1. You need buy-in
2. It’s really about creating an opportunity culture
3. You need to reward people, that means everyone
4. “What gets inspected gets respected” – Trevor Greene
5. Move poor fits out quick, and hire the right people
6. Feed the monster – train and develop continually
7. Fix operations if they don’t support sales
8. Fix products and services that don’t meet needs or fulfill promises
9. It takes time, up to 18 months or longer before true leadership evolves

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Four Types of Prospecting:

1. Face to Face
2. Extended Personal
3. Community and Network Prospecting
4. Media Marketing/Prospecting

Make a Plan:

1. Have the intent to meet people wherever you go, be aware and focus on rapport
2. Book time everyday for e-mail and phone calls
3. Book time everyday for prospecting on Linkedin and listening/monitoring the web
4. Attend two target rich events per month and one major conference per quarter
5. Budget a percentage of your projected income or revenues and spend it every month on media and press releases etc.

What’s your prospecting plan look like?

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Bill Gibson Free Goal Setting Guide

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Here’s how 28 Days to Better Selling Works:

1)    A daily task that you can easily implement to improve your sales and business
2)    A succinct daily lesson to help you make the improvement

By the end of the 28 days you will have looked at 28 ways to fine tune and improve your sales process and business.  The daily lessons will be in written, video or audio format and will take less than 10 minutes each to review.

Day1  The ABC’s of Targeting

Day 2 Targeting the Right Referral Sources

Day 3 Prospecting in Person

Day 4 Networking Strategy

Day 5 LinkedIn Prospecting

Day 6 Investigative Prospecting

Day 7 Lead Nurturing

Day 8 Don’t Be A Boring Salesperson

Day 9 Listening in Sales

Day 10 Needs Analysis in Sales Part 1

Day 11 Needs Analysis In Sales Part 2

Day 12 Twitter for Sales Part 1

Day 13 Twitter for Sales Part 2

Day 14 Keeping Commitments

Day 15 Selling Benefits and Results

Day 16 Preemptive Objection Handling

Day 17 Sell the Price Different Not The Total Cost

Day 18 Vital Signs

Day 19 Preparing For a Sales Call

Day 20 Team Selling

Day 21 Just Thinking About You

Day 22 Team Players Make Efficient Sellers

Day 23 Day of Rest, Chill Out and Reflect

Day 24 Influencing Top Level Decision Makers

Day 25 Key Skills and Strengths for Selling Intangibles

Day 26 Reducing Anxiety and Worry

Day 27 15 Ways to Close A Sale

Day 28 Operationalizing Your Sales Process

Want to Close Bigger Deals? Buy the Book:

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It is not uncommon for salespeople and/or sales managers to get caught in the throes of everyday problems and miss seeing the trees because of the forest.
In most cases there is much more support and help around us than we can see. If most of us could really appreciate what we do have, and be grateful, most of the time we would never have a motivation problem.

There is power in gratitude. For example; Have you ever been forced into giving a kiss and a hug to a relative or a friend of a friend you couldn’t stand? It’s not an inspiring experience. As a matter of fact, it can be downright de-motivating. But if you have ever been asked to hug and kiss someone you secretly admired, I bet you found it to be a very pleasant experience. What’s the difference between the two?
Having to embrace someone you can’t stand, can be de-motivating; embracing someone you admire is motivating.

The same rule applies to situations. Most of us spend time living for tomorrow; living for when we will get that raise, that job, that relationship, or that home. In other words, that’s when we will be happy. We don’t like where we are now, so let us dream about tomorrow. What this means is we are not living in the now. It also means we often set our objectives or goals from a time, place, or state of mind that we do not like, which means we don’t embrace it. Therefore it is de-motivating.
What if you could appreciate the moment and embrace it? It would be inspiring, just like embracing that person you admired.

Gratitude is a powerful motivation. To embrace or appreciate the moment you are in, gives you a deep settled strength, and alleviates anxiety. With this strength you are able to tap into your intuition and be directed into paths that are more meaningful and in tune with who you are. This makes it much easier for you to become enthusiastic and move forward and feel good about the present as well as where you want to go. Having gratitude for where you are now can get you started.

Think about the situation you are in right now that frustrates or even immobilizes you. Now come up with a list of some really positive things that you have going for you right at this moment. Think of things you may be grateful for. A few examples could be good health, living in the country you are in, experience in your field, great relationship with your wife, husband or significant other, certain belongings, past experiences, just to name a few.

Once you finish the list, go back through and mentally say “thank you” to all the circumstances and people you could thank for each one of these. For example; in reference to your health, mentally thank someone who showed you how to eat properly, or who got you involved in some form of physical exercise. Maybe a previous employer believed in balanced living and not just work, work, work. Be sure to thank that person mentally. Thank your government for the facilities that are available and your creator for being so kind to you. As Plato once said; “Happiness is not being in a good state, but rather knowing you are in a good state.”

Once you have completed this exercise, you will have experienced the power of appreciation. You will feel much better about the moment. To see the positive in your present circumstances and to feel gratitude about the moment will get you started and keep you going.

Unfortunately, our egos work very hard at stopping us from experiencing gratitude. Very few of us can openly display gratitude on a daily basis to all those people and situations around us. It is much easier to fill our minds and bodies with self-importance, dissatisfaction, criticism, and victim-style thinking, than it is to put these feeling aside and say thank you. Monitor yourself and see how often you resist or justify not having gratitude. Being aware of your anti-gratitude stance alone, can start you on the road to being more grateful and more productive.

As the manager you may want to share this process with your people. Gratitude is one of the greatest internal motivators of all.

(An excerpt from our “Complete Sales Action System”)

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#1) They need to master the art of Rapport Building

#2) They need to get good at Needs Analysis Selling

#3) They need to understand how to sell what people buy, and it’s not features, price or technology

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Twitter For Sales Part 1

Twitter For Sales Part 2

What the Heck is a Tweetup?

Social Media is Turning Sales and Marketing Upside Down

How Hard is it to Video Blog?

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Here it is:

Can You Use Social Media To Get International Sales For Your Business?

As a small business owner based in France targeting North American clients, social media makes good sense for me. And it works my business. Why? Because there are no significant barriers created by cultural differences between the social media I use and the people I connect with.

If you want use social media to develop your international business, there are two things you need to remember.

Sales Techniques

You will need to develop strong international sales negotiation techniques.

This comes with practice. But you must be willing to put in the personal effort needed to develop these skills.

Adapt Your Business

Have a look at the 5 different cultural scales outlined by Geert Hofstede:

· High versus Low Power Distance

· Individualism versus Collectivism

· Masculinity versus Femininity

· High versus Low Uncertainty Avoidance

· Long versus Short Term Orientation

What are these scales? They are an attempt to categorize and explain cultural differences.

I will not go into them here, but click through the link above. It is a very interesting table. You will see scores for a long list of countries for all 5 of these scales. And you can choose your country and another one to see how the two sets of cultural differences compare.

Although these 5 scales seem complex and they have their limitations, it is easy to understand why you need to approach people from different cultures differently.

And International Social Media?

Read the news and open your ears. Social media has hit the world everywhere. Here are a few points to remember:

· There are different social medial platforms in different countries

· What is popular in one country may not be popular in another one

· People use social media differently

It is not easy to get international social media statistics. And I am not sure I would even begin trying to get a comprehensive world vision of social media.

I suggest another approach…

Instead of taking on the whole planet, simply because social media is “free’:

· Keep your business in mind.

· Choose one country and jump into their social media environment.

Do not start with social media marketing. Instead:

· Start with social media networking

Get to know how people use social media in their country and then work on finding out how to adapt marketing your business in this new country.

There are some international social media networking scenarios where it is easy to create business relationships from a distance.

If you have any international social media stories to share, I would love to hear them. Please leave a comment below and tell me how you have used social media within part of your sales process.

Cindy King is a Cross-Cultural Marketer & International Sales Strategist based in France.  She uses her dual background in sales & marketing to help businesses improve their international sales conversion and develop country-specific international sales guides. Connect with her on Twitter @CindyKing

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Sales Best Practices: Asking questions as a means of facilitating every step in the sales process.

The single most powerful tool that a salesperson has is a well-phrased, appropriately asked question. Nothing else compares to the impact that a good question can have on the customer and the sales process.

That’s because a good question directs and influences the customer’s thinking. When you ask a question, they think of the answer. That simple statement neatly packages the latent power of a good question.

Yet, few salespeople understand that, and fewer still implement it.

A number of years ago, a study was done on this very issue. Here are the results:

“Out of 300 salespeople studied, 87 percent realize the importance of asking questions. However, only 27 percent displayed the ability to ask a well thought out, stimulating series of questions.”

In other words, thirteen percent of the salespeople in the world don’t even recognize the power of asking a good question. And only about 1 out of 4 could actually do it. That means that 3 out of every 4 salespeople, or 75 percent, don’t ask good questions.

There are two issues here: First, realizing the importance of using good questions effectively, and second, actually doing so.

