grow sales | No Smoke and Mirrors

Are Your “Salespeople Hunting Elephants With a BB Gun?” Answer 10 questions…

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Are Your “Salespeople Hunting Elephants With a BB Gun?” Answer 10 questions…

As I have shared in prior posts, salespeople are like water; they find and take the path of least resistance. Having carried a sales bag for years I get it; it takes a tremendous amount of work to sell a large number of new accounts when I can sell one big account and make the same amount of money, and possibly more. The problem is most salespeople are ill equipped to land big accounts so they are hunting elephants with a BB gun. When your team hunts elephants with a BB gun they not only fail to hit sales objectives, and fail to increase the number of prospects in their funnel….there’s a high probability they are irritating the elephants.

Some of my fondest sales memories were landing some big elephants in the markets I served like; Wal-Mart, Block Buster, Musicland Stores, Nintendo, Dell, Blackberry, and others….and I have to admit it was a rush. I had a big advantage though and that was training and sales tools to land big accounts (elephants). When you sell big accounts you must understand how they buy, who is involved in the buying decision, and aggressively pursue the economic buyer. ( the one who has the power to write you a check) Just as if you were hunting elephants on the plains in Africa, you would equip yourself with a different set of equipment (tools) to bag your trophy, than if you were hunting rabbits or squirrels in Ohio. The environment is different, your weapons are different, and the net number of targets and shots you can take is very different.

One common problem I am observing in the market today is salespeople are hunting elephants with a BB gun and getting frustrated and surprised when they fail to bag their trophy.

How do you know if your salespeople are hunting elephants with a BB gun?

Have your salespeople focused on and failed to close elephants in the past 6-8 months?
When you ask why they failed to close the sale, all they say is price?
Do you keep hearing “good meeting” but fail to see an order or a clear understanding of what was achieved at the last meeting and what the next step of the buying process is for the prospect?
Do you notice the entire sales territory is underperforming to plan?
When you ask about the territory performance, does your salesperson always add the elephant to the discussion?
Are other team members complaining they are being pulled into this “big” opportunity and they are not seeing the sale moving to a close?
Has your salesperson said something like; the account just went dark?
Have you seen new leads not being followed up on in a timely manner?
If you did bag an elephant in the last 6-8 months, was it significantly under your profit targets?
..I saved the hardest question for last …What does your gut say, should your salesperson be presenting large key accounts in your market? Are they trained and have they demonstrated the ability to listen and present solutions to problems? Would you want your salesperson calling on you?

So how did your team score? If you answered “yes” to four or more of the above, your salesperson is hunting elephants with a BB gun. How did you answer question #10? If you said “no” stop irritating the elephants in your market today.

There are a number of problems with your salespeople hunting elephants when they are not equipped to win;

they fail to bring home all the rabbits and squirrels in their market

they only irritate and make the elephants angry and that anger is attached to your companies’ brand

they compromise margins and they are operating in the domain of losses

they pull resources from other areas of the organization that fail to meet their objectives

Market leading sales organizations understand the buying process for large key accounts is different than the smaller accounts they serve, and they provide the tools and training to clear the jungle and bag those market elephants.

How is your team’s sales history bagging elephants?

What is the main reason your salespeople say as to why they failed to win their trophy?

How many other opportunities are not followed up on that they could close with a BB gun?

Do you agree or disagree elephant hunting requires different training, tools and experience?

If your team wants to bag some elephants, are you equipping them with the right tools and training? Or are you counting on them to “just make it happen”?

Are Your Salespeople “Growing a Market”…Or Working a” Bread Route”?

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Are Your Salespeople “Growing a Market”…Or Working a” Bread Route”?

A common concern I hear from business owners is their salespeople are not effective at selling net new customers. New customers, if serviced properly become lifetime customers with current and future revenue opportunities and contribute to creating sales velocity. In addition, they make up for account attrition, you know …customers who go out of business or just go away. (another future blog needed as customers do not “just go away”) New customers result in additional commissions for the salesperson right? Since new customers are so key to every businesses current and future sales revenue goals and can add additional commissions then why are sales people not closing new customers?

One of the leading reasons I have personally experienced why salespeople are not growing their markets is ; they are working a bread route.

