Jonathan Farrington’s Blog

The JF Guest Author Spot

Dear Seller,

I only have a few minutes, but I understand you’re interested in what you can do to capture my attention and entice me to want to set up a meeting with you.

Let me say this loud and clear right now - you have no idea what my day is like. You may think you do, but you’re missing the boat. Until you understand this, my advice to you makes no sense.

I got into the office early this morning so I could have some uninterrupted time to work on a major project - something I can’t seem to squeeze into the normal business day, which is filled with back-to-back meetings.

But, by 9 a.m. all my good intentions were dashed. My boss asked me to drop everything to get her some up-to-date information on a major reorganization initiative. Product development informed me that our new offering won’t be available for the upcoming tradeshow. Sales is already in an uproar because they have customers waiting for it. Then HR tells me that one of my key employees has been accused of cyber-stalking.

Starting to get the picture? Welcome to my world of everyday chaos where, hard as I try to make progress, I keep slipping behind. Right now, I have at least 59 hours of work piled on my desk, needing my attention. I have no idea when I’ll get it all done.

Did I mention my how many emails I get daily? Over 100. Everyone copies me in on everything. It drives me crazy. Then, add to that at least 30 phone calls - many from vendors who want to set up a meeting with me. And the pile of junk mail I get each day is ridiculous.

In short, I have way too much to do, ever-increasing expectations, impossible deadlines and constant interruptions from people wanting my time or attention.

Time is my most precious commodity and I protect it at all costs. I live with the status quo as long as I can - even if I’m not happy. Why? Because change creates more work and eats up my time.

Which gets us back to you. In your well-intentioned but misguided attempts turn me into a “prospect,” you fail woefully to capture my attention. I’m going to be really blunt here: I could not care less about your product, service, solution or your company.

I’m not one bit interested in your unique methodologies, extraordinary differentiators or one-stop shopping. Your self-serving pablum, while designed to lure me into your clutches, has the exact opposite impact.

It’s trash talk! I quickly scan your emails or letters looking for those offensive words and phrases that glorify your offering or your firm.

The minute they jump out at me, you’re gone. Zapped from my inbox or tossed into the trashcan. When you talk like that in your voicemails, I delete you immediately. Delete, delete, delete.

That’s the most expeditious way to handle bothersome telemarketers. Use those same words on the phone with me and I’ll quickly raise an objection you can’t address.

I’m a master at sniffing out trash talk and deleting it. I have work to do and refuse to waste even one iota of my time on something that’s irrelevant or self-promotional.

You need to know though that I’m not always like this. Occasionally a savvy marketer or seller captures my attention, gets me to raise my hand asking for more information and even entices me to request a meeting.

What are they doing? They’re completely focused on my business and the impact they can have on it. That’s what’s relevant to me - not their offering.

I’m always interested in ways to shorten time to market, speed up our sales cycles and reduce our supply chain costs.

Notice that this is business talk, not marketing speak!

When you get even more specific and tell me how much impact, now you’re really talking my language. I guarantee that if you mention you’ve helped organizations similar to mine increase sales conversion rates by 39% in just 3 months, I’ll be on the phone to you in no time flat.

Do you have any good information or fresh insights about the challenges my company is facing? How about how other companies are addressing these issues? If so, I’m interested in that too.

That’s the good stuff. It stems from a focus on the difference you can make for my company, instead of how you’re different from every one else. When you emphasize that, I’m interested.

But you can’t rope me in with the good stuff, then slip back into that trash talk. If so, you’re gonzo as fast as I can hit the delete button.

I pay attention in about 5 second increments, too. I don’t have time for fluff. If it’s relevant info, you’ve got me; start meandering and I hit delete.

Get the picture? I hope so, because I’m late for a meeting and while I’ve been writing this, the phone’s been ringing off the hook.

Hope this helps!

Your Prospective Customer
****

Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies and founder of the Sales Shebang, is a frequent speaker at national sales meetings and industry events. For more articles like this, visit http://www.SellingtoBigCompanies.com. Sign up for the newsletter and get a BONUS Sales Call Planning Guide.

Jill was also one of the founding members of the Top Sales Experts team and you can read more about her here 

Today’s News: Over on Salesopedia today, the topic is “Sales Advice” and they are showcasing some excellent articles by amongst others; Paul McCord and Daniel Sitter. You can check it out here

Tomorrow: Why managing your most important accounts is an art, not a formula.

The JF Guest Author Spot 

I recently wrote an article called, “Feeble Questions Can Kill Your Business“. In the article, I stated that too many sales people get caught in the trap of asking low-quality questions instead of more powerful ones. Many people contacted me and requested more information on what constitutes a great question. This article will address that issue.

First, the reason it is important to ask questions is to gain a thorough understanding of each customer’s situation including their needs, wants, desired results, decision-making process as well as potential concerns and roadblocks. Most salespeople understand this-at least at a fundamental level. In virtually every sales training workshop I conduct, participants nod when we discuss the importance of asking questions early in the sales process. However, in real life, they often skip through this stage in order to present their product, or discuss a solution. It’s only when the customer raises an objection, that many sales people backtrack and ask questions. Unfortunately, they have the process backward.