This is such a big issue that my book, Question Your Way to Sales Success, is devoted entirely to this.

Everyone can ask a question. I have a three year old grandson. He can do it. This issue isn’t asking questions; the issue is asking better sales questions. While I can’t condense the book to a few hundred words here, I can point out a couple of things that the best do with this most powerful tool.

1. They prepare their major questions before the sales call. This gives them the time to select the best language and sequence.

2. They are mindful, at every stage of the sales process, of using better sales questions. They understand that there are questions, there are good questions, and there are better sales questions. So, they constantly focus on creating and using better sales questions. Whether it’s a cold call on a prospect, or following up after the sale, at every stage of the sales process, a more effective use of questions will produce dramatically better results. And they know that.

3. They collect good questions over time, and use them over and over again.

A master salesperson is a master at the use of better sales questions. That’s why it is a best practice of the best.

About the author: Dave Kahle is one of the world’s leading sales training educators. Since 1988, Dave has worked with over 400 companies, helping them to increase their sales and develop their sales people. He’s been published over 1,000 times, writes a weekly Ezine (subscribe for free at http://www.davekahle.com/mailinglist.htm), and has authored seven books.  Dave’s website is available at http://www.davekahle.com, and you can follow his sales blog at http://www.davekahle.com/salesblog.

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There are two main questions you need answered before proceeding:

Question 1: “Mr. Client, when you say the price is too high, how high is it? And compared to what do you feel it is too high?

When the client answers this question, you know what amount you are dealing with. The important thing here is to separate that amount from the total amount. By the client telling you the amount, you know what they are happy to pay, so you do not sell them on that amount, they are already sold on it. Focus on the difference.

Example:

Client: “I am sorry, but the purchase price of that house is too much.”
Salesperson: “When you say too much, how much too much?”
Client: “About $20,000 too much.”
Salesperson: “So what you are saying is that $280 000 is okay with you, but it is the additional $20,000 that is holding you back?”
Client: “Yes.”
Salesperson: “Well, let’s take a look at what you get for that extra $20,000 or $250 per month in payments. For an extra $250 per month:

• You are just across the street from the elementary school, and you said you wanted to be close to the school.
• The area you were looking in is 10 miles further away from your office. You save yourself 20 miles of travel per day, and in gasoline and wear and tear on your car it translates into $5.00 per day, which is over $100 per month. That is almost half of the $250 per month.
• The house has a view and you really feel a view gives you a sense of freedom.
• You have a two car garage that is very secure.
• Your wife is in love with it.
• You reduce your worry about your children walking to school.
• You save time not having to drive or walk the kids to school.
• You are closer to the office and save time again.
• You end up with a view you want.

Salesperson:    “For a $150 a month on your mortgage I feel this one is the best option we have looked at today.” (You would not use the entire list but probable focus in on the top ones you would feel the client would relate too)

Note:     The salesperson does not say “for an extra $20,000 or for $300,000” which is the total price. The focus is on the difference and the lowest amount and then broken down to a monthly cost

Your Assignment today is:

#1) Look at which services or products you have where you have price objections

#2) Assess how much more they may be perceived to cost in comparison to similar products or services.

#3) Brainstorm all of the additional value financially and otherwise someone would get from paying the extra amount.

#4) Memorize your value added list.

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1) Have you lost business in the past due to you or your company missing client commitments?

2) What are the most common areas in your sales and service process where commitments could be broken?

3) What could you do to improve your ability to keep commitments and exceed your client and prospect expectations?

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If you want to improve your sales and have been too busy to put a plan into place you’re not alone.

I have had many people in the sales community including sales professionals, senior executives and high tech entrepreneurs and bloggers who are all looking for ways to convert connections into long-term clients and relationships.

Their challenge is that most resources available are either one time training opportunities, or extensive and over whelming programs that are tough to implement. This program takes care of all of this.

The 28 Days to Better Selling program is completely free and is 100% content and 0% advertising or promotions. All content focused on helping you.

This concept was inspired by a 31 Days to Build a Better Blog program that Problogger.com put on for 12,000 other bloggers. As a participant it was very helpful for me. The concept is simple:

Here’s how 28 Days to Better Selling Works:

1) A daily task that you can easily implement to improve your sales and business
2) A succinct daily lesson to help you make the improvement

By the end of the 28 days you will have looked at 28 ways to fine tune and improve your sales process and business. The daily lessons will be in written, video or audio format and will take less than 10 minutes each to review.

To Register for the program please enter your e-mail address below:

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Shamus Brown did a blog post called “Your Prospects are Human Lie Detectors.” It’s amazing that in this era of extreme transparency that sales professionals and business people still are missing this core lesson.

Simone Blum urged us to be Un Reasonable when it comes to business decisions and launching a new idea or product.

Alan Majer provided a great list of 21 things we can do to succeed in a carreer in selling.

The guys at Sales Roundup put together a good sales podcast on finding and prepping for a sales job.

The guys at the Advanced Selling Podcast did a great podcast on The Rules Tools and Attitudes needed to put more prospects into the sales funnel.

Brad Trnavsky at the Sales Bloggers Union did a good sales blog entry on The Primary Role of a Sales Manager.

Skip Anderson in his Selling to Consumers Podcast talked about the Essence of Selling. It’s all about helping the client make a decision according to Skip.

Lastly I found this sales cartoon from Count5.com and it reminded me of at least half of the sales people that call my office daily. Anyone else suffering from the same?

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20 Social Media Tips:

1. Focus on a specific theme in your social media for extended periods of time
2. Your blog is your home base, all social media should feed your home base
3. Social media is 90 % contribution and connection 10 % marketing and sales
4. Social media belongs to the people, they get to make the rules not the marketer
5. Have a social media policy for your company. Help your people be effective and on message
6. Promote other people’s dreams. It builds community, loyalty and brand for you
7. “Marketing is a process not an event”- @jaylevinson
8. Blog, tweet and talk about solutions to people’s pains and challenges
9. Social media tools like twitter are listening tools more than they are broadcasting tools.
10. Nano-cast to many small niches instead of broadcasting to everyone.
11. Learn to break up large blog entries into many smaller entries. It’s more user friendly
12. Take time each month to update your major social media profiles, use key words that your prospects would search for
13. Use social search like http://search.twitter.com and http://blogsearch.google.com to listen to your customers
14. Each social network has it’s own etiquette FaceBook type behavior doesn’t work on  LinkedIn
15. Answer people’s comments on your blog, or @ replies in Twitter. Social media leadership is about bi-directional communication.
16. Think twice, click once.
17. Take it off-line, book in person meetings or hold events for your online social media contacts
18. Use an assortment of tools, it geometrically multiplies efforts
19. Always be asking where are we going? What is the next Twitter or FaceBook going to be?
20. Use a mixture of content on your blogs, top 10 lists, photos, video, audio, guest bloggers, and polls…

Register for updates on Sociable! Shane Gibson and Stephen Jagger’s new book to be released in June 2009.

Social Media Seminars with Shane Gibson.

Related Posts:

• Twitter tips for Sales People
• Social Media Phobia Why Executives Aren’t On board
• Succeed in Tough Times with Social Media

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Trucker Network. We are firm believers in the power of business cards, and the following story reaffirms why everyone in your company needs cards. Last week Darcy heard this story about a guy who owns a trucking company who decided to give all his truckers business cards. Soon, his company’s business cards were posted on truck stop cafes and gas stations across the continent. The result? A 20% increase in business! And there was another interesting thing that happened–the drivers started dressing better, looking sharper. Why would that be? These guy and gals had never been given business cards before, and if we think back to the time when we received that very first box of business cards, there was a certain feeling of pride, status and belonging. There were two wins for this owner because of his simple investment in business cards.

– Darcy, Gayle and Judy

To read a story from Work the Pond! about giving cards to everyone in your company go to: www.tiny.cc/shepa

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#1) This is actually a live feed of multiple sales bloggers from around the globle. The World’s Top Sales Bloggers List is a great place to discover new sales bloggers and podcast producers.

#2) Dave Kurlan put together a great sales management checklist of must have attibutes for sales leaders and managers.

#3) Kevin Eikenberry posted a good list of 5 ways to do some spring cleaning to your life.  Good tips for those needing to refocus.

#4) Paul Espinosa talked about how critical it is for organizations to get good ar hiring good sales managers in his post on “Sales Managers – The Real Role.”

#5) The guys at the Sales Roundup Sales Podcast put together a great show on “How to price what you sell.”

#6) George Petri from Symvolli posted a sales podcast on “B2B Relationships Don’t Have To Be Lost – Continuous Contact Doesn’t Mean Customer Stalking.” Great stuff on creative follow-up.

#7) Bill Caskey and Bryan Neale put together a podcast on getting to and dealing with decision makers.

#8) Rick Cooper: The Fortune Is In the Follow Up was another podcast that I enjoyed.