As I have shared before one of my first jobs was a route salesman with Frito-lay. Fresh out of college I drove an 18 foot step van full of Frito-lay products to my grocery stores, convenience stores, bars, and anyone else I could open. Frito-lay made the sale of new accounts one of my key indicators along with selling additional store placement displays and gaining shelf space. The one route sales guy who would beat me to my grocery store accounts was the bread route delivery person. They would always amaze me at how fast they could get in and out of a grocery store and move on to the next account. They started very early in the morning like me, but were often done with their route by 2:00 pm. The bread route driver was focused on visiting his current accounts, accounts he and his company have relationships with, finding out what they needed and filling the shelves. They had very specific routes and timelines and if the driver executed his or her route effectively they made a good living. The bread route driver made enough income serving his current customers that he did not need to open new customers.

Fast forward to today and I see bread route drivers in all kinds of businesses. These are salespeople who call on a bank of current customers who should need additional products and or services and if they work their route they should meet their personal income goals. Current customers are the easiest to deliver products to because you and your company have a relationship with them. They welcome you in, if you ask for an appointment they make themselves available…heck, they even reply to voice mail and emails!

Selling new customers requires connecting with new people you do not know, new companies you may not be failure with and risk. No salesperson likes rejection and every time you attempt to start a discussion with a potential customer, (someone you could sell but you are not currently selling) you risk rejection. In addition, since you do not have a relationship you often experience frustration through a lack of returned phone calls and emails, trying to get past the gate keeper, trying to determine the buyer’s process and criteria and so on… all the while needing to make your sales objectives (and commissions).

So how do you know if your salespeople are growing their market or working a bread route? I have a few questions…

How many net new clients have they added in the last 6 months, last 12 months?
What % of their monthly commissions is the result of net new customers over the past 6-12 months?
If your salespeople report on sales calls, what % of calls are net new potential customers?
Do your salespeople have “everyone” in a particular market that has ever bought from you? Or do they have a fraction of the total number of accounts?
When you conduct four-legged sales calls with your sales people, do they take you around to current customers and drive by a number of potential new clients, or do they add net new targets along the way?

So what’s your gut telling you right now? Are your salespeople working a bread route or growing your market? How did your team score with the above questions? Below is how I have viewed the responses to the above questions when I have helped clients.

How many net new clients have they added in the last 6 months, last 12 months?

I monitor the number of net new clients. As a general rule and can vary based on the maturity of your industry and the frequency with which your team introduces new products….if a salesperson is not adding at least 5% of their total number of customers every six months, ….they are working a bread route.

What % of their monthly commission is the result of net new customers over the past 6-12 months?

In addition to the number of new accounts I look at the revenue those accounts contributed and also how that revenue grew the salesperson’s commission. Again whether or not you have a history of launching exciting new products designed to solve the markets unresolved problems or new product flops , the maturity of your industry, the experience and training of the salesperson…I look for at least 5-7% (ideally 10 %+) of commissions coming from customers they have opened in the last 12 months…if they have little or no commission from new customers…they are working a bread route.

If your salespeople report on sales calls, what % of calls are net new potential customers?

Winning new customers requires a great deal of activity. I am not however advocationg activity without focus as I have discussed prior as another problem salespeople often encounter. The rule I have used in multiple industries is 20 unqualified prospects should turn into 10 potentials, and from that 10, 2-3 proposals and 1 new customer. If your salespeople are not trying to connect with at least 20 new accounts per month ( 5 per week) ….they are working a bread route.

Do your salespeople have “everyone” in a particular market that has ever bought from you? Or do they have a fraction of the total number of accounts?

If all your customers are lumped into one group and not segmented based on key accounts, targeted growth accounts and you have not identified targeted net new accounts… they are working a bread route.

When you conduct four-legged sales calls with your sales people, do they take you around to current customers and drive by a number of potential new clients, or do they add net new targets along the way?

I enjoy working with salespeople in the market. I enjoy interacting with salespeople, their customers and potential new customers. If you work with your salespeople and they take you only to happy customers and drive by potential net new clients and have not started or attempted to start discussions with them…they are working a bread route.

So how did your sales team fair? Are they growing a market or working a bread route?

As long as they hit their sales numbers do you care? Should you care?

If your salespeople frustrate you by poor execution in closing new business, it could be because they are working a bread route. In my next post I will discuss how to change that behavior and drive net new customer revenues for your sales team.

Improve Sales With A “Sales Requirements Summary”

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Improve Sales With A “Sales Requirements Summary”

In today’s market buyers have the power to find solutions to their problems. Sales people and their sales processes must adapt based on what we know about buyers today. Market leading sales organizations are adding the power of the “sales requirements summary” into their solutions presentations to win more sales, and increase sales velocity.

