|
|
Like this article? PLEASE +1 it! |  |
|
Sue Barrett Articles
Written by: Sue BarrettHow Your Procurement Practices Affect Your Sales and Brand - Click To Read Article
Ethical selling and procurement (purchasing) is now in the spotlight. Harvey Norman’s recent publicity surrounding their supposed sourcing and use of Australian native old growth forest timbers in their Chinese made furniture has drawn light on retail procurement practices. Procurement is now fairly and squarely in the spotlight and choices surrounding sourcing and distribution activities can have a dramatic effect on a company’s brand, reputation and sales revenue.
When should we appoint a Sales Manager? - Click To Read Article
For many start ups and small businesses having a full time sales manager in place is not a viable option. Firstly, there is usually no one to lead and manage in the sales function however, the function of sales management should be on your ‘To Do List’ as a business owner/manager even if you are sales managing yourself. Paying attention to your sales activities and results, developing your sales strategy and plan, knowing who to target, etc. all form part of a sales manager's role.
The real $ value of role playing - Click To Read Article
Tell almost any sales person they are going to participate in role plays as part of their sales training and you will hear a collective groan. In short most sales people hate role playing. It is often seen as a form of potential embarrassment, or something stilted and false. Many people feel self conscious and don’t want to look ‘bad’ in front of their peers. It doesn’t help either that over 90% of all sales people follow no logical processes when selling.
Why hiring or keeping the 600lb sales gorilla is a mistake - Click To Read Article
For many years the legend of the 600lb sales gorilla or Alpha sales superstar has been strutting the hallways and boardrooms of businesses. Often revered for achieving top of the league ladder sales results, yet feared by many for their aggressive, manipulative, ego centric, demanding, intimidating antics, countless CEO’s and sales managers have allowed these sales prima donnas to remain in their sales teams but at what cost to their sales team and their business?
The Yin Yang of Selling - Click To Read Article
In the 20th century the emphasis on B2B selling had a distinct aggressive ring to it. So much so, that you could walk down the halls of many businesses and think that you were involved in big game hunting. Many of these teams saw selling as an extreme sport, or more precisely, Big Game Fishing or Hunting. * Customers were ‘Targets’. * Getting a sale was referred to as ‘the Kill’. * Customers were regarded as objects to be possessed or trophies to be placed in their cabinet.
Price is what you pay. Value is what you get. - Click To Read Article
I recently had the pleasure of attending and speaking at the 6th CIPS Australasia Annual Conference for the procurement profession. It was my third invitation to speak at a CIPSA event in my capacity as a professional representing the sales profession. The theme for this conference was ‘Managing Volatility’. A key message I gleaned from the conference was Value Management rather than the narrow band width of Cost Management.
How can we learn from our best sales performers? - Click To Read Article
How do we get the rest of our sales team learning from our top performers? Should we get our top sales performer in front of our sales team to teach them how to be more effective? Well that all depends… * How well does that top sales performer understand how and why they sell well? * Can they articulate what they do in a step by step process? * Can they teach to the others in a simple and meaningful way? * Do they want to teach others?
Planning for 2011 - Click To Read Article
Budgeting and developing strategy for 2011 should be near the top of your ‘to-do’ list right now or be bedded down already. People complain about being too busy and never having enough time, however if you do not make time for regular planning you will let everyone down. Make time to work on: * Forecasting * Evaluating staff hiring and implementing staff development plans * Ensuring that your marketing calendar is planned through to June 2011 at a minimum
How much training should I give my sales team? - Click To Read Article
Highly effective sales people and teams do not happen by chance. A study by Aberdeen Group (2009) of 8,500 top performing companies with a turnover in excess of $50 million, showed that the highest performing of these in each of their industries provided their sales teams with no less than 8 days of focussed sales training per year, and this did not include product training.
How do I lead and manage a virtual or remote sales team? - Click To Read Article
More and more organisations are adopting virtual teaming and remote working. They are doing this to achieve wider reach and tighter integration, reduce their carbon footprint, decentralise operations and allow their staff to benefit from less travel and more home working. This type of work environment has been around in sales teams for a long time, and with the advent of technology, a sales person may not even have to come into the ‘office’ for weeks.
Are your listening skills costing you or making you money? - Click To Read Article
Who is really listening? … Genuinely, sincerely and honestly listening? I’m noticing a lot more telling and a lot less listening lately. You only have to watch the ABC program ‘Q&A’ to see the number of politicians who have great trouble listening – to anything except themselves. They interrupt others giving answers to questions that were never asked. No wonder we are a bit jaded and cynical.
Are you ready for Sustainable Selling? - Click To Read Article
With the green agenda comes Sustainable Selling. More and more questions are being asked by many about how we can best manage this relationship now and for future generations? I recently attended and spoke at the 6th CIPS Australasia Annual Conference (peak industry body for the Procurement Profession) where Sustainability was well and truly on the agenda.
How well are you Weathering the Storm? - Click To Read Article
While there have been ups and downs in the business world, over the last 20+ years for the most part, many of us in the western world have been able to ride on the back of posterity and market growth. Up until the GFC, many fortunate sales people and business people found making sales straightforward and easy, however these tougher, contracting markets have left many wanting in the sales stakes. The current breed of 20-40 year old sales people and business people had never experienced business under these conditions before.
Missed & Lost Sales Opportunities - Click To Read Article
Not enough new business coming? Sales drying up? Not making a satisfactory impact when in front of prospective clients?
Why we should take customer service more seriously - Click To Read Article
I propose that customer service is an assertive act, a proactive role that has an incredible impact on the attraction and retention of customers. It represents the ‘front door’, the daily face of a business, ideally setting the scene for productive, healthy relationships. I propose that customer service can often be a much harder, more gruelling role than selling; dealing with the many variables that confront a business, sorting out problems, providing advice, answering technical/distribution/supply questions, coordinating and liaising with various departments, contacting suppliers and, dealing with crises; all the while being polite, friendly, effective and efficient on a consistent daily basis.
Why you should stop trying to delight your customers - Click To Read Article
Delighting customers does not build loyalty. Reducing customers’ effort does. These were the findings from a large customer service survey conducted by the Customer Contact Council (CCC), and featured in the July edition of the Harvard Business Review. The survey’s aim was to get answers to three questions: 1. How important is customer service to loyalty? 2. Which customer service activities increase loyalty, and which don’t? 3. Can companies increase loyalty without raising their customer service operating costs? After conducting structured interviews with customer service leaders and a study of more than 75,000 customers, the CCC uncovered three findings...
Why we should put the Trainer back into Sales Management - Click To Read Article
Up until 20 years ago, a key function of a sales manager’s role was the regular training of their sales people. What did this look like? Well, something like this: weekly 1 hour power training sessions for the sales team focusing on honing key skills, bi-monthly half day or 1 day sessions drilling down on account planning, strategy, market and product knowledge, and formal class room training usually employing external, expert training providers on a once or twice yearly basis to boost their teams to the next level. This was all supplemented by sales meetings and one-on-one coaching. Many sales managers of yesteryear were good trainers. However, through my observations across many businesses, the training component has been replaced by compliance.
What’s the difference between a member, a client and a customer? - Click To Read Article
What’s in a name? Well, there seems to be some confusion in the market place around the terminology used to describe those people who pay us money for goods, services, experiences, donations, etc. Different industries can have different terms for the consumers of their products and/or services. We see terms such as customer, client, patient, guest, patron, member, subscriber, donor, etc. used to describe a person who buys our products or services and intends to use them directly. In short, these terms are referring to the same person – the ‘end user’. However, not everyone ‘consumes’ our products or services or is the intended ‘end user’. Some people or businesses buy our products or services to ‘on sell’ them to another party, often the final end user, but not always.
Through the looking glass - Click To Read Article
Many sales people are tired of being told that they need to sell like someone else to be successful. Many are unsure of what they should be modelling. Too often they are told to ‘just be like’ someone else but with no reference to what that actually looks like they are left poking around in the dark mimicking the ‘star’ performer and left feeling unauthentic. And ‘big sticks’, bribes or fear don’t help either. Most people, and especially sales people, want to be the best they can be but without having to be someone else. Clearly defining what good performance looks like is key. Here is a model we use where we focus on three key areas...
More lessons from MasterChef – Can you take the heat? - Click To Read Article
As the saying goes, “If you can’t take the heat get out of the kitchen”. Once again MasterChef has served up some great life lessons. Last year I wrote about the great leadership, coaching and mentoring we can learn from MasterChef. Again Garry, George, Matt and the other guest chefs showed us how to excel in this area of leadership. On this occasion, I want to comment on ‘Resilience’ and dealing with setbacks and challenges, and how MasterChef gave us a window into how people handle stress and demanding situations. The time pressures and increasingly difficult tasks set for the contestants showed us how well they were able to manage themselves under pressure and produce the goods. You could often see the demands of a given situation getting to a number of the contestants. It was unrelenting at times.
Latest findings from the world of Sales Transformation - Click To Read Article
I recently had the opportunity to MC and attend the Optimising the Sales Force Conference – OSF2010 which was the follow up to the inaugural OSF2009. Building on last year’s success, this year’s conference was attended by over 120 high level sales leaders across Australia. Once again I was privileged to be part of the panel of international and local experts presenting on this year’s topic, Sales Transformation. This was the second time in Australia that we have had the opportunity to come together as a profession and share ideas and discuss important matters moving forward, and from the looks of it, we will be doing this again. The feedback from our international sales experts was that this was one of the best forums in the world.
Five reasons to Mind Your Emotions - Click To Read Article
“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says ‘I’ll try again tomorrow’.” This quote more often than not reflects my life as an entrepreneur, business woman, sales person, mother, partner and friend. On those days and nights when I feel overwhelmed and sometimes exhausted by all my responsibilities and commitments that little voice reminding me to ‘try again tomorrow’ keeps me focused on why I am doing what I am doing – it helps me to continue to cultivate my resilience, to continue to put one foot in front of the other, to make decisions and to keep on moving. If I am ever in doubt, that little voice reminds me of all the other challenges I have mastered and that my track record speaks for itself.
Can sales and medicine mix? - Click To Read Article
As you know, I am an advocate for the philosophy that ‘everybody lives by selling something’ and that people buy from people they trust. At its best, selling is about the principle of exchange:- the exchange of value where both parties benefit from open and transparent communication and know what they are engaging in. So can ‘selling’ be seen as a legitimate role in the various practices of medicine? I.e. GP’s, dentists, optometrists, physiotherapists, surgeons, etc. If we take it that good selling is where people are fully informed of the facts surrounding their situation, are given legitimate options to choose from, and are in a position to make their own decisions without fear of deception, bullying or intimidation then, yes, selling can form a part of the practice of medicine.
