Tag: Sales Tips

If you want to know what truly separates top performers in sales, then look no further than these three simple characteristics below. Each and every top professional I know practices these habitually, and when I focused on these early in my career, I, too, became the top producer in my office of 25 sales reps.

These “rules” as I call them are essential for your success, and you should make it a point to incorporate and work on them every day of your professional career. If you do, you will easily rise to the top of your company and your industry. Read them over now and commit to incorporating them into your daily routine:

1) Invest in your attitude every day. You absolutely must do everything you can do to develop, protect, and nurture a contagiously enthusiastic attitude. Now more than ever, your attitude will be the biggest determining factor affecting your success in your profession of sales. Think about all the negative people you’re going to run into today, this week and this month. Are you going to infect them with your positive, can do attitude, or are you going to get more and more negative with each phone call? IT IS UP TO YOU!!
Starting this week, get into the habit of feeding your mind and attitude daily with affirmations, by listening to motivational CD’s, by reading two pages a day in a positive book, and by goal setting. If you haven’t read books like, “The Success Principles” by Jack Canfield, or “Beyond Positive Thinking” by Dr. Robert Anthony, then go to Amazon and order them today.

An all time favorite of mine is an 8 minute DVD I’ve watched over and over on my lap top called: “Finish Strong” by Dan Green and can be found at their website: www.simpletruths.com That book/DVD alone will be a great investment in your attitude.

2) Sharpen Your Sales Skills. Let’s face it – there is no room for error in today’s competitive sales environment. Sloppy sales presentations, poorly qualified leads, and just plain lazy and bad habits are going to make you miserable in your job. You must, and I mean must, learn, practice and use effective sales techniques that will allow you to identify buyers and then deliver effective presentations to close business.

The Top 20% will do well because they already use effective skills and spend time getting better, but the bottom 80% are going to sink like a stone. I’d say that up to one quarter of all sales reps will lose their jobs in the next 12 months because they won’t improve enough to make it in this environment.

What are YOU doing now to improve your skills each day? Obviously there are many things that will work for you, but one of the easiest and least expensive ways to do that is to go to Amazon.com and pick up a copy of my book, “The Real Secrets of the Top 20% – How To Double Your Income Selling Over the Phone.” It’ll be the best $14 bucks you’ll send this year…

3) Start Listening To Your Prospects. Now more than ever, it’s crucially important that you learn how to connect with your prospects and show them you really care about what they’re going through and what their needs are. 80% of your competition is going to pitch and pitch and pitch, and this turns off the people they are trying to sell. The Top 20% take the time to understand the difficulties their prospects and clients are going through and they find ways to help them. And it all begins with listening.

People are going to buy from people they like, know or trust, and the best way to build this rapport is by asking questions and actually listening to their answers. I’ve written many articles on listening skills, and you can read them in my Blog, or invest in my book and read successful techniques that will help you become a better listener. But whatever you do, you must begin showing your prospects you care, and best way to do that is by listening.

Trust me when I tell you that these three simple rules are the bedrock of success in sales. Eighty percent of your competition won’t do these things, but if you will, you will smoke them in sales. In fact, you can become a Top 5% or even a Top 1% producer if you will just take the time to make these rules daily habits.

Remember – first we form habits and then they form us.

I was talking to a real estate agent the other day about the importance of disqualifying leads, and he told me an interesting story about their office’s top producer. He was talking to her one day and asking her what she did that made her so successful. She said her secret could be summed up with one word. When he asked what it was she said:

NEXT.

The moment I heard him tell me that I was in total agreement. I told him that was what I was trying to teach him with my disqualifying method. The majority of people you speak with, I told him, are never going to be a deal. The problem 80% of sales reps make is they spend time with them anyway, sending information, making multiple appointments, and begging and chasing the deal.

The Top 20%? Their attitude is — NEXT. And that’s when he said something interesting. He said he was afraid to let go because he didn’t want to chance losing a sale.

“If you don’t know after qualifying and listening to your prospect what it’s going to take to get the sale, and who isn’t a real buyer, then you’ve got problems — big problems.” I told him.

“I guess I kind of know but you can never be sure,” he said.

I’m here to tell you that it’s that attitude that separates the bottom 80% of sales reps from the Top 20%! The Top 20% know when to say, and aren’t afraid of saying, NEXT.

If you are an inside sales manager (or director or V.P.), then I know you spend a lot of time in meetings – meetings with the marketing department coming up with strategies to create and close more leads, meetings with the owner forecasting revenue numbers, meetings with sales reps going through their pipelines, meetings with potential new reps, sales meetings, sales training meetings, etc.  I get it – you’re busy.

