, lose an order that they really want, because they are always in control of the sales cycle. They have identified that in marketplaces where product uniqueness and technical expertise are no longer enough, it is they themselves, that make the difference – i.e. their superior skills.

Three additional areas, which set ‘Level 3’ players apart from the rest, are:

Commercial Acumen - Collaborative sales professionals have high levels of strategic awareness and they can communicate comfortably with board level players – i.e. the economic buyers – using common language and terminology. ‘Level 1’ and ‘Level 2’ performers, unable to demonstrate credibility when discussing financial, commercial and political issues, are usually left behind and require assistance from a manager or director.

Competitive Courage - In order to achieve consistent levels of success in today’s environment, it is necessary to be able to pro-actively target competitors and their client base. Any individual, who lacks the guts for a fight and is not comfortable with competitive selling, will severely restrict their potential.

Being Focused On Political Activity - You can of course question the legitimacy of politics, but you cannot deny their existence. The sales professional who fails to recognize the importance that politics play in virtually every complex sale, will almost certainly consign themselves to a career at ‘Level 1’.
 
No one ever said that we must take part in the political game, but recognizing that a game is being played, whether we like or not, is essential  – i.e. what you understand, you can manage.

However, I fully appreciate that most organizations will not necessarily need to populate their sales teams with’ Level 3’ performers, even if they could find and afford them. There will always be tasks, functions and indeed markets, where ‘Level 2’ or even ‘Level 1’ salesmen and women can comfortably exceed expectations.

What is important is that we ensure we have the right level where we need it most – i.e. round pegs in round holes. If an organization is attempting to compete in a market sector where ‘Level 3’ skills are required and yet their team is predominately at ‘Level 2’ in terms of expertise, experience and development, they are unlikely to consistently win the business they need in order to fulfill their financial ambitions.

News: Don’t let the “World” pass you by today ….

Featured Top Sales Expert is Dr.Tony Alessandra

The Top Sales Article is: “Sales Leadership: Thriving in Chaos” by Steven Rosen

“I recently had lunch with a highly successful VP of Sales. He explained that he was frustrated with the members of his sales management team, who he felt were focused only on results. He worried that they were not spending any time developing their salespeople. ….” More

Top Sales Podcast: “Building a Sales Team – Part 1“ by Danita Bye

This week’s Top Sales Book: “Get Back To Work Faster”  – The Ultimate Job Seeker’s Guide by Jill Konrath

What are you waiting for? Go …

The JF Guest Author Spot

Mark Hunter

Sales is all about closing the deal, and in order to achieve that goal, a purchase price must be agreed upon. All salespeople, at one time or another, have had their price challenged. What do you do when that situation arises? As much as everyone in sales would like to consider themselves “great closers”, in reality, many are sissies when it comes to this important skill. They often boast about never discounting their product, but when they’re suddenly confronted on price, they fold faster than a cheap umbrella on a windy day.

Consider the following scenario you may have found yourself in. . . .You’re on the verge of closing the biggest deal of your career. Doing so will put a nice, fat commission check in your hands and you’ll soon be receiving kudos from everyone in the company. Now comes the curve ball. You discover that the customer is looking to you for a price discount and, to top it off, you find out about an equally qualified competitor that is willing to undercut your price. While you are under the pressure of being in the middle of the hunt, you are left with only two options. You can hold the line and not cut the price to keep your profit potential in tact. Or, you can cut the price and be willing to take a lower margin for the sake of landing the big order. Which do you choose? Although the tendency for many is to give in to the price discount, by being prepared ahead of time as to why your product/service can fill their need, you can avoid caving in under the pressure of the moment.

