Jonathan Farrington’s Blog

The JF Guest Author Spot

Leslie Buterin

The statistic quoted loudly by those who do not know how to cold call is this, “An industry rule of thumb holds that only about 2% of cold calls produce solid prospects.” That has been the industry stat since the early 1950’s and means any idiot can pick up the phone, call prospects, and expect to find that 2% of the people on the cold calling list to turn into solid prospects.

Successful sales pros know cold calling is a great way to build and add to a client base out of thin air.

The tremendous advantage of cold calling is this: No other marketing method allows sales professionals to reach as many prospects in as short a period of time.

Before your colleagues tries to lull you into believing, the 2% figure only proves that cold calling is a tactic with a low return on time spent, stop and do some focused thinking about the importance and value of cold calling metrics.

Fact is a 2% return is the very place where every expert cold callers start.

2% is the test number sellers know they can hit if they get up in the morning and make calls. These experts want great results; and make all sorts of adjustments that allow them to beat 2% in geometric proportions. How do they do this? By ruthless examination of additional metrics that have meaning to outrageously successful cold callers. Such as:

1. Percentage of appointments scheduled out of every 10 calls made.
2. Percentage of callbacks from voice mail messages
3. Percentage of appointment scheduled with callbacks from voice mail
4. Average number of calls made to each prospect to schedule an appointment
5. Differences in numbers of appointments scheduled with changes made in words spoken.

The good news is your industry colleagues watch just one of these five important cold calling business metrics.

The bad news is you very well may be like most sellers who cold call and:

1. Settle for only one of five important cold calling metrics
2. Fail to leverage even that one metric into a higher response rate
3. Fail to capitalize on cold calling as a significant part of their sales strategy

You have got to ask yourself, are you going to be among the masses who settle for what’s been the norm for half-a-century? Or are you going to join the ranks of the elite sellers who examine their Cold Calling Intel to leverage the power and profit awaiting the serious student of cold calling? The answer to these important questions can dramatically change the results of your cold calls.

Forward this article to friends—they’ll thank you for it!

For your mini-course “Jealously Guarded Secrets to Cold Calling Company Presidents” visit www.ColdCallingExecutives.com ! Or call Cold Calling Expert, Lead New Business Development Coach, Leslie Buterin (like butterin’ bread) at (816) 554-3674 9-3 CST (that’s Kansas City/Chicago Time) Find much more on our http://www.ColdCallingExecutives.com/blog/index.html

Important Notice: Two Upcoming Events.

1) Business Experts Webinars (BEW): May 20 at 9:00 AM CST begins our Series with Lee Salz. The first of these live sessions is entitled “Reach the Top Dog: Radical New Cold Calling System for Those Who Dare to Succeed.” Yes, as an attendee you will have the opportunity to ask your most pressing questions, receive MP3 files, and have access to downloadable transcripts! Save the date and reserve your space now, click here

2)  The next 5th Thursday, Reach the Top Dog Special is May 29th! Subscribers are privy to deep, deep, pre-publication discounts on new releases … at least 30% off of the pricing seen by the public. WARNING: these are unveiled only on the 5 Thursdays of months that have 5 Thursdays, Only to those who are enrolled in the FREE Mini-Course “Ten Jealously Guarded Secrets to Cold Calling Company Presidents” and ONLY in the one email sent to subscribers on that day. Mark your calendar for May 29th, , watch your InBox for the one-day-only, pre-publication gift to subscribers, don’t miss out … enroll NOW when you visit www.ColdCallingExecutives.com …you will thank me for giving you this “insider’s scoop”.

Today’s News:

I want to recommend a remarkable new book that will teach you exactly how the top pros are selling more - right now!  Every day!
 
Top Dog Sales Secrets is the highly acclaimed bestseller written by 50 leading experts for professional salespeople, entrepreneurs, business owners, sales leaders and executives … anyone who wants proven and powerful ways to dramatically increase their sales.
 
One reader said, “One of these top dog secrets can earn you a fortune.”  Another said, “It’s like reading the best ideas from 50 sales books all in one book.”

TODAY ONLY - April 22!
 
When you get your copy of Top Dog Sales Secrets today you will also receive $3,000 worth of valuable sales and marketing tools.  This is powerful stuff.  You’ll get downloadable e-books, white papers, articles, and reports, all yours from top sales and business growth leaders. Take a look at your complimentary bonuses here.
 
This is a one-time deal so I encourage you to get your copy of Top Dog Sales Secrets and your valuable bonuses today. You will be glad you did. Click here to learn more.
 