Powerful questions can help you demonstrate your expertise. Powerful questions demonstrate that you are not an average person selling a product, service or solution. And powerful questions help you determine the best way to present your solution. So what constitutes a powerful question?

Powerful questions are designed to make your customer think. The majority of salespeople I encounter are hesitant about asking deep, thought- provoking questions because they are afraid that their prospect will find them invasive. However, the higher up in an organization you sell, the more important it is to ask these types of questions simply because executives are used to asking-and answering- tough questions. In fact, if you sell to senior level executives, it is essential to ask high-level questions. Here are a few examples;

- What goals are you striving to achieve this quarter?
- How do those targets compare to last year’s results?
- What, if anything, is preventing you from achieving these goals?

However, do NOT start your conversation with questions like this because you have to earn the right to ask them, especially if you do not have an established relationship. It is much better to begin by demonstrating your expertise, industry knowledge, and understanding of your prospect’s business and/or company.

- We’ve noticed several trends occurring in the industry lately. The two that stand out the most are.. How are these affecting you and your business?
- When I was doing some research, I noticed on your website that your company is.. What progress are you making on that initiative?

These questions are powerful because it shows that you have done some preliminary research or homework and executives appreciate that. In fact, many of them would like their own sales team to take this approach before calling on a new prospect. Questions like this also demonstrate that you know what is happening in business as well as your customer’s industry.

It is critical to note that I am NOT suggesting that you spend fifteen minutes lecturing to your prospect trying to show them how smart you are. The goal is to be prepared and to demonstrate this preparation by asking key questions.

Assuming you have captured your prospect’s attention you can move the sales process forward by asking other powerful questions that focus on an outcome. It is critical to understand that most people, especially business people, do not make buying decisions based on your ability to spew out product specifications and information. Instead, they want to know what result they can expect. In other words, your prospect wants to know how your solution will affect their top line (sales) or bottom line (profits).

Will they make more money? Will they gain more market share? Will they increase brand recognition? Will they be able to compete more effectively? Will they save money? Improve morale? Increase productivity? Reduce costs in a specific area(s)?

That means you need to be prepared to ask questions that focus on the future. When I talk to new prospects about sales training, I usually ask what their current conversion ratio is. In other words, what percentage of sales do they close compared to the qualified leads they generate? Then I ask what ratio they would like to reach after the training. Depending on my prospect’s goals and objectives, we may also talk about the size and scope of each sale and what increase they would like to experience. This information then helps me position my solution and the positive financial impact training will have on their business. Consider these questions.

- What is the ideal outcome you would like to see or experience?
- How does this compare with your current results?
- You mentioned that you want to improve employee morale with this initiative. Can you tell me what that looks like?
- You have stated that increasing market awareness is one of your primary objectives. How will you know that you have succeeded?

Lastly, other powerful questions will help you determine the priority of this decision, how the decision will be made, and what potential roadblocks may prevent you from moving forward. Here are few examples.

- How does this project rank in priority compared to the others you are working on?
- Walk me through the process you follow when you consider decisions of this nature?
- Who else do you normally consult with on decisions like this?
- What potential roadblocks might prevent you from moving ahead with this?
- What concerns, if any, do you have about moving forward?

These may sound like difficult questions. But I have learned from experience that most people are willing to answer them if you have the courage to ask.

© 2008 Kelley Robertson, All rights reserved.

Kelley Robertson, author of The Secrets of Power Selling helps sales professionals and businesses pinpoint what they need to do differently to improve their sales. Receive a FREE copy of “100 Ways to Increase Your Sales” by subscribing to his free newsletter available at www.kelleyrobertson.com

Kelley conducts workshops and speaks regularly at sales meetings and conferences. For information on his programs contact him at 905-633-7750 or Kelley@RobertsonTrainingGroup.com. 

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

Today’s News: It has been suggested that up to 25% of front-line sales professionals are looking to change jobs at any one time - if that is you right now, you should really check out the vacancies at Sales Gravy and Salesopedia - or even just post your resume.

I have a very wide network of “business acquaintances” as you can imagine, but I do have a  small circle of very special people, who I respect immensely and enjoy working with - my “inner sanctum”- and one of those people is Paul McCord. Why? Because he constantly challenges the status quo and he is a visionary in our world - the world of creating sales excellence. Paul is part of  a very select team that I am currently working with and we are about to launch some incredibly innovative solutions - watch this space.

Want to hear his pearls of wisdom? Go here and listen very carefully, it will be worth it.

Tomorrow: Everyone is talking up the anticipated recession and unfortunately, many will be using it, if it does come, to disguise poor performance and an excuse for not hitting numbers - my view, having survived and succeeded in at least two major recessions, is that we have to challenge beliefs head-on.  

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 per cent 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. 39%

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 organised. 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 organisations 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.

The Slippery Slope:

Typically, salespeople who believe that if they had lower prices, they would win more deals, tend to attract more price objections. This in turn leaves them feeling scared or reluctant to talk to prospects about what they have to offer. Their downward spiral then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Salespeople’s desire to succeed may be so dominated by a need to be liked, that they’ll avoid asking prospects for information that is needed to identify the prospects’ compelling reasons to buy. When this happens, closing becomes a real issue because salespeople, fearing rejection, perceive that asking for the order might cause a breakdown in the relationship with their prospect.

