Within the business community, there is a renewed focus on prospecting and driving new business. And business owners as well as sales professionals are realizing this can no longer solely be done within an existing customer base. The conclusion – companies and their sales staffs must prospect (yes, old-fashioned prospecting) in order to find and sell new customers – has been reached by leaders of most industries across the U.S.

For many, it has been far too long since “true prospecting” has taken place. So, where are the best fishing holes to find qualified leads for your products and services?

Here is an idea: all over the place! (I know…I know…)

Here are some more specific ideas:

• Look at associations and their memberships based on your targeted verticals. If you target project engineers at automotive manufacturers, go to the Society of Automotive Engineers.
• Use LinkedIn to uncover contacts at targeted prospects. If you are targeting Farmers Insurance, look up relative contacts at Farmers Insurance on LinkedIn / People / Search.
• Ask your customer base who they may know. Orthopedic surgeons know other orthopedic surgeons, so ask your existing customers who are physicians about other doctors they know.
• Review your targeted industries’ trade magazines, publications and journals. For the boat and yacht industries, for example, look for mechanical or body shops you can sell to.
• Review your targeted markets’ newspapers and other publications to identify new businesses that have opened to which you can sell your services.
• Buy prospect leads. Try a Google search of “buy sales leads,” but know these are not going to be 100% accurate. Typically we will realize a 70% accuracy rate. These can usually be purchased based on the size of the company, location, and industry code, and you can usually purchase only specific contacts within the prospect leads.
• Network with other sales professionals who may have the same or similar targeted prospects. These folks may know of projects or needs that perhaps you can help with. Someone who sells meat to a grocery store may know of a new grocery store opening that will need all new refrigeration equipment, for example.

The best prospectors (hunters) are always on the lookout for leads or ways to generate leads. This is a commitment, a way of thinking and a habit that you must have, develop and maintain.

Good luck and let us build America’s economy!

Dan

In a recent post, we uncovered some key points with regard to differentiating yourself depending not only on who you are selling to (purchasing agents or financial decisions makers) but also what you sell (commoditized products and services or non-commoditized products/services).

I’d like to dig a little deeper into this differentiation concept.

Differentiating commoditized products/services

Let’s start with the toughest first. Assume you are selling a commoditized product/service. For the purposes of this post let’s keep it simple and say commoditized products/services are those that can be purchased anywhere, in great abundance and with great ease. Groceries, automobiles, computers and supplies are all examples of such products. Auto services, churches and counselors are examples of services that are oftentimes commoditized.

So if you sell these products/services how do you differentiate yourself? Let’s start with what you should not do (that almost all sales people and companies do): You should not say you differentiate yourself based on service.

Why not? Find me an example of a product or service company that says they offer crappy service. Then I’ll retract my statement!

Of course everyone says they have great service. But, of course, they don’t. So this is not an effective differentiator (unless of course you can define what “service” means).

So how do you differentiate terms like service, convenience, selection or price?

• If service is your thing then you need to define what that means to the customer and why you are better — “Our technicians answer calls immediately, no call backs or waiting necessary.”

• If convenience is your differentiator, then you need to define what that means and why you are better — “We are the rare dental office that acknowledges people have jobs and need to work during the day, so we are open evenings and weekends.”

• If selection is your advantage, then define this as well — “We believe having computers, without all the peripherals that should accompany such purchases and cause you to shop in multiple stores, is not the best use of your time, so we are your one-stop-shop for all things technology.”

The key is defining the advantage that enables you to differentiate yourself.

Differentiation through sales people

If you have sales people (or are a sales person), it is easier to differentiate in that you have one-on-one customer interaction, not just messaging.

Think distributor sales reps. These sales reps oftentimes sell commodities. In these cases, the sales reps need to add value to the sales process (especially if they charge more for their products/services).

• “We not only can provide you with the products you need, we also can help show you how to use them so that you can increase your efficiencies and save time and money.”
• “It’s not the tool, it’s how you use it. That’s why you want to buy through us. Yes, we have the tools, but we also show you how to maximize their use with your applications.”

See what I did here? I defined what the differentiator was and what it meant to the buyer. While this seems simple, pay attention over the next week as you shop online or purchase goods/services in person and actually take note of how many companies, advertisers, and sales people fail to do this consistently. I think you will be amazed.