P.S. You have no risk. Your “extreme satisfaction” is guaranteed by the publisher. 

Tomorrow: “Thoughts About Self-Disclosure and Networking”

The JF Guest Author Spot

Wendy Weiss, The Queen of Cold Calling

Whenever I conduct a workshop or teleclass, invariably someone asks the question: “What should I say when the prospect says, ‘I’m not interested?’”

My response invariably is: “It’s probably too late.”

Certainly you can try to recover from that “I’m not interested” response. You can ask, “Why do you say that?” (Say this gently, as though you are confused and really, really want the answer.) You can repeat back: “Not interested?” (Again, say this gently, as though you are confused.) This sometimes gets people to start talking and explain themselves. Bottom line, however, if everyone that you speak with says, “I’m not interested,” you’re not saying anything interesting.

If you have a compelling script with stellar delivery, you will hardly ever hear the words, “I’m not interested.” That’s because you will actually be saying something interesting!

On the telephone, you have approximately 10-20 seconds to grab your prospect’s attention - and if you do not do that, your call is probably over. 10-20 seconds is not a lot of time. You are not going to convey a lot of information in 10-20 seconds. Instead, what you’ll convey is your energy, your confidence and your excitement. Your words must reach out and immediately grab and hook your prospect’s attention.

From the moment your prospect says, “Hello,” your goal is to gain your prospect’s attention so that she is hungry to hear more. If you don’t hook your prospects in the beginning of your conversation, they will not want to speak with you. They will say, “I’m not interested,” and worse case, they may hang up on you.

In order to hook your prospect, ask yourself: Whom are you calling? Why should they be interested? You’re looking for hot buttons, those issues that are so important to your prospect that when they come up, your prospect stops in her tracks to listen. The big point here is that when you are trying to hook someone, you have to have some sense of what’s important to them.

Ask yourself: What is the value that I (the company/product/service) bring to customers. How do they benefit? How do I (the company/product/service) make customer’s lives easy, stress-free, happy, profitable etc? You may have to do some market research and/or brainstorming here. Once you’ve determined that value, however, lead with it.

Here’s an example:

Last year when I conducted the “Cold Calling College–Live” group coaching program, I received an e-mail from a participant. He said he was calling owners of mid-size companies and not having much success. His e-mail read:

“…I say my name and company and then say ‘we specialize in business performance management solutions for budgeting, reporting and analysis…. I hear ‘not interested’ then they hang up before I can say anything else.

Another thing I have tried is, ‘…the reason I am calling is to introduce [company name]’s budgeting reporting analysis solutions and to invite you to an Excel seminar….’ But after this I hear, ‘not interested,’ then they hang up before I can say anything else.”

It’s hardly surprising that these introductions didn’t work. They weren’t interesting. There was nothing in those first sentences to grab and hook a business owner’s attention.

Later on, after going through the “Cold Calling College” process, the person who wrote this e-mail was able to pare his introduction down. His introduction ended up being something like: “We help companies keep the money they make.” Short, sweet, to the point and focused on the value to business owners. Prospects stopped hanging up on him. Instead, he was able to start scheduling meetings with those business owners.

Lesson learned: Do your homework. Do what ever is necessary to truly understand your prospects. Before you ever pick up the phone, have the answer to the question: “Why should this prospect be interested?” If you have that answer, you will never again hear: “I’m not interested.”

Wendy Weiss, “The Queen of Cold Calling,” is a sales trainer, author and sales coach. Make sure to attend the free preview call for “Cold Calling College—Live” on April 24th. Wendy will be introducing “Cold Calling College—Live” and sharing some tools and techniques that participants can begin to use immediately to increase the numbers of qualified prospects they are able to reach. Register now:

Today’s News: Over at Salesopedia today, there is a great interview with Rick Johnson - “Sales Questions, Art Or Science” and you can listen in here

Tomorrow: If you want to be successful in business today, you must be proficient at networking and tomorrow I share with you some of my secrets - “How To Begin The Networking Adventure”

Customer care has become one of the most important issues facing businesses in every market.

Customer-care programs come under a number of titles - customer services, customer satisfaction, customer focus, etc.

Their common theme is meeting the customer’s requirements and ensuring that all aspects of the business contribute to customer satisfaction. The intention is to build repeat business. If customers are satisfied with the product and the standards of service they receive, they will return again and again.

Inconsistent Customer Care

Inconsistent customer care performance can have a negative effect on customer perceptions. Gas stations, for example, know that every time a customer walks into one of their outlets, wherever they are in the country, they should expect to receive the same standards of service. Nationwide consistency is essential when customers are likely to visit multiple outlets - one poor performance can threaten the customer’s perception of the entire operation.

