Sales Training Tip #162: Goal Setting

Congratulations on reading this during a week when many people are on vacation. Take some time to reflect on the goals you’ve set for next year and determine now how and what you’ll need to do to make your goals a reality in 2007.

Professional Selling Skills Training: Holday Selling

I'm amazed at the number of sales people who fail to take advantage of the Christmas season (or any holiday period) to jump ahead. I run into people all the time who tell me that they take it easy around any holiday period because, in their minds, people don't want to be bugged. That is the farthest thing from the truth! The best example I know is something I experienced as a new sales person. Being a novice and not having been brain-washed by veterans, I believed every workday was a great day to sell. The day after Christmas promptly at 8 AM I walked into a new account I was trying to land. Needless to say, the customer was shocked and stunned I was there. Over time, the account wound up being a great one for me. On numerous occasions, the buyer said it was a result of me walking in promptly on December 26 because it showed him I could be counted on.

Sales Training Tip #161: Listen For Facts Twice

When you hear a customer say something, don’t immediately jump to conclusions. Many times, they’re making comments that are nothing more than distractions. Only when a customer says something twice should you begin to accept it as a valid fact.

Sales Training Tip #160: Cell Phone Numbers

Make sure your business cards have your cell phone number on them. Giving out that number communicates that you’re ready to do business anytime.

Professional Selling Skills Training: Selling With No Excuses Attached

Sales is all about customer service and customer service is all about helping the customer. Some companies don't get it when they think they're giving quality customer service. In reality, all they're doing is giving long drawn-out excuses. Instead of providing your customer with excuses as to why you can't do something, think outside the box and provide them with solutions. Remember, Abraham Lincoln's most famous speech was probably his shortest...The Gettysburg Address. Rambling on about why you can't do something will be perceived by the customer as you won't. Find a way to make it happen!

Sales Training Tip #159: What’s On Your Screen Saver?

Have you ever encountered a salesperson using their PC to make a presentation when it suddenly goes sour because an inappropriate screen saver pops up? If you have, then you know why you must be very careful with what you have on your PC, especially when a customer may see it.

Professional Selling Skills Training: The Importance of Passion

Passion is the missing ingredient for a whole lot of failed sales calls. It's amazing how many times I receive phone calls or e-mails from sales people complaining about how they can't close enough sales. The single biggest reason continues to be a complete lack of passion, not for the company the sales person works for, but for helping the customer succeed. In the long run, the best sales person will always be the one who passionately cares about the success of their customer.

Sales Training Tip #158: Passion Sells

It’s amazing how a person’s passion comes through in a sales call. Consider how a person’s “blah personality” can minimize even the best presentation. If you don’t have passion to serve the customer, you shouldn’t be selling.

Professional Selling Skills Training: Attitude Makes the Sale

Based on your attitude, do you close sales or lose? Every week, I encounter sales people who are clearly losing sales because they fail to have an attitude that is both positive and timely. A positive attitude is self-explanatory. A timely attitude is one that encourages people to get things done now, not later. There are way too many people who have positive attitudes, but lack the drive to win. Take a moment to evaluate your attitude. Is it both positive and timely?

Sales Training Tip #157: Keep Prospect Names Handy

Always have the names and phone numbers of prospects handy for when you have a few extra minutes during the day. By doing so, you can use the "unexpected" time more effectively.

Sales Training Tip #156: Email and Your Phone Number

Make it easy for people to contact you. Be sure to conclude all emails with your name, phone number, and cell number.

Professional Selling Skills Training: The Curse of Distractions

This past week, I encountered a sales person with a great track record of being able to get the job done. However, because of their willingness to get sucked into the mire of issues they can't control, they are now struggling. They are allowing their energy to be consumed by discussing and thinking about things that are occurring within their company and it’s taking away the energy they previously used to sell. Top performing sales people stay top performing sales people because they don’t allow distractions to get in their way. Take a look at what you’re worrying about and what you’re working on. Determine if it’s really something you can change or if it’s something that really impacts your ability to sell. Chances are there is at least another 15% of potential time and effort available to you by not allowing yourself to be distracted by the things you can’t control. How much more would you be able to sell if you had 3 more selling days each month?