During your busy days and weeks managing and juggling the 100 other responsibilities in your position, how much time do you actually spend coaching your reps through the prospects in their pipeline?  In other words, how often do you get involved during a stage in the sales process to intervene and coach the skills and techniques that are needed to advance that particular prospect through to a closed sale? 

In a report on sales management I just read from csoinsights.com, “World-Class Sales Management: Closing What You Forecast,” it differentiates between two sales management “flavors”: either reactive sales management or proactive sales management.  It defines proactive sales management as: 

“What we meant is that managers need to know which reps need what type of help to resolve what issues related to what deals to get them to close opportunities when promised.  To any seasoned sales professional, improving management’s ability to effectively coach their teams is viewed as a useful objective, but let us share with you why it is actually mission critical” 

According to this article, proactive coaching not only leads to an increase in sales (win rates), but something more: 

“The increase in win rates is generated by a decrease in both competitive losses and no decisions.  When managers can reach out early and often to the reps who need their help the most on any given day, they can help them develop strong business cases all the way through the sales cycle to ensure the prospect can cost justify moving forward with their purchase decision.  In addition, they can ensure their salespeople are able to differentiate themselves from the competition so that when a final decision is made they walk out the door with the order.” 

Decreasing competitive losses and no decisions is crucial because it means that your reps will spend less time with unqualified non-buyers.  This means they will spend less time practicing poor selling skills on prospects who aren’t going to buy.  This will make them more confident and successful, and it reduces the money and time your company spends on chasing bad leads that should have been disqualified out a lot earlier.  This is why proactive coaching is seen as “mission critical.” 

 So what exactly is proactive coaching?  Like the article points out, a big part of it is understanding which reps need help at which part of the sales cycle that is going to make the most difference in moving the sale forward.  It’s also being “proactive in taking action when deals started to go off track.”  It means that you and your reps are on the same page with each prospect and with each step of the sales process.  

Proactive coaching is very different than ‘rear view mirror’ sales management.  Unfortunately, many mangers still coach after the fact, after the deal has been lost.  They coach on metrics and results. This kind of managing has its place, but it’s not effective in driving sales during the sales cycle. 

OK, so how do you learn to be a proactive sales manager?  The article mentions several elements including hiring the right managers with the right skill sets, benchmarking activities, and getting the right actionable data through a “Pipeline Accelerator” CRM type of system.  

Besides that, though, what is needed is to teach your managers the proper coaching activities that will allow them to help your reps succeed during the actual sale.  Methods I recommend are having a phone that allows the manager to listen into both sides of the call live – this allows him or her to actively coach the rep through the sale as it happens.  Another technique is to actively use instant messaging so the manager can send messages to all sales reps while they are on calls, and a third way is to actively use call recording as a way of prepping the rep for the next call.  

If you would like to learn a complete system for teaching inside sales managers to be more proactive in their coaching, see a dedicated product I created for it here (scroll down to “Option Two”). 

I encourage you to read the csoinsight.com white paper on this subject and to invest in ways of making your inside manager more effective.  It will increase your sales team’s win rates and put more money in all of your pockets.

Social media is all the rage right now and for good reason: We are all social beings and with virtually unlimited access to reviews, opinions, updates, people, information, etc, it would be foolish not to plug into it all and leverage this tool to make connections, make better decisions, learn about companies, products and options, and gain an edge in our personal and professional lives.  And we all do.

Social media has changed our lives in many ways, and it’s changed the way we make buying decisions as well.  If you’re like most people today, you probably search several sites, read reviews, look for deals and coupons and then think about it before you make a decision to buy.  It’s obviously changed the way your prospects buy as well and that leads us to the million dollar question: Exactly how beneficial is social media in helping you sell more of your products and services? 

To hear the social media pundits talk about it, they make it seem that without a strong and sustained presence and strategy in social media, you will get left in the dust.  They promise that if you just write your profile properly on LinkedIn and join enough groups (and are active enough in those groups), get enough people to Like you on Facebook, and spend the right amount of time and activities on other appropriate social networking sites, then you’ll have all the business and referrals you’ll ever need.  Ah, the promise of this global paradise is enticing, isn’t it?  

But does it work? 

To answer that, you just have to ask yourself this:  How much of your business last month came as a direct result of your involvement in social media?   

If you’re like most of the companies and sales reps I speak with, it’s less than 5%.  If that matches up with your results, then you understand why it’s important for you to use social media carefully and intelligently.  That means two things: 1) Don’t let it soak up all of your time (face it, it’s addictive!), and 2) Get the information you need and then do what you do best: prospect, qualify and close decision makers.  