What Is Customer Care?

Customer care is about addressing three sets of requirements: the customer, your staff, and the overall organization.

These requirements are inter-related, i.e., it is more difficult to deliver consistently high standards in customer care if the needs of both the organization and the staff are not taken into account.

Customer Care Requirements

Your customer requires a few basic elements to feel satisfied and motivated to return. These include:

• Excellent personal service — the customer feels valued, listened to, treated as an individual

• Your products have to meet basic expectations

• Customers need encouragement to express their views and give feedback

• Clients require an effective relationship with the overall organization

• Problems and complaints must be handled effectively

Staff Requirements

To keep customers happy, you have to have an energized, motivated staff that is onboard with your company’s overall customer service philosophy. Your staff needs:

• Supervisors with effective management style

• Suitable working environment — including pay and conditions, and the right tools for the job

• Relevant training to develop skills

• Career potential — no one wants to feel they are in a dead-end position

• Clarity of role/job description

• Performance standards and appraisal systems

• Sense of involvement/value

• Open communication

• Teamwork

• Rewards and recognition for a job well done

Organizational Requirements

Organizations with a successful customer-care policy have the following:

• Mission statement

• Corporate structure

• Feedback and communication systems

• Profit

• Human and technical resources

• Demonstrated commitment

Who Are Your Customers?

If you are not serving the customer, you should be serving someone who is. Harmonious relationships with customers and colleagues are essential to service success, because providing outstanding customer service is primarily a team effort. For excellent customer service to exist, it has to be practiced on an internal basis.

The What and the How

The “what” is the material and the “how” is the personal element. To be outstanding, organizations must deliver excellence in both material and personal service. Customer service is no longer just a question of interpersonal skills.

The difference between you and your competitors is achieved when expectations are exceeded. Doing the unexpected, going the extra mile, moves us from meeting expectations to exceeding expectations.

How To Delight Customers

• Be enthusiastic. Enthusiasm is the driving force of quality service. Customers do not just want products, they want products plus enthusiasm.

• Be professional. The word “professional” does not go with the job - it goes with the person.

Be the Best

• Someone, somewhere has to be the best at this job - why not me?

• Decide to be outstanding

How To Be the Best

• Use positive self talk - e.g., tell yourself, “Every day, in every way, I get better and better.”

• Don’t be ordinary

• Develop a ‘How can I do it better?’ mindset

Today, Everyone Sells

In a successful company, the number of salespeople equals the number of employees. Even if your primary occupation is customer service, by providing excellent customer care, you are in effect keeping this customer and providing for future sales for your company.

So, in a sense, everyone sells something - products, services or even the image of the company.

Today’s News: Amazingly, Top 10 Sales Articles is 365 days old today and the quality of nominations just gets better and better. A big thankyou to the dedicated adjudication panel of Top Sales Experts, who have ensured standards have been maintained. You can catch this week’s selections here:

Tomorrow: Is a very special day for my good friend Keith Rosen - be sure to join me here for the announcement.

The JF Guest Author Spot

Teleseminars and teleconferences are a wonderful cost effective way of attracting qualified leads to your business to attract more clients and delivering profitable solutions to your current clients.

I often get asked questions about the recording technology I use for my teleclasses and teleconference programmes such as for Biz Growth Live where I interview experts from around the globe on the subject of developing your brand and growing your professional services firm.

The solutions available depend on your vision and strategy for deploying teleconferences and teleseminars in your business.

Here are 4 options for recording your teleseminar or teleconference.

Option 1 – using a teleconference bridge line

If you only want to record the teleseminar to make it available to your client or teleseminar attendee and do not wish to edit the recording, you can use a number of no-cost telephone bridge lines which also have a recording facility.

Many no-cost teleconference services now provide a facility where you can see on a web control panel how many participants are on the call and can mute and un-mute their lines from the web.

Option 2 – using a paid recording service

Paid recording solutions include Audio Acrobat and Audio Generator – both products I use in my business. These tools allow you to record your calls directly to them for a small monthly fee.

You can also encourage your teleseminar attendees to post their comments and feedback about your teleseminar on the 24 hour testimonial lines that are available with Audio Acrobat and Audio Generator.

Option 3 – recording to your computer or a digital recorder

If you want to record only your voice and not a guest expert or participants, recording on your computer or a digital audio player will enable you to access a higher quality of recording than on a teleconference bridge.

This is my preferred recording method for my branding and business development teleseminar programme, Biz Growth Live (www.bizgrowthlive.com).

