Most sales professionals go through the RFP process at one time or another. For those unfamiliar, we turn to Wikipedia for a definition:

A request for proposal (RFP) is issued at an early stage in a procurement process, where an invitation is presented for suppliers, often through a bidding process, to submit a proposal for a specific commodity or service. The RFP process brings structure to the procurement decision and is meant to allow the risks and benefits to be identified clearly up front.

While RFPs can be beneficial for buyers, they can be cumbersome and limiting for sellers. So, as with everything in sales, the question really is, how can you win the business?

Here are several items to consider:

• If you haven’t already done so, create a template and/or a repository of typically required information. This will make it easier for future opportunities.
• Determine if you’ll need to work with a strategic partner to round out your competencies. It may increase your chances for consideration.
• Form teams to complete the various sections of the proposal. Let the experts handle their respective areas.
• Review wins and losses from previous RFPs to strengthen your proposal.
• Conduct research before coming up with your pricing, since this is usually a key selection factor.
• Create a list of questions that arise as you go through the RFP process, and request clarification or future details from the issuer.
• Even if everything on the RFP is clear to you, develop some strategic questions and reach out to the issuer prior to or during the RFP process. This gives you an opportunity to demonstrate your value-add, differentiate yourself from your competitors, and begin to develop a relationship with the issuer.
• Request an evaluation or review process to show your value, and expect your work to be monitored. It demonstrates confidence and will make them feel more secure with your proposal.
• Before submitting, ask for feedback from non-biased professionals you respect.
• Never submit a proposal without having read the issuer’s mission statement; ensure your proposal is consistent with – and ideally even enhances – the company’s goals and values.

Competition is as stiff as ever. Expect that your competitors are spending a significant amount of time preparing their proposals, so you’ll need to do the same.

What have we missed? If you’ve been successful in winning RFP bids, we would love for you to share your thoughts and tips in the comment section.

Dave

Is the customer always right?

Do you want the real answer or the one you read in books? Of course the customer is not right 100 percent of the time, but that’s not really the issue. The real question is what to do when a customer thinks he’s been wronged. Like so many things in life, it depends on the scenario.

Retail vs. Wholesale

If you run a retail shop, you have customers walking through the door on a daily basis. While the desire to please everyone is admirable, it’s also unrealistic. We all have bad days, technology fails us, and there are some things that are out of our control.

If you’re a wholesaler, much of your communication with customers is over the phone and through email. This results in an entirely different dynamic when it comes to misunderstandings. Figure out as quickly as possible what you can do to improve whatever issues are popping up.

Getting back to the original question, the customer may not always be right, but we want to treat each customer as if they are, even if they are being unrealistic. Whenever a problem occurs, the best course of action is to listen. In addition, finding a private room where your customer can vent without disturbing other customers is a must. Once they’ve had a chance to explain their situation, you have several options:

• Apologize, unless they are so unreasonable that an apology is not warranted.
• Ask your customer what it would take to resolve the problem.
• Suggest a few alternatives that may resolve the issue.
• Explain that unfortunately there isn’t anything you can do for them.

Dealing with frustrated customers in a wholesale business is a similar. Listen first, offer suggestions to fix the problem, and find out what would make them happy. If you’re noticing a trend in unhappy customers, it’s time to examine your communication, sales, and other processes to determine if there are holes or gaps.

When all is said and done, a happy customer is a potential repeat customer willing to offer referrals. If the relationship is severed to the point of no return, it might be time to part ways and end the relationship as cordially as possible. Always try to under-promise and over-deliver; it will suit you well and help avoid unhappy customers in the first place.

David

Sales are down! It must be the marketing department’s fault. No? Can I blame the down economy? Not that either, huh? Well, I better get back to work then.

Ever notice the best sales professionals don’t need ideal conditions to perform at the highest level? Give them a phone and a chance and they’ll succeed. When you break it down, being a successful sales professional takes nothing more than determination and unwillingness to fail. There are no excuses; there are only results.

So, what happens when you find yourself in a situation where conditions are not perfect? You have no administrator pre-screening your calls or scheduling your appointments. Your office space resembles more of a college frat room than an ivory tower corner office. There are no billboards of your company posted on the highways, and there are no radio spots. It’s just you, your call sheet, and stale lukewarm coffee.

In today’s downsized, wear-multiple-hats society, most of us are asked to do more with less. This means that our marketing budget, if we even ever had one, is now small to nil. We still need prospects to find us and consider purchasing from us. So what do we do?

