Sales and Sales Management Blog

October 29, 2010

Guest Article: “The Biggest Goof Sellers Make When Dealing with Hot Prospects,” by Jill Konrath

Filed under: Closing Sales,Handling Prospect,Qualifying Prospects — Paul McCord @ 8:19 am
Tags: , ,

The Biggest Goof Sellers Make When Dealing with Hot Prospects
By Jill Konrath

I dream of hot prospects who call me up and say, “We’ve heard good things about your company. We want to make a decision quickly. We’re hoping you can help us out.”

Occasionally my sales fantasies turn into realities. When it happens, it’s so easy to be seduced by this low-handing fruit. Outwardly, I try to appear calm, cool and collected – a true professional. But inside, every inch of my body wants to scream out, “Take me! Take me!”

Okay. I’m being a bit dramatic here, but I really want to make my point.

It’s so easy to be tempted by these opportunities. And when you yield to this temptation, you make fatal mistakes—ones that can totally derail your sales efforts and cause you to lose the business.

True, But Embarrassing Story

Let me give you a personal example, to show you how easy it is to get caught up in this seduction.

A few years ago, my primary business focus was working with large corporations in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area when they were launching new products. My expertise? Helping them shorten time to revenue on new product introductions.

I’d just launched SellingtoBigCompanies.com to help small businesses gain access to my expertise. It was my new baby. I’d invested tons of time and lots of love to get it up and running.

When the phone rang that day, I answered absentmindedly. But when the caller announced that he was from Southwest Airlines, I snapped to attention. He’d been all over my new Web site, was very impressed, and also very interested in my training programs.

The airline was going to be putting its salespeople through training in the not-too-distant future and was evaluating its options. When I asked who else he was looking at, I was delighted to be included with the industry biggies.

Mr. Southwest had dozens of questions about my content, delivery models, remote training options, learning reinforcement and more. I answered every single one of them in glorious detail.

When he requested a proposal, I asked, “How soon?” When he answered that he wanted it in two days, I quickly agreed.

The proposal I sent to him via e-mail covered everything we had talked about in our conversation, plus a full range of pricing options. It was a masterpiece. I had high hopes that this opportunity would take my business to a whole new level.

I never heard from Mr. Southwest again. Even though I contacted him many times, he never called back.

Lesson Learned

It was my own fault. I mistakenly let my own eagerness to land this marquis customer outweigh my common sense.

The truth is I really needed the business at that time. After spending many months and lots of money to create SellingtoBigCompanies.com, I was running short on cash. I should have known better, but I was seduced by the opportunity.

In retrospect, I failed to find out if Mr. Southwest was just exploring his options or actually in the final stages of decision making. It’s highly likely he was just doing the former.

Had I known that, I would never have written a detailed proposal. Instead, I would have focused on helping him determine the business value of making a change. I would have used my expertise to help him sell the concept internally and establish decision criteria favorable to my solution.

Over and over again, I see other sellers make similar mistakes when they have a hot prospect on the line. Like me, they expound on their capabilities and benefits. They willingly provide detailed information and do tons of extra work to create proposals or presentations—anything the prospects want.

While that puts you into the “nice” seller category, it’s not a good business decision to invest tons of time and effort to land a fantasy customer. Nor does it help your prospects make the best decision for their organization.

If Mr. Southwest was actually deciding in a couple days, I should have addressed the fact that I was a small boutique firm that didn’t compete head-on with the larger companies he was looking at.

Doing business with me would have been risky. I knew that. But I didn’t want to bring it up; I was hoping he wouldn’t notice!

I was so blinded by the opportunity that I was willing to do anything that he asked. It was delusional on my part. Wishful thinking. Hopeful. When we feel this seduction, we need to remind ourselves that “hope is not a strategy.”

While hot prospects may hold the promise of big paychecks, there’s often much that still needs to be determine if it’s a good fit for your company.

Don’t be overeager. Instead be ruthlessly realistic. Detach from the fantasy and assess your true chances. Bring up the tough questions. .

Why? Because it’s the right thing to do for both you and your prospect.