You can set up an external microphone that records your audio directly into the the computer or to a digital recorder at the same time as leading the teleconference or teleseminar.

Using a digital recorder to record a teleseminar, you will then need to:

- Upload the audio file to the computer
- Save the master recording in a wav format which is uncompressed
- Edit the recording
- Add music and introductions and exits to the call
and finally make the recording available as a download MP3, an audio CD, a digital CD or streaming from the internet.

This is a great way to record a high quality audio at the time of delivering you teleseminar which you can then use to create a paid information product.

Option 4 – outsourcing the recording and editing of your teleconference. I highly recommend that as a leader of a professional services firm, if you do not have audio expertise in your business, that you outsource, as a minimum, the editing of your audio recording to a third party.

The third party provider can both record and edit your recordings and arrange for the recording to be transcribed if necessary adding greater perceived value to your teleseminar which enable you to increase the price for your teleseminar or teleconference.

The issues to consider are what are the skills and equipment you need to invest in to deliver high quality audio programmes.

Two final considerations

There are two final considerations if you plan to deliver your audio programme from the web: where you host the audio of your teleseminar after you have recorded it and what format do you use to deliver the audio recording to your teleconference participants after your event.

1. Hosting of your audio

As you decide where to host your audio, you will need to consider both storage space and the download bandwidth you have available on your own website.

If you don not have many people accessing the audio, it is likely that your current web hosting contract will be suffice.

If you anticipate thousands of downloads from your site you may wish to consider a third party hosting service.

2. Format of your audio

Alternatives for the format delivered from the web are as streaming audio using the audio play buttons and as an MP3 recording.

Streaming audio means that the listener must be at their computer to hear the audio play.

Alternatively you can deliver the product in a downloadable MP3 format which means that the listener can download the audio to their PC or MP3 player and listen to the audio at their leisure.

If the technical elements of how to record your teleconference or teleseminar has been holding you back, identify which of the 4 options of recording your teleseminars would work best for your business then plan your first teleconference today.

Krishna De invites you to join her in conversation with experts from around the globe to discover how to build your brand and grow your professional services firm at http://www.bizgrowthlive.com. You will also receive access to Biz Growth Express a weekly newsletter bringing you strategies, inspiration and tips to grow your professional services practice. Register today at: http://www.krishnade.com.

Krishna De is an international author, broadcaster, journalist, speaker and business development mentor and the Managing Director of Oneocean Ltd, a leading business strategy and development consultancy.

With over 20 years expertise in growing global businesses, she is considered by the media to be one of Europe’s leading Personal Branding and Marketing Strategists.

She guides leaders of professional services companies in how to generate new streams of revenue for their practice through business development, branding, marketing, networking and media strategies with the outcome that they build distinctive corporate, employer and personal brands and realise more profit and greater success with less stress.

As an expert in business blogging, corporate podcasting she is a sought after professional speaker in Ireland, the UK and Europe.

http://www.krishnade.com, http://www.bizgrowthlive.com, http://www.oneoceangroup.com
Blog URL:   http://www.bizgrowthnews.com

Today’s News: Excellent interview over at Salesopedia today - Nido Qubein explains the only thing you can’t replicate is time. He suggests you might think of time management as energy management. Think of a battery, you can charge it up but it only lasts for so long. He uses this metaphor to describe how you might think of your time as set ‘units’. Nido describes how these units can benefit you in terms of income as well as personal well being. Nido shares what he thinks is the biggest challenge facing sales people today. If you make your living in sales, you will definitely want to hear Nido’s closing thoughts, you’ll understand why he is such a sought after motivational speaker. You can listen in here

Tomorrow: Is management all it’s cracked up to be? I think not.

 The JF Guest Author Spot

Kim Duke

A few weeks ago I was in the back of a police car going to a meeting.

Yes - you read correctly!

Let me back up a moment. I was driving in my sassy little sports car to meet a client and suddenly…

WHAM!

..I was broadsided by a big truck as he tried to change lanes (without shoulder checking or using his mirrors) and he pushed my car into the turning lane.

It’s funny. As soon as my car was hit - I knew exactly what he had done. I tried to get out of the driver’s door (no luck - it was crushed) so I crawled out the passenger door (no skirt that day!) and had a look at the damage.

Oh yeah - it was bad - the entire left side of my car was crunched, and the back end was torn off. The other driver walked up to me and asked if I was OK - and he shakily said…

“I’m so sorry -I just didn’t see you”

To which I replied, “It’s OK - accidents happen.”