Summary: The Importance of Divine Intervention From Above:

Most Sales Directors 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 Directors 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.

Today’s News: Over at Salesopedia today, the topic is objection handling and they have highlighted some great articles from amongst others, Lee Salz and Keith Rosen - you can check them out here

The more observant of you will have noticed a new banner in the left-hand column, which takes you straight to my new site - yep, The JF Consultancy is launched I will be discussing it in more detail tomorrow.

Tomorrow: On the JF Guest Author Spot, leadership guru and very good friend, Kevin Eikenberry makes a welcome return.

The “Sales Funnel” concept has been around for a few years but I took it and tailored it to meet the needs of my own teams very effectively. Essentially, it is designed to assist salespeople in managing their sales time more effectively, subsequently translating that time into real money. It is also a time-management tool, which will help them to accomplish the following essential selling tasks:

- Collating their numerous sales objectives into three categories or levels of the Sales Funnel.

- Monitoring each sales objectives progress as it moves from one level into the next.

- Setting priorities for working on the objectives in each level of the Funnel to ensure they do not neglect any one of the three.

- Dedicating time to the objectives in each level of the Funnel in a way that is appropriate to their specific situation.

- Forecasting future income, based on how their objectives are moving through the three levels of the Funnel.

Sales Funnel is conceptually divided into three distinct parts or levels, which correspond to the three different types of selling work we must do in equal measure, if we are to avoid the dreaded “Peak & Trough” syndrome, otherwise known as “Feast Or Famine.” 

To enable salespeople to utilise the Funnel concept efficiently they must first sort their sales objectives into these three levels:

- Above the Funnel - Prospect & qualify.

- In the Funnel - Cover the bases.

- Best Few - Close the order.

Above the Funnel:

The pre-requisite is that they have data that suggests a fit between their products & the prospects needs, all of this type of work requires qualifying.

In The Funnel:

The pre-requisite here is that all the opportunities have been qualified and at least one buying influencer has been met. They then need to “cover the bases” i.e. identify all the buying influencers and ensure each one is contacted by the person best qualified to do so.

It is important that the salesperson understands the response mode of each buyer, identifies the results each buyer needs in order “to win” and ensures they understand that the proposal will serve his/her individual criteria.

Finally, at this stage of the cycle, they need to continually re-assess the sales picture and eliminate areas of perceived weakness within their bid using the principle of capitalising on their strengths.

Best Few:

Logically, the pre-requisite here is that they have all but eliminated luck & uncertainty as factors in the final buying decision. -this can of course be subjective!

The tasks involved are end-tasks, like overcoming last minute objections, agreeing terms and conditions and signing orders etc.

As sales professionals they must be able to do all three kinds of work, but obviously they will have several possible orders that they are working on at the same time. Since they will all be at different stages of completion, they will not be doing the same kind of work on all of them at the same time.

By following this system they could potentially reduce the normal sales cycle by 50%

Using Sales Funnel over time, helps to plan time required ahead of time.The eventual objective in utilising the Sales Funnel concept is to be able to move the various sales opportunities down the Funnel at a steady and predictable rate. This in turn will mean that income and achievement level is steady and predictable.

To achieve this, there is a need to work on two interrelated tasks:

- Setting appropriate priorities for the three kinds of selling work which need to be done.

- Allocating limited selling time so that the three kinds of work always get completed on a consistent basis. The simple rule of thumb is: “Every time you close something, prospect or qualify something else”

Finally, Let Us Not Forget Good Old Villfredo Pareto And His 80/20 Rule:

The sales that a salesperson completes today were made possible only by activities performed in the past. Equally, it’s what they do today that will create their future sales results. Because there is a time delay between activities and results, salespeople have an opportunity to improve their sales results by undertaking sales productivity planning and implementing an effective prospecting system. Generally, since 80% of sales are generated from 20% of customers, 80% of salespeople’s time should be focused on those 20%.

Today’s News:

My good friend, the sassy Kim Duke (aka Sales Divas) has been in innovation mode and come up with a brand new idea - if you are a female entrepreneur, you can read all about it here

Just a nudge - there are a brand new set of nominated articles over at Top 10 Sales Articles

Tomorrow: My guest is the “Sales Hunter,” Mark Hunter with some excellent tips as usual.

The JF Guest Author Spot

Many of us are guilty of it. We are not following up with people we meet. We’re not following up with potential referral partners, and prospective “someday” customers. Some of us are not even following up with the more “probable” prospective customers who are likely to do business with us soon.

We are leaving money on the table, every day.

Why? Well for starters, we are bombarded by email messages. Often we read a message but may not reply immediately. There are great intentions to reply soon, until soon becomes later, and some of us believe that by then, it is too late. 
When I was in technology sales way back in the ’80s, it was commonly told by sales trainers everywhere that it took “7-10 touches” before we build trust with a prospective customer in a complex sale for them to buy. “Touches” include phone calls, e-mails, handwritten notes, letters, in-person meetings and teleconferences.