When we ask salespeople why a buyer chose an alternative product we often hear it was price, followed by a unique feature or benefit, and then relationship. However when we ask buyers why they did not buy, “price” was not on the list of reasons. So if price is not on the list, why is it buyers do not buy? The consistent and overwhelming answer was;

“I do not believe the salesperson clearly understands my problem, and therefore I do not trust the solutions he is presenting will adequately and completely solve my problem.”

To overcome this buyer concern and ultimately improve sales close percentages and increase sales velocity I coach salespeople to add a “requirements summary” in their proposal. So what is a requirements summary? If your industry demands long presentations there are a number of templates for requirement summaries. However I believe in the KISS principle so I have found a good requirements summary includes the following;

restate the problem to be solved as you understand it
restate buyer and all project influencers
provide details from your meeting notes about the specifics of the problem, corresponding products and or services your solution must work with
how to measure the success of your proposed solution
restate timing the buyer expressed for the solution to his problem to be delivered
state your delivery commitment with a call to action…if you need the product delivered by ______ we will require an order by ________.
speak to all buyer and influencer pain points discovered in the sales qualification process
state how your solution uniquely solves the requirement and pain
specific part number(s)
total cost summary
timeframe for quote, ideally 30 days

The requirements summary helps overcome the reason why buyers do not buy; Trust. In addition to showing you clearly understand the buyer’s requirements and pain, the summary also provides the opportunity for the buyer to share if requirements have changed.

Most salespeople are so focused on selling they are not truly listening. Knowing you must produce a requirements summary in your sales proposal insures your salespeople are asking questions to intimately understand the nature of the problem to be solved and how the buyer and his or her team will measure the results.

Does your sales team provide a requirements summary in each proposal?

Do you see any negatives in providing a requirements summary in your sales process?

A requirements summary is a simple and effective way to build trust with your buyer by illustrating you understand his problem and how you plan to fix it. Most competitors will be leading with price because they feel that is what wins orders. Be one of the top 10% of sales professionals by taking copious notes concerning the problem to be solved, all those who have input in the solution, and everyone’s pain points and you will win more sales faster regardless of how “cautiously optimistic” your buyers may be.

How to Sell “Cautiously Optimistic Buyers”- Diagnose and Prioritize Buyer Pain

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How to Sell “Cautiously Optimistic Buyers”- Diagnose and Prioritize Buyer Pain

One shift in buyers that has emerged as our economy begins to rebound is the “Cautiously Optimistic Buyer”. The good news is buyers are searching for solutions to problems they are having or plan to have. The bad news is this “cautiously optimistic buyer “has a different buying process and criteria than buyers of the past. Market leading salespeople diagnose and prioritize buyer(s) pain to close the cautiously optimistic buyer.

If you are trying to help salespeople close orders you probably have heard; “ my buyer is cautiously optimistic” as a response to the status of a pending sales opportunity ( and why the sale you thought you had has not closed yet). I have heard this phrase so often I wanted to share what it means and how salespeople must adapt to this buyer.

Before we can unpack this buyer and how to insure they purchase what they need from you, we need to understand what is meant by the phrase; “cautiously optimistic” I found an interesting quote at The Phrase Finder.

“I believe things will turn out well, so I want credit for having the wisdom to predict it. But I don’t have the courage to say so out loud, so if everything falls apart, I want credit for having the wisdom to be cautious.”

To paraphrase what I have been personally hearing…” I know I have a problem that needs to be solved, it has needed solved for some time but the economy was so bad I did not have budget approval, or the nerve to ask for one. However now the pain of this lingering problem is so great and it feels like the economy is turning around I must find a solution, but I must do so with the least amount of risk to my company ( me) while also being able to defend what I purchase incase I am challenged at a later date.”

So how do we successfully close a cautiously optimistic buyer?

The keys to closing this type of buyer are to;

*Ask open ended questions until you clearly understand the pain points of your buyer and all of those in the buying decision

*Prioritize pain points and rank by decision maker power

*Provide a summary of the problem to be solved, all the buying criteria and requirements shared to insure you did not miss any

*All follow up communications will speak to solving pain

*Proactively provide buyer(s) with information to defend their buying decision if challenged

As I have discussed in previous posts the buying environment has changed and market leading companies must sense the changed and adapt their sales process to insure they achieve sales objectives. If you ask salespeople why a sale they projected to close did not close you often hear; our price was too high. However if you ask buyers as I have, the number one reason the buyer did not buy was not price. The leading reason buyers do not buy is they feel the salesperson did not understand the problem to be solved completely and therefore they do not trust the solution the salesperson is proposing will make their pain (or threat of future pain) go away.