Professional Selling Skills Training: Holiday Gifts

It’s the time of year for me to rant and rave about excessive holiday gifts! There’s nothing wrong with giving somebody a gift of appreciation for their business. However, what upsets me is when a sales person gives a gift that is excessive in value or taste to what the customer is used to receiving or may expect. There’s no need to feed the frenzy of trying to "out-do" everyone else in terms of the monetary value. Remember, the real value of your gift is in the meaning behind it - a true appreciation for their business.

Professional Selling Skills Training: Customer Service is Sales Service

Providing great customer service is something we all talk about, yet I am shocked at the number of times I encounter sales people who fail to demonstrate it during the sales process. I often see them only giving great service as long as the sales process is moving along. Then, as soon as they encounter a roadblock from the customer, they shut down. Many sales are made, and more importantly, many great long-term relationships emerge when the customer has the chance to really see what the sales person is made out of. There’s no better way to demonstrate this than by continuing to exhibit a high-level of service, even when the sales call has stalled. Yes, it takes time, but nobody ever said sales would be easy or quick.

Sales Training Tip #155: Allocate Your Time By Size

Make sure you’re allocating your day based on the size of the sales opportunity, not on the individual demands of a customer or prospect. It’s too easy to get caught up doing activities that might be very important but, ultimately, bring you little, if any, sales.

Professional Selling Skills Training: Respecting the Current Customer

What is the right balance between giving the customer what they want and what you believe they will want? This is a question that has hit the ever-popular website “Facebook” (a MySpace website geared towards college students). Facebook added a new feature called “news feed” which tracks the movements of users. Needless to say, their user base was not broadly consulted on this before it was implemented and now they’re upset. So, here’s the question: what is the right way to implement a product improvement to your existing customer base?

Professional Selling Skills Training: Customer Service..To Tell The Truth

Customer service is as much about integrity as it is about doing things right and it's time to vent about people who love to twist the truth. Today, I received an e-mail announcement from a major HR trade group about an upcoming event. Needless to say, it didn't look right and, sure enough, a couple of hours later, a new announcement came out saying that "due to technical difficulties, the previous announcement should be disregarded." Bunk! Don't lie to us HR people! Tell us the truth...you blew it! Is it so hard to say, "Oops, we made a mistake. We're sorry, but please disregard the previous message." I'm not perfect. I've made more than my share of mistakes. But, one thing I've learned is that it's OK to tell it the way it is. And, it's even better to poke a little fun at yourself for the mistake you made. If you want to create a stellar customer experience, then you'd better treat them with respect. Selling is all about building integrity and, as a sales person, keep in mind that people are watching your every move.

Sales Training Tip #154: Confirm Appointments Via Voicemail

If you need to confirm an upcoming sales call, do so by leaving a voicemail rather than email. When you use e-mail, it’s easy for the prospect to hit “reply” and cancel the meeting. Voicemail requires more time and will result in fewer cancelled meetings.

Sales Training Tip #153: Holiday Planning

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, it’s time to think about how you intend to service your clients during the busy period from Thanksgiving through Christmas and the New Year. Plan now to determine how you and your counterparts will provide the best service possible everyday.

Professional Selling Skills Training: Tracking Your Sales Time

Fortune Magazine (Oct. 16 edition) has a great interview with Jim Donald, CEO of Starbucks. In the article, Jim talks about how he charts his time by month to determine how he is spending it. I've been talking about this for years...for sales people to truly perform at the highest level, it's important to measure how your time is spent. Now I feel vindicated! When a CEO of a high-profile company advocates doing it, you know it makes sense. If you haven't read the article or read some of my material, here's what you need to do: Track your time by key activity for an entire month. The objective is not to determine the total hours, but the % of time you spend on an activity. In the case of sales, the activities need to be sales-focused, not administration, meetings, or anything that isn't truly helping you either keep a sale or make a new one.

Sales Training Tip #152: Mail As A Sales Tool

Mailing your customer or prospect a letter is still a viable means of sharing information and often it will get more “eyeball” time than an email will. The downside to sending stuff this way is that it may take the reader a week to see it because of the infrequency with which many people actually read their mail.

Professional Selling Skills Training: Reaching C-Level People

A recent question was posed of "The Sales Hunter":

"I call almost exclusively on C-level people. Getting their attention, response and return calls is really an issue. Any thoughts on the virtue of e-mail vs snail mail vs telelphone?"