In a situation like this, your self-assurance is critical. Be confident in what you say and, more importantly, ensure that the customer is certain of the benefits they will receive by working with you. The cheapest price might be what everybody is looking for, but what good is a low price if it doesn’t deliver on what it is supposed to? When the customer requests a price discount, respond by asking them about how they intend to use your product/service, and what they expect to gain from using it. Your goal should be to get them to express both the pain they will experience if what they’re about to buy doesn’t help them accomplish what they want it to and the need they have for your type of product/service. Then you can explain how your product/service can alleviate that pain and best fill that need.

How can you establish a high level of confidence in your price? One of the best ways is by having a full sales pipeline. This means that you have prospects and customers at each phase of your sales process so you don’t have to worry about closing every sale. Your assurance comes in knowing that you’re making the right decision by not discounting because you “have” to.

The worst thing any salesperson can do when a customer is looking for a price break is to give in. Unfortunately, because many cannot confidently communicate their price, they often cave in. To overcome this problem, salespeople need to understand, in real terms, the buyer’s perspective of how they can benefit from the product/service. For example, if I’m going to take a trip and my destination is 1,000 miles away, I have several options as to how I can get there. I could hitchhike, which would cost me virtually nothing, but wouldn’t guarantee when I’d arrive. I could drive my car, keeping my immediate costs to only the gasoline (assuming the car does not break down), but my travel time could take several days. Or, I could fly, which would probably have the highest immediate cost, but would, undoubtedly, be the fastest. Because your goal in selling should be to help ensure the success of your customers, you can see from this example that the cheapest approach is not reliable, nor would it save time. In addition, most people wouldn’t want to take several days to drive to and from the destination. Therefore, because of the time it will save, the best option is to fly, even though it’s probably the most expensive. Since time is of the essence in many industries, its value is worth the extra money. Keeping that in mind, cutting the price is clearly not the most beneficial or efficient.

Besides being unable to confidently communicate their price, another common reason salespeople give in when challenged is because they believe the misconception that by offering a discount on the initial order, they can make it up on the next one. However, the truth is that there is no way to ever regain the lost revenue. Once the customer has accepted a lower price, that amount becomes their new level of expectation. Any other price is seen as an increase. Think of it from the following perspective: Would you believe a promise from your boss that if he/she were to hold back your next raise for a year, it would be made up to you later? We often kid ourselves into believing that we can get the higher price out of the customer on the next order.

Finally, when a customer requests a discounted price, it is important to remember that giving one is an immediate reduction to your total profit. Depending on how drastic you are willing to go, you are ultimately the one taking the pay cut. Is that what you really want to do? Consider that decreasing your price may help you land the initial sale but, over time, it still does not make up for the revenue you lost on the initial sale.

Maintaining pricing integrity is a challenge. It starts by being self-assured and it extends not only to the service you deliver, but also to the expectations of the customer. Don’t entertain their requests for a discount. Be confident in both your price and the product/service you offer. Ensure that your sales pipeline is full by spending adequate time developing it at all phases of your sales process. Consider how your product/service can help ensure the future success of your customers. Don’t believe the lie that you can make up your initial price cut on the next order. Without confidence in your price, you can say good-bye to your profits. Price cutting is for sissies!

Mark Hunter – “The Sales Hunter,” helps individuals and companies identify better prospects, close more sales, and profitably build more long-term customer relationships. As a keynote speaker, he is best known for his ability to motivate and move an organization through his high-energy presentations His free, weekly Sales Hunting Tip email is received by thousands of salespeople across the globe. Additionally, many of his articles on Sales have been reprinted in some of the industry’s leading magazines and business websites. To find out more about Mark’s selling philosophy, you can visit his blog at www.TheSalesHunter.com/blog. In addition, his numerous articles on Sales can be found on the website (http://www.thesaleshunter.com/) in the “Resources” section.

The JF Guest Author Spot

Kevin Eikenberry

Would you like a new idea that could greatly impact your outlook, attitude, productivity and happiness? Would you be willing to make a change to your daily routine in order to increase your personal satisfaction and help you reach your goals faster than ever before? Are those accomplishments worth 30 minutes a day to you?

