“The less I see of what’s his name? The more I forget him.”  Anon

Failing to focus salespeople’s activity reduces efficiency and consequently reduces results, because there isn’t a salesperson alive that believes they have enough time in their working week to complete all the activities they want to achieve!

Time is a huge constraint on salespeople’s activities so that when their manager asks them for more, it’s no wonder that they are overwhelmed.

Poor Quality Activity

Secondly, but equally important, salespeople often aren’t clear about how to identify the prospects most likely to have a genuine need for their product or service. Without an objective way to prioritize which prospects to contact first and/or an efficient strategy for contacting them, salespeople are doomed to waste a large percentage of their time.

Another huge dilemma for many salespeople is how to divide their time between servicing existing clients and generating new business from new prospects. Existing clients frequently make requests for service that could be dealt with by support staff. But salespeople who lack a disciplined, future-orientated plan for generating new contacts and sales, often find themselves spending more time attending to “urgent” tasks for existing accounts instead.

A common approach among salespeople can be summarized in the saying “If you throw enough mud against the wall, some of it is bound to stick.” This approach is exhausting, demoralizing, extremely unproductive, and very expensive in the long term.

Far too frequently, competent salespeople are expected to channel their own activities into the areas that will produce the quickest wins.

Unfortunately, left to their own devices, they don’t develop and pursue a formal strategy for moving a sale tangibly forward during each prospect interaction, neither do they have a clearly defined set of goals against which to measure the progress they are making. Typically, their judgment is based on gut reaction and is purely subjective – i.e. “Oh yes, I’ll get that order, he likes me.” – because salespeople have to be optimistic by nature. They end up “dancing around” with prospects, in the hope that eventually they will get to their chosen point on the dance-floor – i.e. the sale.

In this scenario, the customer has complete control.

Therefore, we can confidently conclude that: Quality Activity  =  Quality Results

This is a follow up to my recent post: “The Real Reasons Why Buyers Resist & Object”

It is not enough to know whether people are for or against you and your ideas and proposals. The people you want to influence can be divided into nine categories:

Those who:

• Covertly disagree

• Openly disagree

• Comply – reluctantly

• Remain undecided

• Have insufficient information
  
• Are not able to see a need

• Need to think it over

• Consider it the wrong time

• Have to refer the decision to others

You will need a different strategy depending on what stage the person to be influenced is at. Be realistic about your chances – it is unlikely that others will move from open disagreement to active support. The best you may achieve is to move them to neutral – but that’s victory!

Covert Disagreement

‘Well, Ok, if that’s what you want.’

The customer thinks to himself/herself: ‘What a load of nonsense – I’m not doing that.’

These people are actively working against you. Gently transform their energy into a willingness to talk openly about their concerns. Once you have done this, you can then:

• Work to build rapport and a positive relationship
• Stress areas of agreement before moving onto areas of disagreement
• Use humor and positive anecdotes
• Meet regularly to develop a working relationship
• Respect their position, promote your own

 Open Disagreement

‘Hmm – it might be possible, but I doubt it…’

People who disagree need time to come around to your way of thinking.

• Support your statements with proof and evidence
• Use statistics and numbers accurately and appropriately; avoid trickery
• Be clear about areas of agreement and disagreement
• Ask little and get it, rather than a lot and be turned down
• Demonstrate ways in which you understand their viewpoint
• Show that you seek a ‘win-win’ outcome

Reluctant Compliance

‘Well, if that’s what you want, that’s what we’ll have to do.’

Link your point of view to the compliant person’s feelings, values and concerns to move him or her towards actively supporting your ideas.

• Stress connections between your proposal or position and the person’s interests
• Avoid complex arguments
• Focus on simple and vivid points and benefits
• Be prepared to repeat these in many different forms
• Stress mutual benefits
• Point out mutual losses, if your ideas aren’t accepted

Undecided

‘I’m just not sure it will work.’

Work to tip the scales in your favor.

