Tag: selling

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Leads Sales Advice Sales Basics

How to Build a Sales Pipeline

I was asked this question recently and thought I would try to answer in this post.  As simple and easy as it sounds, some intricacies need to be worked out before you ever begin.  My last article, “Cold Calling is Dead-Or Is It?” addresses an old method of simply picking up the phone and dialing.  Not much in that thought process! Nor, much success!

The trick (or secret) is to use your time wisely to build as big a sales pipeline in the shortest amount of time.  After all, the clock is ticking and the sooner you get a score on the board, the easier it is to garner some breathing room.  So where do you start if you have what is considered a fairly greenfield territory? Or your company’s presence has been minor?

You start with a collaborative meeting with your sales manager and the lead generation support (I talk more about this further down) Work with marketing to get awareness and interest in your area.  If you do not have any marketing effort at your disposal, your job is going to be a bit tough.  At the very least, you will have a sales manager, and between the both of you, you need to understand your target market, and how best to segment that market.

Building your pipeline is a bit like asking someone how to paint a picture.  You are going to get several different answers and many methods. I have seen this question asked in an interview.  It is unfair to ask someone without first establishing the premise for the question because it can have many different answers and none of them wrong.  Usually the person asking is looking for the same answer that is in their head so answering it differently does not make it wrong, just different.  Unfortunately, some interviewers do not see it that way.  That is why I think you need to understand from a collaborative view, what management is thinking and form your strategy and tactics from there.  There is not really a wrong or right answer because it can go both ways depending on the end objective.

You have to ask yourself two questions: Am I looking for numbers or am I looking for qualified numbers?  Let’s assume the latter. Qualified leads are the life-source of every company.  Why?  These leads have had a positive response from a potential customer.  If handled correctly, they turn into sales.  Lead nurturing is an absolute necessity to keep this potential opportunity from dying on the vine or your competition to swoop in and steal this right from under your nose.
Earlier I spoke of lead generation. Regardless of the size of a company, lead generation and nurturing is a requirement; period.  Your field sales force needs to be closing sales, not seeking qualified leads.  This role is one of the most overlooked, yet one of the most vital position for supporting a field-based sales force.  When you ramp-up your sales force, place serious importance on how this team is going to be getting their leads.  Do you know why companies always have a ramp up time?  Partly because of the training, but mostly because of the time to get there territory in order.

I realize there are other methods, but these really just lend themselves to the efforts of a dedicated lead generation machine.  Personal leads, contacts, and luck all are good, but a coordinated marketing and lead generation plan should be an integral part of sales.

If you find this useful, Contact Me or better yet, leave a comment. If you have a Twitter account and found this article useful, it would be much appreciated if you would retweet this with the tool at the beginning of the article!

Happy Selling!

Ed Warner

Categories
Experience Sales Advice

Shoulda, Coulda, Gotta

This phrase caught my eye a few weeks ago when I saw it as a headline for an article on the U.S. debt.  I began to wonder if there was a message here for the sales community. Sure enough, there is..Voila, my next article! The original article addresses the realization that our elected officials are going to have to come to terms with the fiscal issues over the mounting federal debt.  So too does a salesperson have to address the issue of a mounting quota. The successful ones are those that plan for the triumphant climb to the top of Quota Mountain. Indeed, if you cannot climb you cannot be successful.

For those that are on a different fiscal calendar than others, that’s ok as the same advice applies here as well. Now that we are into the 2nd (calendar) quarter I ask:  “How was your first quarter?” Good, great? Ok, maybe you don’t need to read the rest of this article! If not, or the quarter just doesn’t seem to be getting enough steam to roll into the end of the year, maybe I can help.

Let’s back up to last year…Early 4th quarter to be exact. Did you do any planning for this year?

This is the first part I call Shoulda!
While I don’t like to dwell on things we can’t change, that doesn’t mean we cannot analyze for a better next quarter. Keep in mind the goal is to build for the end. Remember Quota Mountain? That’s the objective.  This is the time a lot of junior and some senior sales people as well, realize that hindsight is 20/20.  Here is some advice to keep from looking back over your shoulder.

  • Plan every step of your next move. Plan for what might not happen rather than what will.
  • Keep progress notes and use what works.
  • Look to your sales organization and the management to see what they expect you to use as best practices.

I like to take 5 top clients from the prior year and use the strategy that worked with them to align myself to the current list of clients.  This gives you a running head-start and allows you to change your tactics as needed.

The second part I call Coulda!
This part can also be considered a “looking over the shoulder” move.  If you lost a deal, the first thing one tends to say is “I coulda done that!”. If you have said this, then I have one question for you: “Why didn’t you?” Do not get into the mode of never wanting to take a chance if the decision is based on sound advice or information.

Strategically, you have to outsell you competition. It is not about what your widget does; it is about how that widget can solve a business roadblock.  Ask yourself this, “How important is my product to the strategy of the company I’m trying to sell to?” Can you answer this? No? Go match your pitch to the company’s goals.

Finally, the third part of this is what I call Gotta!
If you have arrived at the end of the year still doing the two parts above, Should & Coulda, you will undoubtedly fall into this third part.  The pressure in making your number is going to be intense and unless you are skilled at pulling a rabbit out of the hat, your chances of year-end success is minimal at best. Panic is going to bear down with the words “I Gotta make my numbers!” There isn’t much I can offer as advice at this point other than to say, “Don’t wind up here– “

I leave you with this quote from Erma Bombeck.  Apply it every day to your life as a salesperson. It will yield awesome results!

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, “I used everything you gave me.”


If you find this article of value please comment. Have a Twitter account? I would be most appreciative if you would retweet this at the top of the article!

