1- 330-413-8552 Mark@NoSmokeAndMirrors.com

Mark Allen Roberts

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The Imperative for Business Founders to Step Aside Post Private Equity Investment

In the dynamic landscape of business, private equity investments often inject newfound vitality and resources into companies, propelling them to new heights. However, a crucial, yet often challenging, aspect of this transformative process is the founder’s departure from the helm of the organization. We often help the founder transition into another role to serve the organizations growth objectives. The skills to grow your family business to this point are often not the skills needed to scale to meet PE objectives. Here’s a closer look at why business founders must consider stepping aside after a private equity infusion.

1. Professionalization and Expertise

Private equity firms bring a wealth of experience and expertise to the table. Their involvement typically ushers in a professionalization of operations, strategic planning, and governance. The infusion of seasoned executives with diverse backgrounds enhances the overall management structure, ensuring the business is guided by a team well-versed in navigating complex challenges.

2. Execution of Strategic Initiatives

Private equity investors usually enter with a set of strategic initiatives aimed at optimizing the company’s performance and increasing its value. Founders, who may have an emotional attachment to their vision, could find it challenging to objectively execute these initiatives. Stepping aside allows a fresh perspective and the unencumbered execution of strategic plans, maximizing the potential for success.

3. Enhanced Corporate Governance

Private equity investments often bring a heightened focus on corporate governance, transparency, and accountability. This shift is vital for sustained growth and compliance. Founders relinquishing their roles can facilitate the implementation of robust governance structures, ensuring the business operates efficiently and ethically.

4. Adaptability to Market Dynamics

Markets evolve rapidly, and companies must adapt to stay competitive. Private equity investors, with their market intelligence and experience, can guide the business through necessary transformations. A new leadership team, unburdened by historical biases, can more readily adapt to changing market dynamics and capitalize on emerging opportunities.

5. Professional Development for Founders

Founders stepping aside isn’t just a benefit to the business; it can also be an opportunity for personal and professional development. It allows founders to explore new ventures, engage in strategic advisory roles, or pursue interests that align with their passion. This evolution benefits both the individual and the broader business ecosystem.

One of the manufactures we helped had a very experienced engineer as CEO before PE investment. Coaching this son of the founder we discussed his real passion was engineering and not the role of CEO. His father, the founder had a gift and passion to grow the business. After the PE investment, the prior CEO transitioned into the critical role of Executive VP of Engineering and led strategic initiatives to launch new products and services that went on to deliver over $10 million in incremental revenues. We continued his coaching and after the first he shared he was happier and felt he was adding incredible value. It was like a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders. It was a strategic shift to drive explosive growth.

6. Alignment with Investor Objectives

Private equity investors typically have a finite timeline for their investment. Aligning founder transitions with investor objectives ensures a smooth exit strategy and a maximized return on investment. This alignment is crucial for maintaining a healthy relationship between founders and investors.

In conclusion, while it may be challenging for founders to relinquish control, the decision to step aside after a private equity investment is a strategic move that can propel the business to new heights. It allows for the infusion of expertise, the execution of strategic initiatives, improved governance, adaptability to market dynamics, professional development, and alignment with investor objectives. Ultimately, this transition sets the stage for sustainable growth and success in the ever-evolving business landscape.

We are often asked to help new CEOs hired to scale PE owned companies.

We help CEOS quickly gather the data they need to write a strategic growth plan that meets and often exceeds the PE firm’s goals.

Let’s schedule a call if you are a CEO recently hired to replace a founder. We’ve helped several of CEOs in this role navigate the cultural shifts and team alignment required to drive explosive growth.

Webinar: Driving Explosive Growth

Verne the author of Scaling up invited me to speak on a webinar about my new book.

Listen to the Webinar.

Trascript:

We’ve got one of our own, one of our two hundred and sixty nine coaching partners, Mark Roberts, who’s asenior level sales and marketing leader with over thirty five years experience, driving profitable salesgrowth in market leading organizations.

He has done so at companies like Timkin, Alpha Enterprises, Vantage mobility, Gardner, Denver, mobilityworks, and Fred Olet. As an author, public speaker, sales skill trainer, sales acceleration coach, and again,as I mentioned, one of us. He has helped several firms scale and sell for higher than industry averagemultiples.

In twenty eighteen, he received the business excellence award from NSME and in twenty nineteen, the highspot sales enablement award. He was also recognized by sales hacker in the sales enablement categoryand was recently recognized in Sort of Success Magazine. For his data driven approach to growing salesand profits. And this month, he’s featured on the cover of Pop Sales Magazine.

He’s the founder of OTB Solutions LLC and is the popular business development blog, no smoke and mirrorsdot com. Ranked number one in fixing sales problems. As founder president of OTB sales, he helps clientsdiagnose and improve revenue, profits, and shareholder value, his new book released just a few months agodriving explosive growth. It is a no smoke and mirrors approach to growing the business profitably.

And he’s got a book coming out, which we’ll be promoting in Christmas around the voice of the customer.And so with that, hey, Mark. I wanna I wanna welcome you And you and I were talking just as we weregetting ready to, to launch, my dear friend David Risher, who helped Jeff Bezos, scale up Amazon, thenkinda took a break from that to do some nonprofit work, was recruited to be the CEO of Lyft a couple ofmonths ago. And one of the first things he posted is three days in.

He got certified to be a driver. He was proud that he could then be a driver. And every Sunday, and again, itwas the same Sunday. He posted.

He’s out driving customers.

He’s out meeting the other drivers. And I don’t know if anyone noticed, but a few weeks ago, he made anannouncement that put Lyft back on the radar of a lot of people. One of the things he discovered the voiceof the customer, if you would, is that women would often prefer a woman driver.

And so there’s a feature in the app that they’ve added that allow that to be the case. And anyone whochooses a diverse different driver to match their diversity is able to do that. And always, when we look inhindsight, it’s one of these. I can’t believe Somebody hasn’t thought of that before, but this is your world.And so, Mark, over to you.

Well, thank you for inviting me. What an amazing group of authors and content. I was copiously taking notesfrom the last presenter.

Yeah, I’ve been working on my book for ten years. I hope you all have a coach. My coach, has been with mefor over thirty years, and she was pushing me hard. Mark, you gotta write a book. And quite honestly, Ithought she was crazy.

I’ve helped so many different businesses, metals companies, plastics companies, food, beverage, you nameit. But what she was right, when I sat down and looked at the process that we always went through to drivewhat I call explosive growth, it was always the same. So I wrote the book. I hope people enjoy it. And again,no smoke and mirrors. It’s it’s about serving people, not selling them. It’s about intimately understandingthem and their challenges.

So today, what I wanted to do was kind of help everybody as we go into twenty twenty four.

I’m gonna ask you a couple questions today.

First of all, does your team have the skills, motivations, and beliefs to execute your twenty twenty four plan?

That sounds like such a easy question, but you might be surprised. I spoke at an event in Denver recently, Itwas CEO, CFO, CROs.

Oh, three hundred fifty people there. And I asked them, raise your hand. Raise your hand if you feel ahundred percent of your team have the skills, motivations, and beliefs to execute your plan. Not one handwent up.

Okay. Seventy percent. Seventy percent of your team have the skills. Not one hand went up.

So I just kept doing it, and we got down to around thirty to forty percent, and all of a sudden, a lot of thehands in the room went up. So my question to you is you’ve worked really hard. Hopefully, you follow theone page plan template, but does your team have the skills to execute it?

Another question I’d like to ask you is, could an outdated assumption about your customers be stalling yourgrowth? I see it all the time. My passion is voice of customer.

As Vern mentioned, my next book coming out at Christmas is only about voice of customer because It’s theone thing from my current book people wanted to hear more about.

So could an outdated assumption? About your market, your customers, be impacting and slowing downwhat could have been scalable, profitable growth.

Well, a pretty smart guy that I know and had the pleasure of meeting said developing strategy withoutmarket insights is criminal.

So let me ask you. You worked on your strategic plan. You’ve started assigning goals. You started you know,those key initiatives and thrusts, but how much customer insight went into your plan?

I like to refer to it as a as running an MRI. Run an MRI on your business, your customers, your markets, Let’sreally build a plan based on data.

If anybody on this call had a headache and they went to their doctor, and the doctor said, well, tell youwhat, sit down. We’re gonna do brain surgery. Run. Run away. Right? Hopefully, they’re gonna run some testThey’re gonna run an MRI. They’re gonna do some diagnostics.

Chances are all you might need as an aspirin. Right?

The businesses are the same way. We need to run an MRI on our business on a frequent basis to make surewe’re really tuned in to our markets and the problems that they have.

People ask me, Mark, I don’t need voice of customer research. What what all are you trying to learn? We weknow this. Right? Well, what we’re trying to learn is why do customers buy from you? Kind of a simplequestion, really. And you’d be shocked when I do, sales workshops.

How many sales people can’t answer that question?

Why don’t customers buy from you? Well, every salesperson will tell me price on that one. Right?

But what share of wallet do you have? How how much more business could you get? What’s the buyingprocess of your customers today?

What criteria do the buyers need to make purchases today?

What are their goals and challenges?

You know, every salesperson, you can ask them their goal, and they could probably tell you by the month.But ask them what the goals of their customers are, and that’s usually when you hear crickets.

And then how satisfied are your customers?

And are they willing to refer you? Those are some of the things we do when we conduct voice of customerresearch for clients.