Jill Konrath, sales strategist and bestselling author of Selling to Big Companies and SNAP Selling, is a frequent speaker at annual sales meetings, kick-off events and professional conferences. Visit her website

July 12, 2010

Guest Article: “Creating Stronger Value Propositions,” by Jill Konrath

Filed under: marketing,prospecting,sales,selling — Paul McCord @ 12:36 pm
Tags: ,

Creating Stronger Value Propositions
by Jill Konrath

In order to get customers to consider changing from the status quo, you have to give them a good reason. A really good reason. They need to know about the tangible business results they’ll get from using your product or service.

One of best ways to waken a prospective customer out of their “everything is okay” slumber is to “jolt” them with a statement about the significant difference your offering can make. And the bigger the jolt, the better.

That means you can’t just say, “We help you increase sales” or “With our products your service costs go down.”

You need to be explicit. Metrics are a must.

  • How much did sales go up?
  • What kind of savings were realized?
  • How much did you lower the cost of goods sold?
  • What was the financial impact of the time saving?

And be exact. Customers don’t believe rounded numbers any more. Don’t say you doubled sales. Say they increased by 114% in 5.33 months. The more specific your number, the higher its credibility.

Some of you are probably panicking by now. No statistics, right?

Well, you’re not alone. Sometimes it’s difficult to measure one’s impact. Sometimes customers hate tracking things. Sometimes what you’re doing is so new that no one has numbers. Sometimes your marketing department gives you nothing to work from.

But don’t let that stop you! Here are 3 ideas you can use to create stronger value propositions – complete with metrics.

1. Use Industry Statistics
For many sellers, this strategy is the perfect fix for their lack of metrics. Leverage the research that someone else has already done.

I frequently tell prospects that “Research shows that over 75% of executives at companies whose new products failed to achieve their objectives blamed poor value propositions as the root cause.”

How about this one if your company helps others be more creative: “A recent survey of 669 executives from global companies found that fewer than 25% of them felt that their innovative performance was where it needed to be for success in hypercompetitive markets.”

Keep your eyes open for relevant metrics. Rest assured, you will have a 99.97% chance of finding statistics that support your sales efforts.

2. Extend Existing Business Statistics
So many companies today are already involved in tracking things within their organization. If their company is involved in Six Sigma or other quality-type initiatives, measurement is an integral part of their operations.

Your job is to uncover the existing metrics. That means you need to ask about what they track and how they measure results. Since this tracking is ongoing, you will be able to see the impact of your product or service on their business.

My friend Rita does executive coaching, team building and helps clients with tough situations where people aren’t working together well at all. In her work with a manufacturing company, she was able to see her impact by comparing the before & after metrics that the customer was already tracking. Specifically, she helped them realize the following:

  • 31% increase in productivity.
  • 12% decrease in scrap/unit.
  • 37% drop in labor/unit.

Those statistics really strengthen her value proposition and make it much more enticing to decision makers.

3. Engage New Customers in Measurement
That’s right! You can ask your customers to create a benchmark. If you’re confident that your product or service will deliver positive business results, get them to measure the success they’re getting.

Some customers really like to do this. They want to see if their investment in your offering truly did make a difference. And if it did, believe me, they will be telling everyone in the company about their great decision making!

You want people talking about you like this. So give them an opportunity and ask them to participate in a benchmark. It may take guts on your part since you’ll really have to prove your value. But it will be worth it!

Once you get those positive, business-impacting metrics your value proposition will be so much stronger. In fact, it will be just what you need to get your foot in the door of a whole slew of new prospects.

Finally, if you’re still having problems getting metrics after all these suggestions, then I have one last piece of advice for you: Speak the language of business.

Forget that your product or service even exists. Just talk about the impact it has on clients. Tell a “before and after story” painting a picture of the difficulties customers experienced before using your product/service and what they achieved as a result.

Jill Konrath, sales strategist and bestselling author of Selling to Big Companies and SNAP Selling, is a frequent speaker at annual sales meetings, kick-off events and professional conferences. Visit her website

June 15, 2010

Need help reaching today’s frazzled prospects?