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Sociable! Is about “How social media and social networking are turning sales and marketing up-side down.”  This book idea really began as a discussion shortly after I interviewed Stephen Jagger for my sales podcast on “Twitter and GrandCentral.com.” Then in January I shared with Steve my goal to write three more books this year and when the topic of Social Media for Sales People and Entrepreneurs came up we quickly decided that we should do it together.  We will also be sharing with our readers how we have managed to write a book in 90 days at some point in the future.

Based upon my experience and the collective experience of the team at Knowledge Brokers International we have seen sales evolve to a true profession. With that said I also feel that sales is broken, a lot of the old approaches such as cold calling or marketing at people versus engaging them are becoming less and less effective (this prompted my podcast last week on “how to avoid cold calling“).

The bare bones pre-launch website for Sociable! is up and you can sign up to hear more about upcoming seminars, events (usually involving beer and social media sales types), at the site.  We will also be selecting about a dozen people to review the book in a protected blog where you will be able to make comments and add your thoughts.  Some of those will be included in the comments section at the end of each chapter.

After spending 8 hours today finishing these Chapters off, I’m done writing for a while.

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Mike Desjardins (http://twitter.com/mikedesjardins) interviewed Shane Gibson on Mike’s Video Podcast on how CEO’s can effectively use Twitter.

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I have been working with the Academy of Learning for over a year to launch this program and it is now available through their network of 145 locations across Canada.

New Program Trains Sales Professionals Who Meet the Demands of Today’s Business World

Academy of Learning is pleased to announce the new Sales Professional Diploma program“ said Derek Hamill, President of LaunchLife International Inc., the franchisor of Academy of Learning. “Without sales there is no business. Academy of Learning wanted to deliver a first rate diploma program to guide and prepare graduates for top notch sales opportunities, and that’s what we did.

Academy of Learning, along with speaker, author and global entrepreneur, Shane Gibson, President of Knowledge Brokers International (KBI), designed the Sales Professional Diploma program with the goal to ensure that every student has the necessary sales knowledge and practical tools to succeed in a sales career.

This program is based upon KBI’s methodologies that have been implemented and used by leading business organizations such as SIEMENS, Old Mutual, The Certified Management Accountants of Canada, the Vancouver Board of Trade and dozens of manufacturers and leading financial services companies. Over 100,000 people in the last 10 years have attended KBI’s programs in Canada, USA, Southern Africa, South East Asia, the Middle East and South America.

This program will prepare graduates with the right skills to excel as a sales professional.

Some of the key courses and areas of focus in the program include: Principles of Selling, Business Presentations, Professional Selling, Business Negotiations & Contracts, and Business Law and Ethics. Graduates will be prepared with the right tools for lucrative sales careers in disciplines such as inside sales, outside sales, key account management, retail and large business to business sales careers. This program is ideal for individuals entering the workplace for the first time, re-entering the workplace, or current jobholders who want to upgrade or get formal recognition as a sales professional.

Labour conditions for the sales profession have remained consistent. Jobfutures.ca indicates that there is a broad variety of career opportunities in sales in fields such as advertising, wholesale, publications, hospitality, entertainment, travel, as well as in the telecommunication industry. Companies need to be competitive and that means having the right sales person who knows how to win accounts and maintain business relationships.

A labour analysis conducted by Academy of Learning shows sales positions are still key requirements in the workforce. Additional research relating specifically to the sales profession research found that:

• Graduates of sales related programs can expect a salary at a mid to slightly higher than average annual salary.
• The employment outlook in sales is at a good level for the coming year.
• The Globe and Mail newspaper stated that employers are having difficulty filling Sales Representatives positions.
• 72% of those with previous work experience found a job within one month of graduation.
• 45% of respondents in the Canadian Professional Sales Association study on “The State of the Sales Nation” stated that finding good sales people was very challenging.

According to Rob Simas, Director, Academic Division at LaunchLife International, “the labour market findings allowed us to develop a comprehensive and focused Sales Professional Diploma program, designed to meet the outcomes and objectives of program standards used by many of the community colleges, without sacrificing vocation and integrity.”

Mr. Simas concluded by saying, “We are pleased to provide a program to individuals looking for a well-rounded introduction to sales. We are confident that this program will open the door to entry-level positions within the exciting and rewarding field of sales.”

Contact the Academy of Learning

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It’s an interesting question. Falling into being transactional when things are going well or when things are not going well is a bad long term sales and business strategy.  Non-transactional selling is relationship based, focused, purposeful and customized for your client and market. I answered his question via podcast. If you have a sales question you want answered follow me on Twitter.

Here’s today’s podcast:

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If you could pull together your sales team for three hours, give them just three things to implement that would increase their efficiency by even 5% your Return on Investment over the next 90 days would be worth much more than the 3 hours they spent out of the field. In addition to this, I found the blog entry to be another one of many coaching versus training blog entries. Why can’t we all just get along?

Organizations that really have their sales performance strategy together will be driving forward with both training and coaching working synergistically. Each plays and important role in maintaining competitiveness, motivation and retaining star players. Have a listen to my rant on this topic:

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Networking Interruptus. Here is a very typical networking situation: Sam and Salima are talking and someone comes over, interrupts, and proceeds to talk only to Sam. You can picture Salima’s expression! What should have happened? Let’s start by saying that sometimes you do have to squeeze into the conversation. But barging in and completely ignoring the other person is not how to do it. Instead, the person should have entered the conversation by saying “Sorry to interrupt, but do you mind if I just have a quick word with Sam?” The interrupter should then remember to keep the circle open so Salima is not left hovering. Most conversations aren’t ’spy-worthy’ so everyone can be included. Besides, if it is highly personal it really shouldn’t be discussed at a networking event.

– Darcy, Gayle and Judy

Got a great networking tip? Share it with us at: info@workthepond.com We are giving away a copy of the audio version of Work The Pond! for the best one!

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I’ve heard many people (including myself) talk about the fact that the rules of business have changed.  In sales and marketing this is true.

What’s interesting is that the rules of leadership are universal. Offline and online networking and building social capital follow a very similar strategy. Today’s podcast addresses this challenge and opportunity.

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Thank-you to Split Mango (Ubertor and Wordpress Specialists) for editing the CSS and PHP for this quiz to make it legible and functioning!

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Careers in High-Tech and Web-Based Industries

For every successful technology company there are dozens that fail and leave behind an array of lost promises, disappointed investors, and stressed former employees.  This sector offers a highly engaging, and potentially lucrative career in sales. With that in mind, we must be willing to ask some hard questions about the company we are going to potentially work with.
The following are examples of questions and topics we need to address when seeking out potential employers:

1.    What is the basis for their technology? Do they have something proprietary or innovative that will allow me to build up a client base? Will this technology give us a sustained competitive advantage?  Or are we just another “me too” technology that can eventually be built better and cheaper by some other company?

2.    Is this technology proven, scalable, and have a track record? Many organizations make grand claims about their latest invention but cannot back it up. Remember, when you are out prospecting, presenting, and visiting potential clients, you are going to get some hard questions. Make sure there is something of substance that you can sell.

3.    Does the company have a solid infrastructure, quality control, technical standards, and sufficient resources for customer support? Too many start-ups lack this infrastructure and back-office support. What occurs is as we land larger clients and sell multiple instances of our software or solution, and the production side of the company fails to keep up. This results in delayed projects, poor customer service, and loss of clients, market share, and opportunity.  Make sure the company you work for has those key systems in place.

4.    Does the company have a proven executive team? Leadership and the personal motivation and drive of key executives are very important, especially in the initial stages of business growth. Has the CEO surrounded themselves with intelligent, competent division heads, or have they surrounded themselves with an entourage of “yes” people?

5.    One of the most important questions is: “Is this solution a cure to a pain or a problem?” If it is, creating a business case for people to buy it will be achievable. If it is one of the many technologies with no real market demand (i.e. just another interesting technology tool) it is not going to be a priority purchase for anyone.

6.    Does the company and solution have a defined, accessible market? If the target market is difficult to reach or is ambiguous, much of our initial tenure at the company will not be spent selling, it will be spent trying to define the market and through trial and error, learning how to access it. This is not a formula for large commissions.

7.    Does the company equip the sales staff with the right marketing and collateral materials as well as tools necessary to sell the solution? In addition to this, do they have a well-defined and potentially lucrative compensation plan that will reward me for my efforts?

If you find it hard to answer positively about one or more of these questions the reality is you’re probably not being offered a sales job of real substance in web or high tech based industries.

I know of several sales people who’s resume’s are full of 3 or 6 month stints at half a dozen of these companies. The time frame makes them look like flakey employees who can’t commit or be loyal. The reality is they were great sales people who worked for companies of no substance.

- Shane Gibson

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Following are the five key elements of Operationalizing sales:

1.    Tools

In order to operationalize our sales process and achieve our goals we will need the right tools to get the job done.  These tools include everything from electronic devices, research tools, business cards, marketing materials, software, and accounting and billing tools to name a few.  It is important to be aware of the core tools needed to effectively execute the plan.

2.    Measurement

What gets measured gets improved.  Without measurement there is no feedback, positive or negative, regarding our progress.  A goal helps us push ourselves in positive ways and fuels improvement, motivation, self-esteem and team spirit.