So What Does A Car Accident Have To Do With Sales?

Well - when the police officer offered to give me a ride somewhere - I said “That would be wonderful - can you drive me to Starbucks?” (this was where I was supposed to have met my client). I crawled into the backseat, stilettos and all, and enjoyed a ride right to the front door of Starbucks. (ask me how funny that must have looked!!)

I told the police officer as we were driving: “ I think I must be maturing - as I haven’t cried or sworn once!” She laughed and told me she had never seen someone so calm …and then she whispered “I’d cry if I had a hot car like that”

I realized that even though I was hit by another car, and it was going to be in the body shop for 2 months - I was OK. I wasn’t hurt and neither was the other guy. You just move to Plan B and move forward.

Have You Been Blind-Sided By Something Lately?

Maybe you’ve:

1. Lost a client - they went to a competitor.

2. Been stiffed on the bill.

3. Had someone steal all your money from your bank account (I know someone this happened to!)

4. Had a supplier/employee jump ship in the middle of a project

5. Your internet servers went down for a week

6. Had a large invoice come through and you don’t have the cash

Blah, Blah, Blah

We’ve all been there. Those sweaty armpits, heart pounding, dry mouth moments when you feel like Chicken Little and the sky is falling down.

But you’re not Chicken Little and you have a backbone not a wishbone!

My Weird and Unusual Tip For Selling?

Be flexible.

Yes - sometimes life wants to give you whip-lash. However, put your neck collar on and forge ahead.

Have a Plan B,C,D…..Z.

Breathe. And understand that most of what you’re freaking out about - is not worthy. You’ll figure everything out MUCH FASTER if you stay flexible, and keep your head about you (there’s a saying from my mom!)

So What About My Forgotten Client?

Well - as I made my grand entrance - there she was. Karen had stayed a little longer as she thought I was running late (no kidding) and we had a great meeting. She drove me to a rental spot. I rented the ONLY vehicle they had - a big mom-style soccer van…and I drove to meet my friend David for dinner.

At 3 pm I was getting crunched in a car accident and at 6 pm I was eating hummus.

I’m a lucky girl and so are you.

So there.

Love From Your Sales Diva,

Kim

Kim Duke, The Sales Diva, provides savvy, sassy sales training for women small biz owners and entrepreneurs. Kim works with clients internationally, showing them The Sales Diva secrets to success! Sign up for her saucy and smart FREE e-zine and receive her FREE Bonus Report “The 5 Biggest Sales Mistakes Women Make” at www.salesdivas.com

Today’s News: Over on Salesopedia, Rochelle Togo-Figa is in conversation with my buddy, Clayton Shold and the topic this week is closing sales - you can listen in here

Tomorrow: My winning sales formula

The JF Guest Author Spot

Many sales reps today rely to heavily on ROI based selling. The concept being that if one can show a company or individual a return on their invested dollars within a reasonable time frame, there should be no reason why an average sane buyer would not buy what they are selling.

However, all too often these ROI calculation is too vendor centric, and fail to engage the prospect. The result is a mathematically sound calculation, but as is the case with marketing crafted “value propositions”, they speak to the vendors’ view of the market, and their need to derive revenue from the market. They do not speak to the clients’ agenda, or move it forward, nor do they deliver value to the prospect. This type of self-serving mathematical validation ends up turning prospects off and either lengthens the sales cycle, or worse kills the sale. Again, although the typical ROI sale is rational, intellectually sound, it usually lacks the teeth to grab the customer and create either real interest or action on the part of the prospect.

This can easily be demonstrated with a specific real life example. A company I worked with had a fairly robust offering around content, content delivery and content management. Using their systems, indexing, and approach to content management they were able to deliver “relevant” content to the desktops of users “faster” and more “efficiently”. For the longest time they have sold based on an ROI with single premise originating from a claim found in an industry commissioned white paper (paraphrasing):

“The typical corporate employee spends over two hours a day searching for information”

Once they got a prospect to accept the above as “fact”, the ROI was that if they could cut down the “search time”, save each employee say 2 hours of “searching” a week, times the number of employees, time the cost per hour, times the days worked in a year, well, you’d pay for the system in no time. In fact the more you bought, the more you’d save, the quicker and the bigger the ROI. Now this company is not the only one that goes down this path, a bunch of “solution” providers do.

The maths works,

We, and as it seems many prospects, see this as flawed, and therefore not only reject the ROI proposition, but often the company and the reps presenting it; and in sales rejection is not the goal.

A solution with a price tag of $350,000, four month pay back, an ROI of 212%! Wow where do I get one?

