Posted by Mansfield Sales Partners on Thu, Aug 05, 2010
Last month I turned on Major League Baseball's All-Star Game. The National League was once again facing the American League and, since the National League hadn't won since 1996, I was pretty sure I knew how it would turn out – the American League would win. I watched long enough to see the American League take the lead and then I changed the channel. I was sure the American League would win.
As even casual baseball fans know, I was wrong. In the end, the NL came from behind to win their first All-Star Game since 1996, ending a run of seven consecutive AL wins and 12 of 13, interrupted by a draw in 2002.
It made me think about how often we switch off and decide there is no way to win long before the decision is made.
In baseball, everything needs to work together for a team to win. A pitcher can have a perfect game but, if no one on his team crosses home plate, he can never win the game. Likewise, with a sales pitch, there are a lot of things that need to work together to make it successful.
- The product or service needs to have a market.
- The sales team and customer service reps need to know the product.
- The sales pitch needs to be fast and on target, and the benefits to the customer need to be tangible.
- More than anything else, you, your sales team and the fans in the stands need to believe you can win.
Putting together a winning sales season
Anyone who has ever tried selling something knows that it's hard. You have to learn to deal with rejection, to get 10 or 20 or more "no's" before you hear that "yes". And after a while, even the best sales rep may start to avoid tough, competitive sales situations that they are sure they can't win.
If you just leave the sales job to your sales reps and don't get your entire organization to give them support and encouragement, you aren't very likely to have a winning season. Align your organization to focus on the customer and support your sales reps, and you can chalk up a few more wins.
A sales team effort
Your best "pitcher" steps up to the plate. He looks towards home for a signal from the catcher. Is there someone there to give him the best pitch to throw to strike out this batter? Or is he standing on a field all alone with no teammates and no one cheer for him in the stands?
Has someone gathered the research info he needs? Is there a customer service team that is ready to make sure the post-sale service is so well executed that reorders are almost a guarantee? Is every point of customer contact focused on maximizing customer satisfaction? Do you take the time to recognize success and celebrate the big sales wins? Does your sales team really know that what they do matters?
Don't let the members of your team think they "know" how the game will end
If they are sure you are going to win the business, they may slack off and your competitor could steal it. And if they are sure you have no chance, nine out of ten times the prospect will see their lack of effort and resignation, and you'll lose the business.
Winners must believe they are capable of winning but they need to be committed to work hard and smart, day after day, to win.
How's your sales team's pitching staff doing? Ask us for advice.
Photo credit: Chuck "Caveman" Coker
Posted by Mansfield Sales Partners on Mon, Aug 02, 2010
Sales outsourcing is commonplace - over 90% of businesses report using vendors for at least some of their Sales functions. Small and mid-sized businesses use outsourced sales teams to enable them to compete with large companies. Companies outsource sales functions to reduce costs without reducing revenue or negatively affecting their sales pipelines. Many companies use outsourced sales teams to accelerate the pace of new market entries. Some companies use sales outsourcing to expand their capabilities and credibility in specialty markets.
Even though almost all companies use sales outsourcing, the strategic use of sales outsourcing to accelerate sales is rare. I recently spoke with a few sales innovators to see how they were using sales outsourcing as a rapid sales growth driver. All of these business leaders had achieved sales increases - even in this tough economy.
New Territory
A CEO of a large manufacturing firm told me he accelerated his company's market entrance into new territories by partnering with a sales outsourcing company who had existing relationships and market presence in places where his company did not have sales reps but had untapped market share. A market entry that would have taken them a year to accomplish was completed in less than half that time by leveraging the resources of their sales partner.
New Product Introduction
The VP of Sales for a technology company said that one of the main reasons he adopted sales outsourcing is that it is the most cost-effective way he can launch new products that fall outside of his company's current product set. He keeps his in-house staff focused on existing markets and developing current clients. He then expands the company's new product marketing efforts by contracting with a sales outsourcing company that has a proven track record in selling similar technology. By doing this he has been able to move rapidly and beat his competitors by being first to market.