We want more than a script - Click To Read Article
Hundreds of thousands, if not millions of sales people around the world use sales scripts. Used properly, sales scripts act as scaffolding or bridgework to earn us the right to have a meaningful discussion with our prospecting customers, members, donors or subscribers. The sales script is a well constructed set of guidelines that support us when we prospect. Good sales scripts: * are purposeful – have a clear reason why you are calling someone; * use language the customer understands; * are designed for the benefit of the listener with it always being “the prospects choice” to accept or reject what they hear; * are brief and allow for questions and conversations; * aim to achieve a result – an appointment, donation, purchase, feedback, etc;
How fit is your sales team? - Click To Read Article
Earlier this year we had the opportunity to put a client’s field sales force through our Sales Fitness Circuit to test their sales fitness. The Sales Fitness Circuit is designed to reinforce and continue the process of learning from our Sales Communication Training. The Sales Communication competencies (skills, knowledge and mindset) covered in the initial training is put to the test through a series of exercises. The aim is to embed the learning from the training as a way of life in the sales team’s actions and thinking.
Do you have the sales force your strategy needs? - Click To Read Article
The other week I ran a webinar on ‘How to clearly manage and measure your sales team’. During the webinar I was asked many questions, one of which came from a senior sales leader, “With some time to reflect over the Christmas break, what is the one thing I should focus on getting right for my business?”
Your pre-call & post-call checklist - Click To Read Article
How well did your last sales call go? Did you achieve what you set out to achieve? Do you know what your next course of action will be with that customer/prospect? Do you have evidence that a real sales opportunity exists? Using a pre-call and post-call checklist is a very useful process when assessing the effectiveness of your sales calls.
You’re on show - ethics in sales - Click To Read Article
Today people are looking for honesty and authenticity and do not have time to be misled. They want to work with people who are what they say they are. They are assessing your every word and action. They are looking beneath the surface and are wanting to see the real you. Many people are now more wary about companies and sales people making big claims and promises with lots of ‘sizzle'. They are wary of the ‘charmers' and the sales people after the ‘big kill'. What they are now looking for is the steak and all that comes with it: i.e. what kind of steak is it? How it was it grown, prepared and cooked? Where did it come from? Is it grown in an environmentally friendly, humane manner? etc. They no longer want to confuse packaging with substance. They look for evidence at every turn and how you align with the promises you make.
Collaboration – The New Competition - Click To Read Article
Over the coming years, we will see collaboration become the new competition. Markets around the world are crying out for collaboration as innovation and differentiation become scarce in a sea of commoditised products and services. Sales people who see themselves as collaborators, both internally (colleagues, departments) and externally (customers, competitors), will prosper more than ever.
Where is your inner six year old when you need them? - Click To Read Article
One of the biggest issues for sales people is knowing the right questions to ask customers. In our experience many people complain of not knowing how to structure questions, or knowing what type to ask and when to ask them. In fact, we have found that many people are often caught wanting in the questioning department and suffer from what we call ‘amnesia questionitis’. Why is this so? Why are so many people paralysed when it comes to the vital skill of questioning? If you have been around any children aged from 3-6 years old you will know that they do not suffer from ‘amnesia questionitis’. In fact they never stop asking questions. It has been shown that asking questions and seeking answers comes naturally to all of us and as children we excel in this area. They also excel at listening too.
Why ‘everybody lives by selling something’ is key to your success - Click To Read Article
‘Everybody lives by selling something’ seems to have allowed people to discuss an area that is fundamental to human relationships and communication, the principle of exchange. In our lives we are all exchanging things of value. Whether what we exchange is of value to others should be determined through effective communication, open dialogue, and trust. Taken to an organisation wide level, everybody in a company has an impact on how the business communicates with and engages in the principle of exchange with its customers, suppliers, the broader community, and each other. The legacy of silos in organisations, where departments distance themselves from each other, pitting their agenda against others to gain an upper hand, is the opposite of the principle ‘everybody lives by selling something’.
Why is ‘cheap’ a false economy? - Click To Read Article
Understandably everyone wants to save money, especially in these times, however we need to be aware of falling victim to false economy. False Economy is an expression that refers to an action which saves money at the beginning but which, over a longer period of time, results in more money being wasted than being saved. For instance, I have never understood why some people will drive half an hour across town to get their petrol two cents a litre cheaper, all the while using up what they may save by driving across town, notwithstanding the time it took to travel there and back in the first place. In almost all cases this action delivers a net loss.
What’s channel stuffing and why is it problematic? - Click To Read Article
How much do you actually sell? How profitable are your sales? How accurately can you forecast your sales results? How many ‘returns’ do you receive? How often do you need to discount? How often are you left with old stock? What are your sales cycles? Are your sales people rewarded on volume only or on margin, account growth, account retention, and customer satisfaction? The answers to these and other key questions will tell you just how effective a sales force is functioning, how they measure their effectiveness, how they think about their business, their customers, their careers, and how likely they are to deliver profitable, sustainable sales results.
Why Sales Managers need to work on the business, not just in the business - Click To Read Article
Playing “catch up” is a common challenge for organisations of all sizes. Whether you have enjoyed a period of rapid growth and prosperity, or encountered some unexpected obstacles or losses, with little warning, businesses can discover that their decision making and activity has become very reactive. Too much time is spent putting out spot fires and reacting to situations, while too little time is spent on pro-active and strategic activities. The very real and legitimate day to day business pressures result in many (if not most) decisions being made on an ad-hoc basis, with each one disconnected from the next.
Walk a mile in my shoes - Click To Read Article
‘Walk a mile in my shoes’ is a song written by Joe South and made famous by Elvis Presley. The song is very much about challenging closed mindedness, respecting and honouring differences, and learning how to get along with each other. However, I propose that it also has a lot to say to sales and marketing people. For instance, the first verse sets it up well: If I could be you and you could be me for just one hour If we could find a way to get inside each other’s mind If you could see you through my eyes instead of your ego I believe you’d be surprised to see that you’d been blind Many a customer’s ire has been roused when a sales person shows up and fails to find out what a customer’s priorities are. Instead, launching into a self absorbed diatribe of product information and self aggrandisement.
Selling is not a dirty word - Click To Read Article
We are not born with our beliefs or values, they are taught to us. Our thoughts, feelings, views and opinions about the world are shaped by our experiences of many people and many things. They are coloured, rightly or wrongly, by our perceptual filters which we learn from others. ‘Watch who you let near your mind’ is a statement that is often quoted in my articles and for good reason. It takes between 6-8 weeks to unwittingly pick up and adopt another’s views, beliefs and perceptions and own them as your own if we do not question and thoroughly examine the consequences and impact of these beliefs and perceptions on our own thoughts, feelings, behaviours and actions.
Noise Reduction part 1 - Click To Read Article
About 20 years ago I was told that information was doubling every 5 years; 5 years ago it was every 18 months; 1 year ago it was every 9 minutes, so who knows how fast information is doubling now? Many business leaders, sales people and many more are reporting information overload. Selecting what to take on board and what to leave behind will be critical for sales and business success. It will also be critical for our own wellbeing. There is so much to read and process, and so little time to do it well. Many people report feeling that their brains are ‘bursting’ as a result of so much information and wonder how they can process, log, link and manage the information they are exposed to and then use it wisely and purposefully.
Noise Reduction part 2: Is too much information making you miserable and losing you sales? - Click To Read Article
With information comes choice and without proper guidelines and filters in place, too much information and too many choices can lead to indecision. Indecision can then lead to paralysis making us unhappy, unproductive, and at worst, ineffective. In sales careers, or any role for that matter, too much information and the subsequent indecision is a real killer – in fact, making no decision is far worse than making the wrong decision.
Is Call Reluctance® choking your sales effort? - Click To Read Article
Whether we are working for a private or public company, a “not for profit” or government institution, all of us are in some way competing for access to a revenue source to fund our existence. How capable people are to take on the responsibility for improving the revenue line of a company is a hot topic in today’s competitive market. Research shows that no longer can companies and their people rely on their technical competence, passive referrals, reputation, brand or blanket advertising to bring in new business and revenue streams as they may have done in the past. They also need to effectively self- promote and prospect for new business using professional and ethical sales strategies, and demonstrate real value for money.
Lead the way - Click To Read Article
Sales needs to be led from the top and it needs to be on the agenda of the ‘C’ suite, and this will mean from the CEO down, including the CFO, COO, and CIO. Even if the ‘C’ suite never has contact with an external customer (which I strongly advise against) they need to know how to lead, sell in, and support the sales effort. Why? Despite millions, if not billions, of dollars being invested in sales training, CRM systems and the like, many leaders are realising that their frontend processes, backend systems, culture (including those staff who have not traditionally seen themselves involved in sales), and sales methodologies are not aligned with their customers.
I’m not a sales person but I have to sell. What do I do? - Click To Read Article
After thousands of hours of study and many years honing technical skills to be a competent professional in your chosen field, it can come as a rude shock that you now need to sell your services and capabilities as well. In today’s busy market, a competent selling capability isn’t a nice-to-have it is an essential business and life skill. Interestingly, the topic of selling and growing a business often doesn’t feature in those university lectures does it? In fact, selling is in many cases covered over and, if spoken about at all, was only mentioned as an unsavoury aspect employed by the desperate. ‘We don’t have to sell because we are …’ are the famous last words of many failed professional or small business owners...
Is a climate of perpetual discounting limiting choice and eroding our quality of life? - Click To Read Article
Gerry Harvey, (Harvey Norman) was recently bemoaning the culture of discounting in our retail sector. He was saying that retailers had lost the plot and didn’t know how to sell real value anymore. He said they had fallen foul of a culture of constant discounting as the only way to attract customers, which was tantamount to business disaster and a degradation of the retail sector. I happen to agree with Gerry in this instance. He went further by saying that retailers were failing to find out what customers really wanted and what they really valued. He said retailers weren’t offering choice – a range of options of different value and therefore were not selling.
Is your sales effort built on a house of cards? - Click To Read Article
Is your sales strategy and projected sales growth built on a house of cards? For many start-ups this is the case. Their initial sales growth often comes off the back of an entrepreneur’s ideas and the hard work of a dedicated few who pitch in, take on multiple roles and tasks all the while promoting and selling the idea to more and more people. This works well in the early days where the team is small, communication channels are direct, everyone knows what is going on and is committed to the fledgling business’ success. There’s lots of activity, lots of fun, lots of sleepless nights and a growing sales pipeline. The business has a life of its own until one day the owners/ directors realise that if they are to grow further they need more people...
Is internal competition eating away at your sales results? - Click To Read Article
Many sales cultures are traditionally based on respect for authority, status and success, and encouraging competitive, challenging and achievement-oriented atmospheres. Although this is not true for all businesses, especially in the 21st Century! There are a growing number of businesses adopting more collegiate, lead team approaches. However, despite different types of cultures, sales performance and results are usually derived from the efforts of individuals. Harnessing those individual efforts to achieve synergy (the sum is greater than its individual parts) is a key task of management, yet so many get it wrong. Let’s take a look at one case study and see why.
How do I deal with client objections? - Click To Read Article
Many sales people will tell you one of the biggest worries in sales, besides prospecting, is dealing with customer objections. Its true many people do not like dealing with objections or conflict, however, it is also true that many people unintentionally create objections and conflict by not understanding a customer’s real needs or priorities and failing to find common ground. In my opinion ‘overcoming objections’ is often blown out of proportion in terms of the issue it claims to be. Too much time and attention is spent on objections in sales meetings and sales training rather than focusing on the skills and resources needed to help sales people eliminate objections from the sales process in the first place.