Thirty minutes is what you need – thirty minutes at the start of your day. The habit that will help you gain all the benefits described above is to devote thirty minutes at the start of your day to yourself, your happiness and complete well being. This relatively short amount of time will help you start your day more purposefully and help you be more intentional about your day and your life.

There are a variety of things you can do during your thirty minutes, and as you read this list you may see some things that are already a part of your daily routine. The list isn’t meant to be a checklist designed for you to try to complete each item every day. Rather it is a list from which you can choose those things that most appeal to you or that you feel will help you gain greater control, success and happiness in your day and life.

The List
Plan your day. Sit down with your planner or task list and review those things that must be accomplished today.

Pick the critical few. While your to-do list might be long, use a few minutes to determine the 1-3 things that must be accomplished today. Include at least one that furthers an important project or goal – in other words don’t focus only on the urgent things, but consider the important ones as well.

Review your goals. If you have a written goal list, use some of your thirty minutes to re-read them, reviewing your progress and seeing yourself accomplishing them.

Pray, meditate or reflect. Depending on your spiritual beliefs, you may choose to pray during this time. If that isn’t a part of your beliefs, you may choose to reflect on the previous day, looking for lessons and ideas, as well as resolutions to important challenges you might face in the coming day.

Prepare for the key moments. Perhaps on this day you will be giving a presentation, making an important sales call, asking for a raise, or any of a thousand other important things. Use some of your “Golden Thirty” to mentally prepare and walk through those moments.

Exercise or stretch. You can use some of your thirty minutes for your exercise regimen. If you don’t regularly exercise, you might consider doing some stretching. Recognize that during this physical activity you may be able to do some of the other items on this list (depending on how you are exercising). Remember to consult your physician before making a significant change to your exercise patterns.

Read something positive or uplifting. Read something inspirational, motivational or spiritual. Those few minutes early in your day feeding your mind positive thoughts will pay dividends all day long.

Make progress on a learning goal. If you are working to learn something new or build your expertise in some area, 30 minutes a day of effortful study can make you a world expert within a couple of years. Don’t want to be a world expert? Then it won’t take you as long to learn what you want!

Things to Exclude
As important as the list of things to do, there are things to exclude during this time. Keeping these things out of this golden thirty minutes are as important as what you include. These things should be excluded because they won’t positively impact the start of your day.

The morning paper and television news. If you need to be informed, get what you need in smaller doses, but don’t mix it into your “Golden Thirty” minutes.

The Snooze bar. Build the habit of getting up when you have determined you need to get up. Hitting the snooze bar once is fine, but if you are hitting it over and over you won’t have your thirty minutes, and it will be straight to the shower!

The second (or third) cup of coffee. Perhaps you want a cup of coffee or tea during your first thirty minutes. That is fine, but try to avoid putting too much caffeine into your body during this time of purposeful planning and preparation.

Finding the Time
You may be wondering where you are going to find thirty minutes in your day. Remember you aren’t going to find those minutes – you are going to have to make them. Making this time may require going to bed a few minutes earlier or taking things out of your morning routine (like too many minutes of morning news). Making the time will be one of the most challenging parts of creating this new habit, but after the first several days you will see the benefits far outweigh what you’ve “given up” to make it happen.

But I’m Not a “Morning Person”
Ben Franklin said, “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” Though I am sure Ben was a “morning person,” I am equally sure that there are differences in people’s body clocks. So while this may be much easier for some than for you, don’t use that as an excuse.

Notice I haven’t told you to start your thirty minutes by setting your alarm for 5 a.m. – all I’ve suggested is making time at the start of your morning.

Your start may be at 5, or it may be at 9. The time of day matters far less than the timing – your golden thirty minutes should start very soon after you awaken.

This habit, like many others, will take some time to implement. But if you keep at it you will quickly see the benefits, making this one habit you will embrace and be glad it has become a permanent part of your life.