Have you experienced the cautiously optimistic buyer?

What changes have you made to your sales process to sell this buyer?

Are your salespeople finding the sales process has become longer or shorter?

“Clean Sales Management” …the Secret to Profitable Sales Growth

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As the leader of your sales team are you able to quickly identify market shifts, buying process changes, and the needs for new products and or services? Or do you, like 90% of the sales leaders out there seem to be playing catch up, always chasing what you should have done? “Clean Sales Management “is a practice, a methodology, which entails gathering market information in the market, belly to belly, if you will, with buyers. When you practice clean sales management you will find your sales team seems always ahead of your competitors in sales, new products, as well as overall customer satisfaction.

Like a number of us I set out in 2011 to become healthier. I drifted from my workout plan and I found myself being less intentional about what I was consuming to fuel over the last three months. I found a number of articles on “eating clean” . The basic premise of eating clean is to consume less processed foods and intentionally set out to eat foods that are closest to their raw natural state. For example, we should consume raw broccoli and carrots instead of popping open a can and quickly microwaving this canned, processed, solution. It’s about staying away from consuming junk food.

As I thought about eating clean it reminded me of how I have found the most success in leading sales and marketing teams when I was out in the market, intentionally consuming feedback from buyers directly with my teams. When I would struggle in my sales and marketing leadership is when I was so focused on forecasting and CRM system stage reports that I failed to have an intimate understanding of what was going on in the lives of my markets and the problems of our buyers. Sure, my sales teams participated in weekly conference calls provided weekly call reports, and one on one calls with my team members, however I see now those communications were processed.

Developing sales plans based on phone conversations with your salespeople is “sales management junk food.”

I heard it once “salespeople are like water and they will take the path of least resistance to a sale” and what I have experienced is they strive for quick fixes and shortcuts, often band aides to cure gapping wounds in the repeatable sales process.

When you practice clean sales management you;

Are in the market more than behind your desk
observe your salespeople in action, with buyers
know why buyers buy from you…and why they don’t
compare sales report data to what you observe at the source ( raw and unprocessed)
stop looking for a salespersons “Ass to kick” and focus on solving problems
identify the injuries to your repeatable sales process as the shifts occur and adjust so they do not become gapping wounds
become stronger at conducting business triage
find your leadership is stronger due to your direction being driven close to the source
meet and exceed your sales goals
meet and exceed new product sales goals
poor performers are eliminated from your team quicker
buyers trust your overall organization more
sales are more profitable
gather sales representative data points and build sales tools that address trends as apposed to chasing each salesperson’s perceived needs based on the last buyer they spoke with

So how about your organizations…are you ready to practice Clean Sales Management?

How often are your sales leaders in the market working with their teams in front of buyers?

Do you and or your sales leaders feel chained to your desk at corporate analyzing CRM updates and creating forecasts no one ever hits?

Do your competitors keep beating you to the sale with new products and or services?

Do you believe your sales team provides “raw” feedback or “processed “information based on what they think you want to hear?

One resolution I ask each sales leader to practice is to intentionally set out to work in your markets, belly to belly with buyers to insure you practice clean sales management.

New Year’s Resolution ; Stop the “Sales Insanity”

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It’s that time of year we make New Year’s resolutions. We set goals in our personal lives and for our businesses. Bloggers are discussing resolutions for your business like increasing profitability, firing bad customers, listening to customers, as well as unselfishly making your team better.

Another article I found particularly useful advice for business leaders is Harvey Mackay’s about setting realistic benchmarks. In this article he highlights fundamentals we need to consider before setting goals like;

Know what you really want

Know your motivation

Zero in; focus on one or two where you can make the most improvements

Take risks…great quote: “ you will never stub your toe if you walk backward”

Involve those around you

In the spirit of “Zeroing In” I recommend stopping the “sales insanity”, and define a sales process that works for your market of today. Let’s face it; the way buyers are buying today has changed from this time a year ago. We see buyers;

Taking longer to make buying decisions

Involving more people in the buying decision

Buying Needs not Wants

Stronger focus on ROI

The Role the internet is playing in the information gathering

The role the internet plays in the beginning of the trust building process

What most businesses choose to do is increase their sales goals and tell their sales teams to “just make it happen”….this is insane!

Stop the insanity and develop a sales process based on how your buyers are buying today and you will realize the revenue increases and increased shareholder value.