• Focus on your side of the issue
• Re-state mutual benefits
• Minimize/solve problem issues
• Support your case with expert evidence
• Cite cases when similar proposals or ideas have been successful
• Break your proposal down into small, more acceptable action items
• Follow up (in writing?) to avoid the person slipping back into indecision

No Information/Insufficient Information

‘I need more background information before I can make a decision.’

Find out what information is missing or needed.

• Back it with proof and evidence
• Avoid swamping the other person with too much info
• Invite questions and requests for clarification
• Get the person to agree that the information is sufficient and acceptable
• Make your information lively and attractive

Not Able To See A Need

‘I just don’t think we have a need for that right now.’

Acknowledge need is the bedrock of acceptance:

• Conduct more detailed fact-finding
• Get agreement along the way that needs exist
• Ask what may happen if these needs remain unfulfilled
• Illustrate how similar needs have been met for others
• Create a summary of the specific benefits of your suggestion

Need To Think It Over

‘Hmm – I must give this some thought. Can you come back next month?’

Some people do need time to think things through. Establish aspects of the idea they need to think about: ‘What exactly is that you want to think over … (Don’t pause here) … is it x, or y, or z?’

• Reiterate the main benefits of your proposals
• Clarify any misunderstandings
• Solve any remaining problems or issues
• Make positive use of any delay
• Provide a written summary of your ideas and the benefits

Wrong Time

‘It’s a bad time for us to be making decisions like this.’

Assuming this is a genuine and not a delaying tactic, you can use the waiting time to your mutual advantage.

• Ask when would be an appropriate time
• Use the time delay to road test your ideas, organize a dry run, double check your plans

And Finally – Referring The Decision To Others

‘I’ll need to have a word with my partner and come back to you.’

You should already have established that the person you are attempting to influence has the authority to say ‘yes’.

In which case, ask ‘Are you happy with what I am suggesting?’ If the person is happy, suggest that you both take the issue to the higher authority and work as a team to get final agreement.

This list may not be exhaustive, but it is a good start.

To handle resistance to your ideas and influence, you will first need to pinpoint exactly why there is an objection. Typically, people object or resist because they:

• Don’t fully understand your proposal

• Misunderstand it

• Don’t feel a need to go ahead

• Don’t recognize the benefits and advantages

• Don’t believe your claims

• Are happy to remain as they are

• Genuinely need time to think things through

• Don’t trust you

• Display general inertia

What Type of Resistance?

Objections and resistance usually come in three identifiable forms:

A condition is a genuine, non-negotiable reason why someone can’t go ahead or agree to your proposal (e.g. company policy, legal reasons, and a contractual obligation).

An excuse or a put-off is usually made because people are not convinced of the benefits of your ideas. Excuses cannot be answered – conviction is the only solution.

A real objection can include lack of money or resources, time constraints, happiness with the status quo.

Strategies & Tactics

Resistance can be very frustrating. You are anxious to get on with things and it is hard to see why others are stonewalling. This is the moment to back off and take stock.

• Listen carefully to what they are saying to you

• Watch their body language – does it contain any hidden messages?

• Step into their shoes – try to see things from their point of view

• Consider what would have to happen for them to be convinced?

• Plan your responses carefully

• Take time to construct carefully thought through responses

• Check that you have provided acceptable responses to doubts and fears

• Seek areas of agreement and stress them; minimize areas of disagreement

Categories of Resistance

It is not enough to know whether people are for or against you and your ideas and proposals. The people you want to influence can be divided into nine categories and in Part Two of this article, ‘Categories of Buyer Resistance’ I identify them.

I have read extensively on the lives, characteristics and leadership styles of all the great leaders, including Alexander the Great, Montgomery, Elizabeth 1st, Churchill, Ghandi, Mandella, Luther-King et al (the list is pretty extensive).

However, the one that earns my greatest respect and the one with whom I feel the greatest affinity is Shackleton, because I have learned so much from his style of leadership – characteristics that I have endeavoured to incorporate within my own management style.