Filed under: Book Recommendations,prospecting — Paul McCord @ 9:16 am
Tags: , , ,

One of the toughest challenges you face right now is dealing with crazy-busy prospects. They rarely answer the phone or respond to your emails. They’d rather stay with the status quo than change. And they’re always getting distracted.

When people have too much to do and impossible deadlines, it changes how they make decisions. And, it changes their expectations of you too.

My good friend, Jill Konrath, author of the classic “Selling to Big Companies,” just released her new book, “SNAP Selling: Speed Up Sales and Win More Business with Today’s Frazzled Customers.”

I highly recommend it. Jill knows how to capture and keep the attention of hard-to-reach prospects. And, she shows you how to help people make decisions a whole lot faster too.

To learn more about SNAP Selling & to download two chapters, just click here: http://www.SnapSelling.com.

You’ll also be able to download some cool new sales tools from Jill – no strings attached. Again, click on http://www.SnapSelling.com right away.

February 19, 2010

Guest Article: “The Seduction of Low-Hanging Fruit,” by Jill Konrath

Filed under: Closing Sales,prospecting,Qualifying Prospects,Sales Failure,Sales Process,selling,time management — Paul McCord @ 10:06 am
Tags: , , , , ,

The Seduction of Low-Hanging Fruit
by Jill Konrath

I remember the first time it happened. It was on a Thursday, about 4 pm, and I was worn-out after a day of cold calling. I hadn’t uncovered even one viable prospect. Enough was enough! Time to go back to the office and do some paperwork.

When the phone rang, I answered it tiredly. But by the time I hung up I was a new person. I had just talked to one hot prospect!

Her company was BUYING! Not just looking – BUYING! They needed several new systems to handle their growth. And they wanted to make a decision quickly.

“Can we come in for a demonstration,” she asked.

How could I refuse! They came in the following Monday and we spent about two hours together. We discussed their needs and I showed them several possible options. Things seemed to go really well. In parting, they asked me to call back early the next week.

Tuesday morning I left a message. Wednesday and Friday too. My calls were never returned. It wasn’t till a week later that I finally got my prospect on the phone. She thanked me for my hard work, fast service and excellent demonstration. Then, very apologetically, she told me they’d selected another vendor.

I asked “Why,” but her answer was evasive and focused on minor details. Of course, price was thrown in too – as it always is when you lose.

I’m embarrassed to tell you that this happened to me more than once. And sometimes I invested an inordinate amount of time and effort in those so-called “hot prospects.” I coordinated elaborate meetings and prepared detailed proposals. I even rearranged meetings with prospective customers who weren’t quite ready to move ahead.

Can you guess what happened? That’s right. I almost always lost the business.

Lest you think I’m not too smart, it didn’t take me too long to figure out something was wrong. My proposals, presentations and demos were fundamentally sound, so it had to be something else. But what … When I talked to the more seasoned sellers, I was cautioned on wasting my time with ‘low-hanging fruit” – in other words, companies who are ripe to buy.

They told me that many of these prospects already have made their decision, but are checking the market for two reasons: 1) To prove to higher-ups they did a thorough investigation, or 2) To leverage competitive offers to reduce their preferred vendor’s pricing.

Yikes! That explained a lot of things. Naively, I had assumed that I had a fair shot at every deal.

Learning how to ferret out those opportunities where it was worthwhile to pursue low-hanging fruit was hard. I had to be much more straightforward than I was used to being and ask questions that made me uncomfortable. But by doing this, I saved myself lots of hard work. And, I had more time to spend on prospects where I could win.

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

It’s not only individuals who are seduced by low-hanging fruit. Sometimes whole companies are sucked into these ‘get-rich-quick’ schemes.

Several years ago one of my clients introduced a new product targeted at a highly profitable niche owned by their competitor. They were late to this market and, in essence, their product was a higher-priced copycat with enhanced capabilities.

In the months preceding the launch, sales reps continually fed marketing stories about all the money being left on the table because the new product wasn’t ready. They told marketing about all the prospects who called wanting to know when their new system would be available. Everyone was drooling. So many buyers, so little time.

Their entire launch plan focused on the low-hanging fruit. Sales reps, armed with proposal templates and PowerPoint presentations highlighting competitive strengths, were chartered to go after companies on their “Hot Prospects List.”