Or, go ahead and make Einstein turnover in his grave by; doing more of what you are already doing that didn’t work in 2010, and expect different results in 2011.

Does your team have a defined repeatable sales process? (are you sure?)

Do you know why buyers buy from you? …Why they don’t?

Have you changed your sales process in the last six months? (if not it’s broken, and you are losing sales you should be winning)

Is your team’s lack of market knowledge showing in your sales?

What new buying criteria is your team experiencing in the market today?

Make understanding how your buyers buy and equipping your sales team with a sales process and complementary tools in 2011 a New Year’s resolution you keep in 2011.

And remember… “it’s not about how you want to sell, but helping your buyers buy , the way they want to buy” ( nosmoke-ism)

Customers Are Not Your Best Source of Information To Grow Your Sales?

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When companies desire to grow their sales they often reach out to their customers to find what they could be doing to grow their business. The trouble is your customers already have a relationship with you. They heard and understood your value proposition enough to buy from you. You need to speak with them; however you must also meet with those who did not buy from you.

If you really want to grow your sales you must speak with potential customers and those your team has quoted. Since they never bought from you they are more likely to not overlook your clunky web site navigation or your salespeople who showed up and threw up without ever understanding the problems the buyer needed solved. They may tell you your brochure is a great explanation of who you are, but fails to tell the buyer the problems you solve for them.

Look at this another way…of the conversations your salespeople have each day…which is greater …the people who say yes…or the people who say no? Let’s say your salespeople close 15% of leads. Doesn’t it make sense to have a focused understanding of why the majority of the people your salespeople speak with say no? As well as what you need to do to help them say yes? Chances are your current customers have the same issues and your overall buying experience and customer satisfaction will improve by adding those who do not buy when you do your market intelligence.

Who does your team speak with when they want updated market info? Just your customers?

Who does the interviewing?

Why or why not should salespeople do the interviewing?

Have you used this process? If so please share what you learned?

The Great Disconnect…”Sales Execution”

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Nothing frustrates CEO’s more than spending the time to develop a strategic plan and then find out six months into the plan sales is not executing the plan. What are the reasons sales fails to execute the plan?

In my experience, most businesses do a great job of explaining their strategic plans, but they fail to provide sales the proper sales tools, a value proposition that resonates with buyers and the “how-to” for salespeople.

Market leaders create tactical sales playbooks by territory.

Market losers tell salespeople to “just make it happen”.

It may be perceived as “old school” but I have found the best way to avoid the “great disconnect” is to provide each salesperson on your team a sales playbook. Working with the salesperson we develop a playbook that breaks the overall strategy down into meaningful how to tactics for the salesperson and identify key performance indicators.

Have you experienced the “Great Disconnect; Sales Execution” in your sales team?

Does your organization provide sales playbooks for each salesperson?

What are the key ingredients of a sales playbook?

You Do Not Need “More Leads”…

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Having led sales teams for over 25 years I have heard salespeople frequently say …”If I only had more leads I could…” They say they could close more sales, sell more new products, and become more important to their distributor network…and so on. Like a carpenter with only a hammer, the solution is to just nail more leads. The trouble is the quickest way to improve revenues is not more leads.

What you need to do to quickly impact the bottom line is improve your sales close percentage with the leads you already receive.

Market leaders clearly understand the buying process and buying criteria.

Market leaders create sales tools to help their sales teams close a greater percentage of sales leads and create sales velocity.

Market losers play “extrapolation exasperation” …if their team closes two sales out of ten leads, and they need to close six new accounts…its simple: we need more leads (30 or so)

You have already made the investment in marketing to drive the clicks…why not improve your team’s ability to turn clicks to customers?

Are Your Salespeople Playing “Feature and Benefit BINGO?”

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Are your salespeople costing you revenue you should be winning by playing “feature and benefit BINGO?” The only way you truly know is if you or your VP of sales is traveling and working in the market with your sales team.

Feature and benefit BINGO is a game untrained salespeople play far too often. They “show up and then they throw up” and they spew all the features and benefits they can think of waiting for your buyer to jump up and yell”…BINGO….I get it….I figured out what problems you can solve for me…”

Market leading salespeople ask questions and take the time to listen and understand the problems, the pain their buyers are experiencing and they position their product and or services as solutions to those problems.

As a quick litmus test, ask yourself who talked more in the meeting? Your buyer… or your salesperson? If it was your salesperson I promise you they are showing up and throwing up and it’s costing you sales revenues you could have won.

Are you playing feature and benefit BINGO in other areas?

Your website?

Brochures?

Your sales training?