The best way to reach C-level people is to use every technique: voice mail, e-mail, regular mail, fax, etc. It is very important that you not allow yourself to become dependent on any single method since what you might think is the best means may not be one they pay any attention to. Email, for instance, might be the easiest, but with the level of spam filters in place, it's amazing what doesn't go through. Keep in mind that one of the main reasons to communicate with c-level people through multiple methods is to allow the gatekeeper to get used to seeing you. This is another reason not to be sending a ton of sales materials to them no matter how good you think they are. The key is to send the c-level person information they will find helpful in their job. I like to send industry articles, information regarding changes in government regulations, and other things they will find beneficial. By sending this type of information, they will begin to think of you in a different light.

Professional Selling Skills Training: Sales Prospecting Perils

Closing a sale with a prospect does not mean it's time to cut your margin. As we get close to the end of the year, there are a large number of sales people scrambling to make their numbers and it's tempting to start cutting margins. Don't do it, no matter how desperate you are. It's amazing how as soon as you cut your margin once, you'll come back and do it again, and again, and again. I know I've said this before, but it's an issue worth repeating. To avoid cutting your margin, first, sell to the customer's needs and benefits and, second, sell while you have time on your side. We don't have the space here to elaborate on this but I'll make sure I add more to this in the weeks ahead.

Sales Training Tip: Why Tips Don’t Work

Last week, a salesperson contacted me to say that their sales were not growing despite having read a number of sales tips that they believed really fit their sales needs. After spending a couple of minutes talking to the person, I helped them realize that they had been merely thinking about the sales training tips, not really putting them into use. Unfortunately, I’ve heard this issue many times before. Often salespeople like what they hear and know what they need to do, but, in the end, fail to do anything about it. It's imperative that you don’t just read or think about something. Get out there and do it! (Gee, isn’t that what a certain shoe company says to do?)

Sales Training Tip #151: Low "Trial" Closes

When you’re about to "trial" close a customer, be careful not to mention anything that may come across as an amount or quantity less than what you want the buyer ultimately to buy.

Prefessional Selling Skills Training: How’s Your Sales Development Coming?

What are you doing to help your sales development? Or, do you even have a personal sales development program to help you grow your business? We just kicked off "The Sales Hunter" Sales Development Program and I'd like to encourage you to check it out and sign up right away. What makes this program so good is that it is delivered online so you can benefit from it whenever and wherever you like. The price is even better: $17.00 a month! It's a steal, but I wanted to make sure the cost would not be an excuse for not taking advantage of it. When you visit our website (www.TheSalesHunter.com), follow the link at the top and you’ll be on your way to improving your sales!

Sales Training Tip #150: Strength of Your Voice

Listen carefully to your voice, especially when you are talking about price or any issue you’ve been struggling with. Your voice will often reveal nervousness in those situations. Sharp buyers listen for this and will leverage this weakness against you.

Professional Selling Skills Training: 3-Step Shuffle

Recently, the following question was posed by a conference attendee:

"The discussion for the 3 step shuffle was good to learn. Could tell me again the time lag I should have between the steps? I got the first step, 72 hours after exchanging business cards."

The 3-Step Shuffle is awesome! I use it regularly. I was at an event today and picked up 3 cards and by tomorrow each of the 3 people will have received their first contact. In this case, I'm doing just a "thanks and great to meet you". The second one I'll send out in about 4 more days and it will be an article I found on the web that I'll send out via e-mail. Then, I'll wait a full week to give them a call. Now, I normally like to end with an e-mail, but in this case I'm choosing to end with a phone call because by that time, I want to either get the appointment to meet or be done with them. These 3 have the potential size where I need to move now or not at all.

Professional Selling Skills Training: How is Yours?

Do you spend time on your professional selling skills training? I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to highlight an interesting figure in a recent Business Week Magazine. The article was talking about competition and how in a survey they conducted, the majority of people believe the most competitive employees in a company are in the sales department. (In particular, 38% of the companies surveyed said sales was the most competitive.) That begs the question: If companies, in general, view sales people this way, how competitive are you when you’re out selling against other sales people? Are you allocating enough resources to developing your professional selling skills?

Prospecting for Clients: Getting Referrals

What does it take to get a customer to give you referrals? You have to ask! Many salespeople don’t ask for referrals because they’re afraid of the customer's response, especially if they suspect the service they’ve been providing them is less than par. You have to ask yourself if this is really the case. The vast majority of times, it is merely a perception that is lingering in the mind of the salesperson. I like to recommend that sales managers create a sale referral period during which they require each salesperson to contact all of their customers to ask for referrals. For the majority of salespeople, asking for referrals is as difficult as cold-calling. Unless it’s mandated, it won’t happen.