The last statistics I saw were from 2001 in a Microsoft presentation that it now takes approximately  “17-20 touches” due to the way we are all bombarded with information. We are in an age of info-glut. One can be connected virtually many different ways, and can receive literally hundreds of emails daily. How we handle these communications - especially with our valued, dear prospective clients is where all of us need to take some stock and evaluate.

Touching (following up) with prospective customers, vendors, co-workers and referral partners will cause people to know that you are a “big picture” thinker, willing to build a relationship over time, thoughtful, disciplined, and trustworthy.

Do you have a process for going through your email, and noting customer requests and items to follow up on?

Do you return emails? I had a business associate who was a former co-worker and I invited he and six others to a luncheon. He never replied, even after I phoned once and emailed three times. Finally, the day of the event, he replied and told me he has been in “workaholic mode” - (whatever that is). I work a lot, but I value the people who contact me and strive to follow up with each of them.

In an effort to help create more follow through in our business lives, I’d like to recommend the following:

1. Write five hand-written notes each week. Do it on the plane, in front of the TV, or during your tea or coffee break. Just do it. You will be absolutely amazed at how putting this one habit in place and regularly honoring this time will pay-off big.

2. Respond to all emails within 24 hours - even to say that you’ll need more time. Help encourage others to do the same.

3. Keep a running “to do” list which includes emails and phone calls that need to be made. I use a pen and notebook when away from my laptop…. If you have perfected the use of a Blackberry, Trio, or iPhone, make your notes there.

4. Follow up with prospective clients through a multi-faceted approach - not JUST emails, or just phone calls. People respond differently through different mediums.

5. Some people will reply quicker through email, others by phone - in addition to using a multi-faceted approach, know which approach works best with each contact.

6. Automate your efforts - try Sales 2.0 tools to help you get this done.

7. Know that it is almost never too late to follow up - even with lost business.

8. Create your own metrics. Count up how many times you “touch” prospective clients and whether you are more focused with electronic means, or the phone, or in person.

9. If you have an important contact to make, send an email, then make a phone call. For some people, an email is not enough - but that phone call saying you left the email nearly always will get a response.

10. Have fun with this. Selling should be fun - mix things up, follow up at different times, and have a smile on your face when you’re leaving a voice mail message, because people can hear it through the phone.

  Lori Richardson is a B2B sales coach, consultant, trainer and speaker based in Seattle, Washington. She focuses on helping sales teams and sales leaders with just-in-time, targeted strategies to build sales and sustainable revenues. Lori began in selling technology nearly 20 years ago, and has been successful in roles as sales leader as well as Director of Education for a financial services company.  In addition to her day job, Lori works energetically as a fundraising auctioneer to help professional associations and non-profits raise funds. 
www.scoremoresales.com  Blogs : http://scoremoresales.com/blogs

Lori is also a very influential member of the Top Sales Experts team and you can read more about her here

Today’s News: This week, I have received several enquiries from authors or publicists asking how they can have their articles considered for inclusion on Top 10 Sales Articles. The simple answer is that the panel of sales experts choose the nominations from a very small number of communities who specialise in sales related issues. Why just this very select group? One word - trust. We have an excellent relationship with the CEO at each of these locations, they support us and we also know that the very best authors only submit their work to them.

The current list is as follows:

o Best Management Articles 
o BYOB 
o Eyes On Sales 
o Ezine Articles 
o Sales Gravy 
o Sales Resources 
o Salesopedia 
o The Sideroad 

Incidentally, Salesopedia and Sales Resources have just completed makeovers this week - Clayton and Brian, great job guys!

The JF Guest Author Spot

Cold Calling: A Prep Pep Talk By Wendy Weiss, The Queen of Cold Calling

1. Prospects will take calls.
Stop worrying that your prospects do not want to speak with you. If your offer has value and you have done your homework, targeted your market and are able to speak about your product/service intelligently and articulately, most prospects will be more than happy to listen to what you have to say.

2. A lot of times, they say “yes.”
This is true.

3. They are not too busy.
While your prospects will certainly be busy, (everyone is) if your offer has value and you have done your homework, targeted your market and are able to speak about your product/service intelligently and articulately (see #1 above), it is simply a matter of negotiating when that prospect has time to speak with you.

4. They are not avoiding you.
The level of paranoia exhibited by some sales professionals is truly interesting. Why should your prospects be avoiding you? They don’t even know you.

5. If they have a vendor or supplier, bingo! They are qualified prospects.
Yes. If you speak with a prospect who says they are already working with someone, that means that this prospect buys what you are selling. You know, if you did not before, that you are now speaking with a qualified prospect.

6. You will know what to say if you do your homework ahead of time.
The question you want to ask yourself, before you get on the telephone, is: “Why should this prospect be interested in my offering?” Don’t call your prospect until you have the answer. Then, when you get your prospect on the telephone, make sure to lead with that answer. That “why” is the reason that a prospect will want to speak with you.

7. High-level decision-makers are usually very nice and quite willing to speak with you if you have something of value to say.
The rule is to always call the highest-level person that you believe would be the decision-maker. That person either will be the decision-maker or they will know who is. Many sales professionals, however, call lower level managers and/or coordinators, rather than Directors and Vice Presidents, believing that the call will be easier. The reverse is actually true. People with power are generally much nicer than people without power.

