Sales Blog Entry - The Number one Sales Currency

F.E.A.R. as defined by many personal development gurus (the revered and even the self-proclaimed) is defined as False Evidence Appearing Real. To close big deals, and large clients, especially in turbulent or uncertain times is all about taking the F.E.A.R out of saying yes.

Often the prospect has a dozen good reasons why they should do business with you, they even admit it, but still no deal. There’s a hesitance, a pause, then more questions, a couple stalls and more meetings hesitations and stalls. What are they afraid of? Often it’s an undefined sense of uncertainty. It’s emotional intuitive issue, they don’t trust us, or they don’t trust a number of factors that influence their business that are related to the transaction.

“Sales is about creating an environment where an act of faith can take place.”

This act of faith us based upon trust and credibility. Trust is in my opinion the number one sales currency. Too many people think it’s a product, a pitch, a better deal, or a nice suit. These things are important, but all will fall short without trust.

Recently I surveyed a number of senior investment advisors with one of Canada’s largest brokerage firms and asked them a very straightforward and open-ended question; “What does is take to move a big client (along with their with money) from a competitor to your firm?”

Every single one of them, without exception, said “the relationship.” This relationship was built upon a series of trust building interactions, very few of which were related directly to immediate gains in stock picks or better brochures than the competitors. They described knowing the client personally through lunches, dinners, inviting them the VIP events and being very accessible and transparent in their dealings with them.

I asked “what about your great research, your name in the press, the brand, and of course your track record?” The response: “That will get them to open their account with you and allow you to send them the odd e-mail or prospectus.” To move a large lump sum of money for you to manage they told me “you need trust, a real relationship based upon it.”

I recently landed a fortune 50 client. I knew I was up against bigger competitors. After the RFP and final presentation was done I got the news. The deal was mine. When I asked the Senior VP of Sales for this company why I got the deal his answer was little surprising. He said “I don’t know, the other guys are well branded, they said the right things, but you just made us feel comfortable, you were open with us, I felt that our team would relate well to you.” Relate well? I thought. What about the results I’ve landed for other clients? Our great training modules? Our experience in their sector? Comfortable? They bought comfortable!? What kind if competitive advantage is that?!

What my broker clients and I experienced is the same thing.

Our value proposition, our branding, our stats and track record opened the door for us. To close the deal, and grow the client it was our ability to establish trust that was the deciding factor.

What is trust? Trust from a prospects perspective, is a sense of comfort, a belief that we’ll do what we say we’ll do regardless of a contract or what we’re obligated to do. Seems simple, but so many people today feign concern but don’t deliver. The truly empathetic sales person that is grounded and transparent has a huge advantage in the marketplace. Trustworthiness is a rare commodity, if we focus delivering it as out core value proposition we can lock clients in for a lifetime.

So how do we establish it? Here’s some quick concluding thoughts on the topic:

#1) Know your product and service capabilities, all of it’s applications and all of it’s limitations. Close deals that fit and be willing to walk away or refer them to someone else. Basically take on clients you know you can hit a home run with.

#2) Keep even the smallest commitment always, Even things like being on time are unspoken and implied commitments. If we can’t be trusted with minor details how can we be trusted with business critical issues?

#3) Never talk about other clients to prospects, unless you let them know that you have pre-approval. They’ll enjoy the story but then later wonder what you’ll say about them.

#5) Manage their expectations up front. Let them know what to expect, even in regards to product and service limitations. Our clients are grown-ups, they know there’s no perfect product or service and they’ll appreciate our candor.

#6) Have conversations that are broader and deeper than our competitors are capable of having. Do this by educating ourselves more, researching more, assuming nothing, and customizing every interaction with the client.

#7) This final point is by far the most critical. Be good at establishing genuine rapport. This happens by being totally aware, present and functional and having a highly developed capacity for listening and asking great questions. People will sense our level of empathy and sincerity more from the questions we ask then the stories that we tell.

