Sales Blog for Sales and Sales Management

I may be driving you crazy with my approach to covering the 10 Solutions for Successful Selling by going from #7 - Budget: Getting Time, Money and Resource to Solve Problems and then skipping to #10, 8 Steps to Closing More Business.  Now, I'm on #4.  Ironically, it is called First Things First but is numbered #4. Trust me.

Steven Covey wrote a book years ago called The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. This post is not about the book but about habit #3:  First Things First. Habit #3 is about doing, in priority, those activities and behaviors that are consistent with your objectives and goals.  

I was with John J. Young, President and CEO of the Freestore FoodBank here in Cincinnati.  My wife, Linda, and I were visiting to discuss an upcoming project and to discuss how we might be of more help to the objectives of the organization.  

In John's discussion with us, he said something that struck me as powerful to their cause and important in almost any endeavor.  He said, "The help starts with food."  I apologize, John, if I don't get it exactly right, but that is what I heard.  I'll let John explain to you what it means in his world, but to me it meant a couple of things:

1. Basic fundamentals: They are called basic and fundamentals for a reason. Everything has a starting point. You have to identify that starting point.  You have to master that starting point.  You must execute that starting point every time if you expect to reach your expected objectives.
2. Basic needs:  There are maybe only a couple of things more basic than food.  Air and water.  That's about it.  You might want to add faith, but I would suggest that is a little higher on Maslow's hierarchy of needs.  You have to take care of the basic needs if you are going to grow, prosper and succeed.

I can't help myself when I get into conversations like this, read a book, watch a movie. My mind, at some point, automatically shifts to "How does this pertain to selling?"  

1. Basic fundamentals in selling:  You have to understand your priorities in sales.  It isn't paperwork, time management, continuing education, training or meetings.  You cannot succeed without doing those things, but they are not the priority to your success. There is only 1 'A' priority and that is prospecting.
2. Basic needs:  You need(s) to call people, you need(s) to see people.  Until you do that, nothing else happens.  There isn't paper to push or anything to report in a meeting.  The job in selling is prospecting.  It is why selling is so damn hard and why sales people, good sales people, make so much damn money.

The #4 sales solution of First Things First is prospecting.  Carve out 10% of your time each and every day to call on people to tell your story.  Feed your business every day; the rest will take care of itself.

Comments welcomed.  I know that we have a lot of wisdom out there in our followership.  I'd ask you to take just a minute and write to the rest of us how you manage to make sure that, day in and day out, you feed your business.

Thanks

During a recent sales meeting that I was in, the sales reps began describing the current status of their sales opportunities. One of the reps, John, decided to tell the group about a deal that he had just 'closed'.

Now, before I finish that story, I must tell you this one.

Last Tuesday, I was talking to my friend, Whitey K., about the trip my wife and I had taken through the Florida Keys.  As part of that discussion, I related to Whitey my tarpon fishing story.

Me: We hired a guide and went tarpon fishing.
Whitey:  Catch anything?
Me: As a matter of fact, I caught a 5 foot, 125 pound tarpon.
Whitey: What was that like?
Me:  It took 20 minutes to 'leader the fish' and I was thinking "this isn't so tough."  Our captain, Captain Dan, said, 'You're not done yet. It'll be at least another ten minutes before you get that fish in the boat."  Just then, the fish took off 300 feet of line and made a couple of big jumps out of the water.  I immediately started trying to reel back in all the line I had just lost.
Whitey:  So how long did it take?
Me:  35 minutes and at least 20 trips around the boat! I nearly fell into the water but I finally got the fish back to the boat.
Whitey: That's cool! Did you get a picture?
Me:  Uhmm, not really.
Whitey: How come? Didn't you have a camera?
Me: No, we had a camera. I, uh, we, uh... never really got the fish in the boat. You see,  tarpons are catch and release.  They're not good to eat. They're considered a sport fish and so it's catch and release.
Whitey: So you got it close to the boat and the captain held it to get a picture and take the hook out?
Me: No, not really. You see, what happened is that I finally got the fish next to the boat and Captain Dan reached for it once but couldn't quite reach it. Then just as we were getting it along side of the boat the second time, it jumped out of the water, snapped its head, broke the line and got away.
Whitey: Then how do you know it was 5 feet long? 
Me:  We were estimating. 
Whitey: And because you didn't get it in the boat, you couldn't weigh it.
Me:  Uhm, that's right.
Whitey: (one full minute of uncontrollable laughter...)
Me: What are you laughing at?
Whitey:  Let me make sure I have this right.  You didn't get the fish in the boat, you didn't measure it, you didn't weigh it and you don't have any pictures.
Me: Uh, yeah, that's about right.  (I start to laugh.)
Whitey:  Well, now that is some fish story!