Hard as I tried, I couldn’t convince them of the folly of this decision. The seduction was complete.

So what happened? In the six months immediately after the launch, very few systems were sold. Their only orders came from existing customers where reps had strong, long-term relationships with key decision makers. Within two years the company quietly exited this market niche because it was too costly to penetrate.

The lure of low-hanging fruit never completely goes away. The chance to make easy money is just too seductive.

I still have to caution myself when I encounter these opportunities. The worst thing about them is the wasted time that could have spent with prospects where my chances of winning were much higher.

Lessons Learned

1. In most cases, you can’t get into a sales process late and expect to win. If your competitor already has a strong relationship with the customer, they’re in the driver’s seat. They’ve likely already established decision criteria that only their company can meet.

2. Be willing to ask tough questions. If your new prospect is ready to buy, make sure you ask them:

- Who else are you looking at?

- Has your company done business with these companies before?

- Why would you consider switching?

If your prospects express strong dissatisfaction with a competitor, you might have a real opportunity. But if they’re just looking around, be wary of investing too much of your time and company’s resources trying to get the business.

3. Your best prospects will be those companies where you already have an established relationship OR where you get in early, before customers are making a decision. In the latter case, by uncovering and developing account needs, you’ll build the strong relationship you need to win the order when they’re ready to make a change.

Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big  Companies, is a recognized sales strategist in the highly competitive business-to-business  market. A popular speaker at sales meetings, she helps her clients crack into  corporate accounts, speed up their sales cycle and generate demand for their offering.  Visit her website http://www.sellingtobigcompanies.com

June 2, 2009

Boost Your Sales Series: “Are You Losing Them at Hello?” by Jill Konrath

Filed under: cold calling,Communication,prospecting,sales,selling,small business — Paul McCord @ 5:51 am
Tags: , , , ,

We welcome Jill Konrath as our guest expert today.  If you use the phone to generate business, don’t miss this article–and take what Jill says to heart.  It will garner you more business.

Tomorrow Trish Bertuzzi is up with “Prospecting Baseball.”

This summer you’ll be exposedto 52 of the top sales and management experts in the world addressing issues that can immediately change you or your sales team’s success.

Come back every weekday–or better yet, save the Sales and Sales Management Blog in your RSS Reader.

————————————————————————————————————————————————

Are You Losing Them at Hello?
By Jill Konrath

In the movie Jerry Maguire, when Tom Cruise is in the midst of his proposal to Dorothy, she stops him with, “You had me at hello.” Every seller dreams of hearing those exact same words when they approach corporate decision makers.

Unfortunately, the opposite usually occurs. Instead of capturing their prospect’s attention, most sellers create resistance with their opening remarks and blow the opportunity.

                    Why do bad things like that happen to good people?
                    In short, weak value propositions.

If you’re running into trouble cracking into corporate accounts, most likely the root cause is your failure to clearly articulate the business outcomes that customers realize from using your products, services or solutions.

A couple weeks ago, I did a new exercise while training a group of sellers. In small groups, they rated common value propositions that sellers could use when prospecting for new customers.

Using a 1-10 (tops) scale, they evaluated value propositions such as these on their effectiveness in initiating change from the status quo: 

____    We offer one-stop shopping for all your (fill in the blank) needs.

____    We’re the industry leader in (fill in the blank) and have been recognized for our exceptional (fill in the blank).

____    We specialize in (fill in the blank) and work with well-known clients such as Microsoft, Best Buy and Kraft.

After serious discussion amongst the sellers, these value propositions received scores between 4-6. Their rationale? They were nice benefit statements about the company, but not quite as punchy as they could have been.

Since my book, Selling to Big Companies, was required reading prior to the session, I assumed these sellers would ace this exercise. Not so! In fact, they were way off.

                         The truth is that all the above value propositions really deserve a
                         score of one.  Not four. Not six. Just a measly score of one.

“C’mon, Jill,” you might be saying. “How can that be? They’re not horrible statements. They’re nice.”

