I am reading a very good book on learning about your customer before you ever talk to them (Take the Cold Out of Cold Calling) . This is in part based on what is also in People Buy You. Customers buy a solution to a problem they have. Your job as a sales person is to learn beforehand what problems appear to be occurring, so you can speak about their company and not yours.  Doing anything less, means you are doomed to the losing sales numbers game.

The sales numbers game, if you do not know.(Where trickle down is not pretty).

• Corporate sets a target of 10% more sales this quarter ( We never know where this comes from)
• Each sales guy realizes with  his  10% closing rate, that a 10% increase is multiplied by ten. thus he needs 10 times f2f presentations.
• Inside sales realizes that with a 5 % response rate to prospecting, their outbound calls have to increase by twenty times – and there is no more staff.
• The entire department is already busy – they are not sitting around

This is a losing game, because it does not address the huge losses embedded into most sales systems.  Sharon Drew Morgen, Mitch Gooze and Michael Webb all are up in arms about the tremendous wastage in sales, where such low rates are common.  A few process trainers have ideas about bumping up the percentages a bit with different behaviours.  But that is just icing a flawed cake

No one in senior management recognizes that this is a much bigger issue (yet fairly logical to address).  If you present a solution that solves a real customer problem, that he can recognize easily,  your sales cycle shortens.  You need to start to remove the obstacles to selling that you have created yourself.

In using our sales and marketing framework Rocket Builders find big self made linked obstacles/inefficiencies  in many places in companies, such as:

• product management
• marketing management
• channel management
• executive management but
• rarely in sales management

The blind spot is that if an executive does not know what they do not know, where would they find out? In your company, do not be content with accepting long sales cycles and a decreasing return based on using the numbers game.  You have created these yourself and you must find the root causes (Its your job as CEO) . If you are on a Board of Directors, you should be asking lots of tough questions. Do not know the questions to ask? Give me a call!

• Knowing What to Do vs. Doing It: Successful Selling Requires Knowledge AND Action (thecustomercollective.com)
• Selling Gets Harder Every Day (frontofficebox.com)
• People Buy You. The real secret to what matters most in business. Jeb Blount (regnordman.com)
• Video: Why Sales Fail (customerthink.com)

People Buy You. The real secret to what matters most in business. Jeb Blount. 2010. ISBN 9780470599112. The person behind SalesGravy.com and Sales Guy audio and video on selling, Blount knows what he is talking about. As he was looking at current thinking on sales he realized that many long held sales beliefs were myths that needed  debunking. Myths such as :

1. Friends buy from friends
2. People but from people they like (But they don’t buy from people they dislike)
3. You have to sell yourself

Rather you need to:

1. Be likable
2. Connect
3. Solve problems
4. Build trust
5. Create positive emotional experiences

His solving problems chapter is one of the better ones I have read lately.  This is a short , concise and clearly written book.  And it is true, people do buy you.  Younger folks would do well to read his section on Brand You.

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Snap Selling. Speed up sales and win new business with today’s frazzled customers. Jill Konrath. 2010 ISBN 978159184330.  Okay, along with Sales Dirty Secret, this new book by Jill Konrath (Selling to Big Companies) is my top sales book for 2010.  Jill has assimilated the best practices of current practitioner including Sharon Drew Morgen‘s ground breaking insights into what happens when interested and “hot”  clients “disappear” for long periods of time.  Jill’s book has been flagged by more postit notes  more than any book I read this year.  Immediately useful to any working sales person, it is a book that gives you, the sales pro,  a lifetime of application advice. Her discussions as to how frazzled customers are today is bang on.  Lesson learned she advocates that you will need at least 10 contact attempts over six to eight weeks to be noticed. No worry about being a pest since the targets are so busy, they will not notice the frequency of your attempts amongst the fire hose of incoming requests.  Early on she states,  ”if you are not helping a customer with a high priority item, nothing is going to happen. How does your offering add value to their business? “.   |Also she states that consultative/solution selling, which I consider to be level four (90s style), is well past its time. You will not have the time in front of clients early on the be “consultative” . Jill is the first current writer to begin to address what I consider level five (Gen five) selling , where the seller needs an integrated sales and marketing effort in order to get noticed, because today’s sales cycle involves so many more skills.  If you think that your sales team needs to “get back to basics” , in order to increase sales, that indicates faulty reasoning on your parts. In our engagements, marketing is takes over  ”the basics” freeing the sales team to address today’s harder issues.  Well written, well organized, concise with great examples and suggestion sI recommend every sales person and sales manager read this book this year, well before they miss their quotas.

