1.      The sales team doesn’t have a clear understanding of the ideal customer that they should be targeting.  As are result, they spend too much time chasing the wrong deals.  Understanding exactly who you should be selling to is an absolute must have in sales pipeline management.

2.      If a sales person is spending time with a qualified prospect, they spend the wrong amount of time on the deal relative to the potential payoff of the deal.  Don’t spend 45% of your time (annually for example) on a deal that will get you only 15% of your quota.

3.      The salesperson doesn’t know when to throw in the towel.  Know when to walk away from a deal.  Again, this results in wasting one of the most valuable commodities that a sales person has, his or her time.

4.      The sale person doesn’t know how to follow and pace the client through the decision making process and they don’t track the client as they are moving from the “just kicking the tires” phase to the “writing the check” phase.

5.      The sales team hasn’t done the proper ecosystem development within their industry to generate the quantity and quality of leads that they will need to you’re your sales pipeline.

6.      The sales team doesn’t properly follow up on potential opportunities in a consistent and timely manner throughout the sales process.  This is an insidious and hard to diagnose sales pipeline crusher.

7.      The sales team isn’t properly supported by sufficient marketing efforts. How many new prospects are you adding to your sales pipeline daily, weekly or monthly.

8.      The sales team doesn’t understand the metrics regarding how many contacts that they have to be converting to sales on a daily, weekly or monthly basis in order to meet their sales goals and quotas.  Understanding the metrics is absolutely critical when it comes to accurately forecasting your sales pipeline and closing sales.

9.      The sales person is not technically proficient enough to add value as an “expert” to the prospect to maintain their high value to the client through the sales process.  If you can’t be the expert… have one that you can bring to the table even if you have to hire that expert to be part of your team.

10.   The sales professional underutilizes the internal resources available to them via their own company or other leveraged business partners. Know your strengths and use them to the greatest leverage at every point in the sales cycle.

Now that you know what you might not be doing consider how you might change your behavior and work style to improve every activity noted above. Address each of the list items courageously and truthfully.  Improve every effort in all of the items listed above and you are sure to see that instead of having sales attrition you will have sales addition (okay, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a little alliteration…. you get the point).

Understanding the difference between the two is very important for every sales person to understand. Many inexperienced sale people will fall into the trap of fearing a sales situation in which they are competing with a product or service that is being offered at a price that is less than theirs. The big question becomes “how can I be competitive if my price is higher”? The answer should be obvious but if it is not, then you might be in danger if in the moment of discovering that your price is higher than your competitors you might begin to get a bit “paranoid” about losing the sale and you lose your ability to effectively communication the “value” of what you offer. Before you lose your cool and quite possibly the sale itself, think about the following.

Consider several recent purchases that you have made for yourself or for your company. Then, ask yourself the following question. Did I purchase the absolute lowest price product in the market? For example, did you purchase:

• The lowest price car?
• The lowest price shirt?
• The lowest price shampoo?
• The lowest price shoes?
• The lowest price groceries?
• The lowest price haircut?

The point here is that we don’t generally purchase the lowest price of anything. We purchase something because we see the “value” in what it is that we are purchasing. Therefore, the primary role for any person involved in business development or sales is to clearly explain the value so that our customers will understand what it is that they are purchasing and the reason that they will want to purchase from us even in the product or service turns out to NOT be the lowest price available. I find that it is helpful to quantify in as many ways as possible what the value is that we provide.

A very simple example of one value that differentiates products is the availability to deliver a product or service in an appropriate timeframe. I will never forget a conversation that I had with a client one time. He asked for a quote for an item that I had in stock. He said that he needed the product at that time. When I gave him the price, he mentioned that he could get the same product elsewhere for a price that was less than my offer. I told him that he should make that purchase with my competitor. He said, “well I would purchase it from your competitor but he doesn’t have it in stock”. I ended up making the sale at the price that I had quoted and not the price of some phantom product that was not available. What was the value in that sale? The value was that I had the product immediately available for him and that is when he needed it. Value trumped price!

Consider other values that you and your company can bring to the table and highlight those to your customers the next time that you talk with them. Don’t forget… it’s not the lowest price product that wins the order… it’s the one with the most value.

Here’s more about what to expect from this book:

FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE BESTSELLING BIOGRAPHIES OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AND ALBERT EINSTEIN, THIS IS THE EXCLUSIVE BIOGRAPHY OF STEVE JOBS.
Based on more than forty interviews with Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.

At a time when America is seeking ways to sustain its innovative edge, and when societies around the world are trying to build digital-age economies, Jobs stands as the ultimate icon of inventiveness and applied imagination. He knew that the best way to create value in the twenty-first century was to connect creativity with technology. He built a company where leaps of the imagination were combined with remarkable feats of engineering.