How do I distinguish between a genuine buyer and a saboteur? - Click To Read Article
Everything lines up: your solution is a very good match for the client company, you have ticked all the boxes but the deal is rejected. You are perplexed and confused. “It’s a great solution! It’s what they wanted and needed. Why are they saying no?” Building on from last week’s ‘How do I deal with client objections?’ l thought we should look at when objections become personal. Over the years I have come to realise that many of us have lost sales not because we didn’t have a good offering or we couldn’t show a real return on investment, rather a key person(s) involved in the sales process or outcome didn’t want the sale to go ahead due to personal reasons or biases.
How do you create future sales superstars? - Click To Read Article
How many of us entered our sales careers with our eyes wide open? Fully aware of what it takes to be an effective sales person – ably resourced with the tools, processes, plans and support essential to our success. Knowing full well what you were getting yourself into. For most, if not all of us, our initiation into sales was nothing like this, and was cushioned with little or none of these luxuries. Does the analogy “sink or swim” resonate with anyone? All of this makes the story I am about to share quite unique and refreshing. Recently, some rather clever and farsighted managers gave some very fortunate young people the opportunity to get a large glimpse into the world of selling.
Getting back to basics - Click To Read Article
One of the real challenges is keeping sales momentum while understanding how changes in customers, competitors, markets, innovations, media, technology and all manner of things will impact on our businesses and our people. Getting our heads around all this to find the right ingredients for our plans and strategies will be demanding. We need to recognise the new ‘things’, in themselves, will not make things better, it is how they are integrated and applied in ours and our customers current situation and circumstances. Often with new technologies, new trends, new ideas, and new innovations people become distracted thinking that these new things will promise to make life better, easier, faster, or more effective or efficient, all the while missing 2 key points...
Do you have difficult clients or are they just different? - Click To Read Article
Style adaptability is where a person can read another person’s preferred communication style and adjusts their own communication style to that of the other person, thus making shared communication and understanding easier. It is imperative to the principle of exchange and critical to any sales role, yet it is often one of the most poorly executed skills. Time after time we come across teams of sales people who have no conscious idea about how to adapt their style to that of another. Instead when they come across differences, communication usually breaks down and they will speak about the other using derogatory terms such as calling them an idiot, or moron, etc. Sound familiar?
Buyer beware – scammers and fraudsters on the prowl - Click To Read Article
‘Buyer Beware’ is a phrase that has been around for a long time and for good reason. There are enough stories in circulation to know that not all sales people or businesses behave honourably, and some are nothing more than fraudsters and scammers. With the market getting more crowded everyday, the need to attract buyer attention and grow revenue, and the rise of the online business model, buyers should beware. While most businesses and their sales people want to attract and work with viable prospects and customers, there are those less than honourable sales and business people who are after victims, not prospects. Their entire focus or raison d’etre is to get your money at your expense.
Culture Fit - Click To Read Article
What is Culture Fit? Well the first place you are likely to hear about Culture Fit is when you are recruiting for new staff or being recruited yourself. For instance, Culture Fit Interviews differ from Behavioural Interviews, in that the Behavioural Interview attempts to find out about the candidate’s behaviour, skills, knowledge and experience. Culture Fit Interviews generally do not try to determine the individual’s capability, but rather considers the candidate’s ‘cultural fit’ with the organisation, their values and motivators.
Are you ready for the phenomenon of Social Sales? - Click To Read Article
Arguably, social media is contributing to the democratisation of information and, armed with this information, customers will demand different things from sales people and companies. Customers are tuning into online communities, blogs, forums, and social networks to gather information and make buying decisions. For instance, the retail car market is undergoing significant changes with customers firmly in the driver’s seat. With the emergence of the information age consumers have far more knowledge about what to buy and where to buy it. On the whole, customers are doing their research, checking with their networks and peers groups, reading or viewing the latest comments online, and have potentially even made a buying decision before they step into a store. This is fast becoming the norm in car sales.
Are you making the most of Psychometric Assessments? - Click To Read Article
Many of us actively recoil when we see the words ‘Psychometric Assessments’. This may be due to fear of the unknown, seeing them as ‘tests’ or just tedious questionnaires. While you would not be alone in this, we on the other hand are advocates (of the right Assessments). At Barrett, we spend much of our time demystifying what Assessments actually are and how businesses can benefit from using them. So even if you have been brave enough to use Assessments, most people do not know how to get the most out of them. Often the Assessment process is seen as an isolated event with the final report being put on the shelf or in a draw out of sight and out of mind.
Locating Prospects - Click To Read Article
In the sea of information that is the internet and the ever growing networked communities we live in, you could essentially get a sales lead from anywhere. In principal this sound great. You always have someone to call on or prospect too. However having too many choices can often lead to feelings of being overwhelmed by too much information. And when you have too much information this can lead to indecision and subsequently inaction. And inaction is the NUMBER 1 killer of any sales prospecting strategy.
Account Planning, Management & Development - Click To Read Article
As markets tighten and market competition increases, it becomes increasingly difficult for companies to achieve product differentiation in their market place. As such, businesses will find it harder and harder to optimise their profits unless they develop effective strategies to achieve differentiation. One way to accomplish this is through the enhancement of customer intimacy.
Help my sales people can’t close sales - Click To Read Article
The biggest cause for people not being able to close sales it not the close itself. It often starts at the beginning of the sales call. Sales people need to be able to properly understand client's needs and discuss possible solutions that meet those needs with the relevant products and services before any close can take place. Once this has happened they can close the sale but not before. If a sales person cannot meet a client's needs with their products and services then it is a ‘no sale'.
How to run a Sales Meeting - Click To Read Article
Have you ever sat through a pointless meeting and calculated how much of the company's money was being wasted on individuals sitting around a table completely zoned out?
Influencing vs Negotiating - Click To Read Article
It has often been said that very strong negotiation skills are critical to being a high performing sales person. However, findings from our "sales force fitness" profiling work, where we profile critical qualities for successful sales performance in many businesses, large and small, is telling a very different story.
Sales Meetings - Click To Read Article
Have you ever sat through a pointless meeting and calculated how much of the company’s money was being wasted on individuals sitting around a table completely zoned out? Sales meetings in particular are an important tool for helping you to keep your team’s performance on track. Effective sales meetings don’t just happen, and improving your meetings isn’t just a case of ordering drinks and a plate of muffins. Successful meetings require a range of skills, a disciplined approach and an effective leader. Here are some handy tips on how to prepare for and conduct effective sales meetings so that you and your team get the most out of them.
What impact does attending a sales training program have on change? - Click To Read Article
What impact does attending a sales training program have on change? It all depends on what type of training format your sales people attend. Too many companies look for quick fixes and waste heaps of money in the process.
Exceptional Prospectors - Click To Read Article
Over the past 14 years, my team has conducted thousands of psychological assessments and interviews with both managers and salespeople about their prospecting and sales behaviours. Our research has consistently revealed that salespeople often experience their greatest difficulties, dissatisfaction, and anxiety at the prospecting stage of the sales cycle. Meanwhile, Sales Managers repeatedly express their frustration that they cannot find salespeople who are competent, confident, and motivated to prospect for new business. Prospecting requires sales people to establish contact with people who might buy your products or services. Whether it is phone, face-to-face or group prospecting, inbound or outbound, nothing gets sold until you get in front of and/or talk to potential buyers.
Create your ‘Ideal’ sales force blueprint - Click To Read Article
Now is the time to rethink your sales strategy and your sales force. Design the sales force your business needs and get great results. To help you start your thinking and planning here are two case studies from our work files where the businesses got it right.
Are your self-promotion tactics ethical or not? - Click To Read Article
Today it's not uncommon for some people to stretch the truth in order to get a job, get a sale, get ahead or just get noticed, but this behaviour raises some important issues about the good, the bad and the ugly of self-promotion... Proactive self promotion is essential in sales today because good work does not speak for itself anymore - You DO. So are your self-promotion tactics ethical or not?
Why you can’t have a one-type-of-sales-person-does-it-all approach - Click To Read Article
There is a large body of research that shows there are many types of sales people for different types of clients, products, and markets. Just because a sales person may be excellent in one market may not mean they are well suited for another. In today's world we are well equipped to define the type of sales role our business needs and define the salesperson's selling style to match that role. So let move away from limiting sales stereotypes and open ourselves to diversity.
What’s the right incentive scheme for my sales team? - Click To Read Article
Of all questions, this is the one that remains on the minds of sales leaders and executive teams. It is often the cause of more debate and angst than any other question in a business. People search for the golden answer, however their quest will not deliver a definitive one because it all depends on what you want to achieve. The current wisdom is that while there are ‘best practice’ frameworks for creating the ideal sales compensation or incentive scheme, it is not a ‘one size fits all’ approach.
We’ll meet again… - Click To Read Article
Ever been treated with an attitude of indifference? Ever been ignored as a customer because you didn’t look the part or didn’t fit the stereotype of a typical buyer? Ever been fobbed off in favor of someone else because you are (supposedly) not famous enough, well connected or prestigious enough to do business with? The world is littered with stories of people who were passed over and ignored by judgmental, blinkered sales people only to take their business somewhere else where they were treated with respect and were able to buy what they wanted despite how they may have appeared to others.
Watch who you let near your mind - Click To Read Article
With the Sub-prime market issue in the US and its effects on countries and the world’s stock markets featuring as a daily major news item at present who can blame people for getting a bit nervous and worried about the future. You can see it with the panic selling of shares and so forth. However if we let this and other issues get to us and allow ourselves to blow things out of all proportion we can, in turn, create our own demise. Whilst it is critical for business owners and sales people to keep abreast of market changes and challenges we can let real and, more often than not, perceived threats get the better of us.
The Dark Side - Click To Read Article
How well can we manage ourselves, our teams and businesses in a crisis or tough times? Are our actions and behaviours putting us, our people and our businesses at risk? As leaders and managers we are on show and our actions often speak louder than our words. In challenging times this is even more evident. Under pressure cracks may appear and our leadership is put to the test. How do we cope under pressure? What happens to us when we crack? When placed under high levels of pressure, most people will rely on coping mechanisms or their strengths that help them manage in day to day activities, but due to the pressure they can actually become counterproductive tendencies. We refer to these as “risk factors” and they can emerge as our dark side.
The relationship of revenue growth to your job? - Click To Read Article
Every sales person knows the relationship of prospecting to sales is critical. Without prospecting you are not likely to get a sale. We all know the relationship of sales to revenue growth is high. But how many people in your company know the relationship of revenue growth to their specific job? The sales people do. Owners do. They think about it every day.
Thinking of promoting your best sales performer to sales manager? Think again! - Click To Read Article
Many businesses have made the mistake of promoting their best performing sales person into the role of sales manager. Their logic – well they are great at selling, they’ll be great at sales management. Sadly most of these situations end in disaster.