Kevin Eikenberry is the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group, a learning consulting company that provides a wide range of services, including training delivery and design, facilitation, performance coaching, organizational consulting, and speaking services.
Web: www.KevinEikenberry.com

Unfortunately, most salesmen and women believe that a successful career in sales culminates in sales management, and yet there are of course far less management positions up for grabs than sales positions.

As a consequence, salespeople with this attitude concentrate on making sales rather than investing in themselves in order to become Top 5 % players and eventually most become disillusioned, resulting in a significant dip in achievements levels.

The knock-on effect of this is that most salespeople who move into management, take with them an underdeveloped view of selling – a “traditional” orientation and as consequence they help to create or maintain an unrealistic and short sighted vision of what will be needed to develop their teams.

Because they lack Top 5% experience themselves, and an insight into the skills needed to make it at the highest level, the environment that they help to create fails to recognise the need for outstanding performers, and this is particularly noticeable in the compensation structures they build, which neither supports nor encourages their teams to break through that final glass ceiling.

As I have said often enough, both here, and on numerous other occasions, the single most common mistake that organizations make is promoting their number one salesperson into the role of sales manager, thereby depriving themselves in a single stroke of their best producer and hamstringing their sales force with an ineffective manager.

The skills required for managing, mentoring and developing a sales team are totally different from those required for selling. As a result, it’s not uncommon to find newly promoted sales managers who regret having taken a management position and may even leave to get back into sales – that is if they are not pushed first!

The majority of sales managers – new and experienced alike – say they do not have sufficient time to train and develop their sales teams. They are so focused on sales results – and so accustomed to achieving success through their personal pursuit of those results – that they overlook their greatest potential source of power, the power to increase sales performance by developing their people.

“The sales manager’s role is transforming – from evaluator to developer, from expert to resource, from teller to questioner. This change is no mere tweaking adjustment – it is a 180° shift from how most sales managers manage and how they are managed. Most organizations profess to want coaching, but they don’t really do anything about it. Just as students are lucky to have one or two special teachers in a lifetime, most sales professionals are lucky if they get one real coach. Organizations don’t have role models for coaching, they don’t train for it, and they don’t hold people accountable for it.”  Sales Coaching by Linda Richardson

In “Tougher at the Top” which Linda and I will be publishing later in the year, you can be certain that these are just some of the issues we will be addressing.

You see, today, the role of sales manager is pivotal. It is the vital link, and ineffective sales leadership is the main reason why so many sales teams are failing.

All the current excitement surrounds lead generation – it seems that everything I read everywhere, is totally focused on finding, qualifying, and weighting leads. But what is the point of continually creating new opportunities and passing them to sales managers who are unable to cope?

Depending on which sets of statistics you believe – and my preference is for Dave Kurlan’s - sales performance is spiralling downwards, and yet compensation packages are increasing? But that topic is for another day.

At the end of the day, the sales leader needs to be a “model of excellence” – only then will the pack faithfully follow.

News: It’s the end of the week, but it’s not the end of the“World” 

Today’s Top Sales Article: “Loving Business” by Dr. Greg Stebbins

“Have you ever felt like you were at war in your business? No surprise there because modern business is based on a military model. However, things are rapidly changing requiring leaders to ….” More

Oh, and very honored to be installed as a Platinum Contributor (one of only three) over on Evan Carmichael’s “Entrepreneur Blog Network” - they are such nice people over there!

Finally, I posted “The Future for B2B Sales Professionals”  over on my Sales Leadership Blog for AllBusiness – you might enjoy it – HERE

PS: Two excellent guest posts over the w/e coming up for you – do please join me?

PPS: Hope you like the new “share” buttons below? You can try them out if you like – you know you want to!

There can be no doubt that “attitude” is fundemental to sales success – as someone once very famously said, “Attitude, that small thing that makes such a big difference” In fact, it is no coincidence that the following equation, Attitude + Skills + Process + Knowledge = Success, always begins with “attitude.”