What gets measured gets improved.  Without measurement there is no feedback, positive or negative, regarding our progress.  A goal helps us push ourselves in positive ways and fuels improvement, motivation, self-esteem and team spirit.

3.    Processes and Knowledge

Once you have a goal, a measurement process, and the right tools needed to identify the process to follow, you can identify any knowledge or skill gaps that may affect progress.  Being a master at sales is a process of constant improvement, self awareness and personal growth.

4.    Maximize Selling Time

Your end goal is to build solid client relationships that result in sizeable amounts of revenue.  Using this as a core goal, we can  maximize the time spent doing the things that move us toward that goal.  Many sales people have failed because they became experts at paperwork, staff meetings, research, and a myriad of other activities that have very little to do with closing the deal or building relationships with the right clients.

Sales professionals need to have a process that supports the core goal and the courage to fight for the time needed to do these things.  This process is about delegating, automating or deleting these activities from our life that are not harmonious with our goals.

5.    Support and Accountability Structure

“One is too few a number to achieve greatness” – John Maxwell.

John Maxwell, leadership expert says it well in this quote.  We need a team to help us reach our goals; many of us will do more for other people than we would do for ourselves.  Having a set of checks and balances and a manager, coach, mentor or peer that holds us accountable is a key ingredient in driving sales results.

- Shane Gibson

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Enjoy:

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People and companies do not generally seek out technology; they seek out solutions to their pains or positive emotional states. Technology for the sake of technology is not a great marketing strategy. When our clients purchase from us, they are really buying outcomes, feelings, results, and solutions.

Too often those involved in the high-tech sector bury their prospects in endless streams of jargon, highly technical diagrams, and gratuitous numbers of acronyms. These terms and over-complicated descriptions often confuse the client, clouding the core benefits and failing to answer the basic questions: “What’s in it for me?” and “What’s unique about this solution?”

Some of the most effective sales professionals who sell these types of solutions are good at taking complex solutions and communicating their benefits in very powerful but non-technical terms.
The following example is a technically filled pitch for web development and marketing that contains a lot of unnecessary jargon:

Example #1: Technical Jargon

I would suggest that when we build your site that we use an open source CMS that has a WYSIWYJG editor built in. Drupal would suffice, in fact it is also very SEO friendly and can be formatted to have an RSS feed for each page. This will be important when we’re trying build you back links, as back links are an important part of the Google page rank algorithm.

This description really misses any opportunity to talk about value. It simply rattles off multiple technical terms. In this example, the salesperson most likely thinks they sound like an authority when what they are really doing is potentially excluding the prospect in the process.

The following example is a benefit-oriented pitch for web development and marketing:

Example #2: Benefit-Oriented

You said that you would be frequently updating your website and that you wanted to save as much money on doing the updates as possible by reducing the need for a web developer in the future. My suggestion is that we us a CMS called Drupal with a WYSIWYG editor.  The site will be constructed in a way that search engines like Google will give it a higher ranking on search results than some of your competitor’s sites. This will of course result in more traffic and business for you.

Drupal is free software that requires no on-going fees to be paid. A CMS is a Content Management System which basically allows you to make changes to the look and feel of your website, and even where information appears on your site without having to do a lot of expensive redesign.  A WYSIWG editor stands for “What You See Is What You Get” and what it allows you to do, without any additional software or understanding of programming, is to log into your site and access a page that looks much like a Microsoft Word document. From there you can create new pages and edit existing ones without the assistance of a technical guru.

This example takes and expands the technical terms, educating the client in an inclusive manner, and focusing on the core outcomes, results, and benefits of using the technology.  The bottom-line is when we talk over people’s heads, use jargon and lack empathy we don’t get the deal.  Keep it simple, include the client in the process, and position yourself as a resource and a coach.

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One sector that often comprises both intangible and complex sales is the high-tech sector. Many of the solutions are literally invisible—they run in the background and the majority of people are oblivious that they even exist.

Saying that someone is in the high-tech sector or industry is somewhat ambiguous in this era, as most organizations harness technology to make their businesses run. Everything from engineering solutions, to cars, cell phones, and legal services use technology as part of their offerings to the marketplace. So even if you do not consider yourself to be “in technology,” you will most likely be selling solutions that involve technology now or in the future.

Communicating the Benefits of Technology to Different Types of Buyers

We have to realize that there are often many types of people that are involved in the procurement of high tech solutions. For instance, if you were selling Customer Relations Management software implementation to a client, the following buyers may be involved in the decision making and evaluation process:

•    The CEO
•    Finance/Accounting
•    The sales staff who will use the software
•    The VP of Sales
•    The training department that will insure use and implementation
•    The IT department or team who will have integrate and support it once it is installed

Each of the buyers or contributors will need to have the solution communicated differently:

•    The CEO will most likely want to know the big picture, the bottom-line and how the  return on investment will be measured. They will not want to get bogged down in details and specifics and should not be asked questions related to those specifics.
•    Finance and accounting will be concerned about capital costs, warrantees, process management, risk and on-going fees.
•    The sales staff will want to know how to use it, how it will impact their ability to do their job, and the amount of  control others will have over them.
•    The VP of Sales and the training department will want to know about measurement, implementation, tracking tools, and how it will impact their ability to support the sales team.
•    The IT department will want to know specifics on programming, quality assurance issues, debugging, scalability, programming language security, and a myriad of other technical issues.

Most people are comfortable communicating with one or two of these types of stakeholder groups. Great salespeople in this sector have a strategy to address the needs of each of these groups, and they communicate the benefits in a way that is unique and applicable to each buyer type.

In addition to this, there are several other important attributes relating to great high-tech sales professionals as follows:

Knowing the Market

Understanding our target market and niche is critical. We need to understand the unique circumstances, competitive environment, and business processes of our target market.  In doing this research and preparation, we are better equipped to address the needs of our target market and identify what core business challenges our technology can address.

Knowing the Client

We need to go beyond the market and spend time getting to understand each individual corporation’s situation and circumstance. Each client will have unique business challenges and processes that need the support of technology in a customized way.

Factors that will affect the type of solution needed will vary depending on their stage of business growth, existing business processes, corporate goals, immediate and long term challenges, as well as management and operations philosophy.

Know All Applications and Limitations of Your Solution

In order to fully service the client and become a true resource and problem solver, we must understand all the applications of our products and services. In addition to this, it is imperative that we also understand our weaknesses and limitations.

At times clients have un-reasonable or un-defined expectations—by understanding our limitations and communicating them effectively we can dispel any misconceptions.
Why this is important is that a small misunderstanding early on could result in a largely off-target project or solution. On the positive side of course, by knowing all of the applications of our solution we make sure that we truly maximize revenues and client satisfaction.

Be a Problem Solver

This is an integral part of selling technology. Most new technologies evolve out of a client problem for which there is no solution.

Have Great Consulting Skills

Elevating ourselves from the status of order taker to trusted advisor can give us a real advantage in the marketplace. To be seen as a consultant, we need to have a thorough needs analysis approach, build our profile as a subject matter expert, have a high level of rapport with the potential clients, and look for ideal solutions—not just “our solution” to client problems.

Great Project Planning and Management Skills

Many large high-tech sales deals will require numerous people on our team to help us close the sale. There most likely will be a need to engage technical and support staff and then coordinate their interaction with key staff in our client company. Once we have the deal, there will be a need to continue to monitor these interactions to ensure that the promises we made to the client are in fact fulfilled.

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Risks:

Not Targeting
If we do not have a clear idea of who our ideal clients are (referred to as A’s or the 20 percent that bring us 80 percent of our revenues) then we can be spending a lot time prospecting the wrong companies and opportunities. It is often a large effort just to get in the door and if we are knocking on the wrong doors, it can be costly.

Not Managing Pipeline
Being organized with a clear game plan is imperative as there are so many details and variables in a complex sale the deal can easily get side-tracked. By being organized in our sales process and managing our pipeline, we can reduce the chance of losing the deal due to apathy or distraction.

Not Knowing the Buying Process
We need to really understand how the client assesses potential suppliers and what process they use to do so. Too often we push our own agenda at our own demise.  Spending time probing, asking questions, and researching is critical in helping us understand the likelihood of landing a deal. It also ensures that we do not miss critical pieces of information and steps that are important to the prospect.

Taking the Wrong Advice

We need to gather information from multiple sources to make sure that our approach is in line with the values of the key decision makers. If someone is blocking your access to the internal network of your client company, and all the information comes from that source, there is a good chance that your proposal will miss the mark.  Take advice and gather information from people without personal agendas.

Not Having a Bid Qualification Process
Just because a big company sends you a Request for Proposal (RFP) it does not mean you should apply. Many companies have failed because they won the wrong contract and went bankrupt trying to service a large client and/or one with unique and expensive specifications.

As big complex deal hunters, we need to know what a profitable deal looks like. More importantly, we need to know how we could lose money or burn up time on deals that are a misfit.