Although Jobs cooperated with this book, he asked for no control over what was written nor even the right to read it before it was published. He put nothing off-limits. He encouraged the people he knew to speak honestly. And Jobs speaks candidly, sometimes brutally so, about the people he worked with and competed against. His friends, foes, and colleagues provide an unvarnished view of the passions, perfectionism, obsessions, artistry, devilry, and compulsion for control that shaped his approach to business and the innovative products that resulted.

“Successful salespeople take the time to prepare for the initial conversation with potential customers.  They construct external and internal profiles of the customer’s organization and ensure that those profiles match the profile of the ideal customer.  They identify the driving forces and perspectives at work in the customer’s organization and become familiar with the customer’s goals.  By completing this work, sales professionals lay the groundwork for a successful initial conversation.  They create a basis for engagement that enables them to speak with customers using the customer’s language, frame the initial conversation around issues of importance to their customers, and build a perception of professionalism in the customer’s mind that clearly differentiates them from their competition”.

Consider the following before your first meeting with a prospect:

• 1. What is the purchasing environment regarding the company that I am selling to?
• 2. What are the drivers for the decision maker/s that I will be talking with: quality, price, delivery, technical support during the sales process, all of the above?
• 3. How many decision makers will be involved in the purchasing process?
• 4. Who make the final decision about the solution being presented?
• 5. What language does my client use to describe their needs?
• 6. Will I need to bring in other members of my sales team to construct a solution for my client?

These are but a few of the many questions that you can ask yourself regarding how to build credible and professional rapport quickly with your prospect.  Doing this is a must in today’s competitive selling environment. Answer these questions before you meet with your next 10 prospects.  Measure your results during the sales cycle.  Let me know how your sales increase!  mack@mackpowers.com

Happy Selling!

1. Request Advice on a project that you are working on (such as writing an article or book)
2. Thank someone for referring business to you
3. Congratulate or promote someone
4. Request the name of a vendor
5. Refer a possible job candidate
6. Thank you for their payment for services rendered
7. Offer free consultation
8. Provide assistance on a professional association project
9. Provide information on a potential customer
10. Call about a new lead or business opportunity that you have become aware of
11. Request coaching on a prospect or lead development idea
12. Forward an article that you think might be of value to the client
13. Recommend a vendor who provides excellent service
14. Invite to a workshop or webinar
15. Forward a blog post to them
16. Notify them when you or your firm posts a press release
17. Notify them regarding trade events
18. Invite them to sporting events or group activities
19. Offer to meet this person over lunch to discuss any of the above
20. Offer to share your contact list with that person to help them develop business
21. Use Social Media such as facebook, linkedin and twitter to stay connected to your network

Last week I presented five breakout sessions to a group of Texas state employees on the subject of stress management.  Here are two of the five practical ideas that I presented to them on stress management.  I borrowed several of the ideas from Dale Carnegie’s book How to Stop worrying and Start Living:

1. Identify what you are worrying about
   1. Figure out the worst case scenario
   2. Accept the worst case scenario
   3. Work diligently and calmly to improve upon the worst case scenario that you have already accepted
2. Solve and Decide
   1. Write down what I am worrying about.
   2. Write down what I can do about it.
   3. Decide what to do.
   4. Start immediately to carry out the decision.

Try these out.  A relaxed salesperson will sell more any day, guaranteed!  Here’s to a happy and relaxed selling environment.

As a sales professional, your value might be changing as well. In the past you probably have played the role of a facilitator. Today however, your role might be closer to the role of a mediator than you have ever experienced. Have you considered the difference? Consider that a facilitator is simply someone who makes progress easier. Therefore in the past your role was one of connecting people who were both comfortable and ready to move forward with a deal. In that environment there is little or no friction with both parties trying to get the deal done. Today as a sales mediator, you might need to position yourself differently. Why, because not everyone will be excited about having to carry out the transaction. Here are several thoughts about what mediation is. Even though buyers and sellers aren’t generally in a dispute, consider how these rules could be slightly modified and applied to you in your sales and business development role.

1. The role of the mediator is to reduce obstacles to communication, assist in identifying issues, exploring alternatives, and facilitating voluntary agreements resolving the dispute.
2. The mediator is responsible for assisting you in reaching informed and voluntary decisions while protecting your right of self-determination.
3. The mediator must maintain impartiality throughout mediation. Impartiality means freedom from favoritism or bias in word, action or appearance, and includes a commitment to assist all parties and not any one person.

Applying these rules will allow you to establish trust with any party who is not favorable towards the deal. Trust in every economy is at the heart of every deal. Try this new role out or a variation of them and let me know how they work for you.