Now, going back to the first story without going into all the details, here is a summary of John's 'closed deal'.

  - They really liked the presentation.
  - They really liked us.
  - They are certain that, unless the current provider comes in with an
     unexpected great deal, we will get the business.
  - The prospect will certainly recommend that the company go with us.
  - If we show them a contract for 15 months instead of 18 months, that
     would be great.
  - They are going to check with one more reference, but they don't 
    anticipate a problem.
  - I'm supposed to call them next week for final details and to schedule a time
    to get the contract signed.
  - The deal, if sold, is a million dollar sale.
  - The deal, if sold, is supposed to transact on August 1, 2010.
  - No deposit.
  - No contract signed
  - Supposed to talk next week.
  - The decision maker wasn't in the room.

I don't know about you, but to me, this sounds like one heck of a "fish story!"

               *************************************** 

Are you landing your "fish" and closing the deals? Click here for a FREE checklist to help you qualify your prospects and "reel them in"!!

I'm thinking that sending sales tips live from various locations might be of interest to you.  I always seem to get some interesting thoughts and have unusual experiences while on the road. Today, it's Sales Tips Live From Hollywood Fla.

 A couple of things:

1. I get up early to work out only to discover that the fitness center doesn't open until 6:00 AM.  Like many of these hotels that host conferences, if you are not first in the door for the aerobic equipment, you are out of luck.  We have breakfast scheduled for 7:00, so I have to do something now because I don't want to have to wait for a piece of equipment if I show up at 6:01.  So I decide to run up and down the escalators in the hotel.  At first glimpse, you might think 'What kind of work out is that?'  The escalators cover two floors and there are two sets; try it and you'll see. The key is to run up and down and around.  Go 25 to 30 minutes; your heart rate will be where you want it to be.  Morale of the story:  Don't let anything get in the way of your objective.  Make due with what you have and don't allow excuses like the gym was full.
2. I finish the work out, grab a grande of morning blend from the coffee shop and head out to watch the sunrise - the picture here about 45 minutes after sunrise - and look at the ocean.  Here is the sales tip - aha:  Prospects for your business are virtually endless like the ocean. That is for most for us.  Unless you are selling to the Fortune Something, then you will never run out of prospects.  But the key here is you have to actually get in the water to go get them.  If you wanted to fish, there are endless places to find fish.  And if you catch a fish that you don't want maybe someone else does and that's a good thing.  Just like working out, there really isn't a reason to run out of prospects; you just can't make excuses for not fishing for them.
3. Let's suppose you are in a sales segment where your access to prospects is limited.  You are staring out across a lake instead of an ocean, AND you have other people at the same lake trying to catch the same fish.  The rules still apply - NO Excuses - you just have to work harder at it.  Very similar to a bass tournament.  There are several boats fishing for bass in the same lake, and in many cases, vieing for the same location and same fish.  What this means is that you have to work harder and smarter if you want to win.

Ever take some extended time off?  I just did.  Took almost the entire month of July off.  I didn't write, post to the blog, twitter, call clients, or prospect.  Virtually nothing of a business sort other than some details around an account sold in June and some inside personnel issues.  Monday, we came back from the lake and Tuesday was my son's and nephew's birthdays so we took that day off as well.  Wednesday was back in the saddle and time to re-boot to sell.

First thing I did after meeting with staff was go to my contact list and make calls.  Left messages for 5 people, talked to one person (did a crappy job with that one), posted the blog, twittered, connected in LinkedIn, re-adjusted my success formula for the rest of the year and scheduled an appointment with two clients in California.

The best thing I did yesterday?  Start.  It may not have been perfect.  I may not have gotten the results that my success formula calls for, but I started.  I'm not saying this to brag.  Quite the contrary.  I'm admitting that I face the same challenges that all of you do. And that is I can procrastinate and find lots of other things to do other than those things that drive business to our company.  Yesterday, I made the conscious choice to jump back in and re-boot the sales engine.  If you've been off for awhile either because of vacation, working on deals or have just gotten off track, re-boot your business by jumping back in it. Don't worry about the outcomes, just start.  It will do wonders for your head and you never know- someone just might buy.

Ok, so we are almost through the first month of the New Year; what have you done for yourself lately in sales? Did you move your rocks? Did you do your "to do's"? Did you do what you intend to do?