Selling in a non-commoditized environment

If you are selling in a non-commoditized environment (niche markets with niche products/services), differentiation is more easily accomplished. You simply need to effectively state how your products/services benefit the end user.

Note I did not say what features you had that others don’t. Nor did I say what advantages you had that others don’t. I said benefit, which is a very important distinction.

A feature is the thing (or things) your product or service does, such as HDMI output on your laptop computer.

An advantage is why that feature is important, such as allowing you to connect to external HD displays.

The benefit is how the buyer’s life is improved by the product / service, such as flexible output options or the clarity of display for a better viewing experience.

The old adage, “it’s not what you say it’s how you say it,” applies here. I’m not speaking of tone or intonation. I’m talking about the language you use to present your company, your product/service and yourself. That – not your product – is what enables you to differentiate yourself from the competition.

Brian

For new sales representatives, there are lots of things that can cause heartburn:

Did I conduct a thorough enough analysis with that prospect? Did I present the correct solution? Did I close effectively? Will I meet my quota this year?

But one of the more “unusual” anxiety-inducing tasks I have seen among rookie reps is the first business lunch he or she has to conduct. Veteran business and sales professionals, of course, have been through this drill so many times they may not even remember the trepidation they felt in the hours leading up to – and certainly when sitting across the table for the first time at – a business lunch.

Relax. It’s actually quite simple, as long as you have some basic social skills, which you do, or you wouldn’t be in sales in the first place.

Food for Thought

Ask for the “date.” In some cases you’ll do this well in advance. In other cases, it will be a natural progression to a morning business meeting. Either way, asking if the prospect would like to join you for lunch should be done with confidence and poise. If a meeting is wrapping up and the lunch hour is approaching, for example, you might say, “Would you have time to grab a bite to eat?” In advance, you might say, “Once we wrap things up at our meeting, if time and your schedule allow, how about if we go to lunch?” It’s that simple. Nothing formal required. The prospect will either take you up on the offer or not. If not, a nice transition statement is something along the lines of, “OK, maybe next time.”

Pick your prospect up at their office or place of business. This obviously applies to cases where the lunch appointment is not tied to a meeting. Picking the prospect up helps provide extra time to break the ice, and makes the next step that much more natural.

Ask for their preference of location. As you’re walking out of the prospect’s office – or as you begin to exit the parking lot – ask something like, “OK, what’s your pleasure?” or “Just tell me which way I should go.” Asking in this way helps ensure that you honor the prospect’s choice, which goes a long way toward putting him or her at ease and helping you look gracious.

Don’t start into business immediately, unless the prospect does. Typically, you’ll have a few minutes between when you sit down and when the waiter or waitress comes to take your order. Instead of immediately starting to talk business, take the opportunity to build or strengthen your relationship by being “human.” Nobody – no body – is all business. Everyone has interests outside of the office, such as family, hobbies, sports, etc. Take a while to inquire about those. (“So, Bob, what do you do to stay busy when you’re not at work?”) These discussions can pay big dividends later on.

Order something that’s easy – and clean – to eat. This isn’t the time to order a slab of ribs dripping with barbecue sauce. It’s not the time to try something experimental that you’re not sure if you’ll like. Stick with something like salad or a chicken breast that you can eat with plenty of natural pauses for talking, and that you can eat without having it end up all over your hands, shirt or lap.

Respect your prospect’s right to eat. Watch for the right moments to end your statements or to ask them questions. Don’t ask a question just as they’re taking a big bite of food and need to chew. And don’t conduct such an inquisition that they don’t have an opportunity to eat at all. Pace yourself, and make sure they’re working through their meal at the same speed with which you’re working through yours. This may take some practice, but in time you’ll find that it makes the conversation flow more smoothly and that they’ll feel more comfortable.

Ease into business talk naturally. This can be done by resuming a topic that you had previously been discussing, or by opening a dialogue as you might if the meeting was at the conference room in their office. (“So, Sue, can you take a minute to describe what you’re currently doing to handle your X business process?”) From here, the rest of the discussion can flow as it would at an office location.