Digging Deeper
The head of Sales and Marketing for a business services firm actually lets an outsourced sales team compete with her in-house sales force. She says that the competition has kept everyone motivated to sell more and dig a bit deeper. Because of leveraged compensation plans, her sales reps were motivated to produce results where they can get them quickly and easily. They went after the low-hanging fruit, leaving much of the available market for the competition. Adding additional outsourced sales resources has enabled her company to gain additional market coverage, at a lower cost, and got her internal sales team to look at prospects more carefully before passing on them.
Running with the Big Dogs
My final conversation was with the CEO and owner of a mid-sized company who needed to do a better job competing with much larger companies. He also needed to reduce costs and reduce the company’s sales and marketing investment risk. After careful evaluation, he and his executive team decided to outsource the company's entire Business Development effort. Using a shared sales force allowed the company to dramatically expand their sale force reach while passing on some of their inherent risk to their service providers
Four different companies, all who had achieved sales increases in the past year. Four different companies who adopted innovative ways to integrate sales outsourcing into their growth strategy.
What's your growth strategy? We can help you with sales outsourcing.
Photo credit: Knokton.
Posted by Chris Foran on Wed, Jul 28, 2010
Research shows organizations that spend more time recruiting high-caliber people earn 22% higher return to shareholders than their peers. Ponder for a moment the last sales person that you hired. After you selected them, did they work out as intended or did they turn into somebody totally unlike what you thought when you interviewed them? The most important aspect of any business is recruiting and retaining top sales people.
Hiring is both art and science. Refusing to improve this vital process will almost always guarantee you will be spending money and time hiring the wrong people. Here are several reasons why traditional techniques are inadequate:
- The majority of applicants exaggerate to get a job
- Most hiring decisions are made by intuition in the first few minutes of the interview
- 2 out of 3 sales hires prove to be a bad fit within the first year
- Most interviewers are not properly trained nor do they like to interview applicants
5 P's to Help You Improve Sales Team Hiring
- Prepare - Prior to the interview make sure you understand the key elements of the job. Develop a simple outline that covers the job duties. Screen resumes to gain information for the interview. Standardize and prepare the questions you will ask each applicant.
- Purpose - Talented sales people have more choices and job opportunities to choose from. The interviewer forms the applicant's first impression of the company. Not only are you trying to determine the best applicant, but you also have to convince the applicant this is the best place for them to work.
- Performance - Identify the knowledge, attributes, and sales skills the applicant needs for success. If the job requires special education be sure to include it on your list. Identify the top seven attributes or competencies that the job requires and structure the interview accordingly.
- People Skills - The hardest to determine, as well as the most important part of the process, is identifying the people skills a person bring to the job. Each applicant wears a "mask." A good interviewing and selecting process discovers who is behind that mask and determines if a match exists between the individual and the job. By understanding the applicant's personality style, values, and motivations, you are guaranteed to improve your hiring and selecting process.
- Process - The best interview follows a structured process. This doesn't mean the entire process is inflexible without spontaneity. What it means is, each applicant is asked the same questions and is scored with a consistent rating process. A structured approach helps avoid bias and gives all applicants a fair chance.
Hiring and retaining a great sales team isn't easy. We can help you with this all-important process.
Photo credit: I Don't Know, Maybe
Posted by Mansfield Sales Partners on Mon, Jul 26, 2010
I was in Las Vegas last week and one of the first things I thought about was "How can I improve my odds through sales planning and lead management?"
OK, I can read your mind, sales planning and lead management is boring. I would never think about that in Vegas. Anyway, we have vendors that care of lead management. They have it under control. As for sales planning, that's just a normal part of our sales process. Well my bet is that your company has a patchwork quilt of lead sources and no one is managing them. And the odds are in my favor!
Several recent studies found that about 75% of companies do not have an effective process for managing, dispersing and tracking leads. And over 90% of companies do not integrate lead management into their sales planning process. Yes, I can see you nodding off. But hang on for just a minute. There is a payoff!