Here are 5 ideas for marketing your business when you don’t have any support:

1. Utilize what social media has to offer
2. Create advocates and referral partners
3. ABM – Always Be Marketing
4. Automate processes whenever possible
5. Create content that’s stored online

Utilize what social media has to offer

Social media can be a wonderful outlet to connect with other business professionals. When you communicate online, you’re marketing yourself and your business. The more effective you are, the better your results will be. Over time, you have the opportunity to develop a large network of “brand ambassadors” that share your content or information with their networks.

Create advocates and referral partners

Whether you develop your advocates online or in person, having others who are willing to proactively tout your business is the goal of any successful organization. Having an army of referral partners who regularly introduce you to targeted prospects can replace even the most expensive marketing campaign. This requires treating each customer or client like they are the most important one to you.

ABM – Always Be Marketing

You may be at a networking opportunity or a professional sporting event. Regardless, when the opportunity arises, share your passion with those around you. Passion is infectious and resonates with other passionate people. Look to have conversations with people that are as serious and excited about their business as you are. There’s no time sheet to fill out when it comes to your marketing efforts. Like 7-11, you’re always open for business.

Automate processes whenever possible

Busy, successful professionals automate things like emails, so that whenever someone signs up for their newsletter or asks a question, there is an automated email response ready. It allows you to spend the bulk of your time on income-producing activities and in essence creates a virtual administrator. Your ability to market your business could be heavily automated if you understand the sales funnel process – moving serious prospects along without having to be there.

Create content that’s stored online

Creating content like blogs, white papers, newsletters, podcasts, webinars, and the like, is the backbone of today’s marketing efforts. When you create awesome content, your network shares it. If enough people deem it worthy of sharing, your content can go viral. In layman’s terms, send out your content once and watch it spread like wildfire. Housing this content on your website and other portals that you maintain gives people a chance to find you on their own through search and recommendations.

There are many more things we can do as professionals to market our business without having much, if any, support. What are some other suggestions you can provide for us? Feel free to link any content you’ve created that supports this topic.

David

Buzz words have a way of running their course. The term social networking probably takes some sort of prize as one of today’s most commonly used “buzz words.” But think about it for a moment. Networking, itself, is not a new phenomenon. For decades, professionals have been gathering to share business knowledge and contacts with one another. Groups like LBN and BNI have been meeting for over 25 years.

And even social networking is beginning to show some longevity. LinkedIn, widely considered the most professional networking site, is already eight years old. But even with so many years of history, the concept of social networking has been revitalized over the past few years with the emergence of Facebook and Twitter.

That said, now is a good time to ask yourself some key social networking questions.

LinkedIn

• Do you have an account? If so, is your profile complete, your job history accurate, and your LinkedIn activity consistent?
• Have you joined industry-specific groups? Are you participating in them, learning, and connecting with other professionals in your field or niche?
• Are you providing testimonials to the professionals in your network that deserve them?
• Are you receiving testimonials for the products and/or services you offer?
• Have you taken advantage of all the latest LinkedIn applications?

Facebook

• Do you have a personal account, enabling you to connect or reconnect with friends and colleagues?
• How often do you share relevant content in your industry with those in your network?
• Have you created a company page for your business? If so, are you actively engaging with others by using thought provoking questions?
• Do you help promote others in your network by sharing their content or relevant news?
• Have you set up cross-promotional opportunities by providing links to your blog, website, and other social networking profiles?

Twitter

• Have you set up an account and are you consistently active?
• Do you understand how to tweet, retweet, share content, and engage with others?
• Are you staying on top of your industry by consuming the content your network shares?
• Do you help promote others in your network by sharing their important news and content?
• Have you thought about what your goals are for spending time on this platform?

The Bottom Line

There’s no question that ever-increasing numbers of professionals are connecting through these popular sites. It’s one thing to follow someone or have them follow you. It’s another thing – a more compelling thing – to actually derive tangible benefits from those relationships. What does that mean? It means referrals are being shared and business is being transacted as a direct result of these efforts. Keep in mind, though, that this should be an end goal and not a starting point.

People do not engage in social networking so they can be bombarded by marketing and advertising efforts. These channels are best suited for conversations, idea sharing, and learning from industry experts. We’re creating our own experiences on social networks based on how we choose to spend time on them.

The numbers don’t lie. There wouldn’t be this many people continuing to become active on Facebook, or connecting with others via LinkedIn and Twitter, if there wasn’t some payoff.

What other tips can you add? Is there something that has prevented you from actively participating in social networking? We’re looking to create an environment where we can all share best practices. What can you bring to the table?

Dave

Impressing the boss will differ depending on your role within the organization. As a sales professional looking to get in the good graces of your higher-up, producing sales is the bottom line: you either sell or you’re asked to leave. Being mediocre might enable you to keep your job, but it won’t get you special invites to the boss’ holiday party.