Yes, they are nice. I’ll give you that. But they’re grossly ineffective and that’s why they rated so poorly.

Capturing the Decision Maker’s Attention
While those commonly used value propositions listed above might be important at some point in the decision process, they’re totally and utterly worthless when prospecting.

When it comes to capturing a decision maker’s attention, here’s what you need to think about:

  • Strong value propositions pique curiosity and entice. When prospects hear them, they want to learn more.
  • Strong value propositions create a stark contrast from the status quo. When prospects hear them, they’re willing to consider making a change.

Consider this: If you were on the other end of the phone and a seller called with this message, what would your impression be?

                          “Eric. Jill Konrath calling from Selling to Big Companies. We offer one-
                           stop shopping for all your sales training needs – everything from lead
                          generation to closing. We use state-of-the-art methodologies to
                          ensure our training sticks.”

Does it entice you? Not one iota. Does it get you to consider switching sales training vendors? Not likely. Does it make you want to invest lots of money that’s currently allocated elsewhere? Not on your life.

Statements about your company and what it does are NOT value propositions. Period. They are not value propositions.

                                   If you want to get decision makers “at hello”, you need to clearly
                                   articulate the results the customers can expect from using your
                                   product, service or solution. That’s results, spelled R-E-S-U-L-T-S.

For example, a few months ago I trained the national accounts team of a well-known media company. All sellers identified one large corporate client with whom they wanted to set up a meeting.

                                   As a result of the workshop, 87% of the sales force landed an 
                                   appointment with their targeted account.

Those outcomes are unheard of in my business. Virtually every Vice President of Sales will want to learn more.

That’s the power of a strong value proposition. Even decision makers who weren’t considering a change will think it’s worth their time to find out about the sellers offering.

If you really want to “get them at hello,” then make sure you:

Talk results.
Decision makers don’t care about your products or services. They only care about the results they’ll see. Stress that and you’ll catch their attention. Omit those results and you’ve lost them.

Get real.
Refer to actual client successes and include measures or statistics. Success stories from other companies in their industry are especially compelling. By giving specific examples, you really pique their curiosity.

Test your message.
After you’ve planned what to say, ask, “If I were the decision maker, would this message entice me? Would it make me want to spend an hour of my valuable time with this person?”

If your answer isn’t a resounding yes, rework and revise your message till it is enticing. Don’t leave it to chance. Don’t hope that it will work. Your job is to make it so compelling that your decision makers “get it at hello.”

 

Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies, helps sellers crack into corporate accounts and win big contracts. She’s a popular speaker at annual sales meetings, professional conferences and industry events.

For more articles like this, visit www.SellingtoBigCompanies.com. Sign up for the newsletter and get a BONUS Sales Call Planning Guide.

August 25, 2008

Sales Shebang Conference–Jill Konrath Gives the Details

Filed under: career development,sales,Sales Resources,sales training,selling — Paul McCord @ 7:03 am
Tags: , , , , ,

Jill Konrath, the founder of the Sales Shebang, the top annual conference geared specifically to helping women business-to-business salespeople get the skills and support they need to succeed, gives a glimpse of the upcoming conference.

Even better, go to the official Sales Shebang website, get the facts and register. You can also register for some upcoming free preview calls with some of the conference presenters that will not only give you a taste of what will happen at the conference but will also give you some ideas you can immediately implement in your sales business.

And, yes, men can attend also.

jill-konrath discusses the Sales Shebang Conference

NOTE: Sorry, Jill’s phone had some static in the background–hopefully it won’t be too distracting.

July 27, 2008

Guest Article, “5 Things Salespeople Really Need From Marketing,” by Jill Konrath

Filed under: marketing,sales,selling — Paul McCord @ 7:23 am
Tags: , , ,

5 Things Salespeople Really Need From Marketing
By Jill Konrath

New products and services are the lifeblood of organizations. The sales force eagerly awaits their arrival, hoping for a short-term competitive edge in a cut-throat market. Yet most new products fail to achieve the desired results in the vital first months after their introduction. When launching new products or services, here are five things Marketing can do to ensure the sales force is successful.