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Guest Blog By Bill Gibson bill@kbitraining.com

Top level decision makers are results-orientated. Both tangible results and intangible results appeal to them.  When we talk about results we can talk about both tangible and intangible results.

Tangible Results

The kind of tangible results that appeal to them are:

Raising Revenues:
Show them how their overall volume can be increased; in other words, an increase in sales. They know that an increase in sales means more profit if the expenses are well managed.

Increase Efficiency:
They want a sizable return on their monetary investment. If they see that their employees, or their equipment, or other capital will be more efficient, then the chance of their buy-in is higher.

Keeping Shareholders Happy:
Top-level decision makers are the ones who have to answer to the Board of Directors and to the Shareholders in a large corporation. Keeping the Board or shareholders happy is their main priority. This means that you are showing them ways to improve the value of the company, in turn improving the value of the shares paid out, or returning a bigger profit so that larger dividends are declared and paid to the shareholders.

Lowering Cost of Production:
Again, more logical, linear, left brain appeal to the top level decision makers. Lower costs equal better margins and bigger profits.

Increasing Market Share:
They are interested in advertising, marketing and business development strategies, tactics and methods to increase market share. Taking market share from the competition is something that inspires them. Also, gaining a bigger share of the average client’s   buying power  also means increasing market share to top level decision makers.

Higher Return On Investment:
Can you show them how they will get a bigger return on their investment for the money they invest with your services, products, ideas and concepts? If you can, they will want to know you and they will also open to investing time with you.

Dealing With Market Changes:
A sudden down swing in the economy, a new big competitor grabbing market share, a sudden market switch to a new technology, a new way of doing business, new government regulations that affect them adversely, a major change in consumer behavior are all examples of market changes that corporations have to adjust to and capitalize on. If you come with solutions for market changes that affect them, then they will  take the time to explore the possibilities with you.

Intangible Results:

The types of intangible results that appeal to top-level decision makers are:

Lower the Risk And Worry:
Anything that you can do to lower or eliminate the risk makes them feel better. Showing them how you will finish a project on time, protect their investment, handle unexpected situations, save them personal stress or personal hassle are all examples of what they consider to be valuable as an intangible. It makes them feel better and reduces their worries.

Personal and Corporate Pride:
Senior executives and top-level decision makers are at the top because they have personal pride and are proud of the business results that they achieve. Whatever you can do to make them feel even more proud of themselves and their company, will usually provide positive results.  One particular business journalist who works for the Globe and Mail uses this as her primary strategy to get senior executives to call her back for interviews.  She will leave a message or send an e-mail genuinely complementing them on their achievements and track record and citing why she thinks they are an industry authority.  Her callback rate is almost 100 percent.

Image – Personally And Corporately:
Yes the car they drive reflects their success level. The suits, the shoes they wear, the house they live in, the office address, and the image their marketing material portrays are all examples of personal and/or corporate image. Not all top level decision makers hold image as a top motive for buying, although most do, whether they admit it or not.

Retaining And Attracting Good Employees Who Work Beyond The Norm:
The top level decision maker knows that you win when you have exceptional people working with you. Show them how to attract and keep really good people who work beyond what normal people do, and they will be open to listen. When they see these types of people around them they are impressed and it gives them that intangible result of a sense of pride and comfort.

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The following provides a brief overview of some of the skills and strengths needed to be great at selling intangibles.

1) Personal Brand of You
When selling intangible solutions, it really is about credibility and the relationship. Because the solution is intangible, the purchase is largely based upon the believability of the salesperson. For example, a business coach sells a very intangible service. They are often evaluated by their own personal presence, ability to communicate, and by third party endorsements and certifications.
Having a strong personal brand helps people understand who we are, what we are about, and it removes uncertainty. There is so much information out there to process that it is almost impossible for a consumer to choose a service or product—instead they choose the right company or the right sales representative and leave the product selection up to them.

2) Differentiation
People who are good at this type of sales often communicate what they do in a unique way. This means specializing and unique positioning is often necessary. Thousands of people in Canada call themselves “financial advisors” and the minute we hear that term we mentally lump them into the same category as the last 100 advisors we met and lose interest. One of the top one percent of advisors at London Life/Freedom 55 Financial refers to himself as a “Wealth Management Specialist” and just by the nature of his positioning, attracts very affluent clients. Find a way to present what you do in a way that makes it memorable and creates a distinction between you and the rest of the people in your industry.

3) Passionate Evangelist/Industry Authority or Both
As an extension of our personal brand and our ability to differentiate, our passion and knowledge are critical in selling intangibles. Because the client cannot often experience the service or solution in a tangible way, their experience of you has to be credible and inspiring. In fact, their experience in dealing with you will determine if they purchase or not.
Passion is really about having a strong conviction and unwavering level of confidence in ourselves, our company, our industry, and our solution. It is also critical to be seen as an industry authority—consistently doing such things as writing articles for local periodicals, blogging, being a guest speaker for local business or community groups, maintaining a regular newsletter, and having endorsements from well known people in the community.  A combination of passion and being an authority increases our believability factor and takes away the fear of saying “Yes” for the client.

4) Clarity

In communicating, your greatest enemy isn’t the noise around you – it’s the noise you create, un-wittingly – Harry Beckwith, author of What Clients Love and Selling the Invisible.

Brevity and focus are key. If we focus on one or two core things we are good at and communicate those proficiencies really well, we can own a large portion of client mindshare and wallet share. Clearly communicating what we do, and not trying to be all things to all people, sets apart the high-paid specialists from the generalists.

Nick Usborne, author of NetWords makes an interesting distinction when he says that:

We’re not just writing to be understood, we are also writing in a way that insures we are not misunderstood.

Make sure the message about what you do is clear, focused, and void of any ambiguity. Focused, predictable service providers make clients feel safe.

5) Value Builders
Because what we are selling cannot be seen, touched, or measured, we need to be good at building value. Your ability to articulate the real value in terms of return on investment is very important. Solutions must be presented in a way that solves a core client pain or challenge. Describing our solution as innovative, leading, next generation etc. is not enough. These are weak business cases that are uninspiring. Look for client pains, fears, and challenges, and then talk about your solution as a pill for their pains. Back up your claims with research, data, client references, and proof. Help your clients measure what they cannot see.

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Symvolli has done a great podcast on this topic as well (I listened to it and thought I’d post a response via podcast). The key here is it’s better to “get real” about what we truly have for opportunities and then build a solid plan to help us get to where we want to go.  The alternative, pushing unqualified leads through the pipeline is exhausting and will have us show up short of quota at the end of the year.

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RSVP Like You Mean It. We recently attended an event–a very popular wine tasting hosted by a large firm. At the end of the evening, we noticed the registration table still had about 15 guest name tags! These were the folks who hadn’t bothered to show up. It was a shame because this event had a waiting list. In this day of instant communication, sending a quick email, text message or making a cell phone call would have been an easy way for those no-show folks to inform the organizers that, unfortunately, they had to withdraw their RSVP. Being a no-show simply looks bad. It’s your reputation, protect it.

–Darcy, Gayle and Judy

Got a great networking tip for 2009? Share it with us at: info@workthepond.com We are giving away a copy of the audio version of Work The Pond! for the best tip!

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Here’s how I use the tool for recruitment and even succession planning:

Step 1 The JSI or Job Style Indicator

I have several senior sales leaders, along with existing sales executives fill out the JSI or Job Style Indicator.  (view a sample report) This will give me a 360-degree view of what the characteristics, attitudes, behaviors and competencies of the ideal sales candidate for that particular organization will most likely be.

It’s important to note that based upon organizational culture, geography and the leadership style of the organization that two companies or even divisions will often have varied Job Style Profiles.  Just because you do well selling for BMW doesn’t necessarily mean you will fit in at Ford.  In other words successful Ford sales people may have a different profile than successful BMW sales people because of the varying corporate cultures and client demographics.

Step 2 The SSI or Sales Style Indicator (view sample report)

I don’t do this profile with every candidate but if I have a position to fill it is one of the last tools I use to find who comes closest to the profile I am looking for.  The Sales Style Profile is one of the most comprehensive and consistent tools I have used for profiling and selection.  Unlike a temperament based tools like DISC or Myers Briggs type tests I find it much more accurate (personal opinion and experience) and it’s also less than $50 per assessment.

It is important to note employment law in your region as with some Canadian provinces and some states in America disqualifying a candidate because of personality style can be deemed a violation of the law.  A better way to frame the tool is that you want to understand how they will need to be managed and motivated if they in fact do get the job, the profile itself is not a determinant but a “get to know you tool.”

With that said each short-listed candidate fills out a profile online (it only takes 12 minutes ) and then we can compare and contrast how well they are aligned with the JSI, we can also determine based upon style their orientation to team work and how well they will relate to the style of their future sales manager.

From a leadership perspective when I am coaching or managing a sales team by understanding their Sales Style Profile I can save days or even weeks of effort that it would traditionally take to understand what really motivates individual sales people.