8. Cold calling is a communication skill and, like any communication skill, it can be learned and improved upon.
It is up to you to educate yourself. Read books, listen to audio programs, attend teleseminars or live seminars, talk to colleagues, hire a coach… Do whatever it takes to gain the skills that you need to be successful.

   Wendy Weiss, “The Queen of Cold Calling,” is a sales trainer, author and sales coach.

Her recently released program, The Miracle Appointment-Setting Script, can be ordered by visiting http://queenofcoldcalling.com.  Contact her at wendy@wendyweiss.com. Get Wendy’s free Special Report, “How to Write an Effective Cold Calling Script,” at http://www.queenofcoldcalling.com

Personal Note: There are “gurus” mostly self-styled and there are “real gurus” Wendy falls into the latter camp and is someone I admire and like very much indeed: If you are reading this Your Majesty, it’s Thursday, so not too “cranky” I hope? (Personal joke
 

Today’s News: I do not often share the contents of my private e-mails but last night my good buddy Jill Konrath was sharing her frustration at her workload and I replied thus: 

ADVERT: 
Are you slipping behind? Maybe you need to consider a new brand of underwear? OR You could consider taking tips from Jonathan Farrington. Yes, the old grey badger shares his time management skills here: http://www.salesopedia.com/content/view/433/226/
 
“I am nestling in the “Heart of England” at one of my favourite hotels of all time: http://www.horsleylodge.co.uk/
 
After dinner tonight, I went outside to be entertained by the local church choir singing carols and drank mulled wine plus scoffed mince pies. Then I came back to my room, sat in front of my PC and immediately fell asleep
 
Was it the mulled wine? Nooooo Was it the two glasses of a very good Bordeaux? Noooooo Was it old age and my itinery? Probably. But I am back at work now
 
Keep at it, we owe it to ourselves to prove that like good wine, maturity brings excellence.
 
J”

Tomorrow:I finish the week with some thoughts about “Rapport” - yep, getting on the same length of waves as your prospect/client/customer

For many sales people, the telephone is an important resource that they use to develop their business. Yet, according to a study by Behavioural Sciences Research Press:

• 40% of established sales people experienced periods of ‘call reluctance’ severe enough to threaten their livelihood in sales.
• The average ‘call reluctant’ sales person loses more than fifteen new accounts each month to their competitors.

Whether you are telephoning to make an appointment or seeking information about a prospect, there are some essential pointers that can help you to become really effective when communicating on the telephone!
• People can hear when you read from a script, so prepare what you plan to say by writing it down, read aloud what you have written three times, so that it becomes installed within your unconscious mind. Then throw it away! From memory prepare some bullet points that summarise the content of your script and use these to refer to when on the telephone. This simple technique ensures that you can devote more attention to the other person and you’ll sound much more natural.

• Plan how you will respond to the objections you experience most frequently and be experimental with trying out different responses.

• Always dial each call yourself so that you feel in control and prepared. Ask for the contact by name and if speaking their secretary it helps to use the contacts first name as well. If asked who is calling use your full name and if asked the name of your company don’t be afraid to give it.

• Use a spontaneous opening (you’ll be able to do this if you focus your attention on the other person) and get the OK signal that it’s convenient for the prospect to talk with you. (Either verbally or non-verbally). If the prospect conveys that it’s not a convenient time then find out when they are prepared to talk with you. Your call will generally be interrupting them, which is why it’s important to be direct and get to the point quickly.

• Hook the prospect’s attention by using their name and providing a reason why they should talk with you. According to Tony Robbins, if people have good reasons to do something, they’ll do anything. It can be really useful before you make a call to develop two or three reasons why the person you’re calling will be pleased to hear from you because you are unconsciously projecting your positive ‘vibes’ that will be unconsciously received by the other person and you’ll feel more confident. If they have been referred, use that person’s name as early as you can because it will warm up their response and you can maximise the relationship.

• Build rapport by matching the other person’s voice speed and volume. Resistance can be dramatically reduced if you can immediately project that there is a similarity between you both. If your prospect is talking quickly, talk quickly, if they are talking slowly, talk slowly. This can be challenging because a natural reaction from sales people is to blurt out their scripted message as quickly as they can. Instead, using a message that is succinct and to the point, yet matching speed and volume can build a connection very quickly.

• Have clear expectations about what you want the call to accomplish. Is it to inform? To establish a need? To obtain an appointment? Unless you are in a telesales role you should NEVER attempt to sell your product or services over the phone, you are ‘selling’ the appointment.

• Clarify that you have all the correct information. For example, confirm you are talking to the right person and they have the authority and not just the title. Even if your call is not successful on the first attempt, you can ensure that their details are correct for future use.

• Research from The Results Corporation Plc shows that 60% of customers say “yes” after saying “no” 5 times, yet 44% of sales people give up after the first “no“, 22% after the second “no” and 14% after the third “no“. These statistics are important when prospecting on the telephone because a typical prospect will require five contacts from the sales person before agreeing to a meeting. That’s why successful sales people develop a “Prospect Nurturing System” that keeps them in regular contact with their prospects irrespective of how many “no’s” they encounter. As the contact increases many people’s reassurance rises as they become more familiar with a person or their company.

