Sales and Sales Management Blog

April 11, 2011

Results of the 2011 Richardson/McCord Training Social Media in Marketing and Sales Survey

Filed under: business,lead generation,management,marketing,Personal Marketing,prospecting,sales,Sales 2.0,selling,small business — Paul McCord @ 9:07 am
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It has taken a bit of time and a lot of effort, but we finally have the 2011 Richardson/McCord Training Social Media in Marketing and Sales Survey results.

Some will be surprised, some won’t like the findings, and others will find they confirm what they suspected.

Two things stick out for me:

1.  Both salespeople and companies, whether they currently use social media or not, are struggling to figure out how to use it effectively. In fact, few—even those with sophisticated marketing departments investing time and effort into the process—have any real social media strategy.  Undoubtedly, this will be true for quite some time to come–and, of course, that means there are and will be thousands out looking to take your money to help you learn the hows of making Social Media work.  The lesson here: be extremely careful as there are many who know little more than how to construct a tweet who are anxious to take your money.

2.  To date, social media has been pretty useless in generating actual sales.  By far the most use salespeople and companies are getting from social media is in the area of prospecting–finding new prospects to contact using traditional means, not in making sales.  Again, this will probably be the case for a long, long time–it may always be the case.  Except for web-based sellers, few are realizing any real sales volume from their social media activities.  The lesson?  If you’re thinking you’re going to make easy money by spending time on social media and not having to do the hard work of prospecting, well, good luck with that thought.  On the other hand, if you’re not using social media to help identify and research prospects, you’re probably wasting a heck of a lot of time elsewhere.

Find out what else we discovered–it’s all in the survey.

I’ve decided to divert from the typical approach of requiring you to register to receive a sales oriented White Paper or making you subscribe to our newsletter.  Instead, I’m offering the report as a simple PDF download with the download link below.  I would encourage you, though, to either subscribe to the SELLING POWER Newsletter by simply shooting me an email at pmccord@mccordandassociates.com with the subject line “subscribe,” or clicking on the “Sign Me Up” button at the top of the sidebar to the right and subscribe to receive notification of new blog posts.  Subscription appreciated, not required.

If you have questions or anything needs a little more light put upon it, by all means, don’t hesitate to contact me.

Download social media survey

January 28, 2011

Trust on Decline Unless You’re Recognized as an Expert Study Finds

Filed under: marketing,Personal Marketing,Persuasion,sales,selling,small business,trust — Paul McCord @ 9:50 am
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Leanne Hoagland-Smith suggested I take a look at a very interesting post by Steve Rubel that draws attention to some recent research his company, Edelman, the largest PR firm in the world, has done in the area of trust.  His findings are most interesting for sellers and small business owners even though his real target is larger corporations engaged in constructing advertising and public relations campaigns.

One of the major findings is that there has been a decline in the number of people who trust in a person “just like myself.”  Rubel goes on to give his analysis: ”I believe the reason for this is that, as more of us join social networks, there’s been devaluation in the entire concept of ‘friendship.’”

Another finding was that trust of credentialed experts increased to 70%.  According to Rubel, “This is a trend that began last year. In addition, for the first time we looked at the credibility of technical specialists inside a company. Trust in this group is off the charts (64%). This hits home the need to identify those with expertise inside a company who can engage across different channels, many of which today are digital – or will be soon.”

Very important for us in sales, the study also found that in developed countries such as the US and the UK people need to hear a message as many as NINE times—and from multiple channels to effect behavior change.  Now this study was looking at media communication, but human nature doesn’t change—if it takes multiple hearings in multiple channels for marketers to change recipient behavior, it’s logical to assume the same is true when dealing directly with prospects and clients (one of the reasons historically we’ve had to we talk to them, give them collateral material, and make formal presentations to them—multiple hearings from multiple channels).  The key here is how many times the recipient had to hear the message before behavior changed.  Nine.  That’s a lot—and most of us probably give up on a prospect long before they’ve heard our message nine times.

You can get a mini-whitepaper of the study here.