Let’s face it.  While social media, company marketing and referrals are all great ways of meeting prospects, the only real activity that is directly under your control is to pick up the phone and call someone.  In fact, the most successful sales reps in all the industries I work with still make the most amount of outbound calls (either cold calls, warm calls to existing prospects and customers, or follow up calls to prospects identified in a carefully orchestrated social media campaign).  

Now don’t get me wrong.  Social media is a great tool and I use it all the time.  What I’m saying is don’t confuse being busy in social media as the same thing as being busy at what you’re hired to do – prospect and close business.  In other words, identify where you get most of your business from and then do more of that.  And for most successful sales teams, that means identify the best leads and then pick up the phone and make a qualifying call.  

Let me use a personal example.  There are many ways for me to generate leads and deals in my business as a sales consultant.  I’ve spent thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours pursuing one new “distraction” after another.  I’ve pursued social media, pay per click advertising, webinars with associations, multi-level marketing deals, joined endless groups, etc.  And while all these avenues bring me some results, nothing makes me more money than picking up the phone and calling on prospects and current customers.  Period. 

 So, does social media work in bringing you new business?  I would say that it’s one of many new ways of finding new prospects and making new connections.  But at the end of the day, where does the majority of your business come from? 

If you can answer that, then do everything you can to get better at it and spend more time doing it.  Your result, like mine and all of my clients, is that you’ll make more money as a result.

You know what the nice thing about the truth is?  It doesn’t change.  What’s true today was true yesterday and it will be true tomorrow and next year as well.  It’s like math: 2 + 2 = 4.  You will always get 4 no matter what you’re adding, and no matter where you add it – in this country or in outer space.

And it’s the same in sales.  There are certain sales truths that are true no matter what you’re selling, no matter where you’re selling it or who you’re selling it too, and no matter what the economy is doing or how your company is doing, or whatever.  Just like 2 + 2 will always equal 4, these sales truths will always work for you – or against you.

That’s the good thing about the following 5 truths: If you follow them, stick to them, abide by them, you will close more sales with less frustration.  On the other hand, if you ignore them or try to deceive yourself into thinking that maybe, just maybe, it won’t be true for this particular prospect, then you do so at your own expense.  The expense of lost sales, much frustration and pressure, are the penalties for not following the following 5 sales truths:

1)      You can’t close an unqualified lead.  Seems straight forward enough, doesn’t it?  And yet 80% of sales reps across all industries are trying to do just that – close prospects that should never have made it into their pipeline to begin with.  To test this, ask yourself, “Out of 10 leads or prospects that send information to and follow up with, how many turn into deals?”  If you’re like the average sales rep, your answer is one to two.

What this means is that 80% of the leads in your pipeline weren’t qualified to begin with and were never going to close.  This is where the ‘sales is a numbers game’ philosophy came from.  The solution to his is to learn the most important skill in all of sales – learn to disqualify rather than to qualify your leads.

2)      Leads never get better when you call them back.  Let me ask you, “How many times have you called back a prospect and found they were actually more interested and receptive than they were when you first called them?”  Rarely, right?  This sales truth is similar to the first one in that the more important thing you can do is properly qualify your leads.

People ask me all the time what the secret to closing sales is.  They are surprised by my answer, but it’s always the same: The secret to closing is that you have to find someone who not only needs your product or service, but is ready, willing and able to buy it.  In other words, see sales truth #1.

3)      The objection, “I want to think about it” usually means no.  Again, ask yourself this question: “How many times have you actually closed a prospect who tells you this and then gets you off the phone?”  Almost never, right?  The reason is that this objection is one of the most used smokescreens ever created to mask the real objection – which is usually that they’ve made a decision to not use you and they don’t want to have to argue with you or explain why not.

The only way to deal with this (and it’s not, “Oh, then when should I call you back?”) is to use a close that gets them to tell you the truth (see my blog for examples), and then learn why they weren’t qualified to begin with and do a better job qualifying your next prospect (otherwise you’re going to repeat this hundreds of times in your career).

4)      Your success is always, 100% up to you.  Until you take 100% responsibility for yourself (not 90% or 99%), you will always look for (and find) an excuse for not achieving what you want.  For years I would point to bad leads, a bad economy, a bad territory, etc., as reasons why I wasn’t a top producer.  When my manager pointed to the top reps driving porches and living in the homes I could only dream about, I found other excuses…

It wasn’t until I took 100% responsibility for my life and my results that I finally shed the excuses and found a way to succeed – no matter what.  And once I adopted that attitude, I accomplished more than I ever dreamed possible.  And still do.  There’s a saying that if you’re not part of the problem, then there’s no solution.  If you take 100% responsibility for your results and your life, you’ll find a way to succeed.  All winners do.