It was amusing to watch the face of a senior executive when she was asked by a prospect CIO how she and her company can assure him that the “reclaimed time” potentially realized by their “corporate employees” would actually be put back into productive use for the company. How could he be assured that they would not go for a cigarette or surf the web.

The problem was that the ROI only related to the seller’s reality and needs. A real ROI starts and ends with the prospects view of what makes sense.

A real ROI, one with teeth, calculates a return on the clients’ objectives; measures pay back based on specific impact of changes in the clients’ interactions with their customers, speed of fulfillment, customer service response time, reduced costs, better response time, and/or increased production. All of these are real measures. All presumably identified through a process of discovery and identified by the client as not only their objective but important enough for them to want to make an investment, or just a change.

This is not to say that as sales people we can not get prospects to focus on, and buy things they did not have in mind before we engaged. By helping them discover that our product or service could in fact help them attain their goals, avoid risk, improve margins, expand markets, improve their image, and a number of other things important to them at the time. We then have to help them understand and buy in to the impact of our offering by utilizing an ROI validating their decision and creating urgency on their part to act.

As an example, when I meet with a client and we begin to discuss the quality of their sales team’s forecast, (It is worth noting that I read a study that stated the average accuracy of sales forecasts in North America is 53%), it becomes clear that the team’s inability to forecast accurately is creating havoc on the production side of the company and his margins. With better forecasting he could better predict production cycles, timing of his purchase of raw materials, ship the finished product, he could negotiate better deals with various supplier thought the whole chain. With that on the table we can begin to quantify his current costs, his potential savings and the impact for each percentage of improved forecast accuracy. Now we can have a real discussion about the real returns he could realize for every dollar he invests with us. As an added bonus to the above issue, his reps also sell better while they learn to forecast more accurately.

No BS, no Magic, just a real return based on the clients’ realities, not ours. Sure it takes a bit of effort, but it makes for a more solid sales and a more real calculation. The reality of the other type of calculation, the ones that try to rationalize the investment based on vendors’ or highly general factors, is that they really are a thinly veiled product dump. Fresh, cute, but still a dump, one that hopes that the prospects get so caught up in the numbers that they end up buying. The fact is that sometimes they do, that’s why people use it. But prospects catch on, and see that type of ROI has no teeth.

Tibor Shanto has over 20 years of sales, executive, leadership and sales operations experience in financial, information, content management and professional service industries. Prior to Renbor, Tibor Shanto spent 10 years with Dow Jones, including 5 with its subsidiary Factiva. After opening their Canadian office and building a solid team and revenue base with double digit CAGR, Mr. Shanto was appointed Sales Director for Canada and The Central USA; before leaving he also headed their Global Client Solutions organization.

As Principal of Renbor Sales Solutions Inc., Tibor works with leading corporations in Canada, USA and the UK, helping these organizations realize sustained revenue attainment through improvement in sales strategy and execution.

Join the Renbor Sales Solutions Group on LinkedIn

Tibor Shanto tibor.shanto@sellbetter.ca
Principal, Renbor Sales Solutions Inc.
Tibor’s Blog
416 61-3555

Today’s News: I had a very long and immensely enjoyable conversation with my friend Joanne Black yesterday and she made so many interesting observations about the global economy - she really is so tuned in to what senior American commentators are predicting and, not unaturally, she has her own views, which you can listen to for free in an upcoming webcast. Here are the details:

“You can’t pick up a newspaper or magazine, listen to the radio, or view a news webpage without reading about the tribulations in the U.S. economy. It’s one piece of bad news after the next.

We need to talk-voice-to-voice-about what’s going on in our businesses and share ideas for getting through this messy time. Maybe your business is soaring! That’s terrific. How can we learn from you? Are you struggling? Let’s hear you and see if we can help.”

EVENT: Black’s Chat: The Economy & Your Business
DATE & TIME: Thursday, March 20th at 8:00 am Pacific
FORMAT: Simulcast! (Attend via Phone or Webcast — it’s your choice)

TO ATTEND THIS EVENT, CLICK THIS LINK NOW…
http://instantTeleseminar.com/?eventid=2307972

“I’m concerned. In the past few weeks, I’ve seen the “trickle-down” effect from larger economic issues.