We often get some friction. Oh, my sales guys do this. No. You don’t want your sales people doing this.

First of all, their job is to sell. Far too often salespeople listen to reply and not to learn. So you’re not gonnaget those valuable insights. Second, they have relationships.

They have great relationships with your customers, and your customers might might not be as honest asthey could be.

And they also have bias.

They can’t help it. We’ve trained them to be hunters. Right? So if they hear something in a conversation,they immediately jump to a sale. That’s not what we want during voice of customer research.

Sometimes we do win loss analysis. Some of our larger clients like one that does very large industrialmachines.

We call every customer. We call if they win, we call if they lose. If we ask salespeople why they lose, theysay price. Always, they always say price. But in preparing for today, we look at the data. Over just so manyclients. And what we hear heard was, over eighty percent of the time the buyer shared, I didn’t think thesalesperson really understood my problem, my challenges.

Seventy four percent said, I really didn’t like their approach. It felt kinda salesy. It felt they were trying to hittheir numbers and not solve my own problems. In the end, price, yes, price was on the list as well as,service time frame.

But have you asked your customers lately what it’s like to do business with you?

Let me give you a couple examples of the power of voice of customer research. I was so blessed in the lateeighties and nineties working for a plastics company.

We made mechanical security devices for audio tapes and videos, and all of a sudden, there was a bigmarket shift. The large, music producers decided to change the packaging in jewel cases.

So other words, the CD would just ship in the jewel case. And as you can imagine, that’s like a a lossprevention nightmare.

What my competitor did was they made a sample. They wrote a really nice cover letter with pricing. Theyput a rubber band around it and mailed it to every one of their customers.

What we did was we went out into the market, and we asked really good questions. We met with Walmart.We met with large music chains like music land at the time.

We met with bookstores. And what we found was There’s actually three different problems, three differentmerchandising challenges that people had.

With that data, we invented three different types of products, we sold over a hundred million packages overfifty percent gross margin, and we doubled the company in twelve months.

One of my favorite roles was helping a company that made vehicles for handicapped people. What they didwas they they reduced they lowered the floor of minivans, so that a consumer in a wheelchair could drive orbe a passenger comfortably in the van.

But the problem was when when they asked for my help, their revenue was pretty stalled, under twentymillion for about five years.

So again, I like to ask a lot of questions and get different versions of the truth. The leadership team sharedhow, you know, engineering, was so strong in their vehicle.

How they really intimately understood their dealers, but we really didn’t understand a lot about ourcustomers.

So while my sales team was out selling. I was interviewing people in in showrooms. And I’ll never forgetAkron, Ohio, the dealer’s name was Mobility Works, and this gentleman says, you know, You folks that makevans are not all that smart, which got my attention. He says, you know, we have less disposable incomethan most people. Why can’t you convert used vehicles instead of new vehicles and reduce the retail?

It’s like, this is such a brilliant idea. There’s gotta be a reason why.

Fast forward. Our sales started growing hundred and fifty percent, hundred and sixty percent year overyear.

We had to add second shift, third shift just to keep up. Today, over seventy percent of vehicles sold in thismarket, Our converted used vehicles. That company went from being stalled at twenty million dollars andlater sold for around ninety million dollars.

Oh, I I had really enjoyed helping this company. I was the managing director of pragmatic marketing. It’s theworld leader in teaching product managers how to develop products people wanna buy.

Well, during the recession, however, two thousand six, two thousand eight, We saw sales just tank. So wefollowed the process that we taught. We call, we interviewed customers, we interview customers we won,we interview customers we lost, We determined what had changed in their world, and we created new salestools, and we actually changed our sales process.

Within three months, sales got back up to pre recession numbers. And within six months, we were beatingthe recession numbers, pre recession numbers.

And then another fun story is I like to do the the, voice of customer calls when I can. And we have a clientthat makes metal, shelving, and you’ve probably seen some of their product at retail stores.

Well, I was interviewing some of their top accounts, and it was their third largest account. And the womanjust went on and on about how happy she was, satisfied with the quality, the service. But at the end of thecall, because I ask open ended questions, she said, you know, I am a little disappointed though.

What’s going on? Well, I asked them to quote a very large project that’s important to me and they no quotedit. So I had to go to one of their peditors. I’m not happy.

The quality is not as good. I said, tell you what, tell me more information. Let me call the CEO and see whatwe can do. Now, to the salesperson’s credit, they did follow the qualifying document that we have theirsalespeople follow.

But the CEO met with this person, had about a forty five minute conversation, and it turned into six hundredthousand dollar order.

And then sometimes, when we do voice of customer, research, we solve problems, it turns into newproblem, new new products.

If you go into Best Buy, or you go into any retailer, you’re probably gonna see a device that looks like this.

This device was designed by alpha enterprises back in the day when we were solving the music challenge,and then they said, you know what? Can you solve other problems?

Because when I have something locked behind a case, sales go down about seventy percent. But if it’s outlive, And I don’t need an employee to open a case. I can sell more. So we met with all the different retailersand we designed products that would solve problems and help them improve their sales.

That led to alpha ultimately being sold for over three hundred million.

So let’s get back to that other awkward question I asked. Does your sales team have the skills, motivations,and beliefs to execute your plan?

But here’s something scary. Fifty percent of salespeople have never had formal sales skills training.

You know, like how to have a conversation with somebody, how to uncover, unmet needs, how to qualifythem. So what we did was We can go in and quickly assess. One of the best ways to assess, and it’s thenumber one step in my book, by the way, is assessing assessing your customers and assessing yourcurrent team, assessing your leadership team with some of the scaling up tools, But assess your salesteam. The best way to assess sales is observation.

We can really determine level of mastery by watching people and and how they perform But sometimesthat’s unrealistic. Let’s say you have a team of seventy salespeople. That would take you years to do. Right?

The other thing that’s happened is buyers have shifted and changed post pandemic.

The new data out today says thirty percent of buyers choose not to engage with a salesperson at all. Andwhen we ask why, it’s because sales is behaving badly.

They don’t have the skills. They’re showing up. They’re throwing up, and they’re not really helping people.Another shift is eighty five percent of buyers expect a salesperson to connect the dots between what theysell and the value it delivers the buyer. That was a Florida state study. And sadly, around fourteen ofsalespeople actually do that today.

Over eighty seven percent of buyers expect virtual selling to continue. So my challenge is, have you helpedyour salespeople be able to sell virtually.

And what we keep hearing over and over again in a lot of different ways is I want human to human authenticconversations. Kinda like, the the previous speaker.

They wanna trust us. People buy based on trust and they buy based on confidence.

So I kinda looked at all the different feedbacks we’ve received over the years because we transcribe everyinterview we do. And I took a little bit of liberty, and and and what I’m hearing people saying is I don’t wantsales reps pitch slapping me. I need industry consultants to help me solve my market challenges.

So the question is, what do you have? Do you have sales reps who are out trying to hit their numbers, or areyou having consultants in your industry sharing insights with your customers, intimately understanding theirchallenges and giving them solutions.

When I ask that question of an audience of sales leaders, It was kind of disturbing.

When I asked that question, about thirty percent of the people believe that, you know, my team has theskills, motivations, and beliefs to do what we need them to do. But the vast majority needs additionaltraining And what the data shows is about twenty percent of the people in sales roles actually shouldn’t bein sales.

They would add a lot more value to your organization and other roles.

So you don’t have to guess anymore. I remember when I spoke at the break, people always come up to meand say some pretty interesting things. And one sales leader said, you know, that was a disturbing question,and I really need the answer, but was kinda uncomfortable to admit that I don’t. Well, today, you don’t haveto take you don’t have to guess. Like this team here, we were helping to add sixty nine salespeople withinten days, we had them taken a sales assessment.

Great news. Team of hunters, but they really needed some help with closing skills. So very quickly, kind oflike the MRI, we diagnose the team, and then we prescribe training and coaching, new tools, new systems,new process, so they can execute their plan.

What was the impact of closing those skills? Thirty nine percent increase in organic sales over three years.

They didn’t have to introduce any new markets. They didn’t have to open up and sell any new products. Allwe did was close skills gaps and give their customers a better experience.

So again, my name’s Mark Roberts. I wrote a book driving explosive growth. My next book is on voice ofcustomer and how to leverage the voice of your customers.

And My mission in being here today is to help you.

Help you be prepared for twenty twenty four.

There’s a lot of ways to get in touch with me. Please connect. I try to put something out of value everyweek.

Burn. We’ll go back.

Thank you so much. You know, as I was listening, I you made me think, an early, early client that I wasinvolved with. It was literally thirty years ago, a company called Deltek. They were in Northern Virginia, theirjob to be done was to provide the first real focused accounting system for government contractors becausework doing work for governments can be quite more onerous from an accounting perspective.

And the founder was Ken Delaski. At the time, he had about seventy employees And look, he had a verysimple b hack. You wanted to be number one in that space. And after being there for a day, I could tell hewas gonna do it because I saw two things.

I was in the technical support area. And there were four people answering phones, you know, taking thecustomers, concerns, and questions about the software. And there was this cubicle with this guy in it whowas not answering any phones, and I’m not quite sure could.

And I’m like, who is this guy? And he goes, so that’s one of our programmers. Every one of our programmershas to spend a half a day a week doing their work from this cubicle. So they’re overhearing directly.