• Ask open questions to encourage the prospect to talk and if appropriate ask a couple of questions that probe for pain (Pain can be a powerful motivator).

• Don’t attempt to establish the decision maker and then talk to them in one phone call, if you don’t know who to speak to then that is a call in its own right. Set yourself a target, say four attempts to get through to the decision maker, if you still are unable to reach them, try a different approach. If you keep a call log of all your calls you’ll soon get to know which are the most productive times to reach the decision maker. For example, traditionally Monday morning is a poor time to cold call.

• The higher up the organisation you go then the higher and wider the barriers seem to become, with receptionists, secretaries and personal assistants all seemingly having no other purpose than to stop you getting through to the decision maker. Try outside the normal office hours that will avoid the receptionist and you may get straight through. Security staff are often a good source for information and they are usually more than willing to show off their knowledge about the company - they also have the time to talk! As a last resort, send a letter first explaining that you will be calling - therefore the receptionist is ‘expecting your call’.

• If you are using the telephone to qualify prospect information, you should aim to discover:

- Who should be talking to regarding the purchase of your product or service?
- Who else would be involved in such a decision?
- When do you believe a budget will be made available for such a purchase/project this year?
- What do you envisage that budget to be?
- Is the budget dependent upon anything?
- When is this purchase required by?
- Is there a particular reason for this timescale?
- Who else are they talking to? (Identified your competitors)
- What are they hoping to achieve? (Checks whether it is within your capabilities)

• Record what you are doing, how many dials you’ve made, how many prospects you were able to talk with and the times of your calls. Studying this information gives you a good reality check because you’ll know how many calls you need to make to get an appointment

• At then end of a call where you aim is to secure an appointment, seek their commitment. For example, “I feel I understand what is required and that we can help, I’d like to discuss your requirements further in person, would Thursday or Friday next week be suitable?”

• Always confirm your appointment either by email or by letter because this provides you with another opportunity of ‘contact’ that helps the prospect with becoming more familiar with you and your organisation. Give appointments either at a quarter past or a quarter to the hour. This conveys that you are busy and presupposing that there are lots of other companies that want to see you.

• Your attitude and emotional state is a vital part of telephone effectiveness. Clear your desk of everything except your prospect records and diary. If your immediate environment is uncluttered it helps free your mind so that you can focus on each call’s objectives. Visualise your prospect smiling warmly when they receive your call. This will help you access a positive state-of-mind. Your unconscious mind can’t tell the difference between a real and imagined event. This mentally rehearses you in feeling good about picking up the phone.

• Finally, stand up, take five deep breaths and smile! According to Deepak Chopra, our mind and body are totally connected. The way you move your body affects your mental state. After every call, review what went well before making your next call. This process enables you to act as your own motivational mentor!

Tomorrow:On the JF Guest Author Spot is the Queen Of Cold Calling, Wendy Weiss - she is on fine form!

Cold Calling: 7 Principles for Finding Victory over Fear

By Leslie Buterin

Fear is a funny emotion. We all experience it but seldom talk about it. Most in the sales arena find fear to be a scary emotion. In fact fear of cold calling is the ultimate downfall of many a fine sales professional.

Did you know fear is only scary until you learn to master it? With master you will find that when you least expect it fear has morphed into the adrenaline needed to draw prospects to you like moths to bright light. That is the very instant when the emotion that you previously found paralyzing becomes exhilarating.

Let’s take a close look at both sides of fear, the paralyzing side and the side where freedom awaits you.

If you’re stuck in fear odds are your ability to think has ceased and you have stopped learning. Then, a nasty cycle of fear begins.

Instead of telling yourself the truth, that you’re scared, you begin to accept the fear based self-doubt as truth.

You start fear based self talk. You know the words, “I can’t” “I don’t care how much success you’ve had, this won’t work for me” “My situation is different.”

Then, the what-if game of doubt kicks in close on the heels of negative self-talk. And doubt begins to sound like reason.

Puh-leeze! Principles of success are the same across industries. Think about it and you will agree.

Plain and simple, the cause of fear is ignorance. That is right, fear of cold calling is  based in the unknown. The first step to breaking its power over you is to be honest about your emotions. Do this and you will soon see fear as energy in motion. Motion that is extremely effective in keeping you moving.

Successful cold callers are well served by mentors. You can find mentors too, people who have successfully gone where you want to go. Who can
1. Coach you through fear by breaking it down to components you can identify.
2. Help you identify patterns of fear
3. Hold you accountable for surmounting these points of fear
4. Encourage you to the other side of self doubt creeps in
5. Call your bluff when you start to believe your own fears and say “I can not” “this will not work for me” “you do not know my circumstances”
6. Give you empowering words to replace your self talk
7. Identify the flaws in your doubt and let you know why your doubts are not at all reasonable.

As always, the choice is yours. Now, what choice will you make, give in to fear or live in the exhilaration of freedom?

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

Leslie is also a very welcome recent addition to the Top Sales Experts team and you can read more about her here

Tomorrow: Some useful tips on telemarketing, that can easily be adopted.