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A list for someone very new to sales

Reg Nordman

Last week I had two requests (Thank you David and Michael), for very different reasons, asking me what books would I recommend for someone new to sales to help get them quickly up to speed. I get this question often and never felt I had my “best’ answer. So I finally:

• laid out a selection process,
• set out the requirements (Easy to read and digest , did I mention real short,  proven in the trenches, only a few, and seriously effective),
• then looked at my 800 plus  reviews

So,  in May 2010 I have made the inaugural , just add water and stir,  list of Getting Started in Sales books. I make no guarantee that I have not missed your gems, hurt many writers feelings (but being sales people they have tough skins) and I could change my mind tomorrow if a new book comes across my desk. So drum roll please:

2010 Getting Started in Sales book list:
1. Art Sobczak has been at this the longest – he calls it Smart
Calling- but if you read very carefully it is much much more- sales efficiency tag
http://www.regnordman.com/2010/05/10/smart-calling-eliminate-the-fear-failure-and-rejection-from-cold-calling-art-sobczak/

2 The Leaky Funnel – Hugh Macfarlane – sales effectiveness tag
http://www.regnordman.com/?s=Leaky+Funnel

3. It’s Not Rocket Science – Mitch Gooze  - sales effectiveness tag
http://www.regnordman.com/2007/07/31/its-not-rocket-science-mitchell-gooze/

A serious student of sales success (desire to be a top 5%er? ) understands that this is a continuous journey of learning. These books just get you started.

Comments?

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Thoughts on hiring a sales person, what companies forget about.

Reg Nordman

We have had numerous discussions about how companies seem to hire the wrong sales people.  This comes up so often that I feel the need to comment, since it is done so regularly.

Usually the situation comes up because a company exec believes they need to add new sales DNA into their company. They may have been doing all or most of the selling up to now, and feel that they need to go onto other things. These are all good things. But the symptom that it is about to go wrong is the implied or expressed belief that once they add a sales person, the problem is resolved. In our experience the problem is about to be exacerbated.

Rocket Builder has heard many common myths about sales people, here are just five

1. All salespeople are the same.
2. All selling is the same.
3. Any salesperson can fit in any company.
4. Being sales driven means I can do things the same as always.
5. Getting out there and selling is the only sales training needed.

Beliefs like this usually lead to this profit killing sequence:

1. Placing a general ad for sales people – “lets just put it out there”
2. Changing the candidate requirements mid stream – “no one met what I wanted”
3. Accepting candidates at random – “they worked for a really big company and did well”
4. Making the wrong hire – “Seems the best of those I talked to, I have a feeling about…”
5. Wasting six months of effort, wages and profits before firing the new hire – $$$$
6. Return to step one.

To help you make your “better” choice for adding sales people to your mix you need a process.  You certainly have a product development and bug fixing process.  Why not a sales hiring process for something this key?A  logical process like the one Geoffrey Hansen, Rocket Builder has. He says:

1. Select your market
2. Select your requirements for that market
3. Deliberately target candidates who meet the requirements.

Sounds like it would be a good coding practise. Of course,  in using this process effectively there is much well thought out detail involved, which is where Rocket Builders helps companies. It is in the execution and details that you find the secret sauce.  If you do this right, then you, Mr/Ms. C- Level,  can:

• add new sales DNA to your company,
• go on to doing those 101 other things you want to do, and
• know that your money machine is working away.

In this business,  prevention is so much cheaper than rework. It just might save your company.  Comments?

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The Zero Turnover Sales Force. How to maximize revenue by keeping your sales team intact . Doug McLeod. 2010 ISBN 9780814415603. This is the best sales management book ever. It is also a tremendous guide for anyone on the sales field, old dogs through to the bright newbies.  In one well written, easily read volume reside the truths about high revenue sales management and what to do, step by step.  This book reflects generation five of selling.  Such things as :

• No more cold calling ever since cold calling immediately puts the sale person at a disadvantage and loses the firm big money
• Dump the 100 % commission selling and never try it again, unless you love to lose money
• Its all about the customer now – never about you and your company
• Be honest and forthright – like the best sales people have always been
• Create your numbers in the real world – not wishful thinking
• Do not waste anyones time – especially your sales forces
• Zero turnover in salespeople makes you  huge big bucks
• The right training matters

Do not wait, buy this book right now – it is a key weapon in your sales arsenal. A bonus is the list at the end of important other books to read.

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Flip The Funnel. How to use existing customers to gain new ones. Joseph Jaffe.2010 ISBN 9780470487853. This is a game changing book for marketing. Jaffe is a prolific writer, blogger and customer care advocate. This thoroughly researched book illustrates the winning metrics that tell us we spend way too much on customer acquisition and way too little on customer retention. Since the social media wave dramatically affects the impact of WOM marketing, he speaks about some very serious stuff. In our efforts to drive new sales, and close new clients, we can lose sight of the tremendous value in getting more work from present clients. Jaffe delves into using social media to help your present customer base become enthusiasts who drive more business through referrals than you ever get through your acquisition campaigns. See lots at www.jaffejuice.com. www.youtube.com/jaffejuicetv , www.facebook.com/jaffejuice, @jaffejuice and www.flipthefunnel.com

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• How do you really differentiate your product/service?
• Look at the buyers process, not a selling process.
• What are you doing for personal growth?