1. Provide a Strong Value Proposition
Weak value propositions are a leading cause of new product failures. Customers don’t buy phrases such as increased productivity, more robust or reduced cost. Quantification of the value gained is essential in today’s market. Be explicit. How much money is saved? What additional efficiencies are gained? What is the financial pay-off of getting a product to market two months sooner? Specificity sells. Use beta tests to learn this information – and then make sure to write it up in case studies.

2. Deliver Insightful Competitive Information
Salespeople need much more than a features comparison to be successful. They need to understand the competitor’s go-to-market strategy, their financial condition and any other newsworthy information. They want to know how their peers “won” the business when up against the primary competitors and the selling strategy their competitors employed. They need to know about losses too. Don’t just deliver competitive info at launch time – provide it for 3-6 months after you’ve introduced your new offering.

3. Create Diagnostic Sales Tools
Research into product launches shows that sellers are much more likely to “pitch” then than at any other time. Providing diagnostic assessment tools to salespeople helps them uncover customer problems and understand the related issues more deeply. The audit process itself builds the relationship and keeps the focus where it belongs – on your customer, not your product or service.

4. Develop Proposal/Presentation Templates
Preparing customizable proposal and presentation templates for your salespeople at launch time is an invaluable gift. For many sellers, creating these documents is takes an inordinate amount of time and quality is often mediocre. Additionally, if these templates are totally focused around customer’s needs, you can help salespeople be more effective. Plus, you ensure the consistency of your message.

5. Facilitate “How-to-Sell” Training
Most launch meetings are totally centered around the new offering – its capabilities, ordering processes, support. Certainly this info is needed, but don’t let salespeople leave the kick-off meeting yet. Facilitate discussions around how customers do things without your offering. Explore the difficulties caused by the current method and the business impact of these problems. Talk about positioning, questions they should ask and the logical next steps in the sales process. Salespeople desperately need this type of training before they make calls.

Successful new product introductions require Sales and Marketing to work together prior to launch. Involve top sellers into beta site interviews to strengthen your value proposition. Get their input on what to include in diagnostic tools, the best structure for your templates and defining good selling processes. Invite all salespeople to contribute competitive information and quickly disseminate it to others.

This is what salespeople really need from Marketing. It’s what makes all the difference between a new product’s smashing success or its descent into obscurity. Take the extra time to do it right and reap the benefits.

Jill Konrath is the author of Selling to Big Companies and  Chief Sales Officer of Selling to Big Companies (www.sellingtobigcompanies.com).  Jill is the author of hundreds of articles on selling, a popular speaker, and the founder of Sales Shebang (www.salesshebang.com), an annual conference designed to help women sellers succeed.

June 25, 2008

Guest Article: “How to Develop Credibility–When You’re Not Credible,” by Jill Konrath

Filed under: business,marketing,sales,selling,small business — Paul McCord @ 6:23 am
Tags: , , , ,

How to Develop Credibility – When You’re Not Credible
By Jill Konrath

What are the main issues you face when you target new vertical markets where you don’t  have any experience in that area. Also, how do you overcome these problems?

I get asked those questions frequently. But usually it’s after the decision has already been made and the poor salespeople are struggling to gain a foothold in the new vertical market.

If you’re considering moving your company in a new business direction, here are my suggestions:

New Your biggest issue will be credibility. Corporate decision makers don’t want to be your first client in a vertical market. They don’t want to have to educate you since it takes up their precious time.

Even though you’re a good company, they know that your lack of experience could lead to time-consuming and costly errors. They don’t want to risk this happening.

1. Move into the market slowly.
Don’t bet your company on success in the new vertical. Study the industry. Learn their terminology. Know their competitors. Double check for “fit”. I’ve seen way to many companies leap into new markets because they sense greater opportunity there than in their current market space.

2. Define the business case.
Uncover how they’re currently handling things related to your offering. What are the common status quo scenarios? What business objectives will they have difficulty achieving unless they change the status quo? What are the financial ramifications of these? Then define the value they’ll get from changing to your product/service.

Potential clients need to hear a strong value proposition that clearly articulates the business outcomes they’ll realize by using your offering. Use business terminology, not techie talk.