It is Monday and so I thought you deserved a post of substance to kick-off the week. 

Extensive research recently completed by the Corporate Transformation Department at Luton University in the UK, confirms suspicions and beliefs that I have had for some time now.

In business terms they claim that these findings represent a revolutionary breakthrough in understanding what makes a successful contract bidder.

Their research team investigated 293 companies who regularly bid for major contracts. Between them they have annual revenues in excess of £65bn

Two key facts tell a worrying story:

1. 50% of them said it is important for them to win new business in order to fulfil their corporate plan.  

2. And yet four out of five companies interviewed win less than half of the bids they pitch for.

Conclusion: Most companies are not winning enough new contacts to meet their business objectives.

Not unnaturally this would cause some anxious looks around the boardroom table if it were not for another key finding from the report

A small improvement in bidding techniques and tactics can lead to a disproportionately large increase in the number of contracts won.

Not surprisingly, the most effective bid winners prefer to draw a veil over those factors that make them successful but the research has pulled the veil aside and provides a glimpse of the critical success factors in winning major bids.

The companies answered a detailed questionnaire which focussed on two key areas – how successful they were at winning major bids and what they regard as the factors that made them most successful at winning the bids. Figures are rounded to the nearest decimal point. The companies in the survey represent a cross section of those British companies that compete in major bids either in the UK market or overseas.

The participants came from industries as diverse as information technology, construction, engineering, aerospace, media, consultancy and utilities.   

                          
The Myths Of Bidding Exploded

For these companies just what is a major bid? For nearly half (48.1 per cent), it was a bid of between £1 million and £10 million. Around a fifth (18.6 percent) defined a major bid as less then £1 million. 1.9 per cent defined it as more than £500 million, and the remainder (31.4 per cent) defined a bid at various sizes between £11 million and £500 million.

The companies were candid about their success.  Some 37 per cent admitted they won less than a quarter of the bids they pitched for. A further 40.1 per cent said they won between a quarter and half of their bids. Only 4.1 per cent of the companies claimed to win more than three-quarters of their bids.

But for these companies, what constitutes “success” at winning major bids? Among the companies 71 per cent “strongly agreed” that it was to win bids at “acceptable profit margins”, while an almost mirror image of 70.6 per cent “strongly disagreed” that it was to win a bid “at any cost”. Among other possible definitions of success 31 per cent strongly agreed that it was winning sufficient bids to achieve growth targets, and 19.2 per cent winning bids from blue-chip customers.

There was little disagreement that winning major bids was essential to achieving business plans – 52.8 per cent said it was very important to win bids from new customers and 64.5 per cent from existing customers.

Given that winning major bids is important for achieving business plans, just what is it that gets a company invited to bid in the first place? The companies were invited to rank a number of different factors on a scale running from “very important” to “not important at all”.

The top five factors are:

1. Perceived quality of your products/services (68.5 per cent say very important)
2. Relationships with existing or potential customers (54.4 per cent)
3. Position of the company in its market-place (52.2per cent)
4. The company’s overall image (47.6 per cent)
5. Track record in similar projects (46.5 per cent)

However, as the survey shows, more than three-quarters (77.1 per cent) of companies win less than half the bids they pitch for.

What do the best quarter have that the other three-quarters lack? 

A year-long research project undertaken by Mathew O’Connor, one of the co-authors of the report, identified 18 activities which seemed to contribute to success in winning major bids. These activities fall under four main categories – assessing the customer’s perception of products/service value, understanding the customer’s buying centre, contacting customer’s and communicating key messages about the company and it’s products/services (see below)

Eighteen Critical Activities in Major Bid Projects:

Assessing your customer’s perception of product/service value:

1. Understanding the value/benefits customers expect to gain from your products/services (25.6 per cent)

2. Understanding the cost of ownership issues that impact customer decisions about your products/services (17.9 per cent)

Understanding your customer’s buying centre - DMU:

3. Understanding the business environment in which your customers operate (25 per cent)

4. Understanding each customer’s mission, objectives and markets (15.1 per cent)

5. Understanding the decision-making process each customer uses (21.3 per cent)

6. Understanding the factors the customer considers when purchasing(24.6 per cent)

7. Understanding the roles played by those in the DMU (24.3 per cent)

8. Understanding your customer’s communication network (9.9 per cent)

Contacting customers:

9. Maintaining continuing visibility with customers through advertising,mail shots, etc (11 per cent)

10. Developing person-person relationships with potential customers (44.8 per cent)

Communicating key messages about your company and product/services:

11. Communicating key marketplace issues to customers (8.2 per cent)

12. Communicating generic benefits offered by your products (8.6 per cent)

13. Establishing the superiority of your products/services (18.1 per cent)

14. Building a distinctive and helpful image of your company (26.6 per cent)

15. Establishing an understanding of your market standing (20 per cent)

16. Communicating the value/benefits of your product/services (20.5 per cent)

17. Persuading potential customers to invite you to bid (34.1 per cent)

18. Ability to offer support or ancillary services (23.1 per cent)

In the survey each of the companies was asked to rank its performance on each of these 18 activities on a five point scale from “very effective” to “not effective at all”.

The research demonstrates a clear correlation between being effective at these activities and winning a higher proportion of major bids.