Pick up the Check. When the waitress or waiter brings the bill, be confident and natural as you reach over and pick it up. Usually, a prospect will anticipate this and not even ask questions or offer to pay. If he or she does, however, you can simply say, “It’s my pleasure to pick this up, Joe,” or even, “I’ve got it.” If they do push further, you might graciously say, “How about if you pay next time?”

Tip prudently. Keep in mind that you’re sending nonverbal messages with your choice of tip. If you don’t leave one at all, or leave one that is unnecessarily small, you may appear to be cheap, and could potentially be communicating to your prospect that you anticipate them to place an inordinate emphasis on price, as well. If you over-tip, it may appear that you or your company have too much margin, and don’t place the same value on a dollar that they do. For decent service, 18-20% is customary and appropriate. If you’re not adept at calculating the percentage as you continue to engage in conversation, practice doing so.

Drop the prospect off and be sure to set next steps. Just as with any sales appointment, you want to be sure to close for next steps. As for the dropoff, usually it’s most appropriate to leave your contact in the parking lot of their office or facility. Be sure to shake hands and – again – be sure to close for the next step.

Simple enough? Probably the best thing to keep in mind is that your prospect is human, too. Everyone eats, and most people enjoy social interaction. So concentrate on building the relationship even as you’re building business.

Mike

(We love a great dialogue. What’s the funniest thing that’s ever happened to you at a business lunch? Share your story!)

Where do I begin?

Heck, we all make mistakes. In fact, many of us can admit we make mistakes every day. I mean, how can we ever become better if we are already perfect? Mistakes allow us to learn, grow and develop. I would have to say that my biggest sales mistakes were as follows.

Not realizing it is up to me.

Whether my shortcomings are a low close rate, not gathering referrals, deficient gross margins, lack of a business plan, not enough leads … I must find ways to improve. Whether it is me that develops a solution or I find someone who can provide one, it is up to me to get it done. To the extent we allow ourselves to blame others for our shortcomings, we paralyze our ability to improve.

Not realizing it is about the customer.

My responsibility as a sales professional is to understand my customers’ needs and wants, and then to present solutions to satisfy those needs and wants. To truly focus on the customer, I must ask good questions, listen and hear the responses, clarify and confirm what I hear and present my solutions in a way that aligns with their needs and wants. Presenting what I have hoping I match a need or want and then hoping to successfully close the sale, is not focused on the customer’s needs and wants. It is focused on my own. This is heard and even felt by astute customers, and it puts you at risk of losing sales.

Not realizing it is about analyzing and changing.

I have an opportunity every day to find out what will work and what will not. I lose valuable time and money if I want better results but continue to do the same things the same way. I must analyze what is working and why, and what is not working and why, so that I can identify potential opportunities to change and improve results. I must set specific action items and have a plan to change. Change does not happen overnight. It takes time for me to build new habits.

Sales can be much simpler than most of us make it. Simply make it about the customer, assume accountability for what it is you want, and analyze and change along the way so that you can reach even greater success.

One man’s advice.

Dan

Many years ago, sitting in a sales meeting with about 40 other sales reps reporting numbers to the sales manager team, the Regional VP of Sales says to a rep, “So tell us, what exactly are you doing differently than everyone else in this room, and the country for that matter, that allows you to sell more to more people with higher setup than any other sales people?”

The rep, obviously trying to think of an awesome, highly complex and intriguing answer stumbles, sputters and delays and ends up replying, “I don’t know. All I do is call on a lot of companies, ask a lot of questions and provide solutions to the problems I hear.”

• Call on a lot of companies
• Ask a lot of questions
• Provide solutions to the problems

Not overly complex or mystifying is it? So why are sales of books, motivational speakers, tapes, classes, e-learning, etc., a multi-billion dollar a year business when it seems like this is pretty simple? Because we are human beings and we have an incredible ability to make the simple complex. Some of us do it because of ego, others for money. But most of us do it because it “seems” like it really can’t be that simple or because we don’t want to work that hard.

Call on a lot of companies

This post is about the importance of the analysis. However, I must point out that irrespective of how awesome your analysis skills are, unless you are conducting a lot of them, those skills are useless. So – call on a lot of companies first! What’s a lot? The general rule is you are either on appointments or making appointments during business hours. Again, pretty simple.