I get concerned when I hear:

- a dressmaker say that people are altering their clothes rather than having clothes made

- a caterer who says her business is stagnant

- a consulting firm CEO who says he will be thrilled if his business is the same or even 10 percent less than last year

- an advertising executive who says that clients have cut ad budgets in half

Let’s talk. I’ve scheduled a FREE 30 minute Black’s Chat webcast on Thursday, March 20th from 8:00-8:30 a.m. PDT. I’ll bring a few tips of my own, but the focus is on you. Bring your concerns, insights, advice to the phone. It’s just 30 minutes, because none of us has a lot of time. If we can’t gain some insight in 30 minutes, we’re in the wrong place.

I want us to take action. In my last newsletter on Recession-Proof Selling, I shared this thought:

“Many people think that since there’s nothing they can do, they should just do nothing. But “nothing” is futile thinking.”

Make time in your day to talk and to succeed.
Sign up for the webcast: The Economy & Your Business

http://instantTeleseminar.com/?eventid=2307972

Joanne Black, if you needed any reminding, is America’s leading authority on referral selling and the author of the mega-selling “No More Cold Calling”

Tomorrow: Do you think that delegation is something that travels downwards? Wrong! I will be demonstrating how effective delegation really can affect your overall efficiency.

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.

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

Emerging salespeople typically believe that all business is good business and to an extent, I can understand this viewpoint. If you are trying to make a name for yourself, being put under pressure by your sales manager to get “runs on the board” and earn the respect of the more experienced and successful members of the team, it is difficult to walk away from any opportunity if you believe you have the remotest chance of winning it.

However, it is essential that more seasoned professionals fully understand both the value and importance of rigorous objective qualification, not just at the front end but right the way through the sales cycle. Qualification is a process not a single event and even internal and reactive salespeople should be fully skilled in asking a small number of basic questions regarding precise requirements, time scales, budget, competition etc before they are prepared to reveal their price and delivery.

As the value of the product, service or solution increases, the depth of the qualification should increase proportionally.

External salespeople have the opportunity to meet with prospective customers and it is far easier to extract information face to face than it is via the telephone, however, it is vital that some initial answers are elicited prior the that first exploratory meeting in order to ensure that the meeting will be worthwhile to both parties. With sales costs spiralling upwards and sales time becoming limited, considerable prudence is required on the part of the salesperson.

During that first meeting, a considerable amount of detail can and should be uncovered e.g. background and history of the company, the key individuals, the composition of the DMU (Decision Making Unit) if there is one, timescales, budget, competition, current suppliers, buying criteria etc. Only by rigorous questioning will the salesperson be able to answer the following questions when they get back to the office: Is there a requirement/need that my company can satisfy? Is it winnable? Do I want it?

The very best sales professionals will not pursue the opportunity, after proper objective analysis, if the answer to any of those questions is “No”. They will rather invest their precious selling time seeking out and closing opportunities that will provide a profitable return on that investment.

At the very highest selling levels i.e. strategic “big-ticket” selling and marketing, clearly the sales cycle is much more protracted, complex and typically moves through four stages i.e.

Rigorous opportunity assessment

Develop a strategy

Present the solution and re-assess the opportunity

Gain formal commitment, sign the order and develop the relationship

In Summary:

Having a tilt at every windmill that presents itself, is neither practical nor profitable. Qualification, is a core competency that every professional salesperson should take on board as quickly as possible. Working to the maxim that “All business is good business” is unrealistic and totally erroneous. It takes just as long to work an unprofitable opportunity through the pipeline only to lose it at the death, as it does a profitable one – the ability to determine which is which, can have a huge impact on your ultimate success in a front-line sales role.

Today’s News: My mother often told me that I became a leader when I was just eight years old. That is when I captained my first soccer team; then it was my first cricket team; then I became head boy at my junior school; then…..well, I just was always leading and I don’t ever remember it being difficult, until that is, I got my first management job at the tender age of twenty-two.

Then I realised that there was more to it than merely being inspirational and occasionally bossy: Unfortunately, at that time, there were very few good management training programmes, not that many good books and no internet – how things have changed over the last thirty years. Now there is a plethora of all of those but still very few really, really good ones, particularly for those people taking their first tentative step onto the management ladder.

So I was particularly pleased to discover an excellent new book from Bob Selden – “What To Do When You Become The Boss” and despite my challenging workload over the past few weeks, I managed to find the time to read it all the way through, which with my low-boredom threshold, says everything about Bob’s work.

It is an excellent step by step guide for any new manager and it covers virtually every aspect of professional management – allow me to quote Bob:

“Most new managers get very little initial training about how to manage. Generally new managers are promoted or selected for the role because of their excellent technical or professional expertise. It is assumed therefore that they will also be expert at people management.