What are the real concerns and challenges the customer real time is having with our software, that way it’dbe much quicker. Kinda almost like Francis phrase, getting the voice of the customer installed in thesoftware. And if one of the technical support people didn’t know the answer, they could say, look, I got oneof the guys who actually programmed it. And I thought, alright.

And I see an empty cubicle cubicle. And who’s that for? And you can guess. That was for Ken.

He said, look, and I would spend a day a week, not answering calls, but doing my work from that cubicle so Icould hear the same voice of the customer real time. And I knew, Mark, when I saw those two thingshappening inside his company, the Deltek would be the hundred ton gorilla. In that space, and they theyprove to be the case. I know you were sharing a story about a client that was selling a two million dollarpiece of equipment.

Share that story real quick. We’ve got a couple of them. Yeah. I have a a brand new client.

Their private equity firm asked me to help them. They sell industrial equipment. Talking like two milliondollar machines.

And when I went for the versions of truth with their leaders, they say, well, you need to understand ourmark Mark. This thing’s a very big and expensive machine. People typically buy one, and we never hearfrom them again. Well, that didn’t resonate with me, but, okay.

So our team started making phone calls. We called their existing customers.

We called customers they quoted, but did not win. We also called customers who raised their hand and hadinterest, but were never quoted. And here’s what we found.

Thirty percent, thirty three zero of their current customers need another machine.

And their strategy going into twenty twenty four before we did this research was we need to call on newpeople.

Forty percent of the people they quoted but did not win plan to buy another machine.

So talk about a shift in your strategy. Talk about an improvement in your overall profit margins.

I I wanna leave everybody with a challenge. I know we gotta jump to the next author.

I want you to call five customers and interview them. Just interview them. Ask them how you’re doing. Askthem some of the challenges they’re facing and see if there’s any that you face. And then as far as yoursales team, I want you to do one thing. I want you to ask your sales people to leave you a voicemail sharingyour value proposition.

Hopefully, you’ve got a little bourbon when you’re listening to those because you’re gonna need it.

Make sure your team has the skills to execute the plan and communicate your value If you can’tcommunicate your value, how can your customers understand it? But thank you, Vernon, for having me heretoday. You got it, Mark. Hey, one more story.

You know, I’ve always got one more story. Okay. I think of a company citizen. Raymond Roberts and hiswife, both Cubans founded it.

They were working with government agencies, and they had seven main clients. Seven major agencies.They were about twelve million in revenue, and they said we’d like to get to a hundred million. So clearly, itwas we need to go find more like those seven agencies.

But our first quarterly theme was called CSI customer satisfaction investigation, and they realized that theydidn’t just have one customer inside the government agency There were lots of people that their solutionwas touching. And so they went about calling twenty customers a day Ninety day and then by the way, theycome into their daily huddle and report out ninety days later, Mark, they found eighty seven million dollarsof additional business within those seven clients. They didn’t need to go out and find more to your point.And so I just hope everyone who’s been listening in take it very serious that the folks that are running majorcompanies and the examples that we gave of mid market are the ones that really get back in touch with thecustomer. And, Mark, I know you guys do this work for folks. And so if you’re not gonna do it, get Mark tohelp out.

Unveiling the Power of Customer Voices: Best Practices for Listening and Responding to the Voice of Your Customers

In today’s VUCA environment, understanding the Voice of the Customer (VoC) has become paramount for success. Organizations that actively engage with and respond to their customers’ feedback are better positioned to thrive. In my book Driving Explosive Growth, I shared many examples of how companies I served leveraged the voices of their customers to realize explosive sales growth.

Here are some best practices to harness the invaluable insights embedded in the voice of your customers.

Create a Seamless Feedback Loop
You can set up a structured feedback loop encouraging customers to share their experiences effortlessly. To capture diverse perspectives, utilize various channels such as quarterly VOC interviews, Win/Loss interviews, surveys, social media, and customer support interactions.

Listen Actively Across Channels
Monitor and analyze customer feedback from multiple touchpoints. Create a Google Alert to notify you if someone discusses your company online. Comprehensive listening ensures a holistic understanding of customer sentiments, whether it’s social media, online reviews, one-on-one interviews, or direct surveys. We encourage our associates to listen to learn rather than reply. The power of discussions versus other methods is gaining a deeper understanding. When we uncover a customer challenge, we ask open-ended questions to gain a better understanding, like…

Could you tell me what caused that to happen?

What is the impact of that?

What is the cost of not resolving that issue?

How long has that been an issue?

What have you tried to solve this issue?

Implement Real-Time Feedback Mechanisms
Embrace technology to gather real-time feedback. Implementing tools that instantly capture and analyze customer sentiments allows for timely responses and demonstrates a commitment to promptly addressing concerns. Some clients add feedback links to their invoices or offer a 1-800 phone number to make real-time comments on the overall buying and service experience.

Several of our clients are manufacturers of large machines that range in price from $500,000 to over $2 million per machine. Here, we implement automatic loss mitigation interviews each month when our clients win orders and when they lose orders.

We aim to find actionable insights to help our clients improve their close rates.

We often discover deals sales have determined lost and have yet to purchase. These become opportunities to nurture red and profitable sales in the future.

Segment and Prioritize Feedback
Categorize customer feedback into segments based on customer size, markets served, customer ranking in terms of an A, B, or C account, themes, or issues. Prioritize addressing critical concerns to showcase your commitment to customer satisfaction and to focus on improvements that matter most to your clientele.

When we engage with clients, we often ask for contact data like the following.

  • List of A, B, and C Accounts and Revenue
  • List of Inactive customers, customers who have not purchased      in 6 months
  • List of prospects quoted but did not close
  • List of prospects who inquired but were not quoted
  • List of all prospects quoted and determined lost

The above contact lists have helped us deliver actionable insights to help our client scale revenue profits, grow their current, and reengage with inactive accounts.

Empower Frontline Teams
Equip customer-facing teams with the tools and autonomy to address customer concerns immediately. Frontline employees are often the first point of contact and can significantly impact customer experience when empowered to take swift and practical actions.

Do you know if your frontline associates have been trained to handle customer concerns and complaints professionally?

These moments of customer concern can become relational building blocks if handled appropriately.

They can also create brand damage and future lost revenue.

We must train and empower our frontline teams to deliver strong customer experiences.

Utilize Customer Journey Mapping
Gain deeper insights by mapping the customer journey. Understanding the various touchpoints and emotions at each stage helps identify pain points and areas for enhancement, contributing to a more refined customer experience.

Could you compare and contrast previous customer journey maps, identify how your customers have changed, and strategically adapt?

Implement Closed-Loop Feedback
Could you close the feedback loop by communicating with customers about the actions taken based on their feedback? This fosters transparency and reinforces the notion that their voices are heard and valued.

Several of our clients create content they share with the customers we interviewed. This content demonstrates the company appreciates their customer’s participation and how they plan to act on the insights the customers shared. When your team produces a customer-facing document, it will significantly improve the participation in future voice of customer research.

Invest in Customer Analytics
As we often share with our clients…there are dollars in your data if you know where to look. Leverage advanced analytics tools to derive meaningful insights from the amassed customer data. Analyzing patterns and trends helps make informed business decisions and tailor strategies to align with customer expectations.

Several clients engage with us to increase sales and gross profit margins. A powerful analysis is Net Profit by Customer Analysis. Here, we review sales revenue and factor in the cost of sales. Our objective is not to identify each cost of sale but to focus on the leading 12 sales costs.

Typically, when we produce a whale curve for a client, we find 20% of their customers represent 3005 of profits, 60% are break even, and 20% of their customers are profit leakers. Profit-leaking customers drain the profits you won from your most profitable customers. When we identify and train sales teams on the top five ways to improve profit-leaking customers, our clients typically realize a 2% to 4% profit lift in 90 to 120 days.

We also leverage large key account data by industry to develop key account growth strategies and plans.

We seek data to drive business discussions and deliver insights to our clients.

What items have grown with other accounts like your customer, but your customer experienced a different growth? Why?

What do other large accounts like your customer purchase, and what items are this customer not buying? Why? What’s our plan to win that business?

What products are trending down? Why?

What are the sales of new products introduced in the last 12 months?

Does this customer buy a few products, or do they buy many products?

Other clients who buy____also purchase ____, ____, and ____ to give their customers the best overall experience.

We also are often engaged to perform a sales pipeline audit

Here, the objective is to audit the current sales pipeline and determine the accuracy and level of confidence in future revenue projections. Often, salespeople need more realistic optimism when it comes to sales pipeline projections. They believe because they quoted an opportunity, it will close

We review the CRM data to ensure the opportunities are properly qualified. If we find opportunities lacking one of the four critical elements of a qualified prospect, we often interview the client and fill in the needed information.

It is expected to find sales pipelines overinflated by 30% to 40%.

Encourage Customer Advocacy
Identify and nurture brand advocates. Satisfied customers can become powerful allies in promoting your brand. Please encourage them to share positive experiences and testimonials, amplifying the positive impact of the Voice of the Customer.

We highly encourage and often facilitate customer advisory boards. We have quarterly meetings we facilitate for our clients to talk about industry issues and challenges and address any recent concerns your customers have had.

Again, we must actively listen. We must create an environment for customers to share success stories and concerns without judgment. As we often share, your customer’s perceptions are their current truths. Our job is not to argue or sell our clients but to actively listen, learn, and develop strategies to provide a better buying experience.