Sales Training Tip #149: Forget the Sales Materials

If you can’t make every phase of a sales call without using any sales materials, then you don’t know your business. High-performing sales people routinely prospect and close sales without the aid of any sales materials.

Professional Selling Skills Training: Size of Sales Pipeline

Professional Selling Skills Training: Is there a formula people can use to determine how big their sales pipeline needs to be? Your pipeline should always contain as many contacts as it takes to replace all of your business during the current sales cycle. For example, if you’re currently doing business with 25 customers and it takes six months to close a sale, then you would need to either have at least 50 prospects in your pipeline or enough prospects that would bring in the same amount of business to replace your existing business. Additionally, a quick rule of thumb is if your sales process takes more than six months, you need to add the number you need by the number of months above six times your base number. So, for a nine month sales cycle, take the base number of prospects you need (for example: 50) and add another 30% (9 months - 6 months = 3 months). In this case, you would add another 15 prospects.

Prospecting for Clients: Timeline

Prospecting for Clients: How do you know when it’s right to stop calling on what you thought was a perfect prospect? You never ever stop calling on a prospect! Rather, you slow the process down to ensure that you don’t waste your time. The key to determining when they’re no longer a good prospect is if they’ve stopped sharing with you crucial information or information that would not be readily available to others. Prospects who are turning back into suspects are many times those people who will continue to be courteous to you, but won’t extend you any new information or give you their best time. If you decide they’re no longer a hot prospect, then move the person further down in your sales process and let your communication with them be through your on-going marketing campaigns. At a later time, you can leave them a voice mail message asking them to call you back. If they don’t, then certainly they’re still a suspect. If they do call you back, don’t rush to schedule a live meeting. Rather, use the phone call as a way to see if they’re willing to provide you with some information, etc. If they quickly provide you some, then consider them back on the prospect list. If they don’t, then keep them on your suspect / marketing list.

Prospecting for Clients: Handling Hesitation

Prospecting for Clients: How do you deal with the prospect who is hesitant to make a decision?
First, you have to go back and ask yourself if you really know what their buying timeline is and if the person you’re talking to is qualified to buy. You then have to focus in on two areas: the customer’s pressure points and their decision drivers. Let’s look at both of these for a moment. If a customer truly has a pressure point, then they will buy. But often what happens is that our questions aren’t tough enough to enable the customer to understand the magnitude of their pressure point. Remember, the key is you can tell the customer all you want, but until the customer says it’s a pressure point, they won’t believe it. Second point, you have to know the customer’s decision drivers. Again, you have to ask yourself if you really know how they make a decision. You have to be asking questions that many times are not related to the sale you’re currently working on, but are designed to get the customer talking about other decisions they’ve made. When you get them talking about other decision they’ve made and how they made them, you can determine what their decision drivers are and how to leverage them.

Sales Training Tip #148: C-Suite Is Focused on Solutions

When you’re dealing with anyone in the C-Suite (CEO, CFO, COO, etc.), make sure your focus is all about providing solutions. Don’t waste your time dealing with price because it is not a factor in a C- Suite discussion. As I like to say, “Leaders are looking for solutions. Company managers are looking for price.”

Sales Training Tip #147: Get Motivated on a Daily Basis!

Beginning this week, The Sales Hunter Daily Video Motivator is available to you for free! By watching these 45 second clips of practical, ready-to-use strategies for sales success, you will be motivated to jump start your day. These links will be updated on a weekly basis and will appear at the top of each weekly Sales Hunting Tip or via our website. Spend a minute getting motivated and then, get out there and sell!

Professional Selling Skills Training: Search Engines on the Move

Recently, I’ve been amazed at the differences that are beginning to appear in the major search engines: Google, Yahoo, MSN, and Ask. Each seems to be tweaking their processes more and more so their results for a particular search can be dramatically different. For those of us in sales, it means we have to sharpen our thinking even more when we are trying to leverage the effectiveness of our websites. If we’re using search engines to help us sell, we must now be careful to not limit our queries to a single search engine.