Sir Ernest Shackleton has been called “the greatest leader that ever came on God’s earth bar none” for saving the lives of twenty-seven men stranded with him on an Antarctic ice floe for almost two years.

From 1914 to 1916, Shackleton and his men survived the wreck of their ship Endurance in the crushing Antarctic ice, stranded twelve hundred miles from civilization, with no means of communication and no hope of rescue. The temperatures were so low the men could hear the ice freeze. They subsisted on a diet of penguins, seals and ultimately… dogs.

When the ice began to break up, Shackleton set out to save them all on a heroic eight-hundred mile trip across the frigid South Atlantic – in little more than a rowboat.

Unlike most of the polar expeditions, every man survived – not only in good health, but also in good spirits – all due to the leadership skills of Shackleton.

So What Are The Leadership Lessons We Can Learn?

Here are just a few that I have worked hard to adopt:

• Cultivate a sense of compassion and responsibility for others. As a leader, you have a bigger impact on the lives of those under you than you can imagine.

• Once a career decision has been made, commit to stick it out through the tough learning period.

• Play your part in creating an upbeat environment – a positive and vibrant workplace is important to productivity.

• Broaden your cultural and social horizon beyond your normal experiences. Learning to see life from different perspectives will give you greater flexibility when it comes to problem solving at work.

• We live in a rapidly changing world, so be willing to venture in new directions to seize new opportunities and learn new skills.

• Find ways in which to turn setbacks and failures to your advantage. This represents a good time to step forward on your own.

• Be bold in vision and careful in planning. Dare to try something new, but be meticulous with your proposal so that your ideas have a good chance of succeeding.

• Learn from your mistakes – yours and those made by others. Sometimes the best teachers are the worst bosses.

• Never insist on achieving a goal or objective at any cost. It must be achieved at a reasonable expense, without undue hardship on your staff.

• Don’t be drawn into public disputes with rivals – better to engage in respectful competition. Remember, you may need their co-operation someday (Due to my crusading spirit and refusal to lower my standards of what is fair and right, this is the one that I have had the most difficulty with!).

If you are a leader, you will have identified closely with all of these principles.

If you are a follower, you will be considering how your leader would stand up to such a test?

 Question: What is the number one need for success in business today?

Answer: To persuade others of your value and the value of your ideas.

So What Is Influencing?

Influencing is getting your own way, especially unobtrusively.

Most managers do it, most of the time.

• You can influence others simply be being you (notice how easily children are influenced by the behavior of those around them)
• You can influence covertly, behind the scenes
• You can use more open strategies and tactics

Great influencers manage to get other people to go along with their ideas while maintaining the relationship. If people feel manipulated, relationships will be damaged. It is important to understand the different strategies available to you and to plan your approach.

Here then is my recipe for successful influence:

Ingredients

• Trust

• Openness

• Comfort

• Acceptance

• Empathy

• Flexibility

• Something in common

• Shared understanding

Method

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

In Summary: Use the Recipe Often

Increasingly, today’s managers are measured by their ability to influence others in the workplace. Being able to get people to do what you want has a direct effect on:

• The well-being of your staff
• The prosperity of your company
• And ultimately, your own destiny

You are probably already successful at influencing others – some of the time.

How can you become consistently successful? If you can identify your strengths and weaknesses and make a few changes, nothing can hold you back.

On September 13th, I will complete 1000 posts on The JF Blogit - how amazing is that?

I will officially become a veteran in the “Blogosphere” – but not sure I really want that title?

To celebrate this achievement, I am publishing a free eBook containing my fifty most favorite posts.

As well as containing twenty five of my posts, the booklet will also include a further twenty five of the many guest contributions  that have been made over the past four years.