Take Note - Click To Read Article
I would like to focus on something, that at first glance, may appear rather trivial. In fact it might seem so inane that you are wondering why I am even writing about it. It’s ‘note taking’. I learnt a very salient, if not embarrassing, lesson in my early 20’s. When in my first sales consulting role I turned up to a sales meeting with a prospective client with no obvious note taking materials. Up until that time I had never been told to take notes by my managers. I hadn’t thought about talking notes myself. I relied on my memory.
Sustainability – the new criteria - Click To Read Article
What is your position on SUSTAINABILITY? What community improvement activities is your company involved with? These are questions, among many others, that my team and I are responding to for a Request For Proposal (RFP) document for a sales training project with a large Australian Corporation. This is the first time we have been asked to respond to these questions in a formal manner and legitimise our position on ‘sustainability’. As sales people and as business owners, not only are we being asked to legitimise our product offering, our service standards, etc. we are now required to articulate our stand on ‘sustainability’.
Territory Management vs. Account Management - Click To Read Article
Terms such as Account Development, Account Management and Territory Management are often interchanged indiscriminately by many a sales people and managers thus creating confusion when it comes to sales planning, portfolio allocation and recruiting the right kind of sales person for your business. I thought it might helpful to define these terms and give you a little more perspective. All sales people involved in developing long term viable business relationships with the right kind of customers should be doing Account Development: Here is our definition of Account Development taken from the BARRETT Sales Competency Dictionary.
So where are all the Elite Sales Performers? - Click To Read Article
I received yet another call today from a sales manager asking me where he could find a really good sales pefomer for his business. He complained that most of the sales people in his industry had been around the block too many times and no new skills, ideas or talent where being brought into his industry. Same old people, same old things, same old results. Trouble is he is not alone and the Elite Performers you want are most likely working in other industries or markets and are not even thinking about working for you.
Practice, Practice, Practice then Play - Click To Read Article
In the sporting world it is expected that athletes make the time to practice, practice, practice and then go and compete or play the game. Through regular practice they hone their skills, behaviours and attitudes to ensure they are ‘match fit’ and ready to compete at the highest standards. A sports team needs to make sure that when they are in the thick of the game they can draw upon those skill drills and practice sessions to perform well as a team and perform well under pressure. When an individual athlete is neck and neck with a competitor racing for the finish line they need to know how to dig deep and draw upon their experiences, skills, and mental and physical reserves to cross the finish line first. This cannot happen without lots of conscious, purposeful practice.
On Show - Click To Read Article
Recently I have been watching the rerun of “Life at 1” on ABC TV in readiness for the “Life at 3” series as I am fascinated by all things behavioural and developmental. The series focuses on children and their development from age one and beyond, similar in concept to the Seven Up series. However this series cannot be complete without the children’s parents and siblings being involved. I am interested in the series because I am a parent, however it is amazing what you can learn about other areas of your life from seemingly unrelated sources. This is such a case.
Preparing for your 2008-09 Sales Year - Click To Read Article
If you haven’t already it may be worth your while to hold a formal review and business/sales strategy planning session with your team before the new financial year kicks in. Many markets have and are going through major changes and this requires us to be on our toes and ready for action.
Sales Training is not a luxury – it’s essential - Click To Read Article
Keeping you and your sales team ‘match fit’ and actively engaged in the market place selling effectively is paramount to your survival and success in today’s market. Yet too many businesses, large and small, do not train their sales teams in the vital skills needed in the much more consultative, value add, less product focused market of today.
Sales Recruitment and the use of online psychometric assessments. - Click To Read Article
Everyone seems to be is using online testing these days. That’s fine, however many people (candidates and companies alike) have fallen foul of testing especially when it comes to sales selection. * Online testing is becoming the way of the future * However, many online assessments are being marketed as credible with little regard for their limitations * Security is still the biggest issue!
Making Decisions - Click To Read Article
Several years ago I read a great book called ‘Kids Are Worth It – Giving Your Child the Gift of Inner Discipline’ by Barbara Coloroso. This book has served me very well as a parent giving me guidance in how to raise self-aware and self-disciplined children. In particular, I learnt by heart the following questions which I ask myself whenever I make decisions and in turn, have taught my children to ask whenever they make decisions. The 3 Decision Questions are: * Is it life threatening? * Is it morally threatening? * Is it unhealthy?
Networking - Click To Read Article
Although technology has become increasingly important in recent years, the importance of relationships in business has not changed. Upon reflection, it appears that we have taken the following path. Technological Era --> Industrial Era In fact, it has been predicted that over the next ten to fifteen years, we will see a new era emerge; that being the era of the relationship in doing business. It is estimated that the relationships we have in business with our customers and within organisations will be the key differentiator for businesses worldwide. Technological Era --> Industrial Era --> Relationship Era
Meditation as a path to Happiness - Click To Read Article
Season’s greetings to you, your teams and your families. I have enjoyed sharing my opinions, ideas and work with you over this year. I hope it has supported you in some small way to achieve your goals and endeavors and I look forward to being of service to you all in 2008. buddha Now given my focus has been on ‘Sales’ you might wonder why I am focusing on “Meditation as path to happiness’ as my final piece for 2007. There is method in my madness. You may recall some months ago I wrote about ‘reflecting on reflecting’ and how it is a powerful skill to help people work and perform to their best. There is also an increasing body of scientific research showing definite links and health benefits on all levels to meditation and mindfulness.
Insights from being in business for 13 years - Click To Read Article
Happy New Year to you all. I wonder if you took time off over the Christmas-New Year break and, like me, had a bit of trouble letting go initially and then found yourself easing into enjoying a little time off from work commitments. It’s when I slow down that I find some of my thoughts drifting to why I got into business for myself in the first place. There is a good reason for this. You see on the 9 January 2008 my business will be 13 years old.
Get me a woman - Click To Read Article
Some of you may be wondering why my blog is called “Sell like a woman”. First, Sell like a woman is not a feminist manifesto nor is it a male bashing exercise. The creation of the title was inspired by an increasing body of research overseas showing that woman are often outperforming men when it comes to achieving real and sustainable results in sales and effective sustainable client relationships. This led me to begin my research project and the book I am now writing, also called “Sell Like A Woman”. I have always been curious about women and their success in sales and wanted to explore the concept here in Australia and develop some Australian-based research as well.
Great Story Tellers - Click To Read Article
I have noticed that good sales people are often great storytellers. They have the ability to find the right story to resonate with your situation. They speak from experience and you know they know their stuff. They can paint a picture that is your picture and get you visualizing success in partnership with them. They seem to be able to connect disparate situations, events or feelings and find the common thread that binds them all together – together for you to connect with. And even if the story they are telling is not directly relevant to your business or market, the situation or person they describe feels familiar.
Hello, World! - Click To Read Article
This is my first entry into my blog! Welcome to ‘Sell Like a Woman’. The creation of this site came about as a result of an idea I had about putting a book together. I am writing a book called “Sell like a woman” which I want to publish in 2007. My aim in writing this book is to highlight the key qualities, approaches and attitudes displayed and used by successful sales women.
First Impressions - Click To Read Article
Picking up from my recent posting We'll meet again... I thought it would be worth looking at how First Impressions can impact our opinions of other people and their opinions of us. In turn first impressions can affect the desire to work together or not. Have you ever regretted a time when you didn’t make a favourable first impression? Did you wish you could have your time over again to make a more positive impression? I am sure you are not alone. We can all think of a time when we messed up. As the old saying goes: ‘You don’t get a second chance to make a good first impression’.
Elite athletes find key to corporate success - Click To Read Article
For Cathy Freeman and Ian Thorpe and now Stephanie Rice and Michael Phelps Olympic success has literally brought fame and fortune … but their high profile success is not just about the colour of their medals. With the Olympics just over I can’t help but think of all the other athletes who won medals and wonder how many of them will end up with amazing sponsorship and media deals like Cathy, Ian, Stephanie and Michael. Not many I’ll bet. And with the Paralympics just begun, how many of these athletes will capitalise on their talent and success with lucrative sponsorship and media deals? Maybe even less.
Don’t confuse quantity for quality, or biggest for best - Click To Read Article
Attracting and Searching for Candidates Just like sales, in today’s market you need a combination of ‘Push & Pull ‘ contact strategies for finding the right candidates for your business. Advertising alone is not likely to yield the candidates you seek. When you decide to recruit externally, the following methods are available to select from: * Advertising (On-line job boards (MyCareer, SEEK, CareerOne, etc.); Newspapers;Magazines;Radio and television) * Recruitment Agencies * Executive search firms * Viral Marketing email campaigns * University Job Boards * In-store Advertising (shop window) * Family & Friends * Your own website * Information Seminars * Search (direct contact) * Networks * On-line network groups (My space;Link Me;Linked in)
Do Not Call - Click To Read Article
Last week Smartcompany ran a story saying that the Federal Government may include business numbers in the Do Not Call register. What are they talking about? Prospecting for new business via the telephone (referred to as unsolicited phone calls) is still a legitimate and critical business activity necessary for anyone in sales and in business, especially in business to business sales where consumer marketing and advertising strategies do not work effectively. It is a vital activity any business or sales person worth their salt should be doing on a regular basis. Therefore I do not believe that the government should include business numbers in the DO NOT CALL register.
Desperate Times Don’t Call for Desperate or Deceptive Measures - Click To Read Article
As markets tighten and people’s sentiment can tend towards the negative it is critical that we don’t get spooked. As mentioned before in the article about “Watch who you let near your mind” we need to examine all the evidence at hand, make informed decisions about our market and continue to ensure that our prospecting and sales efforts are targeted and at the forefront of our business activities. We also need to make sure that we continue to conduct ourselves in an ethical and professional manner working with our clients not against them.However in desperate times (and maybe it is all the time for some) some people stoop to new lows to try and get a sale. Here are a few examples of unethical and fraudulent behavior masquerading as sales activities. So beware.
Daring to be Different (part 2) - Click To Read Article
Here is the second of two articles about recruiting top performing sales people and daring to do so from outside of your industry. Even though I have not worked as a traditional recruitment consultant for more than 14 years many of my long standing clients still talk about those ‘out of the box’ placements we made. Was it just the recruitment approach that made the difference. Well NO. What these savvy mangers is did was make sure the culture and the business could accommodate these ‘new’ types of people. They took their current team along on the journey to the new as well. Sure it wasn’t all smooth sailing but they knew what they needed to do. As we know when we bring in difference we can often cause the current people to feel uncomfortable and if not addressed they can kill off the ‘new’ way.
Daring to be Different (part 1) - Click To Read Article
Here is the first of two articles about recruiting top performing sales people and daring to do so from outside of your industry. When it comes to assessing sales and sales leadership capabilities in your business do the lines blur between the cultural morays, views and perceptions, gossip and politics and the real capabilities needed to be assessed against your actual sales strategy?