What is your ideal client?

• Size?
• Circumstances (new vs takeaway?)
• Process?
• Budget?
• Buying habits?

Who are the personalities in a client?

• Beneficiaries?
• Saboteurs?
• Mentors?
• Wizards (he who pays)?

His chapters on territory management and responding to RFPs are better than anything I have seen in a long time.

If there is something missing it would be the extensive work of Sharon Drew  Morgen on the the early identification of stuff that will get in the way of the sale. Her material is unbeaten at the qualifying stage, to make you more efficient as well as more effective.  Plus you really do need to get marketing to help you with some of this stuff, if you can.

See lots of Lees content belowhttp://changingminds.org/articles/lee_salz_articles.htm

Well written, clear and a great guide, this is a book for every salesperson to have in his library, I would keep in your bag, as the tips and examples are of great immediate use.

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Time to look for a new sales job?.

I am devouring a book called Soar Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager. (www.wbusiness.biz) by Lee B. Salz. (Maybe a theme developing?) This is a good book (Review will follow)  His second chapter is all about finding the right sales job and I loved it.  He talks about interviewing  the company while they interview you  since you have as much to lose as the company by signing up for the wrong job.

Its usually the wrong job if:

• The company has no proven plan in place to help salesmen succeed
• The company hires  hunters but you see they need farmers
• They want strong salespeople with no idea what strong really means
• The manager is stuck in ABC thinking
• There is no demand for the product, yet no plans to develop it.
• Or there is no name recognition, no brand, few marketing dollars, no prospects calling in

Sound familiar? It rang my bell a few times. we have seen all this and more in helpin gtech companies through the year.  Here’[s a clue, if you do not see why this is a costly problem for you, do not worry, your company will not make it anyway.

Points about finidng the ideal company (like finding the ideal client right? ) :

1. Define what is the ideal company for you
2. Where and what are the opportunities for you?
3. What do they expect of a sales person? What do you expect of them?
4. What skills are they willing to teach? What do you want to learn?
5. What is their commitment to training and development? What is your commitment?
6. What won’t they teach?What don’t you want to be taught?
7. What do they feel can’t be taught?
8. Services sellers need to know how to customize, configure and create based on customer requirements. Are you that type?
9. Product sellers are limited by what the box does. Is that your success type?
10. Did you thrive on short cycle or long cycle sales?
11. Same with single buyers or multiple enterprise buyers?
12. What type of hunter are you? Do you generate your own leads or answer in-bounds?
13. Are you able to straddle the likable/driven divide of the farmer?
14. How do you adapt to change? How flexible are you? Is the comp plan overly  changable?
15. What is the size of your financial risk? Will your cheques clear?
16. Where do they stand with the competition; leaders. followers. laggards, off the radar?  Which do you prefer?
17. Are they boutique or low price?  Where do they win or lose sales?
18. What is the offering breadth? All of it, or just part of the puzzle?
19. How do they differentiate themselves? Do you believe it?
20. How is sales managed? Your preferance?
21. What sales support is there?  Proof materials?
22. The money; salary, recoverable/nonrecoverable draws, commission how does it all work together?  What defines revenue? What about chargebacks?
23. Any deal breakers such as ; pay is too low to survive on , commute too long, location?

Told you it was thorough. This is just Chapter 2!

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Energize Growth Now. The marketing guide to a wealthy company. Lisa Nirell.2009. ISBN 9780470413920. From the foreward by Guy Kawasaki to the appendix pages full of sample plans and templates, this book give full value. Written in an easy style, it is very useful to those of you who may be starting to feel a bit overwhelmed and tired of the multi- year struggle that building a successful company entails. Yes you wiull start with an overview of the impact that marketing can make , but the author also goes into things that are very relevant today , for instance where social media marketing can help but what you have to decide first before you launch in.  She gives you road maps, relevant examples and the pitfalls along the way.  Pragmatic and a very useful book. Eg. In trying to identify the economic buyer:

• Who has the most to gain from this project
• Who has the most to lose if it is canceled or fails
• Which exec will sponsor this
• Who will report your results and succcess back to the board
• Who budget will support this project
• Which dept or div will be most supportive
• Who in the org tried to solve this in the past and with what results
• Whose bonus and performance will be most affected by the success of this project?

Check out more at http://blog.energizegrowth.com

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