Iterate and Improve Continuously
Customer preferences and expectations evolve, and so should your strategies. Please regularly revisit and refine your VoC initiatives to stay tuned to changing customer needs and market dynamics.

For example, one of our clients experienced a significant decline in sales post-pandemic. We interviewed customers across A, B, and C customers. We interviewed recent wins and recent losses as well as inactive customers. We found across the board that our client needed to offer less than truckload quantiles per order. Many of their customers had moved to a just-in-time inventory management focused on improving cash flow. Once our client adjusted their minimum orders, sales climbed above pre-pandemic levels.

By integrating these best practices into your business strategy, you enhance customer satisfaction and foster a customer-centric culture that can drive sustained success in today’s competitive marketplace.

Remember, the voice of your customer is not just feedback; it’s a roadmap to delivering exceptional experiences and building lasting relationships.

If you would like to capture the voice of your customers to build a strategic plan that helps your team scale revenue and profits, let’s schedule a call.

In approximately 30 days, our team will interview a statistically significant number of your customers and deliver the insights your team needs to drive explosive growth.

If you want more information on Voice of Customer, you can download my eBook and read other articles.

Also, I’d like you to please watch for my new book on leveraging the voice of your customers to drive explosive growth, which will be published in December of 2023.

Mastering the Art of Sales: Best Practices in Sales Skills Training

In the fast-paced and competitive markets we face the ability to sell effectively is a crucial skill. Sales skills training equips professionals with the tools and knowledge they need to excel in this competitive field of sales. The sad reality is 50% of salespeople serving customers today have never had formal sales skills training and ity is showing. Buyers have spoken and over 30% of buyers today choose not to work with a sales rep and prefer to work directly with the company. In this blog post, we will explore some of the best practices in sales skills training that can transform an average salesperson into a sales superstar and an average sales team into a top performing sales organization.

1. Assessment of Sales Skills Motivations and Beliefs

We start the process of upskilling the salespeople with a thorough sales effectiveness and improvement analysis. We review 21 sales tactical skills, beliefs, and motivations. Once we identify sales skills gaps critical to the success of the sales role, we prescribe training and coaching.

2. Understanding the Basics:

We prescribe a spaced stacked sales skills training program. Before diving into advanced techniques, a solid understanding of basic sales principles is essential. Training programs should cover fundamental concepts such as active listening, effective communication, and customer relationship management. We then use these fundamentals to build upon when we prescribe training to fill sales skills gaps.

3. Role-Playing Exercises:

One of the most effective ways to hone sales skills is through role-playing exercises. These simulations allow salespeople to practice different scenarios, enabling them to handle objections, negotiate deals, close and build rapport with clients. We customize the scenarios based on the sales team’s market, customers and common conversations and objections they encounter. We have application exercises where each salesperson applies what they have just learned in exercises and shares their work with others on the sales team.

4. Continuous Learning and Adaptation:

Sales techniques are constantly evolving. A successful sales training program encourages continuous learning. One and done training does not work. If you do not apply and refresh training 90% will be forgotten in 48 hours. Sales professionals should stay updated with the latest trends, technologies, and customer behaviors. Regular training sessions and workshops can help them adapt to changing market demands. We often share articles, white papers and have sales teams read sales books and share the insights they are learning in their weekly sales meetings. Some sales managers have sales team members role play in their sales meetings to facilitate even more application and practice.

5. Emphasizing Empathy:

Empathy is at the heart of successful sales. Sales training should focus on teaching salespeople to understand the customer’s perspective, identify their needs, and offer tailored solutions. Empathetic communication builds trust and strengthens client relationships. Here we focus on EQ and situational awareness skills.

6. Utilizing Sales Technology:

Modern sales training incorporates the use of sales technology tools and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, online video meetings and social selling. Training programs should educate sales professionals on how to leverage these tools to automate tasks, track leads, and analyze data for better decision-making.

7. Feedback and Coaching:

Constructive feedback is invaluable in sales training. Regular evaluations and coaching sessions help salespeople identify their strengths and areas for improvement. Positive reinforcement boosts confidence, while targeted coaching addresses specific challenges, leading to continuous improvement.

8. Negotiation Skills:

Negotiation is a key component of sales. Training programs should teach effective negotiation techniques, including active listening, finding common ground, and creating win-win solutions. Negotiation simulations can provide a safe space for practicing these skills. We can often facilitate knowledge transfer with virtual training about negotiations, but true negotiation skills mastery occurs after practicing this skill in real life scenarios with the top three negotiations tactics your buyers use.

9. Building a Personal Brand:

In the digital age, sales professionals need to build a strong personal brand. Training should cover online presence, social media etiquette, and personal branding strategies. A compelling personal brand on LinkedIn can enhance credibility and attract potential clients.

10. Ethical Selling Practices:

Ethical behavior is paramount in sales. Training programs should emphasize the importance of honesty, transparency, worthy intent to serve and integrity. Sales professionals should be guided to prioritize long-term customer relationships over short-term gains. Buyers can smell a sales rep with commission breath a mile away.

11. Handling Objections:

What are the common sales objections salespeople will encounter selling your product or service? Here we share the most common objections, how to handle them and not try to overcome them. Then we have the salespeople practice each objection handling technique several times before they engage with customers

12. Closing Skills:

67% of salespeople struggle with how to close the sale. We must train salespeople in the top closing skills and in what scenarios is each appropriate. Salespeople learn the various closing skills then apply these skills in role plays.

13. Measuring and Analyzing Performance:

Sales training should include methods for measuring performance metrics such as conversion rates, close rate, customer satisfaction, and sales revenue. These KPIs should be leading and lagging indicators. Analyzing these metrics provides insights into the effectiveness of the training program and helps identify areas that need further improvement. Often, we conduct another sales effectiveness and improvement analysis 11 months after the first one to measure the improvement in skills and identify new sales skills gaps.

In conclusion, sales skills training is a dynamic and ongoing process. By understanding the basics, practicing through role-playing, staying updated with industry trends, and emphasizing empathy and ethics, sales professionals can elevate their skills to new heights. With the right training and continuous learning, anyone can master the art of sales and achieve lasting success in the competitive business landscape.

Do your salespeople have the right sales skills, motivations, and beliefs to drive profitable growth?

How effective is your sales team?

How much more effective could they be?

What impact would be improving sales skills have on your bottom line?

Let’s schedule a call if you would like to find the answers to the above questions and more.

Top Sales Magazine

The challenge I often offer to CEOs, Business owners, and sales VPs is whether you have the right people with the right skills calling on your key accounts and do these critical accounts have growth plans? Growing your share of wallet with large key accounts is a much quicker and more profitable strategy than targeting net new accounts. However, far too often, sales representatives spend a more significant amount of valuable …

Read More…

Top Sales Closing Techniques to Drive More Revenue

In the dynamic world of sales, closing deals effectively is the goal. A successful salesperson not only understands the product or service they’re selling but also masters the art of persuasion and relationship building. However, after assessing over 2 million salespeople globally, 67% of salespeople lack closing skills. Your team has invested to bring in the opportunity, in quoting the opportunity and the cost of sale, but your team may not know how to close the sale. This means you are losing revenue you could have and should have won.

When we assess the sales skills, beliefs, and motivations of sales teams we often find your sales team…

  • Has a strong desire to perform
  • They are motivated
  • They are committed to win

However, we also find sales skills gap and closing the sales is often a gap we need to close with training, coaching and scenario application practice. Many teams were never taught common closing techniques so below are some of the techniques we deliver in our sales effectiveness training and coaching programs. . In this article, we will explore some of the top sales closing techniques that can significantly enhance your sales prowess and increase your quote to close KPI.

1. The Assumptive Close

This technique involves if the prospect has already agreed to make the purchase. If you followed a formal sales process, identified, and professionally handled the objections a close is a nature step. Phrases like “When would you like the delivery?” or “Which payment method works best for you?” create a sense of inevitability, encouraging the prospect to think about the logistics of the purchase rather than whether they want to buy.

2. The Trial Close

Sales professionals often use trial closes throughout their conversation to gauge the prospect’s interest. Questions like “How does this sound to you?” or “Can you see how this product could benefit your business?” allow the salesperson to address any concerns or objections before moving forward, increasing the likelihood of a successful close.

3. The Urgency Close

Creating a sense of urgency can motivate prospects to decide quickly. As new assess sales team skills we often find experienced salespeople are skilled at identifying problems customers have but lack the skills to create urgency. Limited time offers, exclusive deals, or emphasizing scarcity (“Only three left in stock!”) and connecting the need to close to meet the date the customer said they needed the product compel prospects to act swiftly, fearing they might miss out on a valuable opportunity.

4. The Fear-of-Missing-Out (FOMO) Close

Similar to the urgency close, the FOMO close leverages the prospect’s fear of missing out on a great deal or exclusive benefits. Testimonials or success stories from satisfied customers can reinforce the idea that others are benefiting from the product or service, making the prospect eager to join the satisfied customer base. In our training we develop sales stories and teach them what story to use for what type of customer and buyer persona.

5. The Summary Close/ Ben Franklin Close

Summarizing the key benefits and features of the product or service reinforces the prospect’s understanding of what they stand to gain. We review all the requirements the customer shared and how we solve them. By reiterating how the offering meets their specific needs or solves their problems, the salesperson helps the prospect visualize the value, making it easier for them to say yes.