Over the years, I've discovered that when sales people tell me that they have prospecting on their "to do" list, what they really are saying is that they ‘intend' to prospect.

When sales people tell me that they are going to call a prospect and get a decision, they do call and they intend on getting a decision, but they really aren't committed to the intention.

Finally, when sales people tell me that this is the year that they are going to self manage themselves to extraordinary performance , what they are really telling me is that they are going to get ready to get ready and not move any rocks that are consistent with successful selling.

As harsh as this may seem, I would ask you:  Does this look or sound anything like you've done in the past? If so, then join me and the multitudes of others that struggle with prioritizing their time so that the rocks get moved, the "to do's" get done and the intentions get ignored.  Let me tell you that I will be the first in line this year to correct this problem, because I may be one of the biggest offenders.

Don't get me wrong, I get my work done, but too many times I find myself behind the eight ball and running short on shots when it comes time to completing what I stated I would.

Perfect example: last Tuesday, prospecting was on my rock list.  When did I get to it?  Friday at 2:30; I had success.  I scheduled three appointments and moved the rocks a little further up the hill. But what would I have done if an emergency, a real one, had shown up on Friday?  I would have put myself in a position to make the lame excuse - "I had an emergency and couldn't get it done".  The reality was that I put other stuff first on Tuesday and made myself vulnerable to failure on Friday.

Lesson #1 - Be a slave to the schedule.

Lesson #2 - Rocks are rocks - these are non-negotiable objectives of your business.  When you state something as a rock, then nothing short of an absolute catastrophe gets in the way.

Lessons #3 - "To do" lists are for the most part horse pucks.  How do I know?  Because the stuff on the list doesn't get done.  Make sure you clearly identify "to do" from intention.

Lesson #4 - Intentions are just that, things you intend "to do" and would be nice "to do" and might bring you some self satisfaction, but in reality, have nothing "to do", with moving rocks.  Chances are, if you never do what you intend "to do", your world doesn't change as much as doing your "to do" list.

Lesson #5 - You will continue to screw this up unless you find a way to hold yourself to high standards of accountability.  I am holding huddles with my staff weekly and my COO and co-owner every week to make sure the rocks get moved and the "to do's" get done.

This was one of my "to do's" today, it's done, gotta go.

Start the year with a clear vision of

1. What you are going to accomplish,
2. How you will accomplish what you have set out to do and more importantly
3. Identify those metrics and benchmarks that will measure your progress to your objectives.

Once you've taken those three action items

1. Communicate your plan to someone that will hold you accountable
2. Find a training resource that will help you improve areas of execution
3. Identify rewards for success and consequences for failure

If you  did  these 6 things  by the end of the first full week of the new year you will be well on your way to a successful and productive 2009.

Happy New Year!

As is stated in the 'good' book', 'there is nothing new under the sun', and that includes prospecting.  I was cruising through some of the blogs I monitor and came across this article: OK, Salespeople Can't Find Enough Prospects. Now What?, and I'm thinking, wow everyone must have this problem.  I know our sales people are telling me that they do. Our clients are telling me that they have a problem finding new prospects and sales are down.  But then I got to thinking:  Finding prospects now that is a problem. Problem is is that it has always been a problem. No let me take that back. It has always been a challenge.

Let me reference Jack Horan. I don't know if Jack is still alive. But I did meet him in 1989 at a dinner honoring him and his service to the insurance industry here in Cincinnati. He had been in the local association. I found myself alone with him and so I asked, "Jack, what is the biggest challenge you face today after 30 years in the business?" his reply - finding prospects.

This is new, the challenges associated with finding prospects a result of our economic times, that's new but prospecting problems aren't new.

Here is a question for you. How many of your clients have 100% of the market? None right? OK so let's just make sure that we teach our charges to go get the ones that are being sold and serviced by our competitors.  If you only have 3% of market share and there are 10,000 suspects in the market well then not having prospects isn't a matter of people not buying your product or service.  The problem is is that they aren't buying it from you and there you sit at your desk waiting for the phone to ring and blaming the tough economy. So what, people don't want to talk to you.  This economy isn't about people wanting to talk or not talk it's about people and companies wanting the best solutions for: 

• Making more money
• Keeping more of the money they have
• Getting access to money
• Becoming more productive
• Doing more with less
• Doing better with what they have
• Continued growth
• Finding people that can sell in a tough economy

Regardless of the product or service you buy chances are there is somethign you can do for people that will help them solve one of those problems. Just for fun visit Guy Kawasaki'sblog and check out the post with all the pictures of stores with 'sales signs'.  What does the bottome picture tell you?