However, today, I also wish to highlight the importance that process can play in maintaining high levels of sales team morale …

The reality is that when their efforts don’t pay off immediately, even experienced salespeople tend to become discouraged. They spend more and more time struggling to meet their sales quotas and working less and less efficiently.

Feeling increasingly powerless to influence prospects, they may also begin to press for a sale in ineffective ways – for instance, by arranging formal product presentations to prospects that they have not even qualified or who haven’t yet agreed that they need the solution. They allow prospects to milk them for information without getting a commensurate commitment first – and even worse, they fail to defend margin and make unprofitable sales in order to achieve quotas.

The details of what goes wrong differs for each individual salesperson but the net result is always the same, a discouraged sales force, diminished sales efficiency (i.e. wasted investment of sales time and resources that fail to produce high quality sales) and, consequently, increased cost of sales which inevitably drastically reduces net profit.

What’s the bottom line? Sales never result efficiently and with maximum revenue unless the sales process is continually and closely managed. But before the sales process can be managed, it must be manageable.

The Sales Transformation Survey by Accenture a few years ago, confirmed that a critical need today is to move a sales force away from its traditional focus on selling individual products and services and move it towards selling complete solutions or “Preferred Supplier Agreements” – effectively locking in key customers.

Such a strategy can lead to a higher level of engagement with important customers. Yet, 68% of executives said that their salespeople were not adequately skilled to take this step up nor were they sufficiently focused on solution selling but far too focused on selling “commodities” i.e. the one-off sale.

From the Sales Director’s perspective, developing a consultative sales process means developing a comprehensive, formal, realistic and step-by-step outline of what salespeople are expected to do. This is just as appropriate for internal and totally reactive sales teams as it is for external pro-active ones. This outline includes the activity and calls they must make, the relationships they should establish with prospects, the documentation they should use in sales calls, the issues they must discuss and resolve with prospects and the tangible goals they must achieve in sequence along the path to each sale, in order to achieve maximum effectiveness.

It’s only when such an outline is in place that sales management can be in a position to:
 Monitor the sales force’s activity, progress and results,
 Assess issues as they arise and take appropriate action,
 Redirect individual sales representatives’ efforts efficiently.

Although many organisations appreciate the importance of being customer-focused and talk in vague terms about their “consultative sales process”, surprisingly few sales leaders invest the time and energy required to develop a formal sales process – a process that is at once detailed and resilient enough to guide their salespeople and permit effective management of their efforts.

As a consequence, left to their own devices, frontline sales professionals can easily become discouraged, and performance levels dip.

This is just one of a number of critical sales leadership tasks – ensuring that every single member of the team is consistently performing at “optimum performance levels.”

News: The “World” is buzzing as usual today ….

Featured Top Sales Expert is the irrascible Dan Waldschmidt

There is an excellent article: “Do you seek opportunity during a chaotic time?” by Elinor Stutz

“The question arose on a mastermind call this morning with four of us on the line. We all answered, “Yes” and that’s probably how we were attracted to being in the same group.” Read more

You can also catch up with the very latest sales tools news, with Nancy Nardin, HERE

And finally today, you can register for Debbie Fay’s upcoming FREE coaching session – “Creating Elevator Speeches That SING“ HERE

What are you waiting for? – Be “Worldly” wise ….

“All customers are good” – No they are not!

“All business is good” – No it isn’t!

Think “Pareto!”

Use of ‘Pareto Thinking’ is highly relevant and important when applied to sales people. For example, 20% of sales people’s activities will create 80% of sales achieved, which has enormous consequences on how to optimise and manage lead generation activities.

Generating leads is an important sales activity that plants the seeds of growth for sustainable business development. A lead is purely a name that you could refer to as a SUSPECT because their potential to buy is unknown. Before you can qualify leads to determine whether they have the money, authority and desire to buy your products/services you need to generate them!