Ask a lot of questions

Open ended questions – There are many different probing models and all of them generally work. The key is, no matter which model you’re using, always start with and ask a lot of open-ended questions. Questions that allow the prospect to respond freely and completely. Not directive questions which generally lead to yes/no answers that are very short and minimally illustrative. Directive questions don’t provide answers that help you to find pain.

Directive questions – These questions do have their place, however. They help to clarify and confirm information you just obtained from the prospect. This ensures you have alignment and are proceeding with the same buying process as your prospect.

Reflective questions – These allow you to take the prospect “back in time” to a place where he experienced the kind of pain that your solution addresses. This is important because human nature is such that our recollection of bad/painful occurrences diminishes over time. We need to return the prospect to the feeling they had when they experienced the problem. It is only in this way they can ultimately be attracted to our solution.

Closing questions – And finally, these help you determine if you’ve probed enough on certain pain points that the prospect wants a solution AND that if you provided such a solution the prospect would be inclined to purchase that solution from you.

Now, of course you’d better be able to provide a solution to the problem(s), or you shouldn’t be probing there.

Provide Solutions

This is your solutions presentation, and as such you need to have a solution to their problem(s). There are models for this as well, but that’s for another post!

• Call on a lot of companies
• Ask a lot of questions
• Provide solutions to the problems

How wise that rep was, and how silly he felt trying to make it more complicated than it needed to be.

How about you? Are you making it more complicated than it needs to be? How much time, money, and resources have you dedicated consuming material that overly complicates this secret to success?

For more information on analysis skills, check out the analysis offering provided by our sister company, SalesBasix.

Brian

Professional trust and rapport is not about the fish on the wall or the pictures of the family on the desk. I know that’s what everyone has learned, but it’s wrong.

Now, having said that, it’s not wrong to take note of your surroundings, information and data that you can use in your conversations with prospects. It’s just wrong to rely on this as a way to build rapport. Real rapport. A real connection. Alignment. You can undoubtedly gain an understanding of a person based on his surroundings (and you should) but that is kindergarten sales stuff; we should all do that. What I’m talking about is the type of rapport that allows you to establish a connection with your prospect, an understanding of him, his company, his needs, his world, so that you can properly navigate the sales process.

So, what does this mean and how do you accomplish it?

In order to understand this we need to understand the underpinnings of why people buy. People buy for two reasons: to increase pleasure or decrease pain.

We also need to understand how people buy. Everyone has some type of buying process. This is true whether we’re talking about an individual or a corporation. It’s our responsibility as sales professionals to adapt our sales process to their buying process. Not the other way around.

Ok, so what the heck does this have to do with the art of building rapport? Everything!

I suggest that the art of building rapport consists of doing the following:

• Uncovering all the decision makers involved in the buying process. There is rarely ever one decision maker. Generally (even in a B2C sales environment) there are multiple people involved, whether you know it or not. Not knowing is the biggest reason for stalls and no’s.
• Uncovering and navigating the decision making process. As stated earlier, everyone has a process for buying. It’s crucial for the sales professional to understand and successfully navigate the buying process. This allows for alignment and ensures you and the prospect are progressing down the same buying continuum and will end up in the same place!
• Uncovering, understanding and selling to the buying criteria. Individuals and companies have criteria that must be met to buy. Yes, even impulse buyers. The larger the corporation, the more decision makers are involved, and hence more criteria. All decision maker criteria must be uncovered and understood. Some buyers are strictly numbers-oriented so you need to present the data, especially ROI. Some buyers are functional so you need to present how your product or service works and improves their lives. Some are technical so you need to present how the product or service works and integrates into their other systems and workflow. Bottom line – there are many buyers and their criteria vary, typically by role. You need to uncover and understand it all.

Therefore, the fish is fine, as are the awards and pictures, but in order to build substantive rapport you need to know the buyers, their processes and their individual, and collective, criteria for buying.

For more information on how to build professional trust and rapport visit our sister company and take the module on building trust and rapport.

So, what did I leave out? What are other critical components to the art (and science) of building rapport?

Brian

Mentoring, or pairing an inexperienced person with an experienced person to teach and guide, has been around forever. We see it in school and work environments. Some programs are formal; others less so. It’s written about frequently in business periodicals and blogs like this one.