December 27, 2010

Is Confusing Word of Mouth Marketing with Referral Marketing Costing You Business?

Filed under: marketing,prospecting,Referral Selling,small business,Word of Mouth Marketing — Paul McCord @ 12:30 pm
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Log on to almost any site that has a large and varied library of sales articles or head over to Amazon and scan the books that come up from a keyword search of “referrals” and you’ll find one of the most common—and innocently destructive—confusions in the discussion of prospecting methodologies: discussing word of mouth marketing in the same context as referral marketing.

From sellers to business owners to sales leaders to some of the biggest names in sales training and coaching, word of mouth marketing and referral selling are discussed as though that are just two aspects of the same prospecting methodology.  They aren’t.  They are very, very different, and understanding the difference is important if you want to maximize your word of mouth and/or referral marketing effectiveness.

Word of Mouth Marketing is PASSIVE.  In word of mouth marketing the object is to have someone, usually a client, recommend people they know call you if they have a need for your product or service.  Your recommender may or may not give the person they speak to one of your cards or your phone number, but at a minimum they will tell the other person your name and give them a brief idea of why they should speak with you—usually an idea of what you accomplished for them, how great your service was, or how competitive your price.

Other than possibly encouraging them to pass along your information—and maybe giving them a few of your business cards—you have no control.  You are relying on other people to create business for you.  You have to rely on your client to mention you to those they speak to who might need your products or service.  You then have to hope that the person they spoke to about you picks up the phone and gives you a call or to walks into your office.  Seldom do you even know that your client spoke to someone about you.

Word of mouth marketing works.  It certainly isn’t the most effective prospecting strategy, but it has its place in the prospecting toolkit of many sellers.

Referral Marketing is PROACTIVE.  Referral marketing is the exact opposite of word of mouth marketing.  Instead of waiting for someone else to generate prospects for you, referral marketing demands that you take control of the process, including doing the referral work for your client.

Traditionally referral marketing has been taught as a semi-proactive process; one where you were taught to ask a weak referral question such as, “Ms. Client, do you know anyone else that I might help?”  Or, “Mr. Client, who do you know that might benefit from my products or services?”

When you ask a weak referral question such as one of these, you’re still relying on your client to do your prospecting for you.  Although more proactive than word of mouth marketing, you still have little control over the result—you may or may not get a positive response to your question, and even when you get a positive response, it may not be a referral to a quality prospect.

However, if you’ll do the work for your client by doing some detective work to figure out who your client knows that you know you want to be referred to, and then instead of asking a general referral question, asking for the specific introduction to the person you know you want to be referred to that you know your client knows, you’ve taken total control of the referral process.  You’re no longer relying on your client to come up with a quality referral for you, nor are you relying on them maybe mentioning you to someone who might need your products or services.  Instead, you’re asking for a direct introduction to someone you KNOW you want to be referred to.  You know you’re getting a high quality referral.

It isn’t a possible.  It isn’t a maybe.  It isn’t a might. 

It isn’t a maybe they’ll take my phone call.  It isn’t a maybe I’ll get to talk to them.

It is a direct introduction to someone you know you want to be referred to.  You know it is a good referral.  You know it is a quality prospect.  You know you’ll get to talk to them. 

You’ve taken all the maybe’s out of the equation and have taken total control of the process.

Referral marketing is not only far more effective than word of mouth marketing, it is also a far more predictable prospect generation strategy.

OK, so there’s a difference.  What’s the big deal?

It’s a big deal to understand the difference because it means you can substantially increase your business by thoroughly understanding how each strategy works and then employing both in your sales business.

I’ve had a great many sellers and sales leaders tell me that they either currently use referral marketing aggressively or they tried referral marketing and it was a total flop.  Yet when I question them about what they’re doing or what they did that didn’t work I discover that they were using word of mouth marketing, not referral marketing. 