My suggestion is even if you’re a one-person show, this tool can help you improve your sales process and your approach to relating to clients and prospects.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you manage a sales team of 20+ sales professionals or are a recruiter, I have access to  a limited number of demo or free assessments  that CRG has made available to me for those that want to test them out and compare them to what they’re using now. E-mail me at shane@kbitraining.com to see if you qualify.

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Five Minutes with VITO is a must read for those that are frustrated with long sales cycles, corporate dead-ends in the sales process, and pretty much anyone else who is serious about meeting their sales targets.  The book will not tell you where to find CEO prospects, nor will it talk much about key account management or “Closing the Deal.” Instead it focuses on the critical 5 minutes with THE senior executive in your sales process, and how to deal with this true decision maker during this “make-you-or-break-you” window of time.

Listen ot my full podcast review below:

Click the book to learn more…

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I have been on Twitter for a year but actually didn’t start experimenting with it’s reach and impact until September 2008.  Twitter is populated with every kind of thought leader imaginable, it’s also full of a lot of chatter, but most just learn to glaze over that and pick out the good stuff.

I follow on Twitter everyone from Richard Branson to a Buddhist monk and everyone in between.  For the sake of my readers and in the interest of brevity I’m focusing today’s blog entry on my PERSONAL Top 10 Sales and Business Gurus to follow on Twitter and 10 Tips fro Sales Professionals on Using Twitter.

Lets start with who to follow (in no particular order):

Jerimiah Owyang – Forrester Research
Twitter.com/jowyang
Why? – He’s an incredible source of advice on great and not so great social networking behavior, tools, and strategies.

SalesBlogCast
Twitter.com/salesblogcast
Why? – One of the few http://sales.alltop.com guys on twitter they really contribute and carry a good conversation about sales.

Skip Anderson
Twitter.com/skipanderson
Why? – Great updates and information on B to C selling. Skip gets it!

Dave Saunders
Twitter.com/davesaunders
Why? – Easy to use strategies on attracting clients using social media

Jim  Connolly
Twitter.com/Jimconnolly
Why? – He does a lot of good blogging and Twittering about how to use social media and networking to enhance client relationships and networks

Nancy Sutherland
Twitter.com/nancymk
Why? – She updates a lot on what is happening and what is being written about sales and personal development in general.  She’s always uncovering gems on the web.

Peggy McKee
Twitter.com/salesrecruiter
Why? – If you’re looking for sales jobs or a recruiter for medical sales Peggy seems to have a steady stream of opportunities she Tweets about. Also she’s a good source of information and events in the sales vertical.

Steve Jagger
Twitter.com/sjagger
Why? – Steve is a sales professional and successful entrepreneur that got me on twitter and he’s a wealth of knowledge in both sales and social media

Danny Brown
Twitter.com/PressReleasePR
Why? – Danny is great at what he does, using social media to drive grass roots PR for his clients. Watch and learn.

Ian Watt
Twitter.com/Ianwatt
Why? – Ian doesn’t give a lot of advice regarding sales and marketing on Twitter but he’s a great example of a sales person that uses it effectively to drive business.

10 Tips for Sales Professionals on Twitter:

#1) Start by customizing and completing your profile.  It is your digital business card.  People are less likely to follow or communicate with people who use alias’ or who don’t answer the basic questions “What do you do?” and “What do you believe in?”

#2) Just like in offline networking, we need to have the same positive networking ethos and ask the question “How can I help?” when we make a new connection online

#3) Twitter is not a tool for mass marketing, spam, or generic corporate jargon and ad slogans.  You must write like you’re talking to a bunch of friends.  Add value by sharing great ideas, linking to valuable blog posts, and positively encouraging those that you are following or that are following you.

#4) Mix it up.  Your comments should be both person and professional letting people see what you have to offer professionally but also giving them and opportunity to get to really know you personally.  If it’s all business you will likely begin to lose followers or connections quickly.

#5) Bring it offline.  Once you have made the online connection plan a #tweetup or invite them to a Meetup or VIP function.  We get permission to begin the relationship online and the in person meeting helps us take it to the next level. ( You can do this via long distance using Webinars or Ustream as well )

#6) Always say thank-you and give credit where credit is due.

#7) Realize that anything you post can literally be shared in seconds with thousands of people.  Think before you tweet!

#8) Think long term about building a network, and becoming a trusted source of information on your industry, resist tweets about today’s “blue light special” this appeals to very few people.

#9) Encourage people to connect with you via Linkedin and FaceBook, this enables you to expand the context of your relationship and learn more about who is a qualified business prospect.

#10) Social media and networking is about positive conversations, your Twitter Stream should be reflect that through replies to comments and getting involved in dialogue outside of your industry or what you sell.

Remember “Sales is about creating an environment where an act of faith can take place.” This tool isn’t transactional, it’s a trust and brand building tool to help you create that positive environment.

Follow Shane Gibson in Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/shanegibson

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You may be a business leader that’s transforming an industry, a teacher who does things differently in the classroom, or a blogger that pours your heart out for the world to see.

Today’s podcast is about you, and how you can tackle this challenge.

- Namaste

Direct File Link to Listen

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Rodney and Stephen from Reachd Training

Last week I had the opportunity to do something I haven’t done in a while.  I had the opportunity to sit through 3 half days of training on social media and social networking facilitated by Reachd training. I asked Stephen Jagger co-founder of Reachd to meet with my client Builddirect.com and have a brief discussion with the executive team about how they go further engage their customers using social media and social networking.  After this initial discussion it was decided that Stephen Jagger and Rodney Bartlett would run a 9 hour ( 3 half days ) bootcamp with the team.  Because I’m working with the sales team I wanted to understand what they learned and how we could integrate it with the sales process.

As someone who has sat through a lot of training sessions and seminars I was impressed. The training was relevant and customized for the client. Here’s briefly what they covered:

Day 1 – Video Blogging

Although I already do some vidoe blogging this day re-inspired me to do much more of it.  In fact it opened my eyes to many other positive applications.  They covered everything from what good content is right through to how one can get massive distribution for their online video blogs.  We even watched a video of Ian Watt take his pants off on Tom Everitt’s show. Ian was named as a top 10 Real Estate Blogger by Inmann News, and I don’t think he did it by being safe

Day 2 – Twitter, Twitter and more Twitter

Great day.  Twitter is a micro-blogging and social networking / communications tool.  This day was focused on how to create valuable conversations with your clients, customer, partners and even the media using this tool.  Companies like Zappos and Comcast as examples have used Twitter to directly engage their customers online.  Mostly early adopters, thought leaders and of course chatter boxes of all types.  Steve and Rodney were great and outline clear strategies to use the tool to engage customers, increse blog traffic and offered revenue generating examples as well.

Day 3 – FaceBook for business and Blogging

FaceBook has entire blogging communities devoted to it’s mutiple uses.  In Canada in particular it has high numbers fo subcribers compared to MySpace and in the US it basically is tied in regards to the number of users.  Most people reading this have probably been on FaceBook for a year or more. So I’ll spare you “What is FaceBook” rant.  With that said Rodney shared innovative ways to use video, photos, the events function, groups and pages to engage and grow your client and fan base.

Blogging – This was a great overview of how to write to create a following and an engaged client base.  The core message was blog and blog often. Also focus on shorter posts with a single focus this also helps with search engine optimization and you don’t tend to lose the readers interest.  One other good tip was when people comment on your blogs, answer them back, even drop them a quick e-mail to let them know you replied, this stimulates levels of engagement and personalizes the interaction.

This was a very brief review (I have 9 pages of notes) from the training but it was comprehensive yet down to earth and easy to understand.

Related links:

Follow them on twitter: Jeff Booth CEO of Builddirect, Rodney and Stephen of Reachd, Builddirect.com Corporate and for Upcoming Reachd Training events

Follow me Shane Gibson on Twitter

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When this credit is pulled back, people reduce purchases; this creates negative news, bulging inventories, fear and panic.  In service businesses bulging inventory is people.  Lay-offs begin, purchases reduce, inventory is liquidated, and more bad news hits the marketplace and the fear multiplies.  The severity of this most recent downturn has been created by the evaporation of available credit due to the insolvency of so many major banks.  Eventually we hit a point of excessive pessimism in the marketplace. (I had to dig through the entire business section of the New York Times to find one positive article yesterday).

The question is: “What stops the economy from continuing its downward plunge?”  The answer is of course “Smart Money.”  We all can recite the phrase “buy low and sell high” and a few smart individuals begin to do just that.  The “Smart Money” is bargain hunting for everything from stock to real estate, and corporate acquisition targets stabilize the market, it creates the floor.  From there the tide begins to turn as optimism builds.

You as a sales person or entrepreneur don’t have to have Warren Buffet’s billions to profit from this environment, but you do need his mindset.  Realize that your competitors, not unlike today’s investors, do not see the real value of the market, and most are refusing to really play.  They are too busy hiding out by the water cooler and watching the stock ticker and the negative news on CNN.