Those guests include some of the most  globally recognized sales experts around -  “some good friends”

The Full List of Guest Contributors:

Jill Konrath, Joanne Black, Linda Richardson, Dave Stein, Wendy Weiss, Keith Rosen, Dave Kurlan, Paul McCord, Nigel Edelshain, Dr. Tony Alessandra, Paul Castain, Dr. Greg Stebbins, Nancy Bleeke, Niall Devitt, Mark Hunter, Kelley Robertson, Tibor Shanto, Dan Waldschmidt, Kevin Eikenberry, Kendra Lee, Lori Richardson, Craig Klein, Dave Brock, Colleen Francis, Diane Helbig.

Of course, it will be free to download from a number of locations  - on September 13th. I very much hope that you will download it, and enjoy four years of my work.

Then I begin work on the second 1000 posts!!

The JF Guest Author Post

Nancy Nardin

Being picked last in gym class; standing by the punch-bowl while everyone else is dancing; or sitting alone at lunch time in the school cafeteria; small business owners are being made to feel unworthy and unimportant.

It’s a darn-right shame! While hundreds – make that thousands – of vendors offer envy worthy products, alas, only the good looking have a shot at getting a date with them. Who are these popular kids? Large Businesses.

Since scouting out sales tools is my full-time job, I see first-hand the favoritism being shown to large businesses at the expense of small businesses. Would it be so hard to offer products that are affordable to 99% of companies? Selling to big companies is fiercely competitive. So why don’t sales software vendors take the easier route? They continue to angle for the big catch while ignoring the millions of smaller fish which are just as hungry.  And I do mean millions.

Consider this; according to the 2004 U.S. Census Bureau statistics, there are just shy of 5.9million employer firms. A whopping 5.78 million of those firms have fewer than 100 employees.

I’m tired of vendors telling me that (although their primary market is large businesses); they are also applicable to smaller companies. No you’re not!

For small business owners, shopping for sales tools is like going to a flea market. They have to pick through stinky clothes and musty furnishings to find the one item that has true value. 

There’s no Googling for tools either. I’ve yet to see any sales tool that’s priced right for a company under 100 turn up on the results pages of a Google Search.

I’m not talking about CRM. Yes, since the first salesforce automation software for personal computers was introduced – (around 25 years ago!) – CRM is now affordable and easy enough to use for almost anyone.

Let’s take a look at some other product categories. I’ll start with marketing automation. Lead nurturing, lead scoring, lead routing, are all accomplished with marketing automation. Yet the least expensive marketing automation program is $299/month. And I commend Active Conversion for offering a product with such great functionality at such a low price.  But after them marketing automation is unobtainable for many companies because it’s complicated and prohibitively expensive.

Now take sales enablement. Sales portals that offer shared-knowledge, collateral management, collaboration tools, and sales content are all elements of sales enablement. How much does that cost? Way more than any small company could afford.

Vendors seem to think that they can strip out functionality and limit the number of users or amount of usage, and viola, they now have a product for smaller companies. Wrong! You now have a product suitable for enticing larger companies to give it a try. But you are not offering value for small companies.

Why can’t there be a “Quicken” of sales and marketing tools? Or even a McDonalds? Small business owners are hungry for tools to help fuel their sales growth. They’ve been stiffed for too long.

Nancy Nardin founded Smart Selling Tools in early 2009.  Smart Selling Tools is a place where sales professionals can find and recommend tools to help them sell more.  As a 25-year top sales veteran, Nancy has set out to help individual sales performers and managers find the best tools based on three key premises 1) there is life beyond CRM 2) the very best sales professionals are on a constant quest to improve their performance and 3) Salespeople benefit when they interact and engage with each other.

Three months ago, a very good friend of mine had a complete break-down – last Monday, he took his life.

Today will not be TGIF for his wonderful wife and their beautiful four children, all of whom are under the age of ten, when they bury him.

It could have all been so easily avoided.

Six months ago he was, apparently, on top of his game. CEO of an immensely successful company. Healthy, vibrant – and a truly wonderful person, who became a victim of “the pressure”

So, as I contemplate his life and prepare this post, let me ask you this question: “What are you doing this week-end?”