How do you go about selecting a sales mentor? This is perhaps one of the most critical decisions a young sales person can make. I would break it down into six steps.

Step 1:

Determine what exactly you wish to gain from having a sales mentor.If you have not been a mentee before, it would be wise to ask other mentees what they’ve learned from their relationships. What worked well and what did not? What exactly does the relationship look and feel like? What does the mentee wished he knew before beginning the relationship? How did he benefit and how did he make it worthwhile for the mentor? How did he find, approach and begin the relationship with the mentor?

Step 2:

Once you have a feel for what this relationship will look like, you need to determine if this is really something you can commit to. The worst thing that could happen is for you, the mentee, to ask for advice and counsel from an experienced mentor but be unwilling, uncommitted or unable to fulfill your end of the agreement and implement the strategy and advice given to you.

Step 3:

Network (a.k.a., interview), and I don’t just mean online. Get out there and spend time with the people who are “doing” what you want to be “doing” or “are” who you want to be like. Spend time in the circles you want to be in. Understand the people. Ask a lot of questions. Seek to learn and understand, not pontificate about what you think. See who you connect with and who connects with you. Profile them and ask them where you can find more like them, then go to those places and repeat the process.

Step 4:

Go back to the mentees you interviewed in Step 1and ask them if they would introduce you to their mentors so you can understand why they chose to be a mentor, how they benefit from the relationship, what components are important in the mentor/mentee relationship, how they suggest you approach a potential mentor and how to enter into the relationship. And don’t forget to ask for referrals!

Step 5:

Formulate your approach prior to “pitching” your potential mentors – who you are, why you are seeking a mentor, your process for search and approach of your potential mentor, how you see the potential relationship working, questions you wish to ask so you understand what the potential mentor would like to get from the relationship, expectations, process, and a plan (how often you’d like to meet, when, what would be discussed initially, etc).

Step 6:

If there is alignment between you and your potential mentor, then close on next steps to growing the relationship.

Look familiar? This seems a lot like a typical 6-step sales process.

How about you? How have you sought a mentor? Are you a mentor? If so, how do you see this working? What is missing? Are you a mentee? How did you go through this process (or a similar one) to find your mentor?

Brian

This question is one that salespeople should be asking themselves during the course of every sales opportunity. Salespeople are generally optimists and so they tend to think that every deal will close. Combine this with man’s natural tendency toward self-deception and rationalization, and this becomes a dangerous recipe for spending too much time with the wrong people, resulting in wasted time and money.

The equally dangerous early dismissal of a prospect is one that I see in many sales organizations, especially those that have implemented a certain training philosophy that puts a tad too much bravado in their pitch about early qualification, avoiding wasted time, qualifying before you engage and driving objections early in the sales process. This tact can often lead to dumping sales out of your funnel much too early in the process and risking good solid potential sales.

So, where is the happy medium and how do you find it? This is where sales becomes more of an art than a science!

Some questions to ask yourself:

• Have you identified, and are you working with, all the decision makers?
• Do you fully understand the decision-making process and have you navigated it precisely?
• Have you obtained each decision maker’s buying criteria? Are you sure?
• Are all the high impact needs identified by decision maker?
• Do you have the solutions to those needs and have you presented them well?
• Did you provide case studies, testimonials and letters of reference?
• Have you asked for the business multiple times?
• Have you adequately overcome all of their objections?

In summary, have you followed each step in the sales process perfectly and is there no doubt that your solution is better?

If you have not done this, but can regroup and do so, then I say you stick with them until you do complete the process. If you have done this but they continue to stall (assuming you closed them multiple times), then I say walk.

Not everyone is going to buy from you. Therefore, if you have done your part but they cannot commit, then you have done everything you can and should cut bait, walk away and learn from the process.

Do you think I’ve made this too simple? Is there more of a scientific method? Is it more gut? What say you?

Brian

The title of this blog is a bit tongue-in-cheek, because I am suggesting how one should close, but how I rarely see it done.

We’ll begin with a principle: “The close occurs throughout the sales process, not just at the end.”