So here are 7 tips on how to profit from today’s economic downturn:

1. Build a fence around your key accounts.  Of those clients that you are presently doing on-going business with, how many do you have really strong relationships with?  Make a list of your top 20% and immediately call them, if possible go visit them.  Not to sell them stuff, but to find out how you can better service them.  If things are really slow, take advantage of it, engage them more, buy them the lunch you never had time to when the economy was hot.
2. Harness physical and web-based networks in order to connect with positive people.  Most of us have goals and dreams that require resources beyond those that we possess.  By engaging your online and offline communities, sharing resources, ideas, and inspiration, you can collectively achieve greater things.  Now is not the time to go to less Board of Trade meetings, it is the time to really connect.
3. Reach out beyond your existing community with social networking tools such as Linkedin, Twitter, and FaceBook.  Recently as a resident of Vancouver, BC Canada I secured a new client in Asia through my blogging and activity on Linkedin, while some of my existing markets are suppressed, I am finding new ones across the Pacific Ocean using technology (free technology!).
4. Have a pro-active game plan for every day.  You have fewer competitors now, and the ones that are still in business are probably not that motivated.  This trend will continue until we reach the bottom of the downturn.  This is the time to gain market share.  Get to work an hour early, and plan your day out the night before.  It may take more calls to land the same number of clients, but also realize that you will be able to gain more market share due to less competition, or at least a mentally weaker competition.
5. If you have some cash reserves start investing in your business.  If you use advertising as a tool to attract clients you can now negotiate a better rate with publishers, and because competitors have pulled back their ad spend your message will have less noise to compete with in the marketplace.  Fuel prices have dropped and people are traveling less, this also means better rates for business travel to far-away markets.
6. Take control of your own mental economy.  The most expensive thing we can do as sales professionals and business people is have a day of negative thinking.  When we are focusing on what we don’t have, and we are wallowing in our own self-pity, we’re not thinking about creating positive business outcomes.  My suggestion is to commit to reading at least 30 minutes of positive news, or personal development books per day, find some great motivational CD’s or podcasts (iTunes has thousands that are free) and pro-actively seek out and associate with other people that are refusing to participate in the recession.
7. Be disciplined in your execution.  At the top of an economy when clients are abundant and optimistic, closing the deal is easy.  If you miss a deal because of bad follow-up, or a poorly written proposal there is always more opportunity out there.  Anyone can look like a rainmaker when things are hot.  When things slow down our bad habits become more evident.  When you do have a great prospect in your sights, have a sound sales process and follow the fundamentals of great selling obsessively.  There are no mundane steps in a sales process, treat every detail like it is the deal-maker, especially when prospects are fewer and more easily dissuaded to buy.

“Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle. ” – Abraham Lincoln

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As a sales person and a motivational speaker I like to move around a lot, and it was to my surprise that I was able to sit and focus for that entire 24 hours.  My goal was $2500 but i think it looks like we raised $1700.00 (unofficial number).

And by the way I mean “we,” kind messages and encouragement from my virtual running mates really helped keep me going.  (Thanks Duane Storey, Rebecca Bollwitt,  Karen Hamilton, Ayeza Garcia, Isabella Mori, Danny Dang, Mehnaz Thawer, INVOKE, Barbara Doduk, TAGGA, Raul and Colleen Vince. you were all awesome)  Then of course the RedBull ( 2 cans…. no Vodka) came out in full force around 4:30 pm today, I was pretty sure if I closed my eyes for a nap I’d be gone.  Gregory Pinch who introduced me to the MSMF and Yam De La Pena who provided comedic relief played a big part too.

What I liked about this event was that it really proves that there can be a real connection socially (for good) online.  I used my e-mail list, facebook connections, meetup friends, and even did a skype podcast with Fred Shadian today while he was on the island.

Keep Blogging!

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Become a CMA in British Columbia

Learn about the CMA Designation across Canada

Book Shane Gibson for your next conference

Title: The Career Maker – Relationship Development Skills

This is blogathon entry number 38 for the MSMF Blogathon. Visit this page to learn how you can support this cause.

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My favourite martial arts instructor, Sensei David Harris would always share with me the importance of daily activities toward a common goal.   If for any reason you feel that you are in a plateau, you can continue your level of progression by reading a book on the subject that you are pursuing, you can watch a video on the related subject, you can read a book or magazine, you can attend a seminar or you can even mentally rehearse your desired outcome for your success.

What is most important is to do something regardless of how small or how large.  By taking action daily you create the motion towards your desired achievement.  Another step to consider is to stay focused on the end result and be realistic with your approach by taking a step-by-step progression that leads you to your ultimate goal.  There is a Hawaiian saying: “When the surf is high, go surfing and when the water is calm, wax your board.”  Timing is of the essence when riding the wave of momentum.  If you hop on too early, you might crash.  If you hop on too late, you miss the wave.  By timing the wave correctly, you enjoy the ride all the way to the beach.

Fred Shadian

This is blogathon entry number 35 for the MSMF Blogathon. Visit this page to learn how you can support this cause.

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The Board has helped me grow my personal network, increase my personal leadership capacity and even after several years as a  member I now see an endless flow of new business coming in from referrals and opportunities at the Board.

Fiona’s question is: “What qualities of a successful leader are also shared by successful sales people?”

Answer: Due to 18 hours of typing (my hands are a bit stiff) I will be answering this in audio or podcasting format! But here’s the coles notes version:

1. Vision
2. Influence
3. Networking Skills
4. Coaching and Mentoring Skills
5. Teaching and Training Skills

This is blogathon entry number 31 for the MSMF Blogathon. Visit this page to learn how you can support this cause.

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This podcast is on how to run effective sales meetings.

This is blogathon entry number 30 for the MSMF Blogathon. Visit this page to learn how you can support this cause.

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Question: Dear Shane “stop presenting, stop selling, be prepared to leave” do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Answer: Dear Darren,

Darren this is very connected with the previous question you asked.  It would be too much of a cliche for me to urge sales people to be solution finders and not product peddlers or pitch artists.  Now with that said I will say this: many people even when asking questions or listening are still selling or presenting.

Standing in front of a room full of executives with their custom graphic designed PowerPoints they roll through their clever presentation based upon the research and previous needs asessment they did on the company.  Even at this point, a final presentation, not engaging the client in questions, dialogue, and involving them in collaboratively defining what a successful solution will look like can be fatal for a deal maker. (Maybe fatal is a little extreme, but it is a deal killer).

“Be prepared to leave!”

This is a bold statement that is powerful.  Prospects can smell weakness and desperation.  If we are willing to do a deal at a low margin, bending over backwards for them to get the deal this causes all kinds of challenges:

#1) People like to do business with top organizations and top sales people, and they rarely grovel for business

#2) If the client does business with us, generally the repeat business will also be at a low margin.

#3) If you’re supposed to be in a leadership position as a solutions provider it will be tough to implement because the client won’t respect us.

Being willing to walk away from deals that aren’t ideal or that are one sided in the clients favor is an attribute of a big deal closer.  Bill Gibson likes to say: “You don’t get out of life what you want or deserve, you get what you negotiate.”

This is blogathon entry number 29 for the MSMF Blogathon. Visit this page to learn how you can support this cause.

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Question: Dear Shane “You get more from the questions you ask than the stories you tell” do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Answer: Dear Darren,

I absolutely agree with this statement.  My favorite stat that I like to share with audiences is that great sales people and great leaders listen 70% of the time and ask intellient questions and make powerful statements the other 30% of the time.  One of my other favorites is a quote from Zig Ziglar and this is what he said “I have never heard someone listen their way out of deal… but I’ve heard lots of people talk their way out of a deal.”

Having a solid strategy for questioning clients or what we at KBI like to call “Needs Analysis Selling” is  vital especially in closing large, or complex sales transactions.  As a leader in a negotiation this process also becomes vital in helping the leader build bridges and connect with those that they are networking with.  By asking intelligent questions we display our insight, show the other person we are genuinely interested in them and help people look at themselves and their business in a different context (usually involving our company and solutions).  If we ask great questions and use the conversation to build strong rapport and trust often the deal will close itself.

This is blogathon entry number 27 for the MSMF Blogathon. Visit this page to learn how you can support this cause.

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This is blogathon entry number 25 for the MSMF Blogathon. Visit this page to learn how you can support this cause.

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This is blogathon entry number 24 for the MSMF Blogathon. Visit this page to learn how you can support this cause.

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This is blogathon entry number 21 for the MSMF Blogathon. Visit this page to learn how you can support this cause.

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In helping people set effective goals we need to be to answer yes to the following questions:
• Is the goal S.M.A.R.T?
• Does the goal inspire them?
• Have you connected or aligned it with their values?

S.M.A.R.T Goals

The S.M.A.R.T acronym for goal setting has been used for decades and it’s still one of the best formulas I have seen. S.M.A.R.T goals are as follows:

Specific – the goal is focused
Measurable – there are benchmarks and metrics in place to measure progress and confirm success
Achievable – based upon the individual’s assets, skills, attitudes and behviours the goal is achievable
Realistic – Considering all of the factors influencing the goal is it plausible it will be achieved or are we setting this person up for failure?
Timely – set a specific time for completion (there are no unrealistic goals only unrealistictimelines)

Inspiring
“Have a goal so big that it scares your neighbours”

When helping people set goals try not to make them too safe. We don’t want goals that far outpace someones self-concept but we also want goals that make them stretch and keep them up at night (or more importantly out of bed early and excited).

