|
|
 |
|
|
Understanding the Sales Force
|
|
 RSS Feed
Tonight, Jon Lester, of the Boston Red Sox, pitched a no-hitter. It was the first no-hitter by a Red Sox left-handed pitcher in more than 30 years. It was the second no-hitter by a young, promising Red Sox pitcher in eight months. I attempted to find the probability of pitching a no-hitter but all I could find was a scientifc formula that one would have to understand in order to get the answer. So I took another route, estimating that there are approximately 3820 games played per season and, maybe 1 or 2 no-hitters per year. So that would make the odds of hurling one about 1 in 1900 or a mere .05% chance. So, I wondered, what would the sales equivalent of a no-hitter be? a. Landing the Biggest Account of Your Life?
b. Closing the Biggest Sale of Your Life?
c. Beating out the Biggest Competition?
d. Getting the Business Everyone Said You Couldn't Get?
e. Having your first million dollar income year?
f. Winning the sales contest?
g. Being named top salesperson out of hundreds or thousands?
h. Closing 43 in a row?
i. Bringing in your first sale?
j. Landing the $50 million contract after a 2 year sale cycle?
k. other Leave your comment below and let us know whether it's one of the examples above or you had another experience that was the thrill of a lifeteime. (c) Copyright 2008 Dave Kurlan
Article has 4 comments. Click To Read/Write Comments
First, make sure you read this post from several days ago. Rick Roberge had this great post today. I loved it because, as my comment said, I thought it was comical, I knew the sales manager and his style, I could picture the whole thing so vividly, and the advice was fantastic! (c) Copyright 2008 Dave Kurlan
Article has 0 comments. Click To Read/Write Comments
The ultimate accomplishment for your salespeople is to have a base of clients and customers that are so happy that they generate enough introductions to grow revenue without having to look for new business. "Look" includes, but is not limited, to cold calling, following up on leads and referrals (no introduction), networking events, leads groups, social network sites, blogging, newsletters, speaking, golfing and more.
Some salespeople excel at this, while others must make cold calls throughout their career. Seth Godin wrote a helpful article that explains why some achieve word of mouth and some don't. Seth's article explains many of the reasons why your customers may never talk up your company, products or services.
But what if some of your salespeople are good at this and some aren't? What's the difference? In my experience, it's simply a case of showing how much you care, going the extra mile, under promising and over delivering, and setting proper expectations. I think it's important for your salespeople to let their clients and customers know early on, that one of your goals is to help them so much that they feel compelled to deliver three new clients just like them. This forces your salespeople to be more aware of that goal moving forward, providing them with a better opportunity to actually get those introductions. While that won't work with everyone they sell to, it sure beats the alternative of never getting introductions.
(c) Copyright 2008 Dave Kurlan
Article has 0 comments. Click To Read/Write Comments
A salesperson sent me the thread of email conversations that took place between him and his prospect during the last couple of days. I've included it here with four exceptions; I changed the names, put the messages in order so you won't have to read from the bottom up, bolded the important pieces of information so you'll see them the first time through and put my comments in red:
Salesperson's follow up email:
Anything new develop on your decision making process? I'm trying to get you to Chicago, but I'm not sure what it will take.
Prospect's response:
Right now we are holding off on any decision. However, the issue is not fully closed. [salesperson probably keyed in on "issue not fully closed" instead of "holding off"] Our current supplier is in the process of implementing a new system that on paper should take care of most of our issues which prompted our RFP. At the time we did not know this new system was planned. We now have a wait and see mentality and may revisit our RFP info if this system does not meet our needs in a timely fashion. Thank you for your patience and I will let you know if and when something breaks. Feel free to contact me should you have any questions.
Salesperson's reply:
In the mean time, how much time, money and aggravation is this costing you and your company? What happens if the solution on paper doesn't work? You are losing more time, more money and the frustration level will skyrocket for everyone including your donors..I recall you mentioning they did not have the floor space, or the capacity to handle your workload, that they were a "mom and pop" shop and could not handle the inventory and the turn times. What has changed other than the fact they are in the process of implementing a new system in the last few weeks? [up until this point, this was a great email although I would have preferred for a conversation like this to take place by phone]
Is there anyway we can show you our technology in a demonstration? Our system is already in place and we use it daily so there is no learning curve involved. I just don't want you to miss the opportunity to look like a hero to your board. I can't tell you what to do, but I sure in the heck would not wait to see if their system is the answer. I would consider other demonstrations that way you can compare apples to apples. [exactly what to say if you want to be viewed as a commodity] You have nothing to lose but an hour of your time to see how well our fulfillment system will work for you. What do you think? [salesperson reverted to the way he used to sell - "can we give you a demo?"]