5)      Some sales people should be selling something else – or not selling at all.  I’ve been managing and training sales people for over 25 years and this is one of the consistent truths in all of sales.  It’s a hard truth to swallow, at first, but once you follow it, everyone’s life gets easier.

Let’s take the first part.  Some people are better at outside sales then inside sales.  Some people are better at a longer sales cycle than a short one.  Some people are better at selling a service than a product, and some are better at B to B and others better at B to C.  Ask yourself what you are best at and what makes you the happiest, then go sell that kind of product.

Second, not everyone is cut to be in sales.  That doesn’t make you a bad person rather, it’s just the truth.  Some people are better in a customer service role.  Some people are better in marketing.  And some people are better off going back to school and learning a different profession.  Again, be honest with yourself and ask yourself what you are best at and what makes you the happiest.  Then go out and pursue what will make you happiest (and more successful).

So there you have it.  Twenty five years of experience boiled down into 5 sales truths.  Are there more?  Of course, but you’ll have to wait for another article for that…

Many times a week I’m asked several things:

“Is cold calling dead?”

“What is the best way to keep track of your calls and call backs?”

“Is there an easy way to record your calls?”

“How can you keep all your scripts near you so they are easy to get to when you need them?”

Whenever I asked these types of questions, my answer is always the same:

Have you tried the best CRM solution on the planet for inside sales: VanillaSoft? VanillaSoft does it all – keeps track of your leads, organizes your call backs, displays your scripts, records your calls, and SO MUCH MORE.

They even have a “Lite” version that will fit many selling situations for just $16 a month!

Try it for free for 30 days here.

I want to share an email the owner of the company, Ken Murray, sent me the other day:

Dear Mike,

You and I always joke about the naysayers that claim the phone is dead, cold calling is old school, social medial has the answers and so on. Well my friend, you still remain a leading force in helping those that sell by phone do it more professionally and successfully and VanillaSoft remains the leading software platform driving phone sales. Perhaps we are getting the last laugh.

If we had listened to the pundits we would have pulled the plug years ago. Selling by phone is dead they yelled. We heard it all. No one uses the phone anymore; people can’t be reached. If you reach them they do not want to be bothered. When sales people kept selling by phone in growing numbers, the voices remained loud but changed directions slightly. The new chant was “cold calling is dead.” To be successful by phone, you must social-sell. Well Mike, here we are at the end of 2011 and I am here to tell you that the phone is still alive and well, cold calling still works and companies still sell and acquire customers by phone. Why? Because as you and I know, it still works!

Knowing this does not give one permission to stick you head in the sand and ignore the changing dynamics of selling by phone. Yes– you can still cold call and be successful. But, you can do it more professionally, more productively and more successfully. The pundits were wrong on many accounts, but the concerns they raised led to many new market innovations and selling techniques (and training) that greatly enhanced selling by phone. Think of the early DNC (Do Not Call) regulations. It was said that this will kill the industry and end selling by phone once and for all. It actually had the opposite effect. Today, companies benefit from DNC by not calling those individuals that have opted out. They were the “guaranteed NOs” that in past days you would have had to spend time and effort on. Today, the government has removed them for you. The legislation actually saves businesses money. Nice! How often do we hear that about any government regulation?

The same is true for software and the many innovations that have taken place in the last several years. Using your father’s CRM, contact management, or a “dialer” to sell by phone is like- well, sticking your head into the sand again. Today, many choices are flourishing that can make your phone selling efforts more professional, more productive and more successful. Gone are the days of one-trick ponies. Today’s software can be deployed as SaaS, up and running in hours and deliver amazing functionality for cold calling, setting appointments and selling by phone. The functionality, features and modules can be tailored to your specific selling needs. An abundant amount of research has been conducted in the last few years highlighting what features “best-in-class” companies are deploying to maintain their success. Many features are covered in the white paper, “Why Traditional CRM is Not Enough.” Simply visit: click on the title and you can have it for free.

Selling by phone is alive and well. The pundits and naysayers have not killed it. Doing it right, leveraging the new tools available and garnering new success… that is up to you. Get the best training and marry it to the best software. That is my story and I am sticking to it.

Great Selling in 2012!

Ken

Grab a Free Trial of VanillaSoft from Mike’s page at http://www.vanillasoft.com/mrinsidesales

Thanks, Ken. Again, if you are looking for an affordable, robust and highly effective CRM solution for your calling situation, check out VanillaSoft.