6. The Price Justification Close

When prospects express concerns about the price, the salesperson can justify it by emphasizing the long-term value and benefits. We train salespeople how to design and build a business case particularly in B2B sales. Demonstrating how the product or service saves money, time, or effort or how it increases revenue or profits in the long run can help prospects rationalize the initial investment.

7. The Silence Close

Sometimes, silence speaks louder than words. After presenting the offer, staying silent can create discomfort, prompting the prospect to fill the void by agreeing to the deal or expressing their concerns. This technique requires patience and confidence but can be highly effective in certain situations.

8. The Calendar Close

Your team has done great discovery and qualifying, and you clearly understand when your customer needs the product or service. The calendar close might sound like this… Our current lead time is six weeks, and you need this product in 8 weeks, can we get the purchase order by Friday so we can have everything arrive on time?

Conclusion

Mastering these sales closing techniques requires sales skills training, practice, adaptability, and a deep understanding of the prospect’s needs and motivations.

By honing your skills in these areas, you can significantly improve your sales success rate and build lasting relationships with your clients.

Remember, every prospect is unique, so being able to recognize which technique suits a particular situation is key to becoming a top-performing sales professional.

What is your sales team’s current close rate?

What impact would it have on your bottom-line to improve your close rate by 20%? 30%?

Let’s schedule a call if you would like to understand how effective your sales team is in closing skills and how we can improve their results with training and practice.

Precision Prospecting: The Art of Winning Ideal Clients Every Time

In today’s bustling business arena, the adage, “Build it, and they will come,” doesn’t quite hold. I often refer to this with my clients as Kevin Costner business planning, like in Field of Dreams. Just because you build it, it does not mean the revenue will come. With an overflow of options, winning clients now hinges on precision—specifically, precision prospecting. Gone are the days of casting wide nets( spray and pray); today’s sales pros are akin to snipers, zooming in on their ideal targets with pinpoint accuracy. Let’s delve into this refined art of prospecting.

The Essence of Professional Prospecting

Venturing into the sales world without a clear strategy is akin to navigating a dense forest blindfolded. This is where professional prospecting distinguishes itself from mere cold outreach.

At its core, professional prospecting is the rigorous and methodical process of identifying and reaching out to potential customers who have a genuine need for your product or service and are also in a position to make purchasing decisions. It’s an art and science combined, where research meets intuition, and data meets human understanding.

But how does this differ from general prospecting? Think of it in terms of fishing. Regular prospecting is like casting a wide net, hoping to catch anything. On the other hand, professional prospecting is the act of using a specific lure at a particular time of day, in a chosen part of the lake, with a specific color, targeting a certain type of fish you know is likely to bite. It’s deliberate, informed, and precise.

Efficiency

Time is a precious commodity. By focusing on high-quality leads more likely to convert, you ensure that every moment spent is a step toward a potential deal. Depending on what research you read, salespeople spend less than 25% of their time selling today. We must make the best use of that time, targeting ideal customers with a high probability of closing.

High conversion rates

When your outreach is tailored to a prospect’s specific needs and pain points, the resonance is naturally higher, leading to improved conversion rates. We still have some salespeople calling 50 or more prospects daily, hoping one will answer the phone and have a problem the salesperson can solve. However, with technology today, you can zero in on ideal customers with a much higher probability of needing them. We can apply social selling skills and develop a prospecting plan, not just a single activity.

Building long-term, value-driven client relationships

A shotgun approach to sales can sometimes yield results, but it rarely fosters enduring relationships. In contrast, the precision of professional prospecting, rooted in understanding and addressing genuine needs, sets the stage for lasting, value-rich partnerships.

The Quest for the Ideal Customer

The journey starts by defining your ideal customer. It’s about quality, not quantity.

Consider the following criteria:

  • Demographics: Age, location, occupation—these basics offer initial insights.
  • Psychographics: What are their interests, hobbies, or values?
  • Buying behavior: When and how do they usually purchase?
  • Pain points and needs: Addressing these can set you apart.

Remember, a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach often fits none. Each client is unique, and recognizing that is the first step to effective prospecting.

Strategies for Targeted Prospecting

Targeted prospecting isn’t about reaching as many people as possible—it’s about precisely getting the right people. Crafting a strategy tailored to your ideal clients can significantly enhance your outreach’s effectiveness. Let’s delve deeper into the techniques that enable this precision.

Market Segmentation

Market segmentation divides your target market into approachable groups based on various criteria, such as industry, company size, or buying patterns.

Breaking down the market into manageable chunks: Instead of viewing it as one vast ocean, consider it a series of interconnected lakes. Each “lake” or segment has its characteristics and requires a unique approach.

We are aligning segments with product or service offerings: Your offerings might cater to multiple segments. I understand the specific needs of each segment so that you present your product or service in the most appealing light. Here, we often use your current customer data. What are clients in this market buying, and what is the economic value to clients when we solve their common problems? What are the current issues customers in this market face, and how can we help them? We never assume they have these problems we ask. By the nature of our questions, we can demonstrate competence and build trust.

Value Proposition Crafting

Every segment has its pain points and desires. Tailoring your value proposition means crafting a message directly addressing these unique factors. We conduct voice-of-customer research with your current customers in each market segment to capture their words and phrases about the problems you solve for them.

Tailoring your pitch: If one segment is concerned about cost-saving, could you highlight how your product can reduce expenses? If another values efficiency, emphasize speed and automation features. We also identify in the VOC research various personas like Quality Managers, Purchasing, Engineering, and CEOs and develop messaging that speaks the language of business to each persona.

Highlighting unique selling points (USPs): Differentiators are critical. Please ensure prospects understand what sets your offering apart, especially in aspects most crucial to their segment. This requires us to clearly understand our distinctive competence ( Or Rembrandt in the Attic) and our competitors’ strengths, weaknesses, and constraints.

Omni-channel Engagement

In today’s digital age, prospects are everywhere: on social media, reading emails, attending webinars, or even old-school phone calls. Being present across channels is essential, but it’s not just about presence—it’s about the right kind of engagement and consistency of message.

The role of social media, email, and traditional outreach: Each channel has its strength. Social media might be great for brand visibility and informal engagements, emails for personalized requests to meet, and traditional outreach like phone calls for direct, immediate conversations.

Adapting your message to fit the medium: A tweet should be concise and catchy, while an email can delve a little deeper, but recognize that 80% of emails are read on cell phones, so don’t make the message too long. Adapting your message based on the channel ensures it’s received and understood in the best possible context.

Professional Prospecting Plan and Cadence

We design your prospecting cadence of communications over time, leveraging all the ways we can connect with your prospects today. We use phone calls, emails, texts, LinkedIn messaging, direct sharing of industry insights, business cases and success stories, webinars, white papers, eBooks, books, presentations at trade conferences, and articles in trade journals.

In addition to how we reach out to prospects, we strategically plan when. We design a prospecting cadence spaced over time to build to a meeting and engagement but not be overpowering or become a pest.

Strategic First Conversation

Once we win the first conversation, we must consider the psychology of what is happening in the prospect’s mind. Today, you are a stranger, and what did your parents teach us about strangers? If you call a prospect and do not have a scheduled meeting, this may feel like an ambush, a trap, or a disruption. We teach salespeople how to quickly help the prospect feel they are in control with simple questions and statements that consistently lead to future discussions that lead to revenue.

The Professional’s Approach to Winning Over Prospects

Ever heard, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression”? It’s gospel in prospecting. Crafting compelling outreach messages and personalizing your approach can set the stage for fruitful interactions for you. New prospects decide if you are someone they want to work with within three to seven seconds. Remember that people buy based on trust and competence, so we must strategically plan how we engage, the discovery questions we ask, and the messaging we share based on their persona.

The art of the follow-up is crucial. It’s about striking while the iron’s hot but with finesse—ensuring persistence doesn’t cross over to annoyance. We are finding that used to take five or six attempts to have a discussion is taking up to twenty today. We must build a prospecting cadence of various communications over time. Having coached and assessed thousands of salespeople over the past 35 years, most salespeople quit after 2-3 attempts, and most prospects engage after 6-8 communications. We must develop a prospecting communication cadence, and often, we reinforce our rhythm in the CRM.

Lastly, building trust and credibility is a cornerstone. Offering value, like insights or industry trends, can position you as a trusted advisor. While showcasing past successes is excellent, humility goes a long way. No one likes a braggart!

Nurturing the Relationship Beyond the Initial Win

Have you ever had that call? You know the one, it’s usually at dinner time, and the person on the other end of the phone is pitch-slapping you and not asking you any questions? It is obvious they have a script and plan to say it. This is a terrible experience, yet far too many salespeople believe this is prospecting. As one author puts it, customers and prospects smell commission breath a mile away. Does the conversation feel like it’s about your salesperson hitting their number of KPIs? Or does the engagement feel like your salesperson has worthy intent to help and serve the other person? The mindset of sales when making prospecting outreach is critical to improving their win rates.

Winning a client is just the opening act; the actual performance fosters that relationship long after the ink has dried on the contract.

Understanding that prospecting doesn’t end with a closed deal is crucial. The essence of sales is not just transactional; it’s relational. A deal might be a singular event, but maintaining and growing that relationship is an ongoing journey. That is why one of our most popular workshops teaches salespeople how to build business relationships their customers value.