This book fills the “people management” learning gap for new managers. Here is your complete “How to” for both managing and leading. Learn how to best manage your boss, your people and yourself in the all important first management role. The book covers hiring, motivating, delegating, influencing, managing time, firing – in fact everything you will need to know and learn about leading and managing.”

If you only have time to do just one thing, now that you are struggling with all the new challenges which have arrived with that recent promotion, buy this book and keep it in the top drawer of your desk – it will be one of the best investments you have ever made.

Where to buy it? Go here, as soon as you can or just click on the book. 

 Tomorrow: I am still on my travels, so I will be catching up with a mountain of e-mails and general correspondence, plus of course preparing next week’s posts for you - so wherever you are, have a great w/e - JF

The JF Guest Author Spot

What sales professionals understand that other business professionals just don’t seem to get about cold-calling decision-makers is this …

A cold call to a heavy-weight prospect, for the purpose of scheduling a face-to-face sales call, is in reality an extremely, sophisticated sale. In fact, it’s a sales presentation that’s so dog-gone good, that it’s stripped down to the bare essentials.

A cold call to top decision-makers … the guys (and gals) who have the ability to write unlimited checks to you for your products and services … has got to be so “tight” it can get you in the door, for multimillion dollar opportunities … in 90-seconds.

And if you can’t convince your prospect or the executive assistant to schedule you for a meeting in two minutes or less, you’re in the doghouse instead of roaming the halls where the “Top Dogs” live.

To be that good, there are a few things that a sell-ice-to-an-Eskimo, sell-sand-in-the-Sahara, sales-pro, like you, must know. Things that appear to “outsiders”, people who don’t know squat about selling, as being of no consequence.

But You Know Better!

There is the obvious, often overlooked, given little attention, script. You want a powerful script you can count on to give you the results you want. A script that gets you past the gatekeeper and onto the decision-maker’s calendar; that gets you calls back in the event you leave a voice mail message.

You want those precious few, spine tingling words that’ll compel the decision-maker to call and invite you in for a face-to-face meeting!

You want a script that makes the prospect glad to see you when you show up for your appointment; a script that’ll redirect your prospect’s objections with effective terminology that is non-threatening and non-selling.

To get in to see the upper echelon you want a script, a system really, that you can rely on to work for you, even on the days when you don’t feel like cold calling. (Yes, Virginia, we all have days like that!)

Then, before you touch your oh-so-eager-fingers to the keys of your phone, you gotta make sure to have several quick options available to you that’ll deliver meaningful information when your prospect asks the question you already know is going come your way, “Can you send me something in writing?”

This is the exact spot where many an experienced sales pro trips up and stops cold in front of a firmly, closed-door.

The Good News Is … You Don’t Have To Be One That Trips.

You can respond to your prospects’ requests, in a format that’ll open the doors to the executive suites! With information you can count on to answer your prospect’s unspoken question, “What’s in this deal for me?” Written words that’ll get you in the door, fast.

For sure you don’t want to mail or fax, follow up with a call and hear, something like, “We received your packet. I’ll call you if he’s interested.”

No, no, no! Don’t send materials like your company’s annual report, that’ll close the door of opportunity forever. Send the good stuff. The materials with “killer copy” …

So Meaningful To Your Prospect, So Enticing, That Your Prospect Picks Up The  Phone And Calls You!

And finally, you must have a person you can count on to make the cold calls. You may be that person. Or someone else may make appointment setting phone calls for you. Whatever you decide, the one “dialing for dollars” must have “sales savvy” AND the ability to “level the playing field”

You want to be the one who doesn’t go “all wobbly” when the prospect or administrative assistant bluntly asks, “Who are you?” “What do you want?” Or says, “He doesn’t handle that sort of thing … ”

You must be or must have access to the kind of person who has “staying power”. Who knows how to continue conversations at the top and not get booted down the organizational ladder.

Build your cold calling strategy with these three components. Make them rock solid and they’ll move you forward, faster than you thought possible, and position you for big, big sales.

Forward this article to friends—they’ll thank you for it!

For your mini-course “Jealously Guarded Secrets to Cold Calling Company Presidents” visit www.ColdCallingExecutives.com ! Or call Cold Calling Expert, Lead New Business Development Coach, Leslie Buterin (like butterin’ bread) at (816) 554-3674 9-3 CST (that’s Kansas City/Chicago Time)

Leslie is also an important member of the Top Sales Experts team, and you can read more about her here

Today’s News: Good interview on Salesopedia today: Daniel Sitter, who I happen to like very much, in conversation with Clayton Shold - listen in here

Tomorrow: To finish the week strongly, I emphasise that not all business is good business.