How Well Do Your People Prospect?
December 30, 2012
Over the last few months we have been discussing how important Relationships are and how important delivering Value is to the success of sale people. Here’s a question, How well do your people prospect? Prospecting is a deadly game. It takes work, commitment, diligence and plain old tenacity. It is hard and boring work for most and it is then last thing most sales people want to do. So how good are your people? Is prospecting a topic for your sales meetings? Do you have a process defined for the sale organization that defines a process for prospecting? These are questions, to ...
Turning the Prospect into a Customer
Prospecting is tough duty. It takes commitment, hard work, patience and hardnosed tenacity. It is not easy to turn a prospect into a customer as there may be no reason, that they are aware of, as to why they should talk to you let alone do business with you. You have to give them a reason to consider you as a supplier, which may be difficult as they may not see you or talk to you. There is no substitute for hard work. Cold calling, phone calling, mailing and emailing until they submit or tell you “NO” is a viable strategy. ...
The Art of Cold Calling
It is not a question that Cold Calling is a necessity. The question is: How to Cold Call and do it to produce success. In the last few months we have been talking about “Prospecting” and the necessity for successful sales people to know how to prospect and in fact conduct a continuous prospecting effort. A successful prospecting effort requires “Cold Calling”. The trick then is to get sales people to make productive and organized cold calls that are directed at target companies that are known to have a product or service need that fits the company’s offering. All this takes research, ...
“It’s the Relationship Stupid”
Growing Your Business In Tough Times: It’s the Relationship! Remember the Clinton campaign slogan “It’s the Economy Stupid”? Well if all the rules of selling have changed, and they have, maybe a good slogan for today’s sales people is “It’s the Relationship Stupid”. This may seem too simple. Many people look at analysis like this and say things like “it can’t be that simple” but we think it is just that simple. Developing relationships in depth with the key people in the decision making chain, we believe, is the single most important function of the successful, professional sales person. The simple part is ...
What Do You Do Well?
Over the past few months we’ve been talking about defining “What you Sell”. Here’s another exercise, Define “What you do well”? In the book, “Getting Off the Bid List” we ask the question; “What do you do “Good”? Now that’s not proper English but it does make a point. Defining what your company does well is a necessary starting point for any business plan and if what you do well is in fact what you sell well, Great! If what you do well is not what you sell, than you better get moving and make the changes necessary to be sure ...
Who should I sell to?
So if you have a good handle on “What you sell” and “Who you sell it to”, how do you determine “Who else you should sell to”? This is a critical question and one we work with clients every day to answer. It gets down to stating and gaining consensus as to “What do you do Well”. What do you do well from the customer’s perspective? What do you do that makes them money, not saves them money, but MAKES them money? Do you know the value, in terms of dollars, that your product and service delivers to your customers? If ...
It takes Action
Have you ever sat down and reviewed what you and your associates consider to be your company strengths? I mean really think about, discuss and debate “what are the core strengths of your company internally and externally”? What are the company’s strengths from an internal skill and process stand point and what are your company’s strengths from an external skill and process stand point? Once you have this detailed and there is consensus from your associates what do you think you should do with this information? Many companies go through an exhausting process of defining the company “Mission”, move on to a ...
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