Strategies for client retention are manifold:

  • Strong Rapport and Discovery: ask great questions, research each customer, interview multiple decision-makers, and look at market and industry reports and trends. Review other customer‘s data who are like this customer.
  • Regular check-ins: Touching base periodically, not just when another sale looms, emphasizes that you value their partnership, not just their business.
  • Upselling and cross-selling opportunities: By understanding a client’s evolving needs, you can introduce them to other products or services that align with their growth or changing requirements.
  • Seeking feedback: Engage clients in constructive dialogue. This offers invaluable insights and demonstrates your commitment to continuous improvement.
  • Voice of Customer Research: customer interviews by an independent third party with no bias delivers actionable insights. How satisfied are our customers? What can we do to improve the buying experience? Why do they buy from us? Why do they buy from our competitors? What is our Net Promotor Score? What new challenges are they facing? What is our current share of the wallet?

Moreover, never underestimate the power of referrals. A satisfied client is often the most credible ambassador for your brand. You foster goodwill while potentially gaining new leads by encouraging them to spread the word and recognizing their efforts. In one research, buyers shared they are up to 90% willing to give referrals, but sadly, less than 20% of salespeople ask for them.

Conclusion

Professional, targeted prospecting is more than a sales strategy—it’s an art and the science of strategic messaging. In our complex, competitive business landscape, precision is power. So, take a moment. Reflect on your prospecting tactics. And if they’re not as sharp as they could be, there’s no time like the present to refine them. Aim for precision; aim for perfection!

I hear some for the high D leaders saying…This sounds like so much work…does it work Mark?

One client with a manufacturing business used this approach and added 218 new targeted accounts in 18 months. They won strategic distributors and big logo brands like Cummins, Winnebago, MAC, Ingersoll Rand, CAT and many more. Today those new accounts represent over 30% of their revenue. This is just one example we can discuss many more.

Let’s schedule a call if you want to develop your modern professional prospecting cadence and messaging to win new logs for your team to serve.

Reading the Room: How Top Salespeople Use Situational Awareness to Win

Imagine walking into a boardroom, filled with potential clients, and feeling the energy, understanding their needs, and knowing when to pitch, pause, or pivot. This isn’t magic; it’s the power of situational awareness in sales. In a world where sales landscapes are ever-changing, relying on scripts alone won’t do. That one and done sales training last week won’t cut it either. The top salespeople combine their knowledge and experience with intuition and perception to truly read a room.

The Pillars of Situational Awareness in Sales

Understanding the Situation

Recognizing context: Every sales meeting has a backstory. Maybe the company just went through a rough quarter, or they’re expanding and looking for new solutions. Knowing this context can shape your approach.

Assessing the immediate environment: From the layout of the room to the tech setup, the environment often gives away cues about the company’s style and preferences.

Reading the Individual

Non-verbal cues: Did the client’s eyebrow raise when you mentioned a price? Did their posture change when a competitor was mentioned? These subtle cues can offer insights into their thoughts.

Emotional states and their signals: From excitement to skepticism, recognizing and addressing these emotions can help guide the conversation.

Gauging the Collective Mood

Group dynamics: Who talks the most? Who looks to whom before answering? Understanding these dynamics can reveal the decision-making patterns in the room.

Recognizing influencers and decision-makers: Not all influencers have the loudest voices; sometimes, it’s the quiet nod of approval from someone in the corner that seals a deal.

Identifying underlying tensions or enthusiasms: Sometimes, the energy of the room isn’t about your pitch but an internal matter. Being sensitive to this can help you navigate the conversation.

Why Situational Awareness is a Sales Game-Changer

In today’s saturated market, products often look alike. The edge? How you sell it.

I shared in a recent keynote at sales kick off meeting…

“How you sell is much more important than what you sell today”

Situational awareness lets you:

  • Stand out by tailoring your pitch in real-time, aligning with your client’s mood and needs.
  • Build trust-based relationships by demonstrating genuine understanding and responsiveness.
  • Swiftly navigate unexpected shifts or objections, turning potential setbacks into opportunities.
  • Close deals by aligning perfectly with what the client feels and needs at that moment.

Techniques to Enhance Situational Awareness

Achieving keen situational awareness isn’t about being psychic; it’s about honing certain skills that allow you to perceive, understand, and react aptly to the social environment. Let’s deep dive into these techniques.

Active Listening

Active listening is an art, one that goes beyond merely hearing words. It involves total engagement with the speaker.

Beyond words – tone, pace, and hesitation: A hurried pace might signal anxiety or excitement. Hesitations could indicate uncertainty or the need for more information. And tone? It’s the emotional soundtrack of the words spoken. For example, if a client says, “We’ve worked with similar products before…” with a tone of disappointment, there’s a backstory there worth exploring.

Responding to what’s said and what’s implied: Sometimes, the real message lies between the lines. If a potential buyer comments, “We’ve had a busy quarter,” they might be hinting at budget constraints, recent growth, or even internal challenges. Your ability to pick up on these subtleties and address them directly can make all the difference.

Observational Practices

Observing is more than just seeing. It’s about noticing nuances and deriving meaning from them.

Scanning the room: This isn’t a one-time action when you enter. Continually glance around. Notice if someone’s interest piques when a particular point is made or if there’s a collective nod when discussing a pain point. These cues can guide your pitch.

Noting physical setups and their implications: The way a room is arranged can tell you a lot. For example, if most of the decision-makers are seated at the back, they might prefer to observe before they engage. Or if there’s a noticeable distance between two groups, it could indicate departmental divisions or even internal disagreements.

Where are people sitting, who is talking the most? The least? How loud or soft is the tine? How fast is the pace of conversation? What is each persons’ body language telling us?

Empathy and Emotional Intelligence

Selling is as much about emotions as it is about logic.

People buy with emotion then justify their purchase with data.

Sensing emotions: This requires tuning into the emotional undertones. For instance, a client might express concerns about a product feature not because they find it irrelevant, but because they’re apprehensive about its implementation.

Research shows over 70% of decision makers make decisions to mitigate risk. If the customer brings up an objection do not overlook it as it will arise again when you attempt to close. Don’t “overcome” the objection but handle it professionally.

Reacting with authenticity: People can sense when you’re genuine. If a client is sharing a concern, a simple acknowledgment like, “I completely understand where you’re coming from,” can go a long way.

Mindfulness and Presence

In the high-stakes game of sales, being wholly present is crucial.

Being in the moment: Imagine talking to a friend who’s constantly checking their phone. Annoying, right? Clients feel the same when you’re not entirely there with them. Whether it’s a large presentation or a one-on-one, give it your undivided attention. Being in the moment is so critical to sales success we assess this in the sales assessment instrument we use.

Avoiding preconceived notions or biases: Walking into a meeting with assumptions can be a pitfall. Every client and situation are unique. By approaching each sales opportunity with fresh eyes and an open mind, you position yourself to respond most appropriately to the situation at hand.

Practical Applications in Sales

Situational awareness isn’t just a theoretical concept—it’s a hands-on tool that, when applied correctly, can revolutionize sales outcomes.

It reminds me of when I trained in martial arts. We practiced and practiced techniques and drills so if the time came to use them we would be in a state of “MU Shin” or no mind. Trained salespeople who have practiced various scenarios will have a high situational awareness and the skill to adapt to the meeting needs.

Tailoring solution pitches is fundamental. Reading the room means sensing its energy and adjusting your message accordingly. For instance, if you feel a room filled with seasoned professionals exuding confidence, diving deep into technical details might resonate. In contrast, a group showing signs of curiosity, but limited knowledge might appreciate a more foundational approach.

Group presentations are rife with dynamics. Observing body language can reveal who’s engaged, skeptical, or undecided. Recognizing these cues enables a salesperson to address concerns directly, involve silent yet influential participants, and subtly sway key decision-makers.

In one-on-one meetings, the spotlight’s intensity is magnified. Keen situational awareness helps in promptly identifying any reservations the buyer might harbor. By actively responding to these, trust is built. Moreover, by mirroring and attuning to the buyer’s pace and mood, rapport is solidified, making the sales process feel more like a conversation than a pitch.

Lastly, the post-meeting debrief is where reflections crystallize. Recalling situational cues aids in decoding client dynamics, preferences, and potential roadblocks. These observations, when documented and discussed, become foundational for strategizing future interactions, ensuring sales endeavors remain adaptive and client centric.

Continual Growth and Mastery

Situational awareness in sales isn’t a “learn once, use forever” skill; it’s a dynamic competency that demands ongoing refinement. With the ever-evolving nature of client needs, market dynamics, and sales environments, a salesperson’s situational acumen needs constant honing. Regular training, be it through workshops, webinars, or role-playing, can offer fresh perspectives and sharpen observational skills.

One of the most potent tools for growth is feedback. Constructive critiques, either from peers, mentors, or clients, provide direct insights into areas of improvement. Couple this with self-reflection, and you have a recipe for sustained growth.

Beyond the sales floor, the benefits of honed situational awareness ripple into personal relationships and daily interactions, making it not just a professional asset but a life skill. In essence, mastery in situational awareness is an ongoing journey, one that enriches not just the sales process but interpersonal dynamics at large.

Conclusion

In the dynamic world of sales, where every client and every meeting is unique, situational awareness emerges as the unsung hero. As sales professionals, embracing and continually refining this skill can be the difference between a missed opportunity and a resounding success. So, the next time you walk into a room, remember to truly “read” it, and watch as doors of opportunity swing wide open.

Let’s chat if you would like to improve your sales teams’ situational awareness through training and scenario exercises.