Client Buying States - Click To Read Article
Selling can get quite confusing sometimes. Prospects or clients saying one thing and doing another. It’s hard enough that you put in all that effort and have your sale go nowhere. It might help you to know, if you don’t already, when selling that there are mainly four different Buying States. They are classified as : 1. Opportunity 2. Problem 3. Static 4. Blinkered Two Buying States show that a sale is possible. Two Buying States show that a sale may be difficult or unlikely.
Culture and Communication - Click To Read Article
Selling and servicing across cultures is more common now than it has ever been. And as more and more of us come across international sales opportunities I thought it would be worth while looking at some of the challenges we may come across when trying to communicate effectively cross culturally in sales or other business areas. In many of the articles I have written I advocate for open, honest, trust based relationships. And I still do, however being a direct, no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is person that is what I value most. Therefore, by contrast, I can often find indirect, seemingly non-committal, indecisive communication a real chore. ‘Just get to the point’ I hear myself say. Or ‘are you just saying “yes” to just be nice or do you really want to go ahead?” Aaggh.
Contact vs Connection - Click To Read Article
Know the feeling when you make contact with someone and you both promise that you will keep in touch but never do? Or someone you met briefly at a function, where you exchanged business cards, calls you up asking for one favour after another never seeming to return the favour? Or others still who seem to make friends with you only to use you to get to someone else and drop you and soon as they do? Well you are not alone. These are some of the pitfalls when it comes to networking and selling.
Are you really listening? - Click To Read Article
Ever misinterpreted or missed hearing important information which meant that you missed a vital opportunity? You’re not alone. Listening has always been, and still, one of life’s most vital skills. With so much competing for our time and attention I have found the effectiveness of mine and others’ listening skills are being increasingly challenged.
Be Consistent & Keep Your Customers Happy - Click To Read Article
One of the things that frustrate me the most as a customer is inconsistent service standards, inconsistent procedures and people’s inability to deal effectively and honourably with different types of people. If left unchecked this leads to confusion, frustration, wasted time, wasted effort, impaired brands and reputations, lost revenue and lost customers. These issues don’t seem to be as much of an issue when you deal with very small companies because usually everyone knows what everyone else is doing and how it should be done even if it is only via word of mouth. However as businesses expand and get on board more people to work in the front line you, as the customer can’t always expect to get the same person to deal with then the challenges begin.
A view for the other side - Click To Read Article
Following for last week’s piece on Procurement, I promised I would delve further into the view from the other side of the table and how, we, as sales people, view procurement and some of the practices which help or hinder sales and partnership effectiveness. And what our common enemy is. So let’s take a look at the other side of the table. Many a seasoned sales person can tell you story after story about the ‘Gunna Gunna’ customers:Gunna do this, gunna do that be it never goes anywhere.
An Audience with Procurement - Click To Read Article
Recently I was approached by the head of CISP Australia (Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply), Jonathan Dutton to be their after dinner speaker at the Women in Procurement Conference on 19 June 2008. This was a new event on CIPSA’s calendar which provided a unique educational and networking opportunity for those interested in the advancement of women within the procurement profession. While procurement has traditionally been a very male-dominated profession, an increasing number of women have achieved success and recognition in recent years. The conference aimed to examine the challenges women face as they try to make their way in this male-dominated environment and what lessons can be learned from those who have successfully gone before them.
A Car Sales Story with a difference - Click To Read Article
Is there such as thing as a ‘good’ car sales story? My husband and I recently bought two new cars over the Christmas break. We initially went in to buy one car. It wasn’t a Christmas splurge if that’s what you’re thinking – nor was anything it like the recent press on luxury cars and their owners. We wanted to go smaller and greener for all sorts of reasons I am sure you can image and one of our cars was at the end of its lease. Having done our research, the ‘make’ of our last four cars wasn’t doing enough, in our opinion, to be ‘greener’ so we decided to look elsewhere and try something different instead.
12 steps field sales coach plan - Click To Read Article
The reality is that most sales managers do not spend enough time with their staff in a coaching capacity. Providing constant feedback and being a role model who demonstrates the right skills. Many managers today are still focusing too heavily on short term efficiency and not long term effectiveness. Development of staff through on-the-job coaching is a critical function of modern day managers but can take second place to some of the more urgent, but less important priorities.
You don’t have to make Negotiation a part of every sale - Click To Read Article
I often get requests by sales mangers for negotiation skills training for their sales people when in fact upon further investigation their people usually need consultative selling skills training first. You cannot negotiate effectively if you cannot sell effectively first. Both are processes which need to be learned and applied in the correct order. However over 90% of sales people follow no logical process when selling or negotiating leaving their sales at risk. So to clear up the confusion between selling and negotiation I thought it might help to examine when you sell and when you negotiate.
Think you can get away with it. Think again - Click To Read Article
In the world of sales there has always been the following advice for customers and for good reason: * Buyer beware * Read the fine print * If it’s too good to be true then it is And so on. As much as I advocate for and encourage healthy, trust based, open transparent customer relationships I am fully aware of the ‘dark side’ in the profession of sales. In my travels, sadly I hear of many stories about people being ripped off and taken advantage of often with no idea about what is happening to them until it’s too late. All under the guise of selling.
What are the benefits of a CRM system in your business? - Click To Read Article
The concept of CRM has been around for a long time. The original form of CRM was a manual card system kept by a sales person that usually sat on the sales person’s desk or alongside them in the car. These client cards sets were very valuable to the sales person as this is where they kept important customer information such customer contact details, key contacts in the company, a running commentary on their activities, personal and product preferences, buying patterns, business connections and so forth. Each card was a dossier on each client. To successful, well managed sales people, their client cards were gold.
Some Good News Sales Stories - Click To Read Article
You don’t have to discount price to win good business and good customer relationships even in tough markets. I mentioned earlier this year my team and I are working on a large sales fitness training assignment in the finance sector around Australia. These guys are hard up against it when it come to ‘price’ being a key target at the moment. A number of their competitors are trying to buy market share with discounted prices. The market is being hammered with ‘discounting’ of all sorts – some clear, some not so clear and some very dubious. Many people have commented ‘Is this the right time to be investing in these people given the state of the market?”. My reply is ‘This is exactly the right time to be investing in your sales people’. And here is why.
The coming together of sales leaders in Australia - Click To Read Article
I recently had the opportunity to attend the inaugural Optimising the Sales Force Conference, along with over 120 high level sales leaders across Australia. I was privileged to be part of the panel of international and local experts presenting on sales effectiveness where we explored the latest research on sales strategy, leadership, learning and development, sales management, sales people, and current market trends.
Should I fire my bad clients? - Click To Read Article
Run a mental checklist over your client base right now. Who fits into the ‘good’ client list and who falls into the ‘bad’ client list? It all really depends on what you define as good and bad. As we know not all clients are good for your business. Some clients are a wrong fit for your business but could be a good fit for someone else; therefore in of themselves they are not necessarily ‘bad’. However, others are just downright bad for your business.
Sales is a team effort - Click To Read Article
Sales numbers and sales processes should be understood and owned by everybody in your organisation. In today’s world if you are not directly in sales you are supporting someone who is. This is why sales really is a team effort. Rather than being just about a feel good factor and great staff alignment, this has practical applications as well. For instance with the ability for customers (or anyone) to find and connect with anyone in your organisation through many difference channels (i.e. social networks, Google, etc.) the whole business needs to be sales fit.
Prayer and purposeful action - Click To Read Article
I awoke early this morning to the sound of gentle rain falling and found myself immediately praying for more. This prayer came automatically during one of the most tragic weeks in Victoria’s history with the tragedy of the bush fires in many parts of our state. As a Victorian I have found myself upping my prayer quotient for rain for some time now, not just for the bush fires but for the many people whose lives are affected by the drought here and elsewhere. In addition to my prayers, like many families, my family and I have been doing our best to save water and change the size of our carbon foot print. Yet at times like this one can’t help but feel somewhat helpless and useless. All I felt I could do under the circumstances was to pray and give money.
Getting back to sales basics - Click To Read Article
It’s time to get back to basics. I don’t know about you but recently I have found myself getting more and more distracted by the latest trend and fads, especially the social media phenomena. My reason for this is that I have been trying to get my head around social media and specifically, the impact on the sales profession. As you may have gathered, I like to keep on top of what is current, what is emerging, and what is still an idea. This is why I make time each week to do research as it helps me navigate my way around the present and into the future. However, I am finding there is so much to read, so much to get my head around, and so much to integrate into my business that it can take up a lot of time… and it only seems to be increasing.
Creating an effective sales performance management system - Click To Read Article
Following on from last week’s article about managing and measuring the right things in sales, I thought it would be worth looking at some of the key principles for effective sales performance management systems. The first place to start is to align your sales performance management system and subsequent key measures to your organisation’s strategy and goals. It’s then the job of the CEO and the Sales Leader to ensure the organisation (that means everyone else who supports the sales effort) is aligned to the sales performance management system. When this dimension is in place the organisation is best placed to sustain high sales performance.
Fix the sales force you have - Click To Read Article
Would we expect any elite sporting team to enter a competition without a clear game plan, talent plan, fitness plan, business plan and action plan? No, of course not. We expect them to be aware, organised, focused and determined to play their best and aim to win. Well, more than 90% of sales people do not follow any logical process when selling. They are often left to their own devices and simply fly by the seat of their pants, relying on intuition and hoping for the best. They often cannot articulate their value proposition or know how they compare to the competition. Nor are they clear about what activities they need to do on a daily basis to achieve sales success. Most make it up. No wonder many don't meet business owners expectations.
Creating the right sales training environment - Click To Read Article
The manager, coach or trainer who is committed to accelerating the learning process of their people must attend to creating an optimal learning or meeting environment which also includes it being safe on all levels. For learning, feedback or a meeting to take place effectively you need to create a comfortable and safe environment. For this to occur you need to plan and arrange the environment and resources you will need for your session or meeting.
You can’t improve salespeople without improving sales management first - Click To Read Article
I am constantly appalled at the lack of effective sales management in companies these days. Not a week goes by in which I don't see a company make the mistake of focusing exclusively on salespeople in trying to improve sales performance. Experience has shown that sales managers are even more critical than sales people for creating durable performance change
The trouble with sales training - Click To Read Article
What impact does attending a sales training program have on change? It all depends on what type of training format your sales people attend. Too many companies look for quick fixes and waste heaps of money in the process.
The Entrepreneurial Sales Person - Click To Read Article
It seemed to me that successful sales people had a lot in common with successful entrepreneurs who are often the main sales people in their own businesses anyway. I thought we could use this information to help us find and cultivate Entrepreneurial Sales People for our businesses, especially to help we entrepreneurs who need to grow our businesses beyond our own capabilities and personal time constraints.
Leading a healthy sales career - Click To Read Article
It is well documented that being healthy (physically, emotionally, and mentally) is vital to leading an effective and productive life. In sales, your health is a critical factor to your success. Many highly successful sales people I meet are self disciplined in all aspects of their life ensuring they are fit, healthy and well trained in their profession. Having a healthy sales career is underpinned by the individuals healthy life style, and a well managed business which includes good sales support, clear goals and leadership.
