Tag: strategic

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Experience Hiring Sales Tips

Judged by Your Rolodex

Sound familiar in some way?  Some think size matters, others think quality does.  I am of the opinion that sales organizations that look for sales people with a big Rolodex are putting the cart before the horse.  What really surprises me is that the word “rolodex” still exists in the vocabulary of the modern salesforce.  With today’s technology, there are far better places to effectively manage your contacts.

Having a well stacked contact list is not necessarily the best hiring criteria of a sales person, yet it still carries considerable weight.  I believe it is one of the worst measures and needs to be removed from the “must have” list.  Let me explain why.

The current state of social media lends itself to everyone having a big contact list.  I like the analogy of your phone book’s white pages.  If you live in or near a metropolitan area, the white pages contain thousands of names.  Do you know everyone included in the phone  book?  No, and that is my point. Same applies to your contact list.  The amount of time necessary to keep up with a rolodex that size leaves no time to do what a salesperson was hired to do: SELL! I’m not saying someone doesn’t have that many contacts, I’m saying that the relevance of the names to the position being filled is probably a fairly low percentage.  I say “probably” because the majority of salespeople do not move to another company that is selling the same line of products.  Ok, granted some do, but most don’t.

With today’s economy, an experienced sales professional (bag carrying or manager) is expected to have a list of contacts.  Personally, I keep 4-5 thousand names.  Sound like a lot?  Not really when you consider my list is broken down into an industry list.  Those individual lists are small in comparison to the whole.  The key is they are valid!

What I find truly amazing is sales managers still believe when they find a candidate that states they have contacts at Fortune 500 companies including the CxOs,  that this is going to be the hiring difference.  What makes you think IF you did have those contacts that the company would just rip out their existing product and plug yours in?  For every contact you have, an investment may not have run the course of the ROI.  There are few questions hiring mangers need to ask themselves:

  • Does a big rolodex equal qualified leads?
  • Ask your self about brand equity–a relationship established under one does not guarantee success somewhere else
  • Are you that desperate that you believe this person’s contacts will boost revenue?

There are situations where having the contacts is a good thing.  Selling services, which can and should be viewed as an intangible is probably a better use for the contact list.  In conclusion, the next time you hire someone, don’t ask about the size, rather how many names are relevant to the position.

If you find this useful, 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
Experience Sales Advice

Getting Past the Gatekeepers

Gatekeepers:

Every organization has them, though that is not their primary purpose.  They can be the scourge of the planet or your best friend.  Which would you prefer?  Regardless of what a sales manager says or expects, it isn’t always possible to call the decision maker direct.  That doesn’t mean you will never talk to them, just that you are not starting with them.

Gatekeepers or non-decision making entities can actually help you.  Learning how to deal with them is paramount in gaining access to the real decision makers.  This is the sister article to Reaching the Decision Makers published a few weeks ago.  So how do you start when encountering a gatekeeper?

  • Ask questions having an answer(s) only the decision maker can answer (or a high likelihood).  This allows them to direct you to someone who does know the answer.  If they pause, or show a hesitation in wanting to let you know, ask if they could suggest someone.
  • Ask what functional units your product might impact.  Now ask for that person’s name.
  • Use your past experience and suggest that similar past projects always involved the CIO or CFO.  By doing this, you can ask, “Are you sure the CIO or CFO (or whomever is applicable) will not need to see this”?

Gatekeepers have the duty to guard the castle thereby protecting the company.  Some take this responsibility particularly personal and will do what is necessary to swat everyone that tries to enter.  The problem with this is they really do a lot of harm.  The jury is still out on if the harm is more than the good.  Sales people have two reactions to the gatekeepers; love ’em, hate ’em. Those that hate ’em are the ones that are not successful in winning their support.

When you first encounter a gatekeeper, they usually ask the typical, who you are and what you want.  Most will ask you to send some “documentation or some brochures”.  To get past this, simply say “I would love to but we do not have the standard type of documentation you typically receive from other companies.  If Mr. CxO is interested in saving XYZ% off his bottom line expenses, then I would be happy to discuss this with him and follow up with custom documentation.”

This immediately compels them to pass this on, make the appointment or put you through right then.  It also does not pigeon-hole you as a vendor or salesperson; you are bringing value.  This is where you start to build yourself as a trusted business partner.  If there is any push back, ask if they think the XYZ% is compelling to them.  How can they say no?  They can, but the logic of doing so escapes me.

In closing, there are basically two types of gatekeepers, the one that is charged with keeping everyone out, and the other has the discretion to pass value-producing propositions through.  You can be fairly certain of the type you have run into by asking the above question.   One last item you might try if there seems to be an interest on the part of the gatekeeper, just not the willingness to pass you on. Ccntinue the conversation with the gatekeeper.  Educate them on the value of your solution. They can actually pre-sell the idea in your stead.

If you find this useful, 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
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
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