This means that you trial close throughout by, among other things:

• Ensuring you are meeting with the proper decision makers;
• Gaining commitment on your agenda for the meeting and stating that you will eventually ask for the business;
• Seeking commitment, during the company presentation, on the fact that you are the best company/solution, etc. for them to be working with;
• Uncovering situations and impacts, then soliciting agreement they would buy to resolve or eliminate;
• Presenting solutions (products and services), and soliciting agreement they would buy to have access to them.

But there’s more!

At the end of your sales process, you must justify their purchase. Keep in mind the above closes have caused your customer to lean in the direction of purchasing, but you have not yet presented price, implementation and expectations for getting started. Therefore, you must properly prepare to present these in a way that helps the customer “sign the order.” You do this by answering questions, overcoming objections, etc.

Some tips for the final close

Document and recap the following:

• Situations and impacts you uncovered, being sure to discuss again how your products and services will resolve or eliminate problems;
• Benefits received when purchasing your product and service, in a way that quantifies either return on investment or cost versus reward, showing that purchasing your product saves time, money, etc.;
• Customer case studies and testimonials that relate to your presented solutions;
• Competitive advantage worksheet, helping distinguish between current and proposed future benefits.

Also, always be sure to practice and be prepared to handle objections when executing your final close.

My questions, then, are:

• What do you do to trial close and set the stage for the final close (see first set of bullets above)?
• What do you do to ensure your final close gets the business?
• What changes will you make after reading this blog?
• What would a 10% increase in your close rate do to your success?

Dan

If you’re in management long enough, you’ll run into a situation in which your top performer struggles or hits a rut. This can be disconcerting for both you and the rep! The key is to remain calm and to show confidence that you’ll both get through this, because you will.

And the opportunity here goes well beyond simply righting the ship to resume closing deals.

All performers – whether in sales, professional sports or any other type of “production” role – go through this occasionally. Expect it and react properly to it and both you and your performer will emerge from it not only relatively unscathed, but stronger for the long run.

Years ago, my sales manager and mentor Mike would help me through dry spells by taking me out of the field to a place where we could just sit and chat. As funny as it sounds, it was usually a fast food restaurant like Hardy’s. In fact, I think it was always the same Hardy’s. I’m not sure if this was because Mike liked curly fries or something else on the menu. I’ll have to ask him.

But it wasn’t a bar to drown our sorrows. The bar was reserved for celebrations. That’s another key point, which I’ll save it for another post!

The Method

Why did Mike do this? He did it to get me out of my own way and into a neutral, safe and innocuous environment. Away from the office, away from customers, prospects and peers, away from all the places that had anything to do with the business (or my performance) so that we could just talk. For hours. About me. Not about my territory, not my numbers, not my quota. Just about me.

We’d talk about what was going on in my head, my home and my world outside of work. We’d just talk. And laugh. And joke. And eat curly fries. These were the best times of my career.

It’s funny how when I look back at the millions of dollars generated, prospects converted, clients helped and deals closed, I think so fondly of the time spent sitting in a booth at Hardy’s eating curly fries with Mike.

Why does this dominate my memory? Because – if I can use a golf analogy – Mike helped me “loosen my grip.”

When a top performer struggles, it’s in his head, not his ability. So, you need to get into his head to find out what’s askew. The last thing you need to do is spend countless hours reviewing CRM notes, hashing through performance metrics, videotaping role-plays, dominating field rides or sending him back to training.

Yes, of course, we all tend to take short cuts at times, which can lead to performance issues. And yes, of course, we need to review CRM notes, analyze performance metrics, do role-plays and ride in the field with reps. These things certainly need to be addressed. But these things should be addressed all the time, not just when performance issues arise. If you do this, you draw further attention to the slump, your performer will “grip it” more tightly and shank even more golf balls (or sales) into the parking lot than before! The rut will be longer, deeper and more intense. The rep may not ever come out of it and you may be a contributing factor.

Putting it to Work

So stop.

Take a breath. Smile. Be confident. Take your top performer out for some curly fries and find out what’s going on in his head. Let him talk. For your part, just listen, have fun and above all else, care.

Your rep will get through it. You will get through it. And the connections you make by getting through it together will bring smiles to both of your faces for years to come.

The performance ruts are short term. The memories of hours spent talking will endure, because they can mean so much.

Thanks Mike!

Brian