Who is your 'brochure' written for? - Click To Read Article
We are sick of apologising for our businesses not being able to live up to false expecations and promises too frequently splashed about with gay abandon in the marketing materials, annual report, PR hype et al that we are required to use.
The trick: no tricks - Click To Read Article
Yet another brochure has landed on my desk inviting me to learn the tricks on how to sell successfully. I wonder how many people will take the bait this time. The motivation circuit in fact is full of sales people who, for a hefty fee, will explain how they hit the big time and offer to share their tricks. Well, here is some advice for free: this approach never works.
Are we limited by our view of success? - Click To Read Article
Given that women are a vital part of our community on so many levels it got me thinking about the definition of success and how often we find ourselves bound by the very narrow paradigms of others' definitions of success.
Getting prospects to talk to you - Click To Read Article
Do you take time to really think about why you are calling a prospect or a client? Do you reflect on how effective you have been post the call? Making prospecting calls to new prospects and existing clients is still one of the most important sales and business development activities you can do on a daily basis. Even with all the electronic communication and marketing options at hand most businesses still need to have someone prospecting for them to build and forge real business relationships. Top performing sales people make sure prospecting is part of their daily repertoire. Like many things prospecting is a process and as a business development person, you will need to do over and over again approximately 500-1,000 times in a year at least! However most people do not prospect effectively and many find it a daunting experience.
The cost of poor sales selection - Click To Read Article
Have you ever done the math on how much sales recruitment costs you, especially when you get it wrong? If you are like most managers then chances are you haven't. So let's consider the costs, overt and covert, involved in sales recruitment. If you don't know it already, sales recruitment is one of the toughest assignments around.
Start small and really network - Click To Read Article
I have attended my fair share of networking events and more often than not, I find that I do not get any quality time to network and begin the process of building viable business relationships for the future. I find the time allocated to speak with people and start to get to know them is often too short, coupled with too many other distractions. However, I have been on the look-out for other ways to really connect, understand, and collaborate with people who are interested in leveraging collective networks, especially in this current market.
Are you creating competing motivations in your sales force? - Click To Read Article
I recently met the managing director of a medium-sized software business, who asked me why would his sales people keep selling one version of their product when they had been instructed to also sell in a newer, more comprehensive version of the product. It turned out that his sales people earned more commission by selling in the older version than the newer version of his product. And the sales people made the bulk of their income from their commissions rather than from their salaries. There you have it. What makes perfect sense to the sales person does not always work for the organisation or the customer.
Does everybody live by selling something? - Click To Read Article
Whether we call ourselves a salesperson or not, if we have an idea, product, service, skill, capability, talent, or opportunity by which we can make a living and others can benefit from, we need to be able to sell. This means that whatever role we are in, we all need to put ourselves in a position to secure the ongoing custom of customers, members, patients, supporters, peers, students, sponsors, or clients to make a living. Even internal service providers such as HR and Procurement professionals need to be able to sell and consult in order to fulfill their roles accordingly.
Success is a moving platform - Click To Read Article
Do you have the wrong sales team delivering your sales strategy? Ask yourself the follow the questions: How has your strategy and /or market place changed recently? How have you seen the role of 'sales' change over the last few years in your industry? How do your sales people compare to your competitors? How do your sales people need to sell now? How is your product offering behaving in the market place now? Was it once exclusive and now a commodity? The definition of a ‘good' salesperson is driven by many possible needs. Those needs are a function of industry standards, changing market conditions, competition, corporate strategy and culture, personalities, past experiences, just to name a few.
The huge cost of hesitation - Click To Read Article
I knew that being hesitant in the sales arena was a no-no, but I didn't know just how much business it could cost.
How not to make a prospecting call - Click To Read Article
I've been selling for more than 20 years and have learnt many things by trial and error, common sense and staying aware of market conditions and how customers like to buy. There is no shortage of information out there about prospecting, sales, etc. However, I am still amazed at how people don't know how to prospect successfully, given the plethora of calls we receive at home in the evenings, with very much similar outcomes to my experience. So why do many businesses still get this part so wrong?
Professional Visitor or Professional Sales Person? - Click To Read Article
I am seeing a lot of time wasted by sales staff aimlessly chatting with clients. How often are you left with the feeling that your sales people are seeing clients, but beyond the "hello" and general chat, nothing of substance is happening? I call it the phenomenon of "professional visitation".
Burnt-out, tired, had enough? - Click To Read Article
Sales is not for the faint hearted, nor is running your own business. For those of us who run our own businesses and/or have careers in sales or sales management, we find we are often faced with stressful situations. How do we manage ourselves in times of stress?
Men are from Mars. Women are from Venus. - Click To Read Article
There is an increasing body of research overseas showing that woman are often outperforming men in achieving sustainable results in sales and client relationships. And I promised you I would start to highlight, from my research, what successful sales women do especially well. So here is your first snippet
What is good selling? - Click To Read Article
Like many people, I have always been curious about what makes "great sales performance". This is a perplexing question that has been asked and attempted to be answered by many people over the years. Also, are great sales people born? (most people believe this to be true - but it's not). What does it take to be an elite sales performer, and can anyone learn how to sell well?
Selling and managing are not the same - Click To Read Article
I wrote recently about sales burnout and the challenges many SME business owners have of being all things to all people including, usually, the main sales person and sales manager. Like many people, I have known that selling and managing are not the same thing. They are two very distinct jobs with different demands and expectations.
Exceeding customers’ expectations? - Click To Read Article
If I hear "Oh let's exceed our customers' expectations" one more time I will scream. Usually my response is: ‘Why don't we just meet their expectations in the first place?' Too many times the marketing hype (the promise) does not always connect with the sales expectation set up by the sales team, which doesn't always translate into a service experience we were promised in the first place. We are often left disappointed, jaded and, if it happens more than once, cynical. Too many of us have stories of where we have been let down by businesses not fulfilling our expectations. We see broken promises, exaggerated claims, hollow offerings, no real value!
Motivation or manipulation? - Click To Read Article
What is the line between motivating sales staff and manipulating sales staff? How do you make sure you don't go over the line and place people under extreme pressure to achieve? Research both here and overseas shows that high performing sales people identified how important it was to their performance that they remain motivated, which they recognised can be influenced by both internal and external factors, with a sense of self satisfaction found to be the most important contributor to their motivation. Management need to act as true mentors and motivators for their staff, especially in sales call centres as this is, or can be,
MYTH: Cold calling is a good idea - Click To Read Article
In the "olden days" when I first started my business, over 95% of my sales came about through cold calling, which I had learnt to do really well when I worked as a sales recruitment specialist with Morgan & Banks. At M&B - and in my business - it was very clear that if I didn't bill anything I didn't earn anything. So I got on the phones and I prospected to people I didn't know - that is, cold calling. This was well and truly before the internet was in mainstream use and I had the privilege of learning how to cold call really well. But it is a FACT that in an essentially crowded market place of the 21st century, businesses require a series of "push" and "pull" prospecting strategies rather than one simplistic "push" approach to selling such as cold calling.
Changing sales perceptions - Click To Read Article
Stop for a minute and reflect: What is your view of selling? Has your perception of sales changed over the years? Your answer is most likely ‘yes' if you are a customer or salesperson in business to business (B2B) sales. But not if you are a customer of retail. More about that another time. Today's changing B2B and high-end B2C sale practice styles are an adaptation to the environmental forces. The change towards people-centricity is evident in a number of organisational functions, in particular the sales function where there has been a significant shift from product-focused selling to relationship selling.
Sales and emotional intelligence - Click To Read Article
The "gender" discussion highlighted by my Sell like a Woman project, articles and other research leads people to believe that women are doing things men cannot because of gender. And this is causing sighing and forelock tugging in some male circles. "Not another feminist on her soap box" or "all men are useless" I hear some say.
Mother of a sales performance - Click To Read Article
As the New York Stock Exchange is now looking at "employee engagement" as a significant predictor of higher share value and market return, and given we are all competing, not just for clients and market share but for good employee talent, maybe a key performance indicator for sales management could be in Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB).
Getting Sales Recruitment Right - Click To Read Article
Your small business is growing and diversifying. You've experimented with bringing in an inexperienced sales person (who did not work out). You realise you need a more experienced direct sales person, but you don't know where to go or what to look for.
Costing cutting at the expense of sales? Bad move - Click To Read Article
I don't know about you, but when markets start to tighten or when things feel a bit uncertain, instead of cost cutting and bunkering down, I have found that you need to do precisely the opposite. You need to invest in your sales efforts with good strategy, sales training, good sales management and good sales coaching.
Ashamed of being in sales - Click To Read Article
Over the years I have met many sales people who are really good at selling, have all the ingredients, write great sales results and are highly valued by their companies, yet they never feel satisfied in their sales career. The afflicted sales person just feels a sense of unease and guilt about being in sales, a disquiet that never seems to get resolved.
Not all customers are good customers - Click To Read Article
Ever had some customers who spend very little with you but take up enormous amounts of your time? Nothing's ever right, they quibble about every cent and they do not intend to spend much with you anyway. Or those customers who are really nice and you get along with them very well, but you know they do not have the potential to develop into long-term revenue generating accounts for your business.
Being authentic in sales - Click To Read Article
The 20th century approach of one-upmanship, although still encouraged by many traditional sales managers, seems to be slowly retreating into the shadows of the past as crude and old-fashioned. Polar opposite to the latter, but just as unproductive..
Constipated by information - Click To Read Article
I confess, like most sales people I do not like - no I hate - paperwork and administration, because in my experience most of it is unnecessary.
Learn to say ‘NO’ - Click To Read Article
Giving away the margin and undercutting your prices because you can't say ‘NO' is no good for anyone. It devalues you, your product, and your market. If done on mass then customers expect ‘cheap' all the time, not fully appreciating the real value of the products or services they buy. All you do is risk devaluing you and your business.
What do clients want? - Click To Read Article
Clients don't expect to be coerced, bullied, tricked or intimidated into buying. They don't expect to be treated like an idiot by sales people who just talk at them and flash brochures or product sheets. Relationships do not work effectively if they are forced!
What’s your competitive edge? - Click To Read Article
How many of us have been in business for a while and things have been going along smoothly, sales coming in, customers are happy. Then you notice that you are not winning the business you used to win.
Peak Performance in Prospecting - Click To Read Article
A peak performing prospector is a salesperson who displays passion, self motivation and results focus. They are disciplined in their approach, evaluate and purse viable opportunities while remaining optimistic, resilient, committed and energized. They are ethical at all times and display empathy, respect and courtesy towards their prospects. To help us look at this in more depth let's look at what is considered peak performance.
Healthy Salespeople - Healthy Sales Results - Click To Read Article
As I have stated previously, sales is a demanding profession. Top performers know that to sustain a high level of performance, they need to keep fit and well - both physically and psychologically. They are self disciplined, self managed and take good care of themselves. You only have to look at them and know they are healthy. Their skin is clear, they have a vitality about them that is fresh, their attitude is positive and they are keen to learn. What sort of sales culture do you encourage? Is it one of health and wellbeing or a boozy, extreme living on the edge culture?