Most companies outsource lead generation and let their lead management efforts operate on autopilot. There is rarely any effort to make sure that the vendors know about changes in the marketing program, new product development plans or changes in sales strategy. Once leads are received, there is rarely an effective process for managing, dispersing and tracking leads. And it is almost impossible to find any companies that effectively plan the lead generation program as part of the sales planning process.
Every now and then a "sure bet" really does comes along. In this case our sure bet is a sales strategy that incorporates all aspects of the sales and marketing process into a coherent plan.
- Aligning sales with lead generation. The first step in that process is to take at look at your lead generation efforts and integrate them into your sales planning. Are you getting leads and new customers from emerging markets? Are there underserved markets with weak competition that offer you new growth opportunities? Then look at your capabilities. Is your sales team able to keep up with the marketplace? If not, what can you do to make sure that you can expand capabilities rapidly?
- Accelerating the sales process. The competitive gap in sales planning and lead management provides a great opportunity to the few companies who rethink their lead generation programs. This gap has also given rise to a new generation of Integrated Sales Management outsourcing firms – agile, sophisticated companies that have moved beyond generating qualified lead lists to offering a full range of integrated sales planning, lead management and strategic marketing services. Companies who have invested in the latest sales automation technology. Companies who can efficiently manage turnkey new client acquisition programs that really reduce the cost to acquire a new customer. Bringing in this kind of capability can rapidly improve sales and allow you to exploit new markets quickly.
Look at your current lead management capabilities. Think about integrating them with external teams that incorporate planning, management and lead generation. Sales outsourcing provides a low-risk, high reward way to improve your odds of achieving success. But don't miss this opportunity. You can bet that an opportunity like this won't happen very often.
Photo credit: Roadsidepictures
Posted by Mansfield Sales Partners on Thu, Jul 08, 2010
Possibly the most effective way to win new customers and retain existing customers is to form alliances and strategic partnerships. These relationships take some effort to create but the return on your investment can be tremendous.
Customer Alliances
Build an alliance, an informal or formal partnership, with your customers and you will be hard to beat. One way to do this by providing customers with information and support that your competitors cannot duplicate.
Industrial suppliers often use this customer relationship technique to give them a competitive advantage. Companies work with customers to plan ordering, offer supply chain management and warehousing, and other value-added services that elevate then from a vendor to an essential part of their customers' businesses.
But Customer Alliances are not limited to industrial suppliers. They are a critical part of the customer relationship in almost every sector. For example, a major food service company offered its restaurant customers weekly reports with pricing forecasts for key items including expected order quantities based upon each customers' past history. The restaurant owners could use this information to make sure that they were not blindsided by a dramatic price increase on a major ingredient, and could adjust their pricing and menus accordingly, or stock up prior to the price increase. The restaurateurs could also this information to plan specials and new menu items that featured lower cost items.
Not only was this a great tool for their existing customers, but the food service company found it provided an excellent way to start a dialog with prospects. The account reps offered to provide a pricing forecast for restaurant owners who were not customers. This gave the food service company a natural opportunity to also provide a pricing comparison with the prospects’ current supplier and bid on their business while demonstrating the unique value they could provide.
Of course, you can only offer a service like this if you can provide your customers with accurate price forecasts. Just imagine how angry a customer would be if they removed a very popular item from the restaurant menu because of an expected price increase and the price increase never happened. Or worse, if they ordered 100 lbs. of salmon fillets because the price was going up and instead the price went down. Two or three big mistakes like this and you would have an ex-customer.
Start with your core competencies. In the case of this food service company, they knew the future pricing because they purchased with long-term contracts. There was no risk that they would get the future price of salmon wrong, for example, because they already owned the salmon at a set price. All they needed to do was communicate this information to their customers who purchased salmon accurately and in an easily usable manner.