All you need to do is to call people and tell them you are looking to help people that want to make more money, keep more of what they have or get access to more money. Once you tell them that ask them if they are one of those people.  If they say yes, good, go to the next step in your prospect process.  If they say, no, good, thank them for their time and make the next call. Whatever you do don't let this great economy of our get in the way of you selling

It is Election Day and arguably the single most important Presidential Election of our lifetime. In the spirit of making decisions that make a difference, here are 5 decisions to make that will impact your sales success:

1.  to have clear and extra-ordinary goals. There is something inspiring about having goals and making them extra-ordinary. As Walt Disney said, ‘dream the big dream, there is nothing in small dreams that stir the blood.'
2.  to be a leader within your peer group and be the dominate player in your market. Too many times I hear, ‘we are not the dominate player in our market'. So, what does that have to do with you deciding that you will be the dominant player in your market place? All of you have the product selection, the support and the resources to be the dominant player. Vote for yourself to be that kind of player.
3.  to get decisions from prospects. In other words, get them to vote. Today you can't go to the polls and say, ‘let me think about it'. No, all the thinking has been done. Today you take action and decision making takes place. You can do the same thing with prospects. Ask them to do all of their thinking before you show up so that they are armed with questions, you are prepared to answer them and when done, people can decide. Yes or no is ok, but vote.
4.  for prospecting. You have to understand that you can't get people to choose you unless you are out their campaigning for yourself. Establish your brand by getting into the market. Let people know who you are even if you don't get the appointment. If you call them and let them know who you are the first time, then the second call gets easier.
5.  to qualify who you will work with. Not everyone is someone that fits your vision, mission and goals. Not everyone in the market place qualifies to pick you as someone they want to work with or represent them. You can't approach the market place hoping that you can serve all the people all of the time, it just isn't going to happen. Decide who you are best suited to represent and then do that to the best of your ability.

Thanks for listening to my stump speech today.  Go VOTE!

In my post "5 Questions to convert more appointments to sales opportunities" I talked about asking 5 key questions to get more of your appointments to become actual sales opportunities.  In addition, regardless of how well you conduct those questions, and the additional questions about time, money and resources and undoing a current relationship, typically, you will leave an appointment, only to be disappointed by unforeseen delays.  We have to fix that problem.  We will do that with the following steps:

1. What will get in the way of getting started and how do we overcome any hurdles or obstacles?
2. (Assuming that you've eliminated or helped your prospect overcome their hurdles then you proceed)  To move forward in the process of fixing your problem, I need for you to provide to me today a signed letter of agreement on the following:
1. We will begin the assessment process of the severity of your problem
2. We will deliver our findings of your problems as they compare to best practices.
3. We will provide you with a direction to take so that when you take that direction, either with us or someone else, you will begin to convert your problem today from a completely unsatisfactory (how they described it today) problem to extra-ordinary results
3. The cost to conduct the assessment, provide findings and direction is __________.  I will need a check for that amount by _________.
4. Spread some corn for the chickens - this is what you can expect to happen over the next 90 days.

It is absolutely critical that you ‘test' the waters relative to your prospects commitment and actual tipping point to take action.  Do not delude yourself into thinking that you will actually get a signed agreement or the check.  They are important but not critical.  What is critical is that based on their response to these steps you now will know if you have an appointment with a suspect that has been successfully converted to a sales opportunity.

Here are 5 questions to help you accomplish the 3 "not complicated" steps in selling.  These 5 questions have everything to do with finding out the problems and getting them to commit to fixing those problems.

• 1. What is the biggest problem that you are having now that caused you to take time out of your business schedule to meet with me? (Assume it is something to do with your product and service.)
• 2. In a word, how would you describe your satisfaction with (Company) today? (Assume the word is not extra-ordinary)
• 3. What is the key metric that you are using today to measure your success at (Company) (the problem)?
• 4. What is your "tipping point"? In other words, how bad must the problem become before you decide that you will fix the problem?
• 5. (Assuming your prospect says: I have to fix it now) Suppose we / I could fix that problem what would happen next?

I'm sure you are aware that there are more than these 5 questions; however, asking these 5 questions will help you separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak.  You still have to uncover budget to fix the problem, and their ability to fire their current relationship; however, until the prospect has arrived at this "tipping point' or "have to" moment, nothing else matters.