Sales Training Tip #146: Decision-Maker Calls

How many decision-maker calls do you make each day? Salespeople often think they’re making sales calls when all they’re really doing is talking to random people. The focus of your selling time must be on talking to decision-makers (those who can truly buy).

Professional Selling Skills Training: Value of a Customer

I recently read an article in Fast Company magazine (a must-read for anyone looking to succeed). In the September, 2006, issue, there is a great article by David Lidsky. He quotes a study stating that more than 87% of all company executives do not know what the value of a customer is to their company. Wow, totally scary but so true! I was pleased to find in writing what I’ve been hearing from companies for a long time. Even worse is a number in the article stating that 91% of executives do not know the true cost of acquiring a new customer.

For sales people, these are powerful numbers because it helps to reinforce both the importance of sales and of having competent sales people. Many times, I’m asked to evaluate a company’s sales and marketing efforts and in the vast majority of cases, I find there are no benchmarks to measure these numbers against. No wonder so many sales managers feel they’re fighting an uphill battle with senior management! However, they can only blame themselves for not taking the time to put into place benchmarking procedures to measure the true cost of sales.

Thanks to Fast Company magazine and to David Lidsky for both his article and his research with The Strativity Group.

Sales Training Tip #145: 4-Legged Sales Calls

Taking another person with you on a sales call is often a great way to demonstrate how committed you and your company are to completing the sale. Prior to going, make sure the person with you is well briefed on what they should and should not talk about. Keep in mind that it’s still your role to close the sale. Don’t leave that task to the other person.

Professional Selling Skills Training: Bad Sales Copy

Marketing materials are often developed by very competent people who know the business well. In fact, they know the business too well and we see the results of this in the final marketing copy. Many times it turns out to be a great product copy, but it is terrible in terms of allowing the customer to understand how they will benefit from the product or service. Next time you develop marketing materials, take the time to get input from real customers before you print them.

Sales Training Tip #144: C-Suite Strategy

When you’re trying to break into the C-Suite (CEO, CFO, COO, etc.), don’t hesitate to develop relationships lower down in an organization as a way of uncovering information. However, it's important to remember that what you hear at a lower level is not always repeatable at the C-Suite level. The last thing you want to do is share something that may not be totally correct and, ultimately, winds up jeopardizing the status of the lower level personnel you’ve been talking to.

Sales Training Tip #143: 50 Words

Salespeople love to talk and they often talk too much. If you could only speak 50 words in a presentation, what would they be? If you were limited to 50 words, you’d use them to ask the most crucial questions. Keep your focus on asking better questions so you get the customer to talk.

Sales Training Tip #142: First Response

You should rarely accept a prospect's first response. Actually, only after you have heard comments at least twice should you accept them as fact. A prospect will often throw out information as a way of trying to disengage you. This is a key reason why it’s important to ask great follow-up questions.

Professional Selling Skills Training: Peter Drucker and Sales

Peter Drucker was clearly one of the brightest minds when it came to understanding the business environment and, more importantly, determining how businesses should operate. What I find so interesting is that the manner in which he operated was similar to how a great salesperson should conduct himself. Peter Drucker was famous for asking deep, thought-provoking questions which required strong reflection, solid thinking, and a lot of dialogue. After the conversation was well underway, Peter would take comments made by others and put them together with his thoughts to deliver incredible insights and solutions. In the end, he was the type of person people wanted to spend time with and listen to. From Peter's example, we can conclude that a great salesperson is also a great consultant.

Sales Training Tip #141: Congratulate Yourself

Take fifteen minutes and write up a list of five to ten sales accomplishments you’ve had over the past few months. Reflect on how your hard work has paid off. Then, post them in a place where you can easily access them anytime you need to a motivational reminder.

A recent question posed to "The Sales Hunter" ...

I do B2B selling and I sell an item made of steel so shipping has become quite an issue for some of my smaller retailer's. I am not sure how to approach this product and make it into some type of selling point.

Professional Selling Skills Training: Get in the Game

If you expect to win at golf, you have to get out on the golf course. If you expect to be able to run a 10K, you have to get out and run. The same principle applies to closing sales: you can’t close a sale unless you’re out there selling and, more importantly, engaged in closing the sale. I often see salespeople spend all day reviewing prospect lists or going over customer records, all while wasting precious time that could be used to make sales calls. If you expect to close sales, you have to be out there selling. The only thing you have to ask yourself is, "How many hours a day do I need to be in front of customers?" Not too difficult now, is it?