Strategic Partnerships
Establishing strategic partnerships is an extremely effective sales growth strategy. Find a company that offers a complementary service or product. Then develop a strategic partnership so that you can support each other's sales and customer relationship efforts.
The most difficult challenge is to identify the right partner(s). The best strategic partnerships are between companies that have similar target customers but different customer bases. This enables the companies to immediately cross-sell to their partner's customers and can result in significant, short-term sales.
Sometimes the best way to set up a strategic partnership is to hire a third party to negotiate the deal on your behalf. A third party can bring expertise about how to set up a strategic partnership that will be effective, how to structure the deal and protect confidential information throughout the process. It also gives you the opportunity to let the third party be aggressive about terms and conditions without damaging your future relationship with the partner.
There are countless ways to set up strategic partnerships but there is one requirement for success – all of the partners must both be advantaged by the arrangement.
What are your experiences with partnerships and alliances?
Posted by Mansfield Sales Partners on Tue, Jul 06, 2010
War Stories
Think about the words often used to describe sales: battle plans, price wars, market conquest, and so on. We sit down over drinks and share "war stories". We discuss new market entries like we were getting ready to invade another country. But sometimes, we seem to forget who we are at war with.
Never go to war with your customers.
Never let your sales team go to war with each other.
Never lose site of the fact that you are trying to beat the competition.
Convert your customers into allies
Convince your customers that you are allies in their battles with their competition. That is a sure way to win their confidence and forge a long-term relationship.
Don't let sales competitions turn into battles
Sales competitions are a great way to motivate your sales team. But design the competitions so that you strengthen your sales team and avoid creating battles. The last thing you want is to have an internal war zone where your own sales reps are working to derail the co-workers' sales success.
Focus your resources on winning the real war
The real war is with your competition. Build your plan carefully so that you don't just win a few battles but you win the war. Work to focus your entire organization on executing with precision so that you win.
Most importantly, use powerful sales tactics with care.
For example, do not engage in a price war you cannot afford. Once you fire the first shot in a price war, it is very hard to retreat and almost impossible for your competition not to respond. And if your competition tries to engage in a price war, spend some time determining if you really need or want to follow suit. Sometimes it really is better to lose a battle in order to win the war.
What are your favorite war stories from your sales strategy?
Photo Credit: PhilipC
Posted by Mansfield Sales Partners on Thu, Jul 01, 2010
In the majority of companies, from large multi-national firms to smaller high-growth companies, strict attention is paid to operational efficiency but little or no attention is paid to sales process optimization. Designing an efficient, effective sales process is an essential step in accelerating growth with a strategic approach to sales.
Most companies take a tactical approach to sales. The sales force is focused on acquiring another new client and getting the next reorder. They are playing a numbers game, but they often they do not hit the target. The big question then is, "Why aren't we hitting the sales goal?" The most common answer from internal experts and consultants is usually "low sales force productivity." And the solutions often include increased investment in lead generation, sales force automation software upgrades and additional price concessions.
The real problem is often quite different – the sales force, marketing and customer service are usually disconnected and the company's message is confused. The most effective solution is to move from disconnected, tactical efforts to a strategic sales process. Although this transition can be accomplished by a company's management team, a successful transition to a strategic selling organization usually requires an external consultant to facilitate the process and provide an objective, outside perspective – to challenge the status quo. The goal of establishing a strategic sales process is simple: get everyone on the same page and align all the efforts in the same direction. Like many simple goals, this is one that is easy to set but a difficult to achieve.
A step by step process
- The first step in taking a strategic approach to sales is to clearly define what the company stands for and how it should be presented to prospects, customers and employees – a formal mission statement. If this mission is created through a collaborative process then formalized, you have the best shot of having everyone understand and support it.
- Once you have a clear mission, move on to the value proposition. What can you offer to customers and prospects that will differentiate your company from the competition?
- Now define the target market so that the marketing department and sales support vendors can align your lead generation program to focus on this key target market. Many companies have found that carefully targeted lead generation programs are the most effective way to improve sales force productivity, increase close rates, increase sales revenue per customer and measurably increase sales revenues.