Author’s Bio

Shane Gibson is President of Knowledge Brokers International and author of Closing Bigger the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals. With 14 years as a professional speaker Shane is in high demand as a conference speaker and a sales training and sales performance specialist. KBI’s clients include organizations such as BMW, Siemens, Ford, Vodacom, the Vancouver Board of Trade and dozens of professional associations and corporations in Canada, USA, South Africa, South America and the Middle East.

Sales Blog - Why prospects won’t do business with a sales person.

According to a North American study, here are some of the reasons given for not dealing with a salesperson:

• Not following the company’s buying process (26%)
• Not listening to customer’s needs (18%)
• Not following up (17%)
• Being pushy, aggressive or not respectful (12%)
• Not explaining the solution objectively (10%)
• Making exaggerated or inaccurate claims (6%)
• Not understanding the company’s market (4%)
• Being too familiar (3%)
• Not knowing or not respecting the competition (2%)

Harvard Business Review, July/August, 2006

This is an affirmation of some of my past podcasts and entries on the endless line-up of sales gurus claiming to have the ultimate sales process to sell you. The best process is the process the client uses to buy. This comes getting good at rapport, asking the right questions, an being mindful of the stage of relationship development we are in with the client.

Shane Gibson

Can you close too big? Downtown Partners Closes their doors

Globeandmail.com’s small business section recently noted that Downtown Partners a leading Canadian advertising agency closed their doors for good after losing their biggest client:

The advertising agency that was once one of the hottest in the country is closing its doors on Feb. 15, a move largely linked to the loss of its prized Labatt Brewing Co. Ltd. business. Downtown Partners, a division of Omnicom Canada, was dealt a fatal blow last November when Labatt decided to streamline its agency roster and hand the coveted Budweiser beer account to its long time agency Grip Ltd. Downtown, which had had the account for six years, wasn’t even given a chance of bidding on the brewer’s other businesses. “The agency is a victim of consequence,” Dan Pawych, creative director and a founding member of Downtown, said yesterday. More at Globeandmail.com

This is something I’ve mentioned in a few podcasts and sales blog entries. Closing Bigger is about the 7 figure deal. Sometimes though we forget the term “deal”. Deals can be finite, and if we base our whole business on one big client, we’re not in business; we’ve got a deal. I have yet to do a full in depth read on what lead up to this event but I’m assuming that big ole Labatt Brewing Company ate up much of Downtown Partners time, energy and resources, and several critical errors were made. One was somehow being totally out of sync with the client, how do you have a business dependent on one major client, and not have the business intelligence and inside connections to see this coming? The next question is who was responsible for hunting down and landing more big clients?

No matter how successful we are (and many of us are guilty of believing our own positive press) we need new fresh leads, and new clients. It’s what keeps us sharp, fine tunes our pitch and lets us know what’s really going on in the marketplace.

Another title for this sales blog entry could have been “Prospect or Die” or perhaps “How to Be Eaten by a Whale”

One of my biggest challenges when sales training people is when their company lacks the leadership and structure to enforce a quota or at least a level of accountability where people, anyone, including sales people are held to their word and the goals they set. Over the years I’ve seen too many individuals on auto-pilot, then they’re shocked when their company goes under, yet they haven’t prospected for new business or looked for new niches in the marketplace for years.

My closing thoughts for this blog are “Closing Big but keep on closing.”

Shane Gibson is a leading sales performance and sales training authority based in Vancouver Canada. His company offers sales training, motivational sales seminars, and consulting through their offices in Canada, South Africa, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Sales Blog Entry - Using Frequency in Selling

The most effective element in advertising is frequency. If you reach 10 000 of the right people ten times, rather than 100 000 people once, your advertising dollars will be much more productive. To obtain more frequency, run several commercials on the same television program or the same radio time block, on the same news cast every morning or run several ads in the same newspaper on the same day. The key to obtaining value from frequency is to increase impact by reaching the same consumer several times.

A one-time pizza commercial on a late night movie will have to be a great mouth-watering event to motivate a consumer to purchase. The same commercial run several times during the show can dramatically increase response. Even though you may reach a small number of people, if they are the right people, and you reach them enough times with the right message to make them respond, and if it is affordable, you have effective advertising. To get maximum return for personal assets invested, the same principle applies in selling.