No matter what size organization you work in, your boss is most likely very busy running the business and will look to surround him or herself with bright, hard working, well-intentioned professionals. They make time to chat with top producers and often give special privileges to those who are most responsible for increasing the bottom line. If you want the ear of your boss, you’re going to have to earn it.

Here are some tips to consider if impressing your boss is important to you:

• Set lofty, but realistic, quotas and surpass them.
• Show up early, prepared, and with a smile on your face.
• Be a positive influence in your office.
• Volunteer to help a recent hire or newer employee.
• Share ideas during meetings that will help increase business or save the company money.
• Recommend your company to other talented professionals when employment opportunities exist.
• Stay educated by reading industry publications, books, and articles.
• Do such a good job for your clients that they proactively write you recommendations.

What’s fascinating about this exercise is that you’ll find some who look at that list and think it’s what’s expected, while others look at the list and think, “I have to do all that?” What separates the top sales professionals from the mediocre is their mindset and determination to be the best. They naturally impress the boss every day with their activity, attitude, and production.

Getting Out of Trouble

If you’re struggling at your sales job, impressing the boss should not be your main focus. Working hard, being disciplined, and bringing the right attitude every day should be your starting point. If you’re in the proverbial office dog house, here are a few of other ideas you might want to consider:

• Set short, obtainable goals that help you reach your longer term goals.
• Ask for help; if you don’t ask, they won’t know you need direction.
• Put in extra time and effort; sales is not a 9-5 job and you must be willing to do what it takes to succeed.
• Be better than the day before, as showing consistent improvement is essential.

What other suggestions can you add? Feel free to share a story of how you were able to impress the boss. As always, we’re looking to create a platform where “best practices” are shared by those in the trenches making it happen.

Dave

No doubt you’ve signed up for LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, or some combination of them, by now. At the very least, you’ve probably thought about doing so. While that’s a great start, what’s most important is creating a strategy that, when implemented, produces desired results. The question for today is: “How well is your social media for prospecting working out?”

Prospecting comes in many forms and flavors. You might be looking to “prospect” for potential employment candidates, business partners or customers. No matter what your end goal is, if you’re hoping to develop a network interested in helping you reach your goals, you’re going to need to spend time helping others reach theirs. One thing is certain: using the social stream as a one-way “fire hose” communication platform doesn’t seem to garner much attention. There must be a give and take mentality; no shortcuts to success.

Many highly respected social media advocates suggest networking sites like Twitter are great for connecting with others, having conversations, and meeting new people. LinkedIn has traditionally been great for connecting with other professionals and for searching for targeted companies and individuals. Facebook is commonly thought of as a place to reconnect with your past and stay in touch with those closest to you. All three platforms share some commonalities and offer the ability to prospect.

For now, we’ll focus on Twitter and LinkedIn as they relate to prospecting. Remember, your goals and objectives are going to differ from others so make sure the strategy you create fits your industry, company culture, and corporate policies.

LinkedIn

• Add regular updates to your status including where/when you are keynoting, presenting, or traveling for business.
• Consistently add new contacts that you meet from networking events, referrals, or other leads you get.
• Conduct target searches using keywords and company names for professionals and businesses that might want/need to hear about your products and services.
• Answer questions in the LinkedIn Q & A section to demonstrate expertise; take time to prepare well-thought-out answers, as this might lead others who read it to contact you.
• Send congratulatory notes to those in your network that receive promotions or find new employment.
• Link your blogs and add your PowerPoint presentations and other content you create so your network has easy access to it.
• Recommend others in your network that you want to help promote. They or others might do the same for you.

Twitter

• Visit search.twitter.com/advanced to set up searches for your target prospects.
• Engage with others and develop a network of professionals that understand the concept of mutually beneficial relationships.
• Ask for help. If you don’t ask you don’t receive.
• Go to wthashtag.com and create a targeted search based on shared topics. For example, if you’re looking for web developers, add the term “web developers” in the find a hash tag box and, if there are others who are also discussing the topic, those discussions will populate.
• Post open positions or let your network know specifically what you seek.

Keep in mind that if you are going to dabble in social media, you should have a long range vision in place. Think of developing a network as creating a strong community; it can’t happen overnight. It takes time to establish yourself online. Don’t be in a hurry to get immediate results, and don’t give up if it doesn’t happen right away.

What are some other tips you can share to help with social media prospecting? Do you have success stories to share or suggestions for pitfalls to avoid? Let’s try to help each other as we forge ahead in this new frontier.