With a mission, value proposition and target market defined, your management team can get the advertising, sales presentations and service support to all communicate a clear, unified message to your prospects and customers.
Sales Process Review
Finally, examine all of your sales processes. Do all of your employees have easy access to the right information to make sure that key prospects become customers and customers prefer to do business with your company? Are your sales processes lean, fast and efficient? Is there a feedback system in place so the senior management team rapidly knows about issues and opportunities for growth? Which sales functions can be done more efficiently and effectively if outsourced and which are best done by internal staff?
There is no standardized template for sales process design and your company's sales processes will be as unique as your employees, your product and service offering, and your customers. But there are some basic principles:
- Abandon the concept of "big quick wins." Look for opportunities to make small, but meaningful changes. Small improvements made in a number of areas across the sales cycle will add up quickly and yield big results.
- No two organizations have the same requirements, the same challenges or the same assets. Take a cold, hard look at your organization to identify the real strengths and weaknesses. Then build on your strengths and take actions to minimize the weaknesses.
- Work to build and maintain shared ownership of the goals and tasks across your organization.
These are just a few of the observations we have made working with our clients. If you have any questions about your sales process, please contact us.
Posted by Mansfield Sales Partners on Wed, Jun 23, 2010
It’s a competitive world and it’s getting harder and harder to break through all the clutter and reach new prospects in the sales process. Market leaders don’t just do more than their competition – they rewrite the rules. And one way to rewrite the rules, is to become an information resource for your clients.
Companies know that in order to succeed they need to develop a sales strategy that sets them apart from the competition. In the past, a company could increase revenue just by adding more reps, leads, phone calls, emails, letters and meetings. But now it is essential to increase the effectiveness of every customer contact – and one way to do that is to build a relationship with every target customer.
You can increase the effectiveness of every target prospect or customer contact by making your company’s sales contacts valuable to your highest-value target prospects. One very effective strategy is to include useful information in the sales pitch. Add a white paper, case histories and other material that will help your clients do a better job and be more successful.
One CEO instituted a very simple program to support his company's entry into a new market. He received a market research report from his Marketing Department about a high-value emerging market along with a recommendation that the company enter this market. The research report identified key sector trends, challenges and successful business strategies in this industrial sector. The report was intended for his company's internal use to help quantify the size of the opportunity, justify investment in the new market entry, and to help marketing create relevant collateral and sales material. The research report was carefully circulated to key executives and marked: "Confidential – not for distribution."
After the CEO read the market research report, he asked his sales team to use the data to create a white paper on trends and challenges in this industrial sector. The VP of Marketing was at first concerned about releasing all of this valuable information, but very quickly understood the concept and prepared the report. The sales team then offered this report to key prospects and clients. They also worked with the Marketing Department to put together a trend presentation and offered an on-site presentation to the most valuable prospects. The creation of this report and presentation not only created new high-value relationship marketing opportunities; it also established the company as a credible expert in a new sector.
One simple idea helped this company move from being just another player in a sea of competitors to a highly valued partner for their key prospects and new customers. The trend presentation became a relationship-building opportunity that allowed them to get to know their key prospects and understand their customers' needs and business challenges in an intimate way.
How to Create Content that has Real Value:
- The information offered must be current, accurate and insightful – and it should be new information to your key prospects.
- Make sure the report, presentation or white paper is professionally written and presented.
- Keep it exclusive and only offer it to key qualified prospects and clients. Do not offer it to anyone who will give provide an email address on your website. You can create less information-intensive whitepapers for free download to the general public.
- Design the report so that it is proprietary and difficult for your competitors to replicate quickly.
- Plan for follow-up communication in advance so you are ready to build on this opportunity and continue the dialog with new prospects and new customers.
By being a value-added information resource for your prospective clients, you build a stronger relationship with them and show that you have much more to offer than a sales pitch.
We can offer you advice and help you with your sales processes. Contact us for more information.