Habit 35: Who’s Really Involved?
To continue with the "Account Development Habits", let's look at Habit 35: Who's Really Involved? Sometimes the "Sales Cycle", takes so many turns and so many different events happen that you might lose track of who, on the prospect/customer's team is really involved in the decision making process.You must know who is involved and ask until you get the answer. You ask: Who else will be involved in making the purchase decision? Who else will be involved in this project? Will anyone else be involved in this project? Will anyone else be involved in making the decision? Are there other people ...
50 Habits of Top Performing Sales People Habit 34: Where is the Money?
January 19, 2017
Selling
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This habit seems to be self-evident however, I feel I must really emphasize “knowing when the money is going to be released.” It’s a lost art, I believe, to be there when the purchase order is written. One of my partner Lou’s mentors once told him: “Lou, it’s not an “order” until the invoice is paid.” Well, let’s turn this around a little bit and phrase it this way: “It can’t be an order until you get the order.” What do I mean by that? In today’s business world, particularly with most salespeople, it seems that they believe pushing for the purchase ...
Habit 33: Know Every Customer/Prospect’s Fiscal and Budget Constraints
December 21, 2016
Selling
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To continue with the "Account Development Habits", let's look at Habit 33: Know Every Customer/Prospect's Fiscal and Budget Constraints. What does this really mean? The answer is: it's very simple. Fiscal constraints are: The time of year that the customer/prospect's fiscal year begins and ends and the methodologies used to approve budgets. Budget constraints are simply: The timing of capital budget submittals The timing of capital budget approvals The timing of capital fund releases Obtaining this information is simple. Simply ask and the prospective customer or customer will answer. The more important question is why do you want to know this information? This information is ...
Habit 32: Develop an “Account Plan”, at the Beginning of an Account Relationship
November 29, 2016
Selling
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To continue with the "Account Development Habits", let's look at Habit 32: Develop an “Account Plan”, at the beginning of an account relationship. When I talk about the “Account Plan”, many people think I am talking about an “Opportunity Plan.” An account plan is simply a description of where you believe a new account will grow. So, in the very beginning of an account relationship, you should evaluate the account’s grow power and determine if, in fact, you should focus a lot of time on the new account or not. I can’t tell you how many sales people simply forge ahead with ...
Habit 31 – The Sales Cycle, Account and Opportunity Plan
Habit 31 – Write out the “Sales Cycle”, “Account Plan” and “Opportunity Plan” for every “C” and “D” opportunity and maintain them religiously. To kick off the "Account Development Habits", let's look at Habit 31: Write out the “Sales Cycle”, “Account Plan” and “Opportunity Plan” for every “C” and “D” opportunity and maintain them religiously. Before you can write out a “Sales Cycle” you must know the definition of the term. For the purposes herein the “Sales Cycle” is the string of events that will happen from the beginning of the opportunity until the end of the opportunity. A typical sales cycle could ...
50 Habits of Top Performing Sales People Habits 28, 29 and 30
August 30, 2016
Selling
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Continuing with the Six Interpersonal Skills let's look at Habits 28, 29 and 30. Habit 28: Be at ease with people. Habit 29: Make people feel at ease with you. Habit 30: Determine and accommodate a prospect’s/customer’s country quickly and modify your communication style to accommodate theirs. Last month's newsletter talked about being “on time” for appointments. This month let’s focus on being at ease with your customers, making people feel at ease with you and accommodating how people deal with others. How can you make people feel at ease? The number one issue is to be at ease yourself. If you are ...
50 Habits of Top Performing Sales People Habit 27 – Fifteen Minutes Early
July 28, 2016
Selling
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Continuing with the Six Interpersonal Skills let's look at Habit 27, being "on time". Habit 27: Fifteen Minutes Early. Last month's newsletter talked about Appearance and Demeanor. This month, let's focus on being "on time" for appointments. Arrive at appointments 15 minutes early. Many people refer to this as Lombardi time and it's a great idea developed by a great man and we've adopted this practice in our professional life. We can't tell you the number of times that being 15 minutes early has been a big advantage to us. The driving force behind this habit is courtesy. As I observe business ...
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