Trust-based relationships - Click To Read Article
I typed ‘Sales' into 'youtube' the other day just to see what was on offer. I have to say that some of the initial videos displayed on the front page were very disappointing indeed, especially when it came to building trust-based relationships with clients.
Broken Promises & Bagging the Competition - Click To Read Article
Nothing irks customers more than sales people overstating their capabilities and making claims and promises they cannot keep or live up to. It's the fastest way to break trust and leave customers doubting you and your business. Making grand claims with little or no substance is foolish at best. In today's networked world, many people have access to information and can check pretty quickly whether what you claim is true or not. So can you do what you claim you do?
A Time To Reflect - Click To Read Article
I don't know about you, but I often find myself reflecting on a whole range of things in my life including my professional sales career and wondering at all the things I have learned over the years. Conscious reflecting on sales has now become almost a daily occurrence for me, especially, since I have been writing this sales blog. There are so many aspects to selling that the more I look into selling the more I find to reflect upon. So it was with some amusement that I found myself reflecting on reflecting itself and how valuable it is to our continued development and overall healthy functioning in this ever-changing world.
Same, Same but Different - Click To Read Article
I came across some research on sales motivation which seems to shed some further light on why it is important to use programs which are culturally specific to your sales peoples motivations and values. A major study of sales motivation presented at the annual convention of the Society for Marketing Advances has revealed significant cultural differences driving sales success. It has helped explain why some of the better made-in-the-USA sales management practices aren't more effective in other nations. The answers may lie in what really provides motivation for salespeople.
Making the most of Up Selling & Cross Selling - Click To Read Article
Do you sell one thing and one thing only? Probably not. I suspect your business has a range of things it can offer. And I suspect that many of these things can be integrated together to make an end-to-end solution or various combinations that lead to much larger sales. If this is the case, then how well are you selling in the size and scope of your business offerings? Too many times sales people get fixated on the immediate sale in front of them not really seeing the potential of that sale now or into the future. If they would only ask the right questions and get a bigger perspective to work from they might get more and bigger sales for less effort.
Don’t tell me it’s out of your control - Click To Read Article
‘It's out of my control.' ‘I can't do anything about it.' ‘I'm just the sales person.' Sales people who sell in equipment and service contracts take note. This story is about you and your responsibility to the customer for the life of the sale not just the initial sale of the machine and the signing of the contract. The quotes above are what I heard this week from a sales person from a well-known equipment manufacture who sold us a complete equipment and service package 18 months ago. It certainly wasn't what I wanted to hear. Without going into too much detail we have had the ‘printer from hell'.
Getting past the Gate Keeper - Click To Read Article
This time of the year many people are trying to get back into the swing of things after their Christmas break. It's about this time that many sales people begin their prospecting efforts in earnest and many people are back from leave. It is as good a time as any to prospect. So as it's the New Year, I thought we could take a fresh look at some old issues. One of the most common complaints I hear from sales people time and time again is ‘How do I get around the gate keeper?'
The Optimistic Sales Professional - Click To Read Article
Sales is a demanding profession. Top performers know that to sustain a high level of performance, they need to keep fit and well - both physically and psychologically. An increasing body of research is showing that keeping an optimistic outlook, and having the physical energy to meet the demands of working in sales are critical to a sales person's effectiveness, success and overall well-being. Something many of us know intuitively, however it good to have it validated. Managing and overcoming setbacks is key to succeeding in anything. In sales we are tested everyday. Without a sense of optimism it would make getting up to face each day that much harder. So what is Optimism?
Who’s in charge of your sales recruitment? - Click To Read Article
1. How much is a good sales person worth to you? 2. How much is a good hiring manager worth to you? Speaking about recruitment in these current economic times may seem foolish, however in the area of selling, this is where you could make great strides by picking up highly effective sales people who have found themselves on the job market or are looking for a better business to work in. I know of a few highly competent sales people and sales managers who have been let go along with other staff as part of large staff reduction strategies. In my opinion, the last people I would let go in this market would be highly competent and high producing sales people. Which leads me to the contentious issue about who makes the decisions to hire and fire sales people. In particular, who hires sales people.
The Hard Sell - Click To Read Article
I declare right up front that I am not, and never have been a fan of the Hard Sell. You have probably guessed that from all my previous posts. And if you ask most people about what they think about the profession of selling they will often describe something akin to the ‘Hard Sell'. Of late I have also noticed a rise in ‘hard sell' stories where people are being unnecessarily pressured to buy or sales people being pressured to sell at almost any cost. The hard times may be pushing some people to do things they wouldn't normally do like the "Hard Sell".
Count your chickens - Click To Read Article
Everyone I am speaking to, at least, are aware they are working in a softening market. Some businesses of course are counter cyclical, meaning they can make money in these tougher times i.e. outplacement firms for all the obvious reasons, but they are more the exception. If you market is softer or heading or a down turn it doesn't have to be all gloom and doom. It's true now you have to earn your real money through proactive sales practices. So with on the agenda, one of my clients in regional Australia kindly sent me a great article on "The three basic sales strategies in a softening market".
The 'dark' side of selling - buyer beware - Click To Read Article
In the world of sales there has always been the following advice for customers and for good reason: Buyer beware Read the fine print If it's too good to be true then it is And so on. As much as I advocate for and encourage healthy, trust based, open transparent customer relationships I am fully aware of the ‘dark side' in the profession of sales. In my travels, sadly I hear of many stories about people being ripped off and taken advantage of often with no idea about what is happening to them until it's too late. All under the guise of selling.
Good news sales stories - Click To Read Article
You don't have to discount price to win good business and good customer relationships even in tough markets. I mentioned earlier this year my team and I are working on a large sales fitness training assignment in the finance sector around Australia. These guys are hard up against it when it come to ‘price' being a key target at the moment. A number of their competitors are trying to buy market share with discounted prices. The market is being hammered with ‘discounting' of all sorts - some clear, some not so clear and some very dubious.
Professional Firms feeling the sales pinch - Click To Read Article
Professional Services Firms are struggling when it comes to keeping and finding business. This on top of the fact that many have to come to grips with the fact they need to sell. The market has definitely changed. You cannot sit there aggressively waiting for the phone to ring anymore. In speaking with one partner from a well respected law firm, he vented his frustration at the lack of action being taken in his firm by partners and their teams in terms of driving the push to find new business in current and new accounts. He stated that some teams were just sitting around with no work to do and no one knows what to do about it.
Punished by rewards - Click To Read Article
Punishment and reward proceed from basically the same psychological model, one that conceives of motivation as nothing more than the manipulation of behavior. As part of my own development and in an attempt to keep my mind as open and fresh as possible, I take to reading all sorts of things. On my current reading list is a very interesting book called “Punished by Rewards” by Alfie Kohn, author, speaker and educator. He writes about the trouble with “gold stars, incentive plans, As, praise and other bribes”.
Create your own opportunities - Click To Read Article
Just one idea can positively transform your life, career, income and wealth. As I have written before, in uncertain times, we can let the negativity of current events and others consume us or we can continue to look for opportunity. Excessive worry, however, can often cause us to lose sight of our goals and can limit our creativity and problems solving capabilities just when we really need them.
Persistence and the Honourable Retreat - Click To Read Article
Did you know: Over 50% of sales people give up at 1st contact if they get a ‘NO' from the prospect never to go back to that prospect again. At the 5th contact 7% of sales people are left to speak with the prospect to see if they can do business together. At the 8th contact there is only one sales person left to work with the prospect. Hopefully it is you. Many sales people, especially those new to sales, often take it personally when a prospect says ‘NO'. Many fail to persist and often fail to favourably position themselves to ‘leave the door open' for future contact thus limiting their sales opportunities even further.
You are on show - Click To Read Article
Recently I have been watching the rerun of "Life at 1" on ABC TV (Australia) in readiness for the "Life at 3" series as I am fascinated by all things behavioural and developmental. The series focuses on children and their development from age one and beyond, similar in concept to the BBC's Seven Up series. However this series cannot be complete without the children's parents and siblings being involved. One of the fathers being tested in the series had recently changed jobs from being a professional sales person in a luxury car showroom to working in the family market garden business growing vegetable. His ‘stress' levels actual and emotional were significantly lower after having changed jobs which also affected his child's stress levels for the better.
Common Sales Mistakes Part 1 - Click To Read Article
As markets tighten I thought we could reflect on some lessons learnt in the past by highly experienced, successful sales people. The following lessons are from some of the participants of my ‘Sell like a woman' research project and make for interesting reading in ‘what not to do' in sales. Here is the 1st part of a 3 part series on common sales mistakes.
Common Sales Mistakes Part 2 - Click To Read Article
As markets tighten I thought we could reflect on some lessons learnt in the past by highly experienced, successful sales people. The following lessons are from some of the participants of my ‘Sell like a woman' research project and make for interesting reading in ‘what not to do' in sales. Here is the 2nd part of a 3 part series on common sales mistakes.
Common Sales Mistakes Part 3 - Click To Read Article
As markets tighten I thought we could reflect on some lessons learnt in the past by highly experienced, successful sales people. The following lessons are from some of the participants of my ‘Sell like a woman' research project and make for interesting reading in ‘what not to do' in sales. Here is the 3rd part of a 3 part series on common sales mistakes.
Seeing the world from your client’s perspective can make for easier sales - Click To Read Article
Each week we meet and speak with a variety of prospective and/or existing clients who have problems they need solving in our area of expertise. It is more than likely we will deal with a mix of clients: some with little or no understanding about what we really do and those with previous experience, knowledge and opinions in our area of expertise. And then there are those clients who are in between. Whatever their level of sophistication, how well we understand and identify our clients' key priorities and problems, and what they value about working with a credible business partner is crucial to developing, attracting and retaining healthy client relationships and growing sales. However, most businesses tend to view the world from their own perspective and not from their clients'. This means:
Sales - A test of character - Click To Read Article
I can honestly say I did not enjoy the early years of my sales career. I initially found it hard, relentless and sometimes really distressing. I was asked to do things I didn't always understand that significance of. I often felt overly scrutinised by the constant monitoring of activity and performance by my managers. I worked in tough markets in tough times and sometimes wondered if it was worth it. I felt under pressure and sometimes wished I didn't have to sell at all, however I came to realise that this tough introduction to selling was what I really needed to prepare me for the future. In the words of Robert Louis Stevenson "Everyone lives by selling something'.
What's in a relationship? - Click To Read Article
The term ‘Relationship Selling' is often bandied about by sales managers and sales people without properly defining what it really means.I often hear "We are in relationship selling" or "We need relationship sales people" however what I do not hear being asked is: What type of relationship are we talking about? What type of relationship are we looking for? What do we mean by relationship selling anyway?