David

You’ve been a computer software sales professional for the past 15 years and know the industry inside and out. Your contact database is filled with software sales professionals and businesses in the industry.  A few years ago you had your best year ever and thought the best was yet to come. Unfortunately, your CEO left for a new company and things haven’t been the same since. You’re 50% behind quota and staring at massive layoffs in your company.

Maybe that scenario sounds familiar; maybe not.

Regardless of the specific situation, many are eventually faced with the realization they need to make a change from an industry they know to a foreign one. Even in good times, the transition is difficult because your competition includes people with industry experience. In today’s slowly recovering economy, the challenge is magnified. If you find yourself faced with this situation, consider the following:

• Make a list of careers you would enjoy, requiring skills you have, for which someone might hire you.
• Do your research; find out what industries are hiring.
• Write down all your transferrable skills.
• Update your resume, and make sure a professional hiring authority reviews it.
• Include in the resume how you saved money or generated revenue.
• Find a career coach or qualified professional to help with interview preparation.
• Work on your digital profiles and portfolios.
• Develop a powerful cover letter that speaks to your experience and desire for a new position.
• Strengthen your networking both online and in person.
• Ask for help.
• Consider volunteering in the new industry you’re looking to explore.
• Gather recommendations from previous mentors, managers, and employers.
• Create your BRAG book, including success stories of real performance, recommendations, notes, etc.
• Research which companies are growing in your desired geographic territory.
• Start building relationships with those in your newly desired industry.

Hopefully this list helps get the process started. In most cases; we don’t suggest leaving one position before securing another. Often, putting in a little extra effort after the day job ends is the best strategy for transitioning into something new. Don’t let your results suffer by being distracted while you’re expected to produce at your current job.

What have we missed? What else should one consider when making an industry change in their sales career? We’re looking to foster “best practices” not only in our blog content but also in the comment section provided by you.

David

Ever think about what makes a good salesman? Not necessarily the “traditional” salesman selling homes or farm equipment, I’m talking about the person who is responsible for making things happen. You could be a CPA at your firm but you’re still responsible for helping generate revenue. Even the IT guys in back are going to have to sell their process, concept, or need for software at some point.

Think about your current situation. Are you responsible for selling ideas, a product or service? I know this: if you ever find yourself in job transition you better figure out how to sell yourself. Better yet, I’d highly suggest you become good at storytelling and painting the picture. Let me explain.

Rule #1: If you want people to be interested in you, be interesting and interested.
Seth Godin often refers to this concept as being remarkable. You know what makes him remarkable? It’s his ability to be a master storyteller. He’s also great at painting the picture so that just about everyone can understand exactly the point he is trying to make. Ever notice that the brightest minds do nothing more than state the obvious? What makes them great, different, and remarkable is their ability to be effective at storytelling and painting the picture.

It can’t be just about you all the time. Actually caring about other people’s success in a sincere manner is part of the process, or at least should be. Notice how the people around you light up when you take a genuine interest in them, what they do, and what excites them. This does not mean you have to start faking your encounters. The goal is to surround yourself with people that actually are fun to be with and enjoy your company.

Rule #2: We have different backgrounds, experiences, and education so find common ground that relates to the masses.
Picture being a financial advisor and learning how to be effective selling big ticket items with fees in excess of $30K to your client. It requires a little more than, “Want to buy my mutual fund?” as a close. What you’ll learn over time is that you need to get good at painting the picture if you’re going to have any success in the highly competitive industry.

When it’s time to talk about retirement, the focus won’t be on having $10K per month income, earning 6% with an expected depreciation of capital of 2% per year. That wouldn’t excite anyone, let alone paint the picture in a way that made any sense. Instead, the focus would be about helping them reach their goals. Letting them visualize what it looks like at retirement – not being concerned about day to day finances – would be your mission. Done successfully, you’d make the sale.

Picture telling your prospect this: You plan the cruise of a lifetime and invite the entire family because money is not an issue. Instead of sitting at home receiving postcards from your friends, you’re the one living the dream. Now it’s graduation day for your sweetest granddaughter and thanks to you, she was able to graduate at the top of her class because you helped contribute to her college fund.

You made it easy for them to visualize what successful planning would create for them.
The world is changing as we know it. Budgets have been shrinking and competition is extremely fierce. The ability to sell or be a master storyteller is becoming more and more important. Helping your clients experience the positive feelings from the services you provide before they choose to make the purchase will go a long way towards your success as a sales professional.

Looking at your current sales techniques, how do you stack up? Are you a modern Vincent Van Gogh or Bob Ross, or do you struggle with drawing stick figures? Share a story that demonstrates your abilities of storytelling and painting the picture.