Sales Training Tip #139: Website Signature

It's a good idea to always add your company’s website address at the end of any email you send out. The best place to put it is directly below your name. It's a great way to advertise and may even inspire your client or prospect to look further into all your company has to offer.

Professional Selling Skills Training: Energy = Sales

I’m amazed at how often I see sales made with poor presentations in terms of content, but that still work because of the energy that’s created between the salesperson and the customer. A key thing to always remember is that momentum can impact a buying decision and the energy that is needed to create momentum must come from the salesperson. Anytime the customer has more energy than the salesperson, the result is a sale based only on necessity. Rarely will it ever be a sale that results in a relationship. Keep in mind that this idea is not a license for the salesperson to go overboard with gushing exurberance that borders on childishness. Rather, it shows the importance of the salesperson having and showing more energy than the buyer.

Sales Training Tip #138: Selling & Marriage Licenses

Just because you’ve bought a marriage license, it doesn’t mean you’ll have a great marriage. Similarly, just because you’ve made a sale, it doesn’t mean you’ll have a great customer. Remember, you have to work at it by investing time in it and being a good listener.

Professional Selling Skills Training: Silence…..

It amazes me how many salespeople I run into who claim to be great listeners and love to tell people how good they are at getting the customer to talk. More times than not, the people who say this are the worst at listening and talking too much. I’ve always believed if you have to walk around telling others how good you are at something, it rarely means you are. If somebody is a good listener, it will come out in all kinds of conversations, whether they be sales calls or any other type of conversation.

The rule I will always live by is that salespeople should never be talking more than 20% of the time, no matter what type of sales call (even during very technical calls). Remember, a person can talk all they want, but if the other person isn’t listening and, more importantly, comprehending what is being said, then it’s all a waste of time. Asking questions and getting the listener to play back to you their interpretation and application of what you’ve told them is the best way to determine their level of understanding.

Professional Selling Skills Training: Summer Sales Slump

I was talking today to a salesperson who was commenting about how much things slow down in the summer and how hard it is to get business. As the person was telling me this, I couldn’t help but think how much this person believed what they said and, by doing so, ensured that they would be unsuccessful.

The key to successful selling in the summer months is to realize that people will be harder to reach, so you will need to make many more prospecting calls. To compensate for the number of people on vacation during any given week in the summer, a good rule of thumb is to attempt 15 % more calls in June, July and August, although the exact amount will vary by industry, geography, etc.

Sales Training Tip #137: Think M/S/S

There are only three things any salesperson should be spending their time on: Marketing, Selling, and/or Servicing. On a weekly basis, take the time to identify at least two activities you currently do that do not fit into one of these categories. Then, either delegate them to someone else or simply stop doing them.

Tip #136: Friday Selling

On the next Friday that the weather is nice and you see others around you going home early for the weekend, seize the opportunity to push your networking by staying and making more calls, etc. When Monday rolls around, Friday will most likely be forgotten, and you’ll have more contacts to show for your efforts.

Quit Being a Sales-person and Be a Sale-person

Too many sales are lost because of just that—“sales.” Success in selling comes from listening to what the customer is (and may not be) telling us. Unfortunately, we don’t usually listen this closely, and instead we wind up selling multiple solutions to a single problem in the hopes that one of the solutions fits. When this happens, the customer can get overwhelmed and confused, putting the sale in jeopardy.

It starts when marketing comes out with the “greatest” new product or service yet to hit the market. Marketing proclaims this latest development will solve any problem of any customer and continues to layer it on with an assortment of product characteristics. All the while the attentive salesperson is absorbing all of this information and subconsciously looking for ways to apply every last thing marketing has put forth. It’s only natural for the salesperson to begin believing the marketing hype, and right here is where one of the biggest “quiet mistakes” in sales occurs: The salesperson adopts the mindset that their latest product or service will satisfy any and every customer’s any and every need. We call this a “quiet mistake” because the mistake is not made in front of a customer (such as misquoting a price or missing a key date); rather it’s made quietly because it occurs long before the sales call. Such mistakes make it hard to see the consequent loss in sales.

When dealing with a customer, a salesperson must exhibit patience not only to find out the needs of the customer, but also to find out which need in particular is the best match for the salesperson’s offering. Instead of taking the time to validate the needs they hear, salespeople can be tempted to treat all needs as equal, or worse yet, to endorse the universal appeal of their product or service. This failure to narrow your focus is where many sales are lost.