Sales Leadership, A Clear Message and a Fit Sales Force - Click To Read Article
I was talking with a number of friends about what 2009 / 10will hold for us, our families, our communities and our businesses. Without exception, we discussed the current and possible effects of the GFC (global financial crisis) on our markets and especially on our thinking and our actions moving forward. We discussed the importance of open, clear and honest communication and decisive leadership, clear goals and defining what we stand for. We discussed the fact that it would be very hard for people to make ‘easy' money this year i.e. playing the stock market, etc. No more making money by just moving money around. And that people now needed do some real work to get real revenue coming in the door. (not that some of us weren't doing that already.)
Why everybody lives by selling something – part 2 - Click To Read Article
For some time now I have been testing the concept of ‘everybody lives by selling something' with almost everyone I meet, including senior leadership teams (comprising of HR, Finance, IT, Operations, and Sales), primary school teachers and administration staff, senior banking risk professionals, and health professionals (including my podiatrist and GP). I am curious to see how people respond and how they see themselves in relation to the concept of ‘everybody lives by selling something'. Often when one mentions the words ‘selling' or ‘sales' you can see people visibly recoil in disgust, with many immediately saying something like "I don't sell" or "It's not my job".
Who's delivering your sales training? - Click To Read Article
You cannot fake real sales experience and sales wisdom. It is one of the professions that is the hardest to teach and train because without real life sales experience you are at risk of being seen as inauthentic. To help you make the best choice when it comes to selecting the right sales trainer let's consider the following:
Why developing your Sales Managers is the key to your sales success - Click To Read Article
It may surprise you to discover that many Sales Managers learn how to be a Manager on their own. According to the latest international study on Sales Training and Sales Force Effectiveness, many Sales Managers are given very little or no support when it comes to being a competent, effective Sales Manager. In fact, many Sales Managers reported that they were given no formal training in Sales Management practices, either before or during their tenure as a Sales Manager. The study reported that Sales Management training is the category of sales training that is addressed with the least frequency, in fact it is less than annually or not at all.
Why Sales Coaching Really Matters - Click To Read Article
Without systematic, on-the-job coaching post a sales training program 87% of skills that were covered in the sales training program are lost within 30 days With systematic, on-the-job coaching post a sales training program the return on the sales training program is four fold. Lesson: Sales training without coaching is a cost liability rather than an investment.
Whada ya rates? - Click To Read Article
Please train your people in how to make proper, well intentioned business/sales phone calls - it's not difficult. A half day session in the ‘how to' will get you started, followed by some pithy little sessions with your team on a regular basis to share what's working well, etc. I know I sound like June Dally-Watkins (famous deportment teacher) but as the saying goes ‘You never get a second chance to make a good first impression'. Good manners, grace, and courtesy go a long way.
What do your sales people really need to know and apply? - Click To Read Article
In today's market selling skills training does not equal product training or pressure tactics. If product training or pressure selling (the hard sell) are on the top of your sales training agenda or the only training you offer your sales people then you may want to rethink your sales training strategy. What is expected of sales people today by way of skillful thought and action goes way beyond the product or the hard sell. Let's first look at what clients want. This will then help us determine what sales people need to be able to do.
What are the benefits of a CRM system in your business? Part 2 - Click To Read Article
Sales reps often represent the "face" of your company. In order for them to do their part in driving outstanding sales results, they should be empowered to put their best foot forward when representing their company. To do this, a Sales Automation or CRM needs to be in tune with their needs. Putting their best foot forward is going to mean many things. Further to this I would like to add that a CRM should also be in tune with your customers needs helping them have the best experience they can have with you.
What are the benefits of a CRM system in your business? Part 1 - Click To Read Article
The concept of CRM has been around for a long time. The original form of CRM was a manual card system kept by a sales person that usually sat on the sales person's desk or alongside them in the car. These client cards sets were very valuable to the sales person as this is where they kept important customer information such customer contact details, key contacts in the company, a running commentary on their activities, personal and product preferences, buying patterns, business connections and so forth. Each card was a dossier on each client. To successful, well managed sales people, their client cards were gold.
The coming together of Sales Leaders in Austalia - Click To Read Article
I recently had the opportunity to attend the inaugural Optimising the Sales Force Conference along with over 120 high level sales leaders across Australia. I was privileged to be part of the panel of international and local experts presenting on sales effectiveness where we explored the latest research on sales strategy, leadership, learning and development, sales management, sales people, and current market trends. This was the first time in Australia we have had the opportunity to come together as a profession and share ideas and discuss important matters moving forward.
Testing times when recruiting ‘good’ salespeople - Click To Read Article
When I consider how I spend my time professionally, I find it is often devoted to demystifying two things: 1. What is ‘good' selling? 2. The proper use of psychometric assessments, especially in sales recruitment Having written on the former on many occasions, I would like to dedicate this space to the latter - the proper use of psychometric assessments in sales recruitment.
Marketing, sales and service silos why? - Click To Read Article
For people in the communications industry it is appalling that there is a lack of real communication occurring between their marketing and sales departments. All too often I see departments vying for budgets, leadership, ideas, etc. Some people believe marketing drives the engine and sales are irrelevant, or sales are king and what is marketing anyway? It's not just the sales people. Some organisations don't even know the difference between marketing and sales or don't see the connection between the two in the first place.
How we can learn Master Sales lessons - Click To Read Article
Like many people in Australia, my family and employees have been captivated by MasterChef Australia. What I love about MasterChef is that it can be seen as a metaphor for expressing our talents and being the best we can be. Given my interest in everything to do with sales, personal mastery and performance, I particularly love the parallel I have been able to draw about what it takes to be an elite master chef and an elite sales person and elite sales leader by the observation I have made in MasterChef.
Help! My sales team isn’t coping with the fallout from the GFC - Click To Read Article
Many sales people, for the first time, are experiencing tough times when it comes to selling and many are not sure how to handle themselves in these difficult situations. The current climate is, indeed, a test of character. Many sales people, especially those in their 20's and 30's have not likely experienced selling in tough markets before. For the past 12 years prior to 2008, at least, the business climate in our market place has been, for the most part, buoyant. As we all know it's very easy to sell when times are good. It now begs the question: How well have we prepared ourselves practically, emotionally, and physically to manage our way through these tough times?
‘Great’ at sales but they don’t ‘fit’ the culture - Click To Read Article
Sound familiar? A ‘good', maybe even ‘great', salesperson is recruited and hits the ground running, kicking sales goals in the new role, however within a short space of time they have alienated their team, decided that the role is not for them, and left the organisation. As we know the cost of this selection is huge and begs the question, why did this ‘great' salesperson not work out? While there are many possible scenarios and reasons, we often find that a major contributor is the cultural ‘fit' between the individual and the organisation.
Getting back to the sales basics - Click To Read Article
I don't know about you but recently I have found myself getting more and more distracted by the latest trend and fads, especially the social media phenomena. My reason for this is that I have been trying to get my head around social media and specifically, the impact on the sales profession. I like to keep on top of what is current, what is emerging, and what is still an idea. This is why I make time each week to do research as it helps me navigate my way around the present and into the future. However, I am finding there is so much to read, so much to get my head around, and so much to integrate into my business that it can take up a lot of time... and it only seems to be increasing. I read recently that 20 years ago information was doubling every 5 years, 10 years ago it was doubling every 18 months and today
Don’t take your frustrations out on your customers - Click To Read Article
Sales and Service roles are not for the faint hearted and can often take their toll on your good nature, your energy and your ability to deal effectively with frustrating issues, especially when you put in the effort to do the ‘right thing' by your customers and it is not appreciated, acknowledged or actioned. At the end of a long day or week dealing with lots of people, pulling together various deals, solving problems and keeping your energy levels up and being on your best behaviour, you could be forgiven for being a bit ‘short' if things don't go according to plan and something falls short of your expectations. To manage our frustrations, sales and service people can resort to all sorts of remedies.
Competing motivations creating confusion - Click To Read Article
How to incentivise and reward sales people has long been a contentious topic. Too many times I have seen businesses set up incentive programs that reward the wrong behaviours which can affect team morale, client relationships, sales, staff retention, and so on. For instance, I recently met the managing director of a medium sized software business who asked me why would his sales people keep selling one version of their product when they had been instructed to also sell in a newer more comprehensive version of the product.
A Test of Sales Character - Click To Read Article
I can honestly say I did not enjoy the early years of my sales career. I initially found it hard, relentless and sometimes really distressing. I was asked to do things I didn't always understand that significance of. I often felt overly scrutinised by the constant monitoring of activity and performance by my managers. I worked in tough markets in tough times and sometimes wondered if it was worth it. I felt under pressure and sometimes wished I didn't have to sell at all, however I came to realise that this tough introduction to selling was what I really needed to prepare me for the future. In the words of Robert Louis Stevenson "Everyone lives by selling something'. Over the years as my sales career evolved, I began to learn a lot more about myself.
4 valuable life skills that make for success in sales and any other role - Click To Read Article
There are many things written and said about effective sales people, effective leaders, successful entrepreneurs, great teams and so on. Many descriptions are in circulation. There is an overabundance of experts recommending this approach one day and that approach the next. Those of us who want to be effective and successful often follow the advice of those experts however we are at risk of turning ourselves inside out and losing sight of what we are really here to do if we keep trying to bend to the winds and whims of the latest management trends, fads, findings, research, etc.
|
About the Author: Sue Barrett RSS for Sue's articles - Visit Sue's website  Sue is one of the leading voices commenting on sales today. Sue has a unique way of getting to the heart of the matter - she combines extensive knowledge, research, insight, and practical experience with a deep sense of compassion to bring forth a more enlightened way of thinking and participating in the world. This makes her stand out from the usual crowd of existing business commentators. Her ability to distill complex ideas and relate them to life's everyday challenges and opportunities has audience members and readers leaving with a stronger understanding of "self" and how they can begin to achieve excellence through purposeful action. Presenting and writing on a wide range of topics about the world of 21st Century selling Sue's presentations and articles include sales philosophy and culture, sales leadership and coaching, sales training, selling skills, resilience, neuroscience in selling and more. Sue's articles are some of the most widely read in Australia and she is gaining a following overseas as well. Besides publishing on Barrett Sales Blog site, Sue has been the lead sales writer for www.smartcompany.com.au since 2007, and is also regularly published on other highly regarded publications such as Australian Anthill Magazine, Niche Magazine, Marketing Mag, Business Chicks, and Business Deals. Click here to visit Sue's website   Noise Reduction part 2 Is too much information making you miserable and losing you sales Start small and really network Whos delivering your sales training Help my sales people cant close sales Do you have difficult clients or are they just different |
Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.
Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.
Featured Article
by: Trending Articles
Never Give Up! The Power of Determination 
Leadership Essentials
February 2012 Top 100 Entrepreneurs to Follow on Twitter
Franchise Trends for 2011
Identifying Future Leaders: Creative Leadership Development Strategies in Tough Times
Newsletter
Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!
Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!
Popular Articles
Avoid Burnout: Do the Limbo Regularly
Emotional Energy is Our Engine
SEO Gurus, Software and Ebooks
Avoid Burnout: Do the Limbo Regularly
Emotional Energy is Our Engine
SEO Gurus, Software and Ebooks
Suggestions
Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.
Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.