When deciding upon which lead generation methods work best for you and your organisation, it helps to have clarity on the type of customers that you’d like to attract. This means creating an Ideal Customer Profile that can begin to provide direction to your lead generation activities.

The following questions will stimulate your thinking when it comes to developing an Ideal Customer Profile:

● What size of organisation would you prefer to deal with?

● Typically, how many people will they employ?

● What market sector(s) do these organisations operate within?

● Who specifically will be buying your products/services and what are their titles?

● Where geographically would you like these organisations to be located?

● What does your organisation offer that is unique?

● What types of organisations will be attracted by this uniqueness?

● What do your best customers possess that you would like to replicate in others?

● Which of your existing customers were the easiest and quickest to convert?

● What similarities do these customers possess?

● Are there any specific criteria that prospective organisations should have in place, so that your products/services can be optimised?

Having a well-defined profile of your ‘ideal customer’ can prove to be invaluable when determining which methods to use for lead generation, and improves the effectiveness of marketing initiatives.

You may also discover that the process for asking for referrals becomes easier and generates a better response, because you are providing the person with a tighter specification of what you are looking for – this concentrates their thinking towards the direction you have defined.

News: More “Wordly” offerings for you today:

Today’s featured article is:  “What’s in Your Journal?” by Eric Taylor

“WELL, EXCUSE ME!” did I hear you say? “What’s in my journal? That’s getting mighty personal right off the bat, isn’t it?” But, more likely you’re saying: “Uh, journal? … What journal?”  More

And … there is a great podcast: “Critical Thinking for Business Leaders” by Harlan H. Goerger

And … if you need more sales leadership advice, you can find me over at AllBusiness – “The Sales Leadership Coach”

Finally, thanks to the guys over at Sales Crunch for producing the Top 50 Sales Blogs 2011 nice job!

The ability to build rapport with customers and prospects is vitally important. Why? Because, if you have rapport with your customers, they are more likely to trust you, listen to you and communicate openly with you.

This in turn enables you to interact more comfortably and work more effectively together.

Rapport dramatically increases your chances of winning a sale. Having rapport means that when there are tough issues to discuss, for example price increases, you can more easily find agreement and solutions, and move on.

Classic research by Robert Birdwhistle looked at how face-to-face communication was received and responded to. His figures suggest that your impact depends on three factors – how you look, how you sound, and what you say. His research broke it down: 55 percent body language, 38 percent quality of the voice and 7 percent actual words spoken.

Rapport involves being able to see eye-to-eye with other people, connecting on their wavelength. So much (93 percent) of the perception of your sincerity comes not from what you say but how you say it, and how you show an appreciation for the other person’s thoughts and feelings.

When you are in rapport with someone you can disagree with what they say and still relate respectfully with him or her. The important point to remember is to acknowledge other people for the unique individuals that they are. Rapport can be described as ‘when two people are like each other, they like each other!’ Rapport builds trust and without basic trust communication can become stilted.

When communication between two or more individuals reaches its optimum it’s said that a perfect rapport has been established.

On the other hand, when communicating with a customer or prospect is hard the situation becomes rapport-less. Some people we meet may inspire an instant connection and immediate trust, while another person can be very polite and charming, yet we don’t feel any connection with them and our communication feels unnatural. When two or more people meet they immediately start an automatic process of comparison with the other. If the outcome of this process is judged that the other person is similar in some way then rapport is established. When people are in a state of rapport they tend to respond easier to our instructions, suggestions and influence.

Is it any wonder that rapport is often seen as the foundation of all good communication?

News: Meanwhile, over at Top Sales World, you’ll find a whole host of people who know everything about rapport!

Top Sales Article today: ”Leadership & Management-Keys to Success” by Ken Thoreson

This week’s recommended reading: ”Baseline Selling” by Dave Kurlan

Today’s Top Sales Tip: “Good Customer Service Is Simple” by Krish Dhanam

And there is so much more over there for you …every day – Top Sales World