Lumping word of mouth marketing in with referral marketing is an innocent mistake–but one that is costing sellers business.  And although they are very different strategies, by engaging your clients and others in both a proactive and a passive prospect generation strategy, you can quickly and substantially increase your pipeline.  It simply takes understanding the difference between the two strategies than then learning how to maximize their utilization.

July 29, 2010

Book Review: The Psychology of Sales Call Reluctance: Earning What You’re Worth in Sales

Filed under: Book Reviews,business,career development,marketing,prospecting,sales,Sales Failure,selling,small business,success — Paul McCord @ 11:11 am
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Seldom do I review a book that has been on the market for years, much less decades.  But I ran across my old beat up copy of  The Psychology of Sales Call Reluctance: Earning What You’re Worth in Sales
and decided since the book was in such poor condition I’d order the newest edition.  After reading it again, I thought I’d do my small part to encourage as many sellers and sales leaders as possible to pick up a copy and set aside some time for some serious—and potentially highly productive—reading.

Authors George W. Dudley and Shannon L. Goodson are psychologists who have spent decades researching one of the key barriers to sales success—call reluctance.  The Psychology of Sales Call Reluctance: Earning What You’re Worth in Sales (Behavioral Sciences Research Press, Inc: 5th Edition 2007) is designed to help sellers and sales leaders recognize the issues that are keeping them from prospecting effectively and to overcome them. 

Dudley and Goodson argue that sales call reluctance isn’t as simple as the fear of rejection it is so often claimed to be, but instead can be any one or any combination of twelve different issues that prevent sellers from fully engaging in prospecting. 

After first dealing with the difference between true call reluctance and call reluctance impostors (things that may look like call reluctance but aren’t, such as low motivation or low goals), the authors get down to business by laying out in detail the twelve root causes of call reluctance. 

These prospecting killers are:

  1. Doomsayers those who over prepare for the worst case scenario
  2. Over-Preparer  spends time preparing to prospect, little time prospecting
  3. Hyper-Pro   in Texas we’d call them all hat, no cattle—spends all their time on the show of success, no time on becoming successful
  4. Stage Fright  avoid group presentations
  5. Role Rejection  buried guilt or shame about being a salesperson or self-promoter
  6. Yielder  hesitant to be seen as intrusive or forward
  7. Social Self-Consciousness  afraid to market to upscale prospects
  8. Separationist  resistant to selling and marketing to friends
  9. Emotionally Unemancipated  resistant to selling and marketing to family

10.  Referral Aversion  uncomfortable asking for referrals

11.  Telephobia fear of using the phone to connect with prospects

12.  Oppositional Reflex  a need for a great deal of approval but having very low self-esteem

Like a great many other sellers, I can spot myself in this list—my self-diagnosis is Over-Preparer and Role-Rejection (one of the role rejection issues the authors discuss is a seller’s discomfort with self-promotion as many sellers have been brought up to believe that self-promotion is unseemly and socially unacceptable).

Along with the description of the call reluctance issue, Dudley and Goodson include some self-diagnosis questions and typical work behaviors associated with the issue that will help you determine if you—or one of your sellers-is a victim of the particular prospecting killer.

The authors don’t leave you hanging.

Of course the book would be useless if it only diagnosed the illness without giving an appropriate and effective prescription to cure it. 

Dudley and Goodson lay out in detail six procedures (and a couple of minor ones) to counteract and correct the dozen call reluctance issues.   

Each discussion of a call reluctance issue is accompanied by a list of the countermeasures effective for treating it so you know what your illness is as well as the correct prescription to deal with it. 

A countermeasure is designed to change your thoughts, your feelings or your actions. Every call reluctance issue has multiple countermeasures–at least one countermeasure to deal with your thoughts and at least one to deal with your feelings, and almost all have a countermeasure to help change your actions.

Countermeasures are too complex to go into any detail here, but an idea of where the authors go with countermeasures can be gathered through some of the countermeasure’s names: Thought Realignment, Threat Desensitization, Thought Zapping, and Fear Inversion.