Happy Selling!

Ed Warner

Categories
Social Media

Social Media and Sales

I wrote an article a few months back, “Selling Under the Social Media Umbrella”, in which I described more or less, the evolution that took place that brought us to where we are today. So, fast forward six months and look how much it seems to have changed.

People are coming out of the woodwork to claim instant superiority as social media gurus. It seems most are saying they can increase exposure, double sales, and increase your bottom line. Here’s a suggestion, ask for proof! I did from one such claim only to be told it was confidential information. What!? This is not to say they cannot be of some help, they can, it just some precautions. The problem with social media today is it is too raw an avenue to have “experts”. You can have some experience, but only to a point, but certainly not experts. Those proclaiming themselves as experts are grabbing from their legacy marketing experience and throwing the social media cover over your eyes. “Buyer Tread with Caution”.

Social Media takes time and a lot of commitment with the understanding that it is a continuous process; one that you just do not jump into. Social media is not for every business or industry. The smaller the organization, the least benefit it reaps. The reason is fairly simple. The amount of time involved is prohibitive. Smaller businesses simply do not have the resources. This is about the time they begin to look for help. The problem is, they are not sure what type of help they really need, they simply believe it is a quick way to help their business. Unfortunately,  they turn to and rely on the self-proclaimed “experts“.

I believe social media should be called “Commercial Media”. This avenue is best exploited by bigger industries that have a much larger ROI. Bigger industries have the stamina for the long-term. Let me stop here and explain something. Social media is not the same as social networking; either for business or pleasure. Social media is an evolving source of communication. I am not saying there is any benefit to smaller companies, rather smaller companies simply cannot expect the plethora of return an organization with a huge marketing budget can expect.

Social media is an offshoot of marketing. Like any other marketing campaign, a social media campaign’s success is in the execution. If done correctly, the impact can be huge. Done poorly, social media will be deemed a failure as a medium of information dissemination.

For the foreseeable future, social media will be a passive path for sales. It will eventually evolve into an active path, but not for some time. Social networking will be the next path for commercial business despite the muddling around of those that now view it has a fad.

Find this article useful, interesting? Contact Me or please leave a comment. If you have a Twitter account and found this article useful, it would be much appreciated if you would retweet this at the beginning of the article!

Happy Selling!

Ed Warner

Categories
Sales Advice Sales Tips

Sales-Transactional vs. Strategic

We all hear it, but for those that don’t really understand the difference, the nuances of strategic selling overshadow the transactional aspect, but not so much that one can’t be strategic in a transactional sales opportunity.

Transactional selling is really about treating the product or service as a commodity image7rather than a strategic investment. We participate in transactional engagements on almost every trip to the grocery store, and we for the most part, don’t give it a second thought. But what would happen if that item was now a major piece in your way of life that required a substantial cash outlay? Exactly! Now look who has to “kick the tires” and really do some investigating! In addition, for you (the male) that are married, you also have to get the VP of Household Finance to sign-off on the purchase. You have just stepped into the world of strategic selling.

Very little value add is afforded a transactional sale and what exists is mainly in the form of immediate need/price matching. You have a [need] for 100 roles of paper; I have them for 50 cents [price] a roll. The reason for little or no value add is there are no non-standard business inputs (needs) that would require much more than the exchange of goods and cash. A salesperson would only need to uncover the need, establish a quasi-relationship, and fill that need for product or service. image2The biggest challenge in this short sales cycle window is for the salesperson to uncover the maximum price the buyer would pay, all the while the buyer is determining your lowest selling  price. The main characters in this off-Broadway play are usually the salesperson and the  procurement department.

The image below is a chart from Neil Rackham, the author of “Spin Selling”, a course I took and can recommend. Neil does have a newer book, “Rethinking the Salesforce” that teaches the same principles from his previous book. Although aimed at bigger sales organizations, it is highly effective for smaller groups that wish to grow their business in a volatile market as it addresses the technological changes that have occurred.

Click on chart for bigger picture….

transactional-consultative

Strategic, consultative, solution, complex, relationship, and even enterprise selling are pretty much the same term, and for the sake of this article are going to be treated as such.
Strategic selling is a long-term sell that typically takes 6 months or more. In some extreme cases, I have witnessed a 18 month sales cycle. In today’s environment, these are taking even longer and transactional sales are beginning to mimic the cycle times of typical strategic sales. Strategic selling is a systematic sell in that a formal process is undertaken on both the buying and selling side. A strategic sale is one that demands a ROI because it is usually a capital investment project. The dollar amount will vary according to what you sell and to whom, but my experience in enterprise sales the typical deals are $500k-$1M. With this dollar amount there is a lot at stake on both sides.

The complexity of a strategic sale involves many decision makers from the buying side and many reviewers from the selling side. This is the reason I wrote in a previous article about having a game plan, hence your effectiveness to manage a sale of this nature is compromised unless you have a formal process because of the complexities in this type of sale. The following are additional points that are just as important to remember.

  • Relationships with the customer is of the utmost importance
  • Solution sell to a customer’s perceived need
  • Your skills as a listener and your ability to formulate a workable solution will play a major role
  • Substantial time will be invested once the deal is qualified
  • Your skills as it relates to dealing with C-level executives are paramount. Know how to talk their talk

I hope this gives a better feel to what’s involved in either type of sales. Regardless, appropriate selling techniques have to be used in order to maximize your effectiveness for not only what you sell, but to whom you are selling. This short article does not cover the complete scope of strategic selling, which in itself could be many chapters.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and as always, I do appreciate and welcome your comments. Feel free to contact me should you have additional questions.

Happy Selling!

Ed Warner