Winning the Negotiation Game: Strategies for Every Hard Bargain Move

Negotiation is an art form, a delicate ballet of give and take. And while many might believe it’s all about splitting differences, actual negotiation delves deeper. Echoing the philosophy of “never split the difference,” real negotiation is not about compromise—it’s about collaboration.

As we train and coach sales teams, we find less than 25% of salespeople have received negotiation skills training, and over 75% of professional buyers have been trained. This negotiation skills mismatch results in companies leaving millions of dollars on the table that could have ( and should have) flowed to their bottom lines.

In this post, we will discuss negotiation and the critical role it plays in increasing your gross profit margins.

Understanding the Core of Negotiation

Negotiation is more than just a transactional conversation; it’s a dance of dynamics.

At its heart:

  • A mutual conversation aimed at reaching an agreement: Both parties are active participants, each bringing their desires and constraints to the table.
  • A dynamic process, not a static event: Negotiation evolves with every exchange, every counteroffer, every nod of agreement, or furrowed brow of disagreement.

Whether in boardrooms hashing out million-dollar deals or at local markets haggling over the price of fruit, negotiation plays a pivotal role in our professional and personal lives. But to master it, one must shift from viewing it as a compromise, where both parties lose something, to a collaborative effort where everyone can win.

At the root of good negotiations is win-win intent.

Hard Bargaining Techniques

Hard bargaining is the poker face of negotiation, often seen but rarely understood.

Anchoring: The aggressive approach starts with audacious demands or resorting to threats. It’s like trying to win a race with sheer force without considering the stamina needed to complete it.

The guilt trip: Ah, emotional Manipulation! Whether feigning disappointment or playing the victim, it’s about trying to win concessions through sympathy.

The Flinch: you share your proposal, and the other person verbally and visually flinches. This is a tactic to make you make concessions.

Red Hearing: The person you are negotiating with brings up things unrelated to the current negotiation.

Stonewalling: Have you ever faced a wall of silence? Some negotiators use non-responsiveness as a tactic, hoping the other side will cave under the Pressure.

The “salami” technique: Instead of going for the whole pie, they’ll ask for it slice by slice, wearing you down gradually until they’ve taken the entire thing.

The decoy: Like a magician’s trick—while you’re focused on the flashy distraction, they’re working their real agenda.

Good cop, bad cop: you are in a meeting with your decisionmaker, and the new person enters the room. They are difficult and demanding and often leave the meeting early in frustration. This is a play orchestrated by the person you are negotiating with to make you lower your guard.

Anchoring: The other person starts the discussion with an anchored price, often much lower than industry standards.

Deadline Pressure: Creating a sense of urgency or time constraint to force a quick decision.

Emotional Manipulation: appealing to the person’s emotions or relationship with the other person.

Nibbling: you thought you had a deal, and the other person keeps asking for more concessions.

Silence : ( salespeople hate this one) Using silence to make the other person uncomfortable and likely to make concessions to fill the silence.

Threats: Issuing direct or implied threats to gain compliance. The threat of losing their current business, the danger of damaging a long-term relationship.

Limited Authority: Claiming to have limited decision-making power to justify hardline positions. One example as of late my sales teams I am seeing: We must have 120-day terms to do business with you. I cannot enter any new vendors who do not offer 120-day terms.

Lying: I hate to break it to you, but people lie in negotiations to help their bargaining position. Working with the manufacturer of industrial products, their buyers shared you are 30% more expensive. Not 11%, 8.5%…but 30%. There is a strong probability their products are more expensive, but we doubt it is 30% based on our competitive research and win/loss analysis.

End of quarter End of Year– here, the other person has made a remarkable discovery and understands what closing this negotiation means for the other person at a critical timeframe.

Strategies to Handle and Counter Hard Bargaining Techniques

Navigating the choppy waters of negotiation, especially when faced with hardball tactics, requires strategic thinking, empathy, and assertiveness. In the four negotiation courses we offer, we help sales teams to handle brutal bargaining tactics as well as how take a consultative sales approach with a strong business case that often eliminates negotiations together and quickly moves to a close. Here’s a deeper look into strategies that can turn the tables and bring balance to even the most challenging negotiations.

The Power of Patience

In the fast-paced business world, there’s a temptation to respond quickly, to be seen as proactive. But sometimes, the most potent weapon in your arsenal is patience.

Not reacting immediately: When confronted with a highball offer or an ultimatum, take a step back. An immediate reaction might be emotional and not strategic. Please allow yourself some time to process the information and make a thought-out response.

Taking time to think and respond: This can also unsettle hard bargainers. They often expect a quick concession or compromise. By delaying your response, you’re sending a clear message: you won’t be rushed or bullied into a decision.

Active Listening

Every word, pause, or inflection in a negotiation carries weight.

Seeking clarity: Instead of making assumptions, ask questions. If a negotiator makes an aggressive demand, a simple “Can you help me understand why you believe this is fair?” can shift the dynamic, placing the onus on them to justify their position.

Asking probing questions: These delve deeper into the other party’s interests, revealing underlying motivations or concerns. It’s a way of peeling back the layers, getting to the heart of what the other party truly wants.

Establishing Clear Boundaries

Every negotiator has their limits. Recognizing and asserting these boundaries can prevent resentment or regret later on.

I want you to know about your non-negotiables: Before entering any negotiation, please be clear about what you’re willing to flex on and what’s off the table. This clarity provides a firm foundation upon which to negotiate.

Communicating them assertively: It’s one thing to know your boundaries and another to share them. Use clear, assertive language. Instead of “I’d prefer if…” say, “I cannot go beyond this point.”

Shifting the Focus

Hard bargainers often fixate on positions, but the true magic of negotiation lies in uncovering interests.

From positions to interests: While a job is a stated demand (e.g., “I want a 10% discount”), interests delve into the ‘why’ behind it. Maybe they’re facing budget cuts or have financial targets to meet. They are knowing the ‘why’ allows for creative problem-solving.

Seeking mutual benefits: Once interests are bare, look for overlap—a space where both parties’ needs intersect. This is the sweet spot of collaborative negotiation.

Know Your BATNA

BATNA is your Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement. It represents what the other person can do if the negotiation fails. Knowing your BATNA is critical in negotiations because it serves as a benchmark to evaluate the proposed agreement.

Why is BATNA so important?

  • Strengthens Negotiation Position
  • Informs Decision-Making
  • Reduces Pressure
  • Encourages realistic expectations
  • Promotes Creativity
  • Facilitates trade-offs

Building Rapport

Beyond tactics and strategies, negotiations are, at their core, human interactions.

Finding common ground: Maybe you both enjoy golf or attended the same university. These shared experiences can break the ice, making subsequent discussions smoother.

Humanizing the interaction: Remember, behind every hard bargaining move is an individual—with pressures, concerns, and motivations. By empathizing and connecting on a human level, negotiations can shift from confrontational to collaborative.

As we share in our relationship-building course, we must build a strong business relationship. We need to make deposits in the other person’s emotional bank account long before we enter into negotiations.

We instruct our trainees to move from sales rep to trusted advisor, adding tremendous value.

“Never Split the Difference”

Derived from high-stakes scenarios like hostage negotiations, the philosophy of “Never Split the Difference” goes beyond mere compromise. Authors Chris Voss and Tahj Raz share this approach challenges the conventional wisdom of finding a middle ground.

The origin and essence of this philosophy rest in its emphasis on achieving optimal outcomes for both parties. Splitting differences may result in both parties walking away unsatisfied. Imagine two parties arguing over an orange. If they split it, both might not get what they truly wanted—one needed the zest for a recipe, the other, the juice for a drink.

Actual negotiation, as embodied by this philosophy, is about delving deep, understanding core needs, and crafting solutions that serve these fundamental interests. It urges negotiators to go beyond superficial compromises, urging a focus on shared benefits and value creation, leading to solutions where both parties genuinely feel they’ve gained.

Conclusion

In the intricate dance of negotiation, every step, twirl, or pause matters. But it’s essential to remember—it’s a dance, not a battle. Leave your ego at the door. Or, as one of my mentors once asked…” do you want to win or feed your family?” By approaching negotiations with a blend of firmness and empathy, understanding when to lead and when to follow, you ensure that both parties leave the floor with a sense of accomplishment and harmony. After all, in the world of negotiation, a win-win is always the most elegant finish.

When we help teams improve negotiation skills, we have the best results with a blended spaced training design with live real-life scenario role plays to practice and perfect the skills they learned throughout the course.

Yes, you can take negotiation skills training online, but as I shared in a recent presentation, you can learn about how to ride a bike on a YouTube video, but you need to do it with someone running alongside you to master it truly.

Have your salespeople and buyers received negotiation skills training?

What impact would it have to win an additional 4%-7% or even 10% of gross profit margins to your bottom line?

Could your team be leaving money on the table?

Schedule a sales effectiveness assessment and figure out your team’s current negotiation skills.

Precision Prospecting: The Art of Winning Ideal Clients Every Time

In today’s bustling business arena, the adage, “Build it, and they will come,” doesn’t quite hold. I often refer to this with my clients as Kevin Costner business planning, like in Field of Dreams. Just because you build it, it does not mean the revenue will come. With an overflow of options, winning clients now hinges on precision—specifically, precision prospecting. Gone are the days of casting wide nets( spray and pray); today’s sales pros are akin to snipers, zooming in on their ideal targets with pinpoint accuracy. Let’s delve into this refined art of prospecting.