Are you sitting down? There will be no redeployed tax dollars coming your way!  Every sales person has to see himself as his own Department of the Treasury. Somehow you will have to bail yourself out!  TARP for you isn’t the Troubled Assets Relief Program.  For you, TARP means… Taking Additional Responsibility (for your) Pipeline.  It will take additional blood, sweat, and tears to get your greatest sales “asset”, your pipeline, back in shape.  For you, your income statement and your balance sheet is based upon the quality of your pipeline,and when it suffers, your sales revenues suffer. 

 There are three attitudes that you should have, knowing that you are going to have to TARP - Take Additional Responsibility (for your) Pipeline.  Here they are:

1. Today you might be looking at a (TARP) Trashed And Reduced Pipeline.  Don’t dwell on this problem.  Acknowledge the problem and then get over it.  You might consider sitting down with a notebook and writing down every reason that you are upset about your current situation.  After having done that, then TARP - Turn And Retire (the) Page.  Then, don’t look back.
2. Build a plan, using TARP. Think about the new competitive landscape; Analyze what your new value proposition will look like, Redefine what your new ideal customer will look like,  and Position your solutions competitively.
3. Execute a TARP.  Test your plan, Adjust when necessary, Refocus on new objectives based upon what you learn as you roll out your new strategies, and Propagate (get the message out).

 Taking responsibility and following these rules will allow you to achieve the goals and success that you can.

Several years back (about 15) I went white water rafting.  The guide in the back of the raft was a very seasoned river guide who had guided on every continent.  He said to me something that I thought was very interesting.  He said that when people fall out of the raft, two things happen. They either swim wildly, beating their arms and legs against the current and waves, or they just go limp and wait for someone to rescue them.  My instinct tells me that a person should swim to the boat or shore and hope to get rescued (if needed) while they swim.  That is what this leader was saying.  We are going to swim.  Even though the water is swift, they will survive and prosper by taking positive steps to improve their situation.  This is the proper attitude to take today, tomorrow and anytime.

Why does this attitude also make sense, because it is practical.  Many companies today will report that their business is off by 15-30%.  If so, they cut their operating expenses to adjust to cash flow needs and obligations.  While thinking about ways to increase operational efficiencies, they can also think about ways to improve their sales efficiencies.  By improving how efficient they are in their sales development efforts they can “sell their way out” without actually spending additional capital to do so.   Here are three points that might apply to your firm regarding how you can improve your sales efficiency.

• 1. Retool your value proposition. Make sure that what you present today regarding how you help your clients is still relevant in today’s economy. What worked yesterday might not work today.
• 2. Properly identify who your ideal prospect is. A great prospect six months ago might not be a great prospect now or in the next 6-12 months. Is your current client base fearful of the future or taking time to plan and strategize how they will come out of the recession a stronger more profitable and dynamic company? An ideal client today should at least be thinking this way or your sale will have to be two fold; first to convince them that they should be optimistic about the future and then on your value proposition.
• 3. Understand and implement new sales metrics. Be sober about the fact that you might have to work harder individually and as a team. If you needed to make 20 calls a day last year, you might have to make 40-50 calls today. Re tool your own metrics and determine what new expectations will be required to meet the revenue goals that you have.

It starts with a leadership attitude; determine to “sell your way out”. Start swimming and don’t wait for someone else to bail you out.  Follow that with a dedication to become more efficient in your sales strategy and efforts.  This is a one two punch that will keep you and your business thriving.

• Maintain a high level of customer satisfaction with each of our clients.
  Maintain a professional attitude congruous with what would be expected of a professional salesperson
• Sell the amount in your territory as agreed to with the VP of Business Development.
• Properly qualify prospects
• Actively pursue all opportunities within your sales territory to maximize sales revenue potential for your entire territory.
• Provide estimates for all product lines monthly. Provide 3X the number of estimates for each product line. X = the quota number for each product line monthly.
• Know how to use the company CRM for all sales processes including: contact management, lead management, opportunity management, deals closed and look back into historical data etc.
• Track, maintain and update your leads, contacts and opportunities using the CRM.
• Properly qualify and identify probable leads in your region and develop them into estimates and deals.
• Actively grow your contact database gathering all contact information as noted in the CRM. This includes: name, address, phone, email address and any additional information that can be used for either marketing or sales purposes.
• Demonstrate professional selling and negotiation skills in all engagements.
• Be able to present and demonstrate all product lines per you sales plan.
• Demonstrate a high level of expertise for each product line that you sell.
• Develop industry relationships with influencers in your selling geographies.
• Attend all sales meetings and functions.
• Follow up on company generated leads.
• Utilize all company resources to your fullest advantage to accomplish these goals.