That’s why it is important to think in terms of “sale,” and not “sales.” Top-performing salespeople sell to the customer’s primary need. Average salespeople, on the other hand, sell to numerous needs, and in so doing overwhelm the customer and lose the sale. To avoid being a “sales”person, focus your attention on a chief concern of your customer. This will not only result in a higher closing percentage, but it will also allow you the opportunity to focus your attention on the next chief concern in the future.

Selling a Higher Price in a B-B Environment

Even the most sales savvy among us have been there: fighting back the nerves that materialize whenever we are faced with telling a customer about a price increase.

Talking about a price increase never makes for an easy conversation. When discussing a price increase in a business to business environment it’s important to bear in mind that our customer has probably had to have the same discussion with their own customers. A company exists only as long as it earns a profit and a company can only earn a profit long-term if it delivers a quality product or service that is priced right. This means the key to any price increase conversations is to emphasize that such an increase will ensure product quality.

As you begin to prepare your strategy for communicating a price increase, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Does the customer take your product/service and add a standard percentage increase in price when selling to their customers? If this is the case, you can point out that your customer will make more money by taking a standard percentage of a higher amount.

2. What percentage of the customer’s business is your product/service? If the percentage is small, point out that the amount of increase is only a small percentage of their total business. If the percentage is great, then you can emphasize that the price increase is necessary to maintain the level of product quality necessary for them to serve their customers.

3. Has the customer faced any other price increases from other vendors? If so, try to identify what some percentages of the other increases have been. If your price increase falls into the low end, then you can point out how your increase is comparatively lower than many others. If your increase is at the high end, you can explain how your increase is the only one you expect to take; or you may point out that you wouldn’t be surprised to see others coming back to take another round of price increases.

4. How does the customer view you and the products/services you sell? If you have a reputation and record of quality, then you can emphasize that the increase has been carefully thought through and that the increase is only being taken to ensure continuing quality. If you have a spotty record with the customer, then you should stress how the price increase will allow you to begin addressing some of the issues in question by allowing you to increase the overall quality of service the customer has been receiving. Naturally it is important to make sure all comments are backed with a commitment to follow-through.

5. Will the customer raise an issue with the price increase? Be prepared to show documentation of how your costs have increased and how the same increases your company is facing are being dealt with by other companies. (One example is the increasing cost of oil, which has forced any company that uses petroleum in the manufacturing or transportation of goods to most likely increase prices.) When having this discussion, be sure to show empathy for the customer, but remain firm in what you’re saying. If the customer senses any hesitation on your part they will likely try to exploit it in the form of a price concession from you.

Also be prepared to share steps that your company has taken in an attempt to avoid a price increase. This can include ways you’ve already cut costs, or how the price increase is the only way to maintain the quality and service the customer expects.

A final point to emphasize is the time lag between this price increase and the previous increase. Having information available concerning the rate of inflation during that specific time period may also help diffuse the issue of the price increase.

6. Why does the customer buy from you anyway? Knowing the real reason(s) the customer buys from you will allow you to reinforce these points when talking about the price increase. You should also have ready at least two key needs of the customer that your product or service satisfies. Be sure all of your strategic information about the customer is up to date before a price increase is announced.

7. How much business is at risk from the customer? We can sometimes get carried away thinking that if we raise prices we’ll lose the customer, even though this is rarely the case. Think through what steps the customer would have to take to move to another vendor. Many times the work involved in moving is not worth the effort, and thus the business is less at risk than thought.

The following are best practices to employ when executing a price increase:

1. Give the customer lead-time. Provide the customer with enough notice of the lead-time to allow them to make adjustments in their information systems and to exercise at least one more order at the existing price.

2. Do not show favorites. Pricing integrity is always essential, but especially so during a price change. Do not treat particular customers more favorably in pricing during an increase. Different pricing levels are fine as long as they can be logically defended so that a customer who is not receiving the price break can understand and accept the price change.

3. Invoicing integrity. Do not allow your customer to find out about a price increase from your invoice. Any changes in pricing must come from the account executive or a person of high position in the company. Information regarding a price change should only appear on an invoice after every person involved at the customer has been personally notified. (Sufficient time should occur in the price increase timeline to allow at least one invoice to contain a note of the pending increase in price.)