The Essence of Professional Prospecting

Venturing into the sales world without a clear strategy is akin to navigating a dense forest blindfolded. This is where professional prospecting distinguishes itself from mere cold outreach.

At its core, professional prospecting is the rigorous and methodical process of identifying and reaching out to potential customers who have a genuine need for your product or service and are also in a position to make purchasing decisions. It’s an art and science combined, where research meets intuition, and data meets human understanding.

But how does this differ from general prospecting? Think of it in terms of fishing. Regular prospecting is like casting a wide net, hoping to catch anything. On the other hand, professional prospecting is the act of using a specific lure at a particular time of day, in a chosen part of the lake, with a specific color, targeting a certain type of fish you know is likely to bite. It’s deliberate, informed, and precise.

Efficiency

Time is a precious commodity. By focusing on high-quality leads more likely to convert, you ensure that every moment spent is a step toward a potential deal. Depending on what research you read, salespeople spend less than 25% of their time selling today. We must make the best use of that time, targeting ideal customers with a high probability of closing.

High conversion rates

When your outreach is tailored to a prospect’s specific needs and pain points, the resonance is naturally higher, leading to improved conversion rates. We still have some salespeople calling 50 or more prospects daily, hoping one will answer the phone and have a problem the salesperson can solve. However, with technology today, you can zero in on ideal customers with a much higher probability of needing them. We can apply social selling skills and develop a prospecting plan, not just a single activity.

Building long-term, value-driven client relationships

A shotgun approach to sales can sometimes yield results, but it rarely fosters enduring relationships. In contrast, the precision of professional prospecting, rooted in understanding and addressing genuine needs, sets the stage for lasting, value-rich partnerships.

The Quest for the Ideal Customer

The journey starts by defining your ideal customer. It’s about quality, not quantity.

Consider the following criteria:

  • Demographics: Age, location, occupation—these basics offer initial insights.
  • Psychographics: What are their interests, hobbies, or values?
  • Buying behavior: When and how do they usually purchase?
  • Pain points and needs: Addressing these can set you apart.

Remember, a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach often fits none. Each client is unique, and recognizing that is the first step to effective prospecting.

Strategies for Targeted Prospecting

Targeted prospecting isn’t about reaching as many people as possible—it’s about precisely getting the right people. Crafting a strategy tailored to your ideal clients can significantly enhance your outreach’s effectiveness. Let’s delve deeper into the techniques that enable this precision.

Market Segmentation

Market segmentation divides your target market into approachable groups based on various criteria, such as industry, company size, or buying patterns.

Breaking down the market into manageable chunks: Instead of viewing it as one vast ocean, consider it a series of interconnected lakes. Each “lake” or segment has its characteristics and requires a unique approach.

We are aligning segments with product or service offerings: Your offerings might cater to multiple segments. I understand the specific needs of each segment so that you present your product or service in the most appealing light. Here, we often use your current customer data. What are clients in this market buying, and what is the economic value to clients when we solve their common problems? What are the current issues customers in this market face, and how can we help them? We never assume they have these problems we ask. By the nature of our questions, we can demonstrate competence and build trust.

Value Proposition Crafting

Every segment has its pain points and desires. Tailoring your value proposition means crafting a message directly addressing these unique factors. We conduct voice-of-customer research with your current customers in each market segment to capture their words and phrases about the problems you solve for them.

Tailoring your pitch: If one segment is concerned about cost-saving, could you highlight how your product can reduce expenses? If another values efficiency, emphasize speed and automation features. We also identify in the VOC research various personas like Quality Managers, Purchasing, Engineering, and CEOs and develop messaging that speaks the language of business to each persona.

Highlighting unique selling points (USPs): Differentiators are critical. Please ensure prospects understand what sets your offering apart, especially in aspects most crucial to their segment. This requires us to clearly understand our distinctive competence ( Or Rembrandt in the Attic) and our competitors’ strengths, weaknesses, and constraints.

Omni-channel Engagement

In today’s digital age, prospects are everywhere: on social media, reading emails, attending webinars, or even old-school phone calls. Being present across channels is essential, but it’s not just about presence—it’s about the right kind of engagement and consistency of message.

The role of social media, email, and traditional outreach: Each channel has its strength. Social media might be great for brand visibility and informal engagements, emails for personalized requests to meet, and traditional outreach like phone calls for direct, immediate conversations.

Adapting your message to fit the medium: A tweet should be concise and catchy, while an email can delve a little deeper, but recognize that 80% of emails are read on cell phones, so don’t make the message too long. Adapting your message based on the channel ensures it’s received and understood in the best possible context.

Professional Prospecting Plan and Cadence

We design your prospecting cadence of communications over time, leveraging all the ways we can connect with your prospects today. We use phone calls, emails, texts, LinkedIn messaging, direct sharing of industry insights, business cases and success stories, webinars, white papers, eBooks, books, presentations at trade conferences, and articles in trade journals.

In addition to how we reach out to prospects, we strategically plan when. We design a prospecting cadence spaced over time to build to a meeting and engagement but not be overpowering or become a pest.

Strategic First Conversation

Once we win the first conversation, we must consider the psychology of what is happening in the prospect’s mind. Today, you are a stranger, and what did your parents teach us about strangers? If you call a prospect and do not have a scheduled meeting, this may feel like an ambush, a trap, or a disruption. We teach salespeople how to quickly help the prospect feel they are in control with simple questions and statements that consistently lead to future discussions that lead to revenue.

The Professional’s Approach to Winning Over Prospects

Ever heard, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression”? It’s gospel in prospecting. Crafting compelling outreach messages and personalizing your approach can set the stage for fruitful interactions for you. New prospects decide if you are someone they want to work with within three to seven seconds. Remember that people buy based on trust and competence, so we must strategically plan how we engage, the discovery questions we ask, and the messaging we share based on their persona.

The art of the follow-up is crucial. It’s about striking while the iron’s hot but with finesse—ensuring persistence doesn’t cross over to annoyance. We are finding that used to take five or six attempts to have a discussion is taking up to twenty today. We must build a prospecting cadence of various communications over time. Having coached and assessed thousands of salespeople over the past 35 years, most salespeople quit after 2-3 attempts, and most prospects engage after 6-8 communications. We must develop a prospecting communication cadence, and often, we reinforce our rhythm in the CRM.

Lastly, building trust and credibility is a cornerstone. Offering value, like insights or industry trends, can position you as a trusted advisor. While showcasing past successes is excellent, humility goes a long way. No one likes a braggart!

Nurturing the Relationship Beyond the Initial Win

Have you ever had that call? You know the one, it’s usually at dinner time, and the person on the other end of the phone is pitch-slapping you and not asking you any questions? It is obvious they have a script and plan to say it. This is a terrible experience, yet far too many salespeople believe this is prospecting. As one author puts it, customers and prospects smell commission breath a mile away. Does the conversation feel like it’s about your salesperson hitting their number of KPIs? Or does the engagement feel like your salesperson has worthy intent to help and serve the other person? The mindset of sales when making prospecting outreach is critical to improving their win rates.

Winning a client is just the opening act; the actual performance fosters that relationship long after the ink has dried on the contract.

Understanding that prospecting doesn’t end with a closed deal is crucial. The essence of sales is not just transactional; it’s relational. A deal might be a singular event, but maintaining and growing that relationship is an ongoing journey. That is why one of our most popular workshops teaches salespeople how to build business relationships their customers value.

Strategies for client retention are manifold:

  • Strong Rapport and Discovery: ask great questions, research each customer, interview multiple decision-makers, and look at market and industry reports and trends. Review other customer‘s data who are like this customer.
  • Regular check-ins: Touching base periodically, not just when another sale looms, emphasizes that you value their partnership, not just their business.
  • Upselling and cross-selling opportunities: By understanding a client’s evolving needs, you can introduce them to other products or services that align with their growth or changing requirements.
  • Seeking feedback: Engage clients in constructive dialogue. This offers invaluable insights and demonstrates your commitment to continuous improvement.
  • Voice of Customer Research: customer interviews by an independent third party with no bias delivers actionable insights. How satisfied are our customers? What can we do to improve the buying experience? Why do they buy from us? Why do they buy from our competitors? What is our Net Promotor Score? What new challenges are they facing? What is our current share of the wallet?

Moreover, never underestimate the power of referrals. A satisfied client is often the most credible ambassador for your brand. You foster goodwill while potentially gaining new leads by encouraging them to spread the word and recognizing their efforts. In one research, buyers shared they are up to 90% willing to give referrals, but sadly, less than 20% of salespeople ask for them.

Conclusion

Professional, targeted prospecting is more than a sales strategy—it’s an art and the science of strategic messaging. In our complex, competitive business landscape, precision is power. So, take a moment. Reflect on your prospecting tactics. And if they’re not as sharp as they could be, there’s no time like the present to refine them. Aim for precision; aim for perfection!

I hear some for the high D leaders saying…This sounds like so much work…does it work Mark?

One client with a manufacturing business used this approach and added 218 new targeted accounts in 18 months. They won strategic distributors and big logo brands like Cummins, Winnebago, MAC, Ingersoll Rand, CAT and many more. Today those new accounts represent over 30% of their revenue. This is just one example we can discuss many more.

Let’s schedule a call if you want to develop your modern professional prospecting cadence and messaging to win new logs for your team to serve.

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