David

Based on recent reports, it appears our economy is starting to recover. That means companies are revving up their recruiting engines again.

If your company is in growth mode, this is the ideal time to reassess your recruitment program. If your organization has never created a formal one, this post will provide helpful information. Even if you’ve been satisfied with your recruitment program, it’s never a bad idea to make slight changes to further enhance results.

Whether you’re recruiting for sales, finance, or any other discipline, creating a recruitment plan is crucial for long term hiring success. Too often we find companies have not spent time creating a sustainable recruiting program that yields consistent results.

More recently, with the explosive growth of digital communication, companies are turning their efforts to Internet search to find talent. If your company is looking to revamp its recruiting program, we suggest taking the time to understand online networking as it relates to recruitment.

Here are some recruitment points to consider:

Define and document roles and responsibilities prior to sourcing, interviewing, and hiring.

By following this process, you narrow your search criteria to those candidates who have the talents to accomplish your objectives. Another benefit to following this process is that you will not hire based on “gut,” but rather on something more objective, like data.

Search your database.

Every company should be using some sort of applicant tracking system. By entering contact information for every candidate that submits a resume, your database will not take long to develop. In addition to entering contact information, make sure you’re adding keywords for easier retrieval later on. It’s likely that you’ll be doing a similar search down the road. Being able to quickly pull potential candidates for open positions will go a long way to creating a timely response rate, consequently speeding up your per-hire timeframe.

Use your network.

You’ve spent years building strong relationships; this is the time to leverage that work. Turning to those in your network that work with, spend time with, or can put you in touch with your ideal candidate will be extremely important. Often times in recruiting, the highest ROI comes from candidates generated from your extensive network.

Learn how to effectively use social networking for recruitment.

LinkedIn has been around for several years, but sites like Twitter and Facebook are relatively new for recruiting. Recruiters and companies are working feverishly to capture the buzz. One of the main reasons people are turning to the Internet for candidate search is because that’s where more and more people are “hanging out.”

Developing a large network, knowing how to use search to locate specific candidates, and knowing where your target prospect spends most of his or her time will give you the leg up on your competition. Recruiters and companies that engage with others – more than just broadcasting their message and open positions – typically produce better results.

Reward your employees for recruiting others.

You’re only as good as your people; we’ve all heard this before. Top companies do the best at fostering a positive culture. In turn, employees from top organizations tend to recruit other top level professionals by sharing their positive experiences. Go a step further and create a rewards program for employees to encourage deeper participation.

There are many factors that ultimately determine which strategies will be the most beneficial, such as level of position, industry, economic climate, etc.

What are some tips you can share that have been helpful in your recruitment program?

Dave and Brian

P.S.  We’re doing a webinar on the topic of recruiting May 5 and June 2.  Contact us via any of the links at the right for more information.

One of the great challenges all sales professionals face is finding prospects interested in their products or services. For years, most prospecting occurred by the traditional cold calling, email campaigns, newsletters, and purchasing of industry contact lists. Those activities are still being done today with great efficiency and success. But a relatively new form of prospecting is becoming mainstream and more common.

The Internet has changed, pertinent data is more accessible, and sales professionals are learning how to prospect using social media. In simple terms, we’ve seen a major shift in how media is being distributed through social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable publishing platforms. This phenomenon has caused millions around the world to join social networking sites to share thoughts, content, ideas, and data. “Search” is the new buzz word.

So how does one incorporate a social media strategy for prospecting?
1) Have a plan – If there is a strategy to be implemented, there needs to be a plan. Know what you are trying to accomplish, create a SMART plan (as discussed in this posting and this one) and be prepared to track your results.

2) Understand how to use ‘search’ – All the various platforms you’ll most likely spend time on have search capability. Figure out which network provides the most value to you: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, blogs, forums, and more! Search for keywords, bios, conversations, company promotions, etc.

3) Learn how to network online and in person – If you’re hoping to expand your network, develop synergistic partnerships, and strengthen past relationships you need to join the conversations. These conversations are usually happening online and after hours.

4) Research where your target audience is hanging out – Depending on your product or service, where your target prospect spends time will vary. Through social networking, you can find out all the information you need to determine where you should invest networking time.

5) Demonstrate your expertise and value – Social networks allow each of us to brand ourselves, building a reputation online. How you use the tools to communicate will go a long way in determining how others view you. Provide value to many and you’ll notice how others reciprocate.

Important in all of this is effectively tracking the data, analyzing what you have found, and being savvy enough to implement a strategy. This means using a system like ACT!, Salesforce.com, or some other CRM solution that provides all these features.

So, what have we missed? What are some other social media strategies for prospecting that you think we should add?

Dave