4. Customer service blunders. Make sure each customer service representative and anyone else who comes in contact with the customer is fully aware of when the price increase is going to be communicated. One of the most significant possibilities for customer difficulty during a price increase is the potentially confusing information they hear from different departments. Everyone in customer service needs to be fully briefed on the price increase, the reasoning behind it, and the logistics for implementation. They should also be provided with a FAQ guide to ensure that when customers do ask them about elements of the pricing increase they are able to share accurate information.

5. Believe in the price increase. In order to be paid what we’re worth, we must charge what we’re worth. Although this is not something that can be explicitly communicated to the customer, this general sense is what sets apart the best practice companies and high-performing sales professionals.

6. Open-phone/open-door policy. Any time a price increase is taken, it is important for all senior executives to be willing to take a phone call from a customer or to make phone calls on key customers. Nothing sends a stronger signal to a sales organization than seeing their senior executives on the front-line when dealing with a price increase.

7. Monitor orders pre- and post-price increase. Make sure order patterns are closely monitored for the sales cycle leading up to the price increase and the sales cycle following the price increase. It is important to catch quickly any changes in ordering patterns at the customer level due to any price increase, and monitoring this information in total will not allow you to see customer changes fast enough.

During the 1970s and 1980s, price increases were common and expected. During the past 10 years, however, we’ve all grown used to lower inflation and the overwhelming impact Wal-Mart’s philosophy on pricing has had on nearly every industry. Today price increases are again growing more common and acceptable so long as they are well thought through and not seen as a way to merely increase profits. As an inevitable part of business today, we can’t let ourselves avoid tackling price increases; instead we should seek to use them strategically to increase our selling potential.

Good sales people continue to be in demand.

It seems a week doesn’t go by without somebody calling me looking for a sales person. Sales has always been a position everyone thinks they can do and yet few can do well. What is even more amazing is how too many employers, especially those in search of a good sales person want to pay their sales people at the low-end of compensation and on top of that do not want to invest their development. It blows me away when I run into these situations and they’re far more prevalent than you would imagine.

What really made this hit home with me is a survey I saw which was conducted by Manpower, the employment organization. They surveyed 32,000 employers in 23 countries and the number one position they had trouble filling….sales rep. Wow, now that’s proof beyond anything else I’ve ever seen about the struggles of finding good sales people. What is amazing is how the issue of finding sales reps was higher than what would be perceived as far more technical positions such as engineers, accountants or technicians. Now add to this equation that the competition is not going to go away and the struggle to find quality employees is only going to get tougher. All this means we need to focus even more on the development of sales people and not just entry level training but serious on-going development. When I mention this to employers it’s amazing how some of them will remark how they don’t want to invest in something that can quit on them at anytime. If this is the belief system held by an employer then there are far bigger issues. Any employer who is not willing to invest in a person’s development on-going especially in a field such as sales is an employer not worth working for.

Let’s not think the only person responsible for developing the skills of a sales person is the employer, it’s also the responsibility of the person themselves to continue growing. Here’s where another argument comes up and that is the argument of how sales people do not believe they’re paid what they’re worth and therefore why should they invest in themselves since the company isn’t paying them enough to begin with. If this is the attitude of the sales person then we have a sales person who will never be better than average at best and more importantly a person with this type of attitude will never become a high-performer. Every time I meet with a high-performing sales person it becomes very clear that they have reached this level because they have not just relied on their company to supply training but they have also made an investment into the development.

The question that has to be asked is what is the right level of on-going development a sales person needs to perform at a high level. Unfortunately there is no uniform answer as the solution lies not in the level of time or money spent developing somebody but on the continuous results the sales person is achieving. Here the key is to not assume self-development does not need to occur as long the person is achieving their goals. Just because a person is achieving their goals does not mean they don’t need training. I’ll take the position the best time to train is when things are going good since the person will be more relaxed and open to ideas “vs” being in a panic mode of trying to find short-term solutions. In the end the answer as to how much on-going development is needed for sales people must be answered by the sales person and their employer. However I would be safe to say there is probably less than 5% of all sales people who are receiving the correct amount of training on-going.

We've Moved!

Welcome to the Blogspot for "The Sales Hunter"! From here on out, this is the web address you can use to keep up to date on the latest trends in Sales and Marketing and learn some current tips to help you be even more successful in your Selling endeavors.