3. Create linkage.
If possible, try to create a link between your current customer base and your new one. If all your clients are schools and now you want to move to theme parks, you need to be able to clearly articulate why it’s relevant.

As an example, last week I had lunch with a good friend who spent over 20 years in marketing with a large accounting firm. She was laid off a while back. Now she wants to work with technology companies.

After analyzing both industries, combined with her experience we realized that her expertise was in helping company’s implement strategic changes in their marketing. That positioning makes sense to potential decision makers – and minimizes the “you don’t have any experience with companies like mine” objection.

4. Pursue smaller opportunities first.
This significantly reduces the decision maker’s perceived risk in moving ahead with a new player in the market. Then, make sure you do a superb job on delivering on what you promised. After that, pursue additional opportunities within the account to expand your footprint.

5. Train your salespeople on all the above.
Without this knowledge, they will flop. That I can guaranteed 100%. Ultimately these people have to make it happen. Don’t send them into the field with some worthless PowerPoints explaining your technology in excruciating detail. They need to be able to have intelligent business conversation with decision makers.

6. Create field-ready sales tools.
Focus especially on the early stages of the sales cycle. Your sales reps are going to have a tough time setting up meetings. Show them how to integrate their value proposition into phone calls, voicemails and emails.

Give them relevant white papers and case studies that are closely aligned with this new market segment. They must be able to show your company’s expertise to customers, so this is a necessity – even if you’re moving to a new market.

Create a “question matrix” that outlines what they should be looking for on calls and the questions they should ask to uncover this information. Develop customer-focused PowerPoints to use on follow-up meetings.

7. Pray!
It takes a lot of hard work to succeed in a new marketing segment. Implement the above suggestions and your chances of success increase. Rush blindly ahead and you’ll most likely waste tons of money, put your firm in financial distress, frustrate your sales force and create incredible internal animosity.

Jill Konrath is the author of Selling to Big Companies, a sales trainer and speaker.  She helps sellers crack into corporate accounts, speed up their sales cycle and achieve their revenue growth goals.  Visit her website at www.sellingtobigcompanies.com

April 30, 2008

Yes, You Can Make Linkedin Work for You

Filed under: lead generation,marketing,Networking,prospecting,sales,Sales Resources,selling — Paul McCord @ 6:32 am
Tags: , , , ,

Do you have your profile on Linkedin? If so, have you been actively using it to help you grow your business? Have you figured out HOW to use it? Is it even worth the time and effort?

Although it is the granddaddy of business social networks, a great many who have posted their profiles haven’t used it to its fullest potential; certainly, I’m one. Spending time on the site trying to discover its potential hasn’t been a priority for me as it hasn’t for many others.

Like most, I’ve posted a bland profile, get an occasional request to connect, and visit it once in a blue moon. I, like most, invest little or no time and then wonder why it doesn’t help my business.

If you’re like me—and chances are you are, then I recommend you read a new free ebook, Can Linkedin Increase Your Sales?, written by my friend Jill Konrath. Jill has just released the ebook and—shock of shocks—is giving it away free and you don’t have to sign up for anything—just download it.

That in itself is unheard of.

But the best part is the book is good—unlike so many free ebooks that are all hype and designed to do nothing but sell another product or service, this ebook gives real advice and real strategies to help you generate business on Linkedin.

Don’t belong to Linkedin but belong to another business social network? Get the book. Many of the strategies can be transferred to any social networking site.

March 9, 2008

Guest Article: “Winnng the Battle of Commoditization,” by Jill Konrath

Filed under: marketing,Personal Marketing,sales,selling — Paul McCord @ 6:29 am
Tags: , , , , , ,

Winning the Battle of Commoditization
By Jill Konrath

The other day I met with executives from two very different businesses. One firm sold products that cost a couple thousand dollars; the other sold services costing hundreds of thousands annually.

Yet both had one thing in common – in today’s marketplace, their clients view them as commodities. Differentiation is difficult because truthfully everyone is offering pretty much the same thing.

So what can you do in this situation? It’s a question most every organization is wrestling mightily with in today’s rapidly changing sales paradigm.