Prospect's response:
We would be happy to schedule an hour to see a presentation. If you want to come to DC and present to us you are welcome to do so. Just know that we are making no commitments at this time.
Salesperson:
Perfect, that is all we can ask for at this time. So in the next 2-3 weeks can you give me 2 or 3 different dates and times that would work for you? We would prefer early afternoon..this would allow us to fly in and out in the same day, but if it's not convenient for you, then we will stay over for a night. [nice job looking desparate]
Prospect:
I have the following openings: Wed 5/21, Thurs 5/22, Wed 5/28, Thurs 5/29. Any time late morning or early afternoon is fine. Let me know as soon as you can so those dates don't close up.
Now the salesperson writes to me and says: Hey Dave, Now that I finally got them to give me the opportunity to demo, and we have a confirmed appointment, is there anything else I should really be prepared to do once I get in there? I don't want to blow it or lose this opp. I know I'm going to go back to 2nd base and review all compelling reasons to buy and to buy from me. They've had a long standing relationship with the mom & pop shop as you can see [above], so any additional tips you can give me, would be great. I know I have to walk them through the decision making process, and timeline and if I propose a solution that fits their need and budget, I'm going to have to rehearse with them the "how are you going to tell mom and pop that you are leaving scenario"? I'm reviewing my notes and studying like crazy the Baseline selling binder. all the while still making other calls! I want this one bad! Please note that I am taking 2 other subject matter experts with me to make this spectacular!
Here is what I sent the salesperson:
Don't be upset with me for saying this but I think you have a case of "happy ears". Sounds like you had gotten to 3rd Base - at some point - and now you're back at 1st, but getting ready to run home....
They're happy for you to come to them;
They're not making any commitments;
They're in wait and see mode;
She never answered any of the questions you posed in yesterday's email;
She only said yes to a demo.
So, my questions:
Why are you doing a demo if they aren't making any commitments?
Why are you bringing the resources of two more people given the scenario?
Why do you think there is anything to "blow" given that you don't have anything yet?
What do you hope to accomplish?
What's the best possible outcome?
What's the worst possible outcome?
It seems to me that you caused this problem yourself when you asked if there was any way you could demonstrate the technology.
Here's what I would write back to them:
Hi Mary,
I was planning to bring along two additional experts to show our capabilities. When I was asked when you would be making a decision I told them you couldn't commit to anything now. They asked, "even if it solved your problem, even if it blew you away, even if it saved you time and money, even if it was perfect?" Based on what you told me, I said no. I was told it wouldn't be wise for me to travel to DC under those conditions. Did I understand you correctly or did I miss something?
Bob
Now, some questions for my readers: 1) do you get wrapped up like this salesperson did or can you clearly see these problems when they are presented? 2) can you get your salespeople to stop and regroup? 3) can you present them with the proper action so they have a chance to avoid a trap like this? 4) can you make sure they get a lesson learned from their adventures? 5) can you make the lesson profound enough so that they don't repeat it?
(c) Copyright 2008 Dave Kurlan
Article has 2 comments. Click To Read/Write Comments
When your compensation and incentive programs aren't getting the job done, it's time to look beyond the traditional motivational programs and get creative. There are a number of other ways to motivate salespeople and I'll discuss three of them here. I'd love to have you comment with your personal favorites.
1) Nothing is more motivational than when a salesperson closes a sale - not any sale - a first sale, their biggest sale, their most challenging sale, their fastest sale, their slump breaking sale, their "I beat the competition" sale, or even their contest winning sale. Immediately following that success, is when your salespeople are most likely to have another success. Their confidence is at an all time high, their courage is strong too, and as a result, they'll take the greatest risks within 24 hours of that success. By risks I mean that these are the times when they are most likely to do the things they have the greatest difficulty doing.
2) A surprising motivator is anger. Getting your salespeople just pissed off enough to ratchet it up as much as it takes to get the job done, but not so pissed off that they walk out on you. This method is a little more difficult than example number one, but in many cases, salespeople won't do the things they haven't been able to do until they get angry.
3) I have discussed fear as a motivator before. When your salespeople are afraid of losing their job, losing a residual commission, losing part of their territory, losing a client or losing your respect, they will often perform in a more inspired manner.
What have you tried to motivate your salespeople? Leave your comments below.
(c) Copyright 2008 Dave Kurlan
Article has 1 comments. Click To Read/Write Comments
Previous Page | Next Page
|
|
|
| | |