Companies that win less than a quarter of bids claim to perform an average of 2.9 of the activities very effectively. Among companies winning a quarter to half of bids, the number of very effective activities rises to 3.5; those who win half to three quarters of their bids perform 4.9 activities very effectively: among those companies winning more than three-quarters of major bids, the number of very effective activities climbs to 8.7.

What is perhaps surprising here is that even the most successful companies are accomplishing less than half of the critical 18 activities “very effectively”. It seems pretty clear that those companies prepared to focus on these activities and generate even a modest increase in the number of activities performed very effectively could reap significant improvements in the number of major bids they win.

Aside from these critical activities, the research has uncovered some important issues for managing effective bid teams. The companies in the survey were asked to rate 15 aspects of managing bid teams on a five-point scale from “very important” to “not important at all”.

The top five issues are:

1. Leadership from senior departmental managers (very important for 64.3 per cent)

2. Creating a team spirit (55.8 per cent)

3. Leadership from board of directors (49.5 per cent)

4. Including team members with specialised knowledge of the product (46.6 per cent)

5. Giving clear instructions to team members on how to handle the bid (46.3 per cent)

Once a pitch is under way there is a fresh range of issues to consider in order to win the bid. The survey companies were asked to rank 11 issues on the same five –point scale.

The top five issues for completing successful bid negotiations are:

1. Guaranteeing quality, delivery dates and after sales service,etc (very important for 59.9 per cent of companies)

2. Having a clear bottom line (56.7 per cent)

3. Developing clear objectives for the negotiations (54.7 per cent)

4. Preparing detailed bid documentation (48.8 per cent)

5. Making the first formal presentation of the bid (48.1 per cent)

Summary:

There is wide range of different issues that companies need to address more effectively if they are to win more of the bids they pitch for. Bidding relationships with the client is given a particularly high priority in the service sector.There are wide variations in the effectiveness of major bid management between organisations. With more companies increasingly finding themselves pitching against overseas competitors for business, the need to create more effective bid management is more urgent than ever.

Today’s News:

When we conceived the Zone, our primary objective was to provide a location where sales leaders could find all the information they needed to assist them in developing a first class sales team. We believe we have achieved that but we are not attracting the visitors we anticipated - well that’s not true, we are seeing huge numbers of one-off visitors but an insufficient number are subscribing. 

It was never our expectation to make vast sums of money from this project but merely cover our costs however, what is vital is that this huge amount of collateral gains the exposure it deserves. Therefore, as a consequence, we will be dropping the subscription charge from later today and reimbursing all those who have subscribed to date. Yes, that’s right, from today you can join this unique and exciting community for free!!

Tomorrow: On the JF Guest Author Spot is my friend Dr. Greg Stebbins, author of the best selling book “PeopleSavvy“ and internationally acclaimed expert on sales psychology.

As we approach year end, this is an excellent time to take stock of your performance over the past eleven months and begin the planning procedures for 2008.

When you begin constructing your business development strategy for next year you will, in all probability, include a contribution from existing clients/customers but how can you accurately forecast this?

One very subtle way is to conduct formal account reviews, where you ask your clients for feedback on your performance year to date.

I am always surprised how few companies do this because it is an initiative that customers welcome, why? Because it makes them feel important and cared about. 

So, Why Review?

Obtaining continual feedback against a set of established criteria is vital if an organisation is to retain its existing top clients and seek to improve its standing and the quality of its service levels to them.

There are at least seven benefits of regular feedback.

• Feedback reveals your customer’s current and future plans.

• Seeing your business from your customer’s point of view allows you to answer the question “would you do business with you?” - if not why not?

• Feedback allows you to tailor your service levels so that you enjoy maximum customer satisfaction at a minimum cost.

• If you don’t ask you’ll never know how you are doing until it’s too late! Feedback is magnified by the ‘ice berg factor’ making it more critical than it originally appears.

• Feedback can reveal what your competition are doing helping you to be a consistently strong contender.

• Gaining a reputation for wanting to hear feedback can actually make money for you.

How Often?

This will depend entirely on the importance of the account and revenue levels being achieved - or anticipated.

Assessing The Feedback You Receive:

If the feedback you have been receiving to-date has not been useful, ask yourself the following questions:

• Do I ask enough questions?

• Do I ask the right questions?

• Do I communicate effectively about why I am asking the questions?

• Do I ask the right people?

• Do I know how to use the data I collect?

• Am I organised to respond to the information?

• Do I value and trust the information I receive?

What Do You Do With The Results?

Collate & assess

Communicate findings upwards & sideways

Act on vital issues

Feed back remedial actions

Confirm satisfactory resolve

Remember,The Account Review Process:

• Is a non-threatening meeting.

• It is a fact finding session not a sales event in the short term. But

• It is highly likely, that during this meeting you will uncover additional short, medium and long term opportunities.

Today’s News:

As I continue to introduce the Top Sales Experts team, today is the turn of Kelley Robertson, President of The Robertson Training Group and author of the best seller, The Secrets of Power Selling - you can read more about Kelley here

Tomorrow: Rochelle Togo-Figa is my guest on the JF Guest Author Spot