Please consider this:

There has been increasing evidence that sales professionals and sales captains are working longer and longer hours, thereby putting health and family relationships at risk.

Pressure to complete and meet the ever-increasing demands of customers (as well as the need to achieve higher sales quotas) is forcing people to spend more of their time working.

Whilst stress does have its benefits; too much can cause errors of judgment, mistakes, accidents, damage to health and even death!

Some people are more vulnerable to stress from overwork than others; American researchers identified two types of managers – Type ‘A’ who, though thriving on stress, are vulnerable to its effects, and Type ‘B’ who rarely let events disturb them.

Not only are there Type ‘A’ managers but Type ‘A’ organizations also – is yours one?

Types A & B:

Type A
 
• Try to do more and faster 
• Concerned with speed, performance and productivity 
• Tend to be aggressive, impatient, intolerant, hard driving and always hurried 
• Preoccupied with time
• Start early
• Strong competitive tendency
• Always want to succeed
• More likely to have heart attacks

Type B
 
• Easy going
• Take difficulties in their stride 
• Spend time on what they’re doing
• Rarely harassed
• Less prone to heart attacks 
• Take time to ponder alternatives
• Usually feel there’s plenty of time
• Not as preoccupied with time

Stress What Is It?

Popular definitions include: ‘the result of a person being pushed beyond the limit of their natural ability’ When used in physics, stress is defined as ‘the external pressure applied to an object’, the resultant change is called ‘strain’

Applied to people, we mix up the two terms, using ‘stress’ to refer to both the pressures we’re under and the effect it has on us

What Causes Stress?

• Where you work – Red tape, changes, demands from customers, uncertain future.

• Your Job – Volume of work (too much/little), deadlines, pressures, being responsible for staff.

• Your career to date – Still not found your niche, no clear goals, reached your plateau.

• Your Relationships – Colleagues, friends, partner, boss, staff, children and families.

• Conflicts – Unable to find a balance between work and home; worried about money.

• Self-imposed – Giving yourself a hard time, low self-image, poor self-management

What Are The Signs?

• Physical – Headaches, indigestion, throbbing heart, allergies, infections, twitching, nausea, tiredness, weight loss/gain, vague aches and pains.
 
• Mental – Indecision, making mistakes, forgetfulness, poor communication, easily distracted, worrying more, making hasty decisions.

• Emotional – Irritability, anger, alienation, nervousness, apprehension, loss of confidence, tension, cynicism, job/life dissatisfaction.

• Behavioral – Unsociable, restless, unable to unwind, appetite loss/gain, diminished/increased interest in sex, taking work home, too busy to relax, poor personal management.

Is this you?

Finally – Prime Time When Are You at Your Best?

We all have a ‘prime time’ during the day when we are at our best and fully alert, the secret is to recognize this and do those activities that require energy, application and thought when you’re at your sharpest.

When energy is low, we are sluggish and tend to make mistakes, so watch what you eat – a heavy meal and wine make a lot of people sleepy; a healthy meal can provide energy hours.

Work in periods of time; a maximum of an hour before you give yourself a break – this way you’ll concentrate better.

We must all try to work SMART, not DANGEROUSLY HARD!

Colin, this post is dedicated to you – I will miss you very much.

 As you can imagine, I am often asked by sales leaders, anxious to recruit the best salespeople they can afford, just what is it that makes a consistently top performer; what are their characteristics; where are their strengths, and what differentiates them?

Over the past thirty-five years I have recruited, managed, lead, trained and developed thousands of sales professionals, from foundation right up to “master craftsman” level and this has given me the opportunity to formulate an accurate profile of a “Top 5% Achiever.”

So what is it that top 5% players do? Here are the ten most common characteristics

They:

Position themselves with the real decision-makers and avoid those without ‘approval power’. They are able to first identify and then access the formal decision making unit.

Not only get the order but a satisfied customer, repeat sales, enthusiastic reference sites and constantly increase sales penetration within their accounts.