A commonly used set of figures often used in sales training that seems to back up the frequency principle in selling, is this Sales Conversion Ratio.

Note: The Sales Conversion Ratios may vary with different industries, different products and services, different priced items and services and the difference in the ability of the salesperson.

Apparently in the Life Insurance business, it takes less frequent calls to a client. As a matter of fact if you have not closed by the third meeting the chances of getting the business goes downhill fast. This is the opinion of several senior Life Insurance executives. If you are in life insurance, judge for yourself. Remember these are Conversion Ratios - meaning you take the customer from someone else. We are not talking about ratios in reference to new clients that are not with the competition. It would take less focusing with someone who does not have a relationship with a competitor.

At this point you understand the philosophy of “It is better to reach 50 of the right clients 20 times over six months or a year with the right method than it is 1 000 people once.”

It is great that you now understand the theory, but it can be quite a challenge to put this theory into Action. The best way to do this is to develop your own Data Base Selling System and utilize that System.

Now, for many people when you say “Data Base Selling” they think computers and software programs. I am going to suggest that computers and software programs are not a Data Base Selling System, they are tools that can make Data Base Selling more efficient.

You can implement Data Base Selling by utilizing a small cardboard or metal box with cards that fit the size of box, or you could use a ring binder, rolodex or a file drawer of files. The computer is just the box binder, rolodex or file drawer that holds the client information.

So, if you are not comfortable utilizing a personal computer, lap-top or notebook computer, you can still utilize the concept of Data Base Selling. Before the invention of lap-tops and Personal Computers, most successful salespeople utilized the Data Base Selling approach to building their business with their own system of control.

Lets look at a real simple way to describe what Data Base Selling really is.Data Base Selling is when you gather together a list of the names of Present and/or Potential Customers in one place. This becomes your Base of Data on your potential and/or present clients who you systematically contact on a frequent basis, using a number of different methods with the purpose of gaining the business.

If all you ever used were the primary data base selling tools, but you used them frequently and effectively, you would be very successful as a salesperson. Examples of primary tools include, personal visits, outgoing prospecting phone calls, personal e-mails, and even coincidental encounters. These are very personal and effective ways to manage a relationship. The importance of utilizing some type of Data Base management program or process is to help salespeople and the organization as a whole to consistently move relationships forward with clients.

Particularly in Long Sales Cycle Selling or big deal making We can experience dozens of low and highly charged emotional days or even weeks before we close the deal. By having a process for constant follow-up and customer contact we’re prompted to continually follow up and contact potential clients even when our emotions aren’t running in a positive direction.

This process could be facilitated by a customer relations management (CRM) software (Pivotal, Siebel, Sales Logix, Goldmine etc.) , a paper based day timer, or something like Microsoft Outlook, or a Palm OS. A system for follow up supported by a good business coach or manager is one of the best ways that sales professionals can continue to consistently win when their emotions or circumstances are not positive.

The initial reaction to this by most salespeople is that the client would feel hassled or bugged by a salesperson who makes contact that often. The answer is simple. If you go to a sales meeting that is boring and a waste of time you are not eager to go back the following week. If it was an interesting, worthwhile meeting you would be glad to go back.

The same applies to selling. If you show up each time with tools and information that help the client and you are an interesting person, he/she will be glad to see you. If the information you fax, mail or phone through is of real use the client, once again the client will be happy to hear from you.

The key is to remember that the value of the frequency is the time you put in with the client. The intent provides the genuine sincere assistance which develops a relationship of one degree or another which will create a commitment from both parties.

So, the frequency with the right approach will build the relationship.

Shane Gibson is the author of Closing Bigger the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals and President of Knowledge Brokers International Systems Ltd. a leading sales performance and leadership development organization. Shane divides his time between his entrepreneurial projects, speaking at major conferences and mentoring salespeople and entrepreneurs.

Field Sales Training and Development Calls - Sales Blog and Podcast Entry

An excerpt from the Complete Sales Action System

New salespeople need lots of one-to-one sales training and experienced people need to be “tuned up” from time to time. One of the best ways to accomplish the above is with Field Sales Training and Development Calls. Here are a few suggestions.