The word inspiring actually comes from the Latin word Inspiro which means to breath upon. to breath into… to put the spirit within. As mentors if we are to inspire others and pit the spirit within them we must first be inspired ourselves. Be passionate and excited when helping people set goals.

Values Alignment

When developing goals it is important to put them through the “values test” to make sure that the goals were are helping them set will help them feel on purpose while striving toward them.

One approach to doing this is to simply list all of the core activities, people, and daily disciplines associated with the goal and then compare them with the mentee’s values. If 70% or more of the activities and disciplines fulfill their core values then chances are the goal will be an energizing, pleasurable thing for them to work toward. If it is less than 70% it is suggested you help them build a new path to the goal or find a new goal that satiate their core values and drivers.

This is blogathon entry number 20 for the MSMF Blogathon. Visit this page to learn how you can support this cause. Also if you live in Vancouver please check out the Vancouver Board of Trade’s Leaders of Tomorrow Mentorship Program.

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Too many organizations invest heavily in recruitment yet fail to retain star performers because they lack a thorough plan and process for starting their people right and continuing to develop them. Winners want to win quickly; hire a winner and you have to have the tools and mentorship program in place to help them win.

Furthermore winners leave when there’s no more challenge or personal or professional growth opportunities. When recruiting University Graduates one interesting statistic to note is that “More than 60% of college and graduate students listed mentoring as a criterion for selecting an employer after graduation” (MMHA)

In a recent study of 3000 companies done by Accenture Analytics and 18 other organizations globally found that the top 25% of companies in multiple industries as compared to the bottom 25% were those organizations that had significantly more mature and effective human resource development plans with strong leadership and mentorship development components in those plans. The bottom-line is mentorship and people development makes a difference to your bottom line.

The need for mentorship is particularily true for the millenial generation or generation Y.  This demographic tends not be of the live to work mentality.  They don’t just talk about “balanced lifestyle” like their boomer parents did, they put lifestlye first and see work as a tool to support that lifestyle.  Recent studies also show that without mentorship Generation Y is not equipped with the contrast between their sheltered (and good for them by the way!) upbringing and the realities of the work-force and the demand of society financially, socially, and otherwise.

Having a solid mentoring process along with training, personal development and a good dose of entertainment can help retain the up and coming star players of tomorrow.

This is blogathon entry number 19 for the MSMF Blogathon. Visit this page to learn how you can support this cause. Also if you live in Vancouver please check out the Vancouver Board of Trade’s Leaders of Tomorrow Mentorship Program.

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? Raising Revenues: Show them how their overall volume can be increased. In other words, an increase in sales. They know that an increase in sales means more profit if the expenses are well managed.

? Increase Efficiency: They want more return for their money invested. If they can see that their staff and management will become more efficient, or their equipment or other capital and human assets will be more efficient than the chance of their buy-in is higher.

? Keeping Shareholders Happy: Keeping the Shareholders happy means that you are showing them ways to improve the value of the company inturn improving the value of the shares, or returning a bigger profit so that larger dividends are declared and paid to the Shareholders.

? Lowering Cost Of Production: Again, more logical, linear, left brain appeal to the top level decision makers. Lower costs equal better margins, which means better profit.

? Increasing Market Share: They are interested in advertising, marketing and business development strategies, tactics and methods to increase Market Share. Also gaining a bigger share of the average client’s or customer’s wallet (spend) is also increasing market share to them.

? Higher Return On Investment: Can you show them how they will get a bigger return on their investment for the money they invest in your services, products, ideas and concepts?

? Dealing With Market Changes: A sudden down swing in the economy, a new big competitor grabbing market share, a sudden market switch to a new technology, a new way of doing business, new government regulations that affect them adversely, a major change in consumer behaviour are all examples of market changes that corporations have to adjust to and capitalise on.

This is blogathon entry number 15 for the MSMF Blogathon. Visit this page to learn how you can support this cause.

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There are often other factors that help trigger the buying process. By spotting these factors in situations, you immediately become aware of a need, want, or desire. Within your industry, it is important to know what these factors or motivations are and how these factors could trigger specific buying motives.

Examples:
1. Someone just received a promotion
2. Money has just been won or inherited
3. There is an addition to the family
4. Just bought a house
5. Just moved
6. It is a birthday or anniversary
7. There has just been an amalgamation of companies
8. There is a new executive team
9. Someone has passed away
10. The market has gone for a dive and business is tough
11. Centralizing or decentralizing of a company
12. New budget year coming up
13. A land mark. A 50th anniversary or 21st birthday
14. A wedding
15. Move to a new building
16. Just secured a major contract or was awarded a huge project
17. Share price dropped
18. Has decided to start exporting
19. News headline that scares people
7-12 Principles of Selling
20. Special time of year – Religious Holidays, Summer Vacation
21. A heavy snow fall
22. A heat wave
23. A cold snap
24. A new face
25. A new law has been introduced
26. A change in government
27. A new growth trend
28. A market switching quickly from one item or system to another
29. Person or company reaching a different status level
30. A new competitor has moved on to the scene
31. Someone recently started a business
32. A new area is being developed
33. Someone recently got fit, lost weight, new look
34. A celebration, for example a big sports win!
35. A company has lost its position in the market place
36. A company has gained a higher position in the market
37. Government de-regulations of crown corporations (parastatals—a company
or agency owned or controlled wholly or partly by the government)
38. A natural disaster
39. A crime wave
40. A huge event … Olympics, Expo, World Cup etc.
41. An industry boom, i.e. tourism
42. Someone received poor service from a competitor

As a professional salesperson, it is important to have your “sales opportunity antenna” up at all times. This way you can take advantage of using the right timing. Right timing means you have caught the client at a time of high need, high want, or high desire. During these times, customers buy much quicker, and much more easily.

Bill Gibson is a motivational sales speaker based in South Africa who has addressed over one million people on stages in Canada, USA, Asia, and Africa over the past 30 years.

This is blogathon entry number 9 for the MSMF Blogathon. Visit this page to learn how you can support this cause.

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The focus of the Complex Sales Training Podcast part 3 is on measuring and progressing our level of relationship development with our key accounts and understanding how that impacts our success in navigating large, complex and long sales cycle deals.

This program is now formatted and compatible for your iPhone!

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This complex sales podcast introduces you to the process by first defining what complex sales is and then moves into

part 1.  In Part 1 of the Complex Sales series we are introduced to the 6 major Power Players in a Complex Sale or complex business relationship: The Navigator, The Ruler, The User, The Protector, The Contributor and The Opposer.

Definition of Complex Sales (From Wikipedia):

Complex sales, also known as Enterprise sales, can refer to a method of trading sometimes used by organizations when procuring large contracts for goods and/or services where the customer takes control of the selling process by issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) and requiring a proposal response from previously identified or interested suppliers. Complex sales involve long sales cycles with multiple decision makers. Multiple stakeholders and stakeholder groups contribute to every complex sale.

Any product or service may become a complex sale. In some instances a complex sale occurs when the market is mature and the stakes high enough to warrant attention from a variety of stakeholders in the buying organization. In other instances a complex sales process is needed when the buyer has never had experience with the vendor, technology being sold, or if the solution is business critical or impacts the buying organization on a strategic level. The series of filters, purchasing steps, and stakeholders involved are designed to reduce the risks associated with making the wrong buying decision…

…often the sales person is required to have a set of skills that are more in line with a subject matter expert or consultant than a traditional sales person. This type of sales person can often be referred to as a Key Account Executive or Complex Sales Executive. (Full Definition here.)

The next few podcasts will hopefully help you develop an understanding of what core skills and strategies will be required to navigate and close complex sales.

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I also just joined another fantastic community called SelfGrowth.com. It’s a massive global expert data base on everything from sales to yoga.

Here’s my new profiles:

Shane Gibson Sales Speaker Profile on Top Sales Experts .com
Shane Gibson’s Expert Profile on Self Growth .com

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How to boost your sales skills

Globe and Mail Update

May 23, 2008 at 1:19 PM EDT

Success in business means being able to sell. You can have the best product, or service, or staff in the market, but if you can’t convince others to believe in you, or more simply, favour your brand over the others, it will all go for nought. This is true whether your trying to get hired, win a contract, secure financing or close a deal.

It’s for that reason we’ve asked Shane Gibson, a Vancouver-based sales expert and author of Closing Bigger: The field guide to closing bigger deals to provide insights and advice on how to improve your sales skills. Mr. Gibson combines a background in sales, new entrepreneur development and leadership coaching. His clients include CMA Canada, The Ford Motor Company of Canada, UBC’s Sauder Business School, Allied Van lines, and The Toronto Board of Trade.

Mr. Gibson was online earlier to take your questions. Read more

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