Know how to minimise the uncertainties of a cold call on a new account, by careful planning and rigorous opportunity assessment.

Recognise when to treat an old account as a new prospect and keep the relationship fresh, alive and maintain profitability

Never entertain business they do not want because they recognise that it takes just as long to work an unprofitable opportunity through the sales funnel, only to lose it at the death, as it does a profitable one. They trust their own judgement but also rely heavily on objective assessment.

Readily identify and know how to deal with the four different buying influences present in every sale i.e. Economic Buyer, Technical Buyer, User Buyer, and Ally.

Understand how to prevent sales from being sabotaged by an internal enemy. They insulate themselves by developing strong allies within.

Are able to recognise fail-safe signals that indicate when a sale is in jeopardy. This comes from experience but also information supplied by their allies.

Are rigorous in tracking account progress and are able to accurately forecast future sales because they use proven methodology, which allows them to weight every opportunity in the pipeline.

Avoid ‘dry-months’ by allocating time wisely to their critical selling tasks i.e. Prospecting for new business, covering the bases with existing opportunities and finally closing the best few.

In summary, the very best sales performers do not achieve that status overnight. They work tirelessly to develop and hone their skills-sets, insist on regular top-up coaching, and seek out those who are outperforming them, so that they may learn and improve still further. They have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge of their industry and sector.

Finally, they concentrate on eliminating any weaknesses and are anxious to be assessed and receive feedback on a regular basis.

News:

Greatest Gold-Mine of Sales Wisdom Ever

 I want to take just a couple minutes to let you in on something special…

…something that could easily make this your BEST YEAR of sales EVER!

 Eric Taylor and David Riklan, the Creators of the “Mastering the World” book series, are releasing their newest masterpiece…

It’s an INCREDIBLY valuable resource for ANYONE working in Sales.

( The complete details are here: http://www.masteringtheworld.com/  )

One look and you’ll quickly see why I call this “the best of the best”.

Because whether it’s the classic wisdom of Napoleon Hill, Robert Cialdini, and Zig Ziglar … or up-to-the-minute advice on using the power of “Sales 2.0” technologies…

You can take absolutely ANY nugget from within this book’s 385 pages, and IMMEDIATELY apply it to solving your most pressing real-life sales challenges.

This is truly the most powerful and relevant single-volume collection of sales strategies, persuasion tactics, and training advice you’ll find ANYWHERE. Bar none!

*** And I should know, because they’ve also included a chapter with my Sales Strategies.

Jeffrey Gitomer, author of “The Little Red Book of Selling”, says:

“This book is all about what is working NOW [in] business, sales, service, and personal development for the second decade of the twenty-first century.”

Look, I’m not even going to TRY listing all the topics covered, and all the experts contributing. Even on the webpage, they don’t list quite everything.

But I guarantee you’ll be well-impressed when you see what they CREATED!

http://www.masteringtheworld.com/  

David and Eric are also celebrating the book’s release date with an incredible, exclusive give-away of $2,686.00 worth of hand-picked FREE Gifts. (You’ll have to visit their webpage to get all the details, and see how you can qualify.)

http://www.masteringtheworld.com/

I know anyone purchasing this book who doesn’t experience a major boost to their bottom line … hasn’t actually USED it.

It’s that well-written … and that powerful!

http://www.masteringtheworld.com/  

Look – I want you to go to the book’s website, and see for yourself what all the fuss, and all the excitement is about!

PS – I should mention: All those thousands of dollars worth of gifts David and Eric have set aside for you will be offered to someone else – someone perhaps a bit more motivated – if you don’t grab yours by Midnight Tonight. Go to http://www.masteringtheworld.com/

Extensive research recently completed by the Corporate Transformation Department at Luton University in England, 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.

Two key facts tell a worrying story:

1. 50% of them said it is important for them to win new business in order to fulfill 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 contracts 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 focused 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 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 (52.2 per 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? Watch out for a follow-up post next week!