Some tell their reps to stress the company’s great service. Unfortunately, since that what everyone says these days, it’s pretty ineffective. Others tout their technological superiority. But customers don’t believe they’ll be the industry leader for long. Product/service bundling is another option, but ultimately it drives prices down so much that only low-cost providers survive.

“Added value” is another strategy companies are using in their misguided attempts to keep ahead of competitors. They have free analysis, free delivery, free testing, free advertising or free anything. But pretty soon the “freebies” become the norm and profitability declines even further. You can only give away so much.

If you’re like most sellers today, you’re looking behind every little nook and cranny to find that one single area of competitive differentiation that will set you or your company apart.

You may be begging your product development for something that can’t be immediately replicated by other firms. You may be screaming at your marketing for help in getting qualified leads in who are ready to buy your products.

Unfortunately, you’re looking for salvation in all the wrong places.

You see, there is a way to consistently stand out from the crowd … to become irresistible to prospective customers … to command premium pricing.

And you don’t have to wait for marketing or product development or anyone else to save you! Nor do you have to pray for the untimely demise of your biggest competitors.

* * *

You see, the answer isn’t “out there” somewhere. You can stop looking for the “missing link” that will eliminate the ongoing Battle of Commoditization.

Instead, go look in the mirror. The answer is YOU, the seller.

Absolutely no one can replicate you – your knowledge, your expertise, your problem-solving capability, your ability to create new options and solutions that didn’t exist before.

Don’t give me this baloney that you’re really selling software or services or some sort of trinkets. That’s old stuff! People can get that from anyone. They can go to e-lance and get a brochure or website designer for peanuts. They can go to e-bay to buy just about anything.

But they can’t buy your brain!

Just ask Mark from a storage equipment firm in New Jersey. He recently emailed me to tell me that he was using my suggested approach to get into big companies – and it was working like a charm. He was setting up appointments like crazy.

Curious to learn what he was doing, I contacted Mark – and met a real pro! His company sells all sorts of different types of filing systems. Everything he selles is available hundreds of places online. But Mark’s brain isn’t!

Several years back he was selling into the flavor and fragrance industry. They have thousands of teeny containers that need to be kept track of at all times. Rather than just selling these customers “storage stuff” he worked with them to develop software and laser pointers to keep tabs of these tiny samples. He figured out a way for these clients to process their orders that literally revolutionized their industry.

You see, he doesn’t think he’s selling storage equipment. He sees himself helping customers run their operation better. He throws his brain into their business challenges to come up with unique solutions that are unreplicable.

He doesn’t just add value – he creates it!

Another person who “gets it” is Tim from an experiential marketing firm in Austin, Texas. He realizes that it’s all too easy for his services to become a commodity. So he focuses on the “experience” of working with him and his firm. And what does this entail?

* A laser-focus on who he wants to work with.
* An immersion in their business which may extend for months.
* An immersion in their competitors, marketplace trends and more.

Using what he’s learned, he noodles over what his company can do to really make a difference. He thinks about it and plays with different concepts in his mind. When he finally meets with decision makers, he has an in-depth understanding of their problems and pains related to his offering. He has invaluable insights and ideas to offer which totally set him apart from his competitors.

Your personal expertise is what sets you apart today. Your ability to think for your customer is what makes you irresistible. Your creative genius in finding new solutions makes you indispensable.

Instead, focus on YOURSELF! Become the person that everyone wants to work with because you know so much that can help their business grow.

Become a “value creator.” When you do that, you’ll never fight the Battle of Commoditization again. End of story!

Copyright 2008, Jill Konrath.  Published on the Sales and Sales Management Blog with permission.

Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies, helps sellers get their foot in the door of large corporations, create demand and win profitable contracts. Get a free Sales Call Planning Guide ($19.95 value) when you sign up for the Selling to Big Companies e-newsletter. Just send an email with “subscribe in the subject line to jill@sellingtobigcompanies.com . For more info, visit http://www.SellingtoBigCompanies.com .

Paul McCord may be reached at pmccord@mccordandassociates.com

Next Page »

Theme: Rubric. Blog at WordPress.com. Fonts on this blog.

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 3,814 other followers