Go out and sell something! Way too many companies adhere to this line of thinking and sell the wrong prospect at the wrong margins. Before you get ready to “sell something,” put some thought into who you should sell to, how to create the opportunity to sell, and what it takes to gain a competitive advantage resulting in a profitable win. Here are three points to consider:
1. Get clear on your ideal client.
Not everyone deserves to be your client. I repeat, not everyone deserves to be your client. What type of prospect does your company serve best? What type of prospect is willing to pay for your expertise and services? There are three basic areas to consider when identifying your ideal client:
- Size of client: Is there a certain dollar volume where you win more business? Does a mid-size company need and value your services more than a Fortune 500?
- Niche: Is there a niche that your solutions serve exceptionally well? Is it possible for you to become the ‘go to’ person in a niche and own it?
- Philosophy: Ideal clients will treat you as a partner, not a vendor. They believe in win-win relationships where everyone makes a fair profit versus nickel and diming over every transaction.
2. Develop a comprehensive prospecting strategy around your ideal client.
Too many companies focus on one type of prospecting activity for generating leads, i.e., they make 25 cold calls a day. A good prospecting strategy is similar to a well-planned financial portfolio. It is diversified and includes a variety of sales activities. Here are three sales activities to incorporate in your business development plan:
- Referral partners: Start meeting with other vendors who call on the same prospects as you but don’t offer a competing product or service. Create a “mini sales team” and help each other grow revenues. Referrals are the most powerful lead source because it places you in front of qualified prospects resulting in shorter sales cycles and bigger deals.
- Associations: The key to associations is getting involved with a committee or running a committee. If you are just attending the meeting, chances are you will get the same results as everyone else attending the meeting…little to none. The reason is simple. People of influence on committees and are more likely and able to provide introductions to your ideal clients when you are more involved.
- Host a workshop: Partner with other organizations and host a workshop that brings prospects into the room. For example, we partner with a local law firm and invite clients to a “Selecting and Hiring Top Sales Talent” workshop. The law firm has clients that need to learn how to build high performing sales teams and we have clients that want to learn about employee law and contracts.
3. Learn how to run a consultative sales call.
If you are still selling features, advantages and benefits, there is a good chance you will be beat by the sales professional employing critical thinking skills and consultative selling skills. The consultative salesperson knows how to “quantify the prospect’s pain” and win deals at higher margins. Today’s prospect expects a couple of things; 1) they want a sales professional that makes their brain “hurt” and, 2) they expect the salesperson to understand the business of business. It is important to show how solutions provided by your product or services incorporate into the prospect’s overall business strategy.
Start influencing that bottom line by executing an effective sales strategy and closing with effective sales tactics.
Leanne Hoagland-Smith
Are your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else?
Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results.
If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute.
The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?"
Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website
Dave Kurlan
Dave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development.
Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit.
He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine.
He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball.
He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website
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Colleen Stanley is the founder and
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She is a monthly columnist for
national Business Journals,
co-author of 'Motivational Selling'
and author of 'Growing Great Sales
Teams: Lessons from the Cornfield.'
Colleen was the featured speaker on
sales for the 2006 New York Times
Small Business Summit.
Colleen Stanley is the creator of
the EI Selling System™, a unique
and powerful sales program that
integrates emotional intelligence
skills with consultative sales
skills. EI Selling™ offers programs
in prospecting, referral
strategies, consultative sales
training, sales management
training, and hiring/selection.
Prior to starting SalesLeadership,
Colleen was vice president of sales
and marketing for Varsity Spirit
Corporation. During her 10 years at
Varsity, sales increased from 8M to
90M. To hire Colleen as a keynote
speaker or corporate trainer,
contact Katie Kochenberger at
303-708-1128 or
katie@salesleadershipdevelopment.co
m.
http://www.salesleadershipdevelopme
nt.com
Colleen Stanley is a Gold author on EvanCarmichael.com
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