Half to a full day

A 20 minute call with someone is not enough time to get into the flow. Try and give the salesperson a full day or at least a half an day. This gives you a fair look at the person and it also gives both of you the time to uncover deeper issues or the time to begin implementing new ideas.

Why am I going?

Just as you suggest to your salespeople, you have to have objectives if you are going out on the call. They could be one or more objectives similar to the following:

1. Develop rapport with the salesperson
2. Teach certain skills
3. Monitor progress
4. Introduce and educate on new products or services
5. Provide support
6. Try and discover why performance is down
7. Find out why this person is such a strong performer.

Why am I Here?

Before the salesperson makes the call makes sure he/she has certain objectives in mind. If you know what the salesperson is attempting to achieve, it is easier to assess, support and train. In the case of in store sales training, or in a showroom at a dealership, or in an office or a bank the above two points on knowing why would still pertain.

E.g. As a customer is walking towards a showroom, the salesperson could quickly let you know his/her objectives.

Sales Training or Selling

If your main objective for the morning is to train the person then do not butt in and take over if the salesperson is not doing too well.

Let the salesperson do it

Let the salesperson handle the sales call. Be aware that if you are with the salesperson he or she will be a bit uncomfortable and probably not perform at his/her normal level. By letting the salesperson handle the call or situation, you show confidence in him/her and you also demonstrate your commitment to training and developing his/her sales skills.

The exceptions to this rule are:

a) You don’t want to risk a large transaction. If a salesperson is in the middle of losing a large transaction because of lack of skills, why is he/she handling this account at this time? All rules are made to be broken under special circumstances. If you see a big transaction going out the door and you cannot afford this, jump in and save it. Afterwards apologize to your salesperson, explain why you did it, and review what you both learned from this experience.

b) Agree in advance. This is where you let the salesperson know you will handle the call to demonstrate what to do.

Review

After the call, do the following:

1. Ask the salesperson what went well. Listen to the feedback, suggest a few other areas where you felt it went well and agree with the salesperson on his/her points if appropriate.

2. Now ask the salesperson where and/or how he or she could have improved or been more effective. Listen! Most of the things you would have pointed out, a salesperson could probably tell you if you give him/her time. It is insulting and demotivating to be told something about yourself when you are about to admit it without the prompting. Once the salesperson is finished you can then expand on a few areas where you felt he/she could have been more effective.

3. Now ask the salesperson where he/she could see future or new opportunities with this client and then add your own.

4. Ask him/her to identify possible problems that could come up in the future and how to rectify them. Add your point of view.

The above 4 approaches let the salesperson feel accountable and respected and at the same time helps him/her take responsibility for the future.

Coach Feedback Form

Design a simple feedback form for the end of the day or for a specific meeting. Have the salesperson rate him/herself on a scale of 0 to 10 and explain his or her reasoning. Listen first before giving your opinion.

Also ask the salesperson how you could be more effective in the one-to-one sales training and development process. Listen!

Thank the Salesperson

Thank the salesperson for the day and re-cap the positives. Remember how often someone has suggested to you to do things differently and you defended, but a week later you saw the wisdom in the suggestion and changed your mind. Be patient.

This sales training blog entry is an excerpt from the Complete Sales Action System a 25 module sales system used by major banks, insurance companies, automotive manufacturers and dozens of other organizations in North America (Canada), South Africa. Written by Bill Gibson, The Complete Sales Action System is published by Knowledge Brokers International a sales and leadership development company with offices in Canada and South Africa. Quick links: sales training South Africa – sales training Canada

Quick Links:

Sales Training Canada
Sales
Training South Africa
Sales Training Boot Camps Vancouver
Complete Sales Action System
Managing Complex Business
Relationships System

Subscribe in iTunes to this Sales Podcast

Sales Podcast - Sales Blog Entry - The 12 Steps to Making the World Your Networking Function

In sales networking is the much coveted strategy to generate leads and help us close deals while reducing the amount of cold calling or hard selling we do. With that said, many people misunderstand what real networking is all about. Today’s sales podcast is about the 12 Steps to Making the World Your Networking Function:

1. Be referable don’t gather contacts or push for referrals
2. Be interested not interesting
3. You can’t have 200 best friends – prioritize
4. Add value with your network
5. Bank your equity (with the right people)
6. It’s a small town
7. Map and seek out the players
8. The more you give the more you get
9. Do your due diligence before you refer
10. Keep Promises, Follow-through
11. Be seen
12. Step it up every year

You can subcribe to this sales podcast series by using one of the many options on right hand navigation bar or you can download the MP3 file here:

Shane Gibson is the author of Closing Bigger the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals and President of Knowledge Brokers International Systems Ltd. a leading sales performance and leadership development organization. Shane divides his time between his entrepreneurial projects, speaking at major conferences and mentoring salespeople and entrepreneurs.

Quick Links:

Sales Training Canada
Sales
Training South Africa
Sales Training Boot Camps Vancouver
Complete Sales Action System
Managing Complex Business
Relationships System

Subscribe in iTunes to this Sales Podcast

Sales Blog Entry - Evaluating Sales Training Companies (From Training Magazine)

I read this article recently on evaluating sales training companies. It’s pretty straight forward but the bottom line is too many organizations focus on “price” and “adult learning” versus results and track record. If I was to developing a sales training RFP to screen potential vendors I would focus more on the ROI per training dollar and the longevity of the implementation and process. I like where Dave Stein has started here, in a future blog entry I’ll talk more about this process of developing a training RFP when selection sales training companies.

Why Doing It Wrong Will Cost You Millions (Training Magazine)
By Dave Stein

So you’ve decided to procure sales training for your organization. You’ve winnowed the possibilities down to a short list. What’s next? How do you decide which vendor is right for your organization? One of the many responsibilities that sales managers have is evaluating and selecting a sales effectiveness solutions provider (ESP), or a sales training company.

For many managers this is a daunting task. Most ESPs that have been in business for a while have more successful engagements than failures; therefore selecting the right ESP is a process of differentiating them on their characteristics and programs, then matching their capabilities with your needs. Read the rest of the article at trainingmag.com

Sales Blog - Entry - Quote of the Day

ThinkExist.com Quotes

How to recognize a small deal that will become a big deal

Excerpt from “Closing Bigger the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals”

If a small order comes through, determine who is ordering and who is connected to that person. You may find that you have already moved into the exploration stage with a big client.

For example, I used to sell online ads. Often I had companies with ad budgets of $250,000 call me and give a $1,000 order, which lasts less than an hour on a high-traffic website. Literally a flash in the pan, these were the equivalent of a five-second advertisement spot run once on primetime television. Producing measurable results under these circumstances was, to say the least, difficult.

These companies weren’t running around placing 250 orders for $1,000. Rather, they were looking for someone who could prove that they were worthy of winning a million dollars or more in advertising spending. They were testing for uniqueness, ability to execute, quickness of response and creativity. They were saying, “give us a reason to do big business with you.”

We may never get the million-dollar client if we make the $1,000 order a low priority. Treat the little guy and the little order with respect. Take the time to analyze and probe, and seek out spin-off opportunities.

Shane Gibson
Author of Closing Bigger
http://www.kbitraining.com

For more information on the book:

Shane Gibson’s Sales Blogs Have Found a New Home

I have been maintaining a blog at salesacademy.ca for four years now. With the launch of my new book [ Closing Bigger the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals . written with my coauthor Trevor Greene] I wanted to amalgamate my blogs in one place.

Over the next few weeks and months Trevor and I will be sharing our insights, lessons learned and recounts of our travels as we promote the book and message on reaching rainmaker status as a deal closer.

For the next 9 months or so the blog entries will be mostly done by me [Shane Gibson] while Trevor Greene is preparing for a deployment to Afghanistan.

Our official book launch was on the 25th of October 2005 with the support of over 100 members of the Vancouver Board of Trade.

In addition to written sales and sales management blogs we will be doing sales podcasts on a weekly basis including interviews with big deal closers from multiple industries on five continents. You can download an excerpt from the book Closing Bigger the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals here.

November 14, 2005 · Filed Under Sales Blog |

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