The Pros:

The Psychology of Sales Call Reluctance:

  • Presents a research based assessment of the causes of sales call reluctance
  • Provides detailed tested and proven prescriptions for dealing with the identified call reluctance issues
  • Helps distinguish between true call reluctance and those actions that appear to be call reluctance but aren’t

Unlike most sales trainers and consultants who claim to know the cause of call reluctance, Dudley and Goodson have moved well beyond the “fear of rejection” assumption and have provided sellers with a well researched discussion of its causes and cures.  That alone is worth every penny of the book’s cost.

More importantly, the proposed cures really seem to work, which is far more than can be said for the old “just do it” formula so often prescribed by motivational speakers.  A real, workable, effective solution makes the book priceless.

The Cons:

Unfortunately there are cons—both in style and execution.

Let’s take the less important style cons first:

1) The authors skewer sales trainers, psychologists, and motivational speakers for claiming they have ‘the answer.”  Dudley and Goodson are just as guilty if not more so since they make such an issue of beating their straw man sales trainers, psychologists and motivation speakers about the head and shoulders unmercifully. 

2) The authors try too hard to turn a semi-academic work into something more akin to literature.  They get far too carried away trying to make their similes and metaphors cute and unique that they are almost laughable.  Yes, a minor point, but one that after awhile becomes weary. 

Now to the far more important execution issue: the diagnosis and prescriptions are going to be very difficult for a great many sellers to handle on their own (not to mention that an even greater number of sellers will never make it through the tedious detail of the book).  Many, if not most, sellers will have to have someone to both guide them through the book and to hold them accountable for executing the prescriptions.  I think far more sellers will be successful using Dudley and Goodson’s research if they work in conjunction with their manger, a coach, or mentor. 

If you’re a seller, I encourage you to get a copy of the book, work through it, and then find someone—a manager or coach probably—to work with you to diagnose your call reluctance issues (if you have any) and then work through the countermeasures.

If you’re a sales leader, even more this book should not only be on your bookshelf, but should be in your hands—you just might find it solves many a vexing problem your sellers have had.

The Psychology of Sales Call Reluctance: Earning What You’re Worth in Sales

February 1, 2010

Networking That Really Works: A FREE Prospecting Webinar on Feb 18

Filed under: lead generation,marketing,Networking,Personal Marketing,sales,selling,small business — Paul McCord @ 9:34 am
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Are you spending time at the chamber networking event or the morning leads exchange group and finding you’re just wasting precious time and energy for no return at all?

Unless you’re an auto mechanic, a personal banker, sell cars, or are a dentist, the chamber event and the leads exchange group probably aren’t going to help you at all.  If you sell sophisticated products and services or high dollar items, more than likely you’re not going to be meeting great prospects or getting many quality leads at these venues.  The majority of people at the chamber event are other sellers looking for prospects and those at the networking breakfast typically can only refer to micro and small businesses or less than ideal consumer prospects.

So is networking out of the question?

Not at all.

You just have to network where you’re going to find a large number of quality prospects and create long-term relationships with them.

Join me on February 18 at 1PM Central for a FREE 1 hour webinar to learn how to make networking work.

You’ll Learn:

  • Where to spend your time networking
  • How networking demonstrates your integrity and trustworthiness
  • How networking builds your image and reputation as being an expert
  • How to work a room and guarantee after event meetings with prospects

This isn’t a come-on to sell products or coaching.  You’ll learn real strategies that produce results.

Limited Seating

Register HERE

November 16, 2009

The Last Thing Your Sales Team Needs is a Manager

Filed under: Leadership,management,management training,sales,Sales Management,selling,small business,team development — Paul McCord @ 9:20 am
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Does your sales team need someone to:

  • Monitor every activity in the sales office?
  • Be every salesperson’s best friend?
  • Close the deal for every team member?
  • Set sales goals designed to make them and their team look good?

Over my three decades in sales I’ve seen lots and lots of sales managers.  The vast majority fall into one of these four types:

The Hall Monitor

The Hall Monitor sees their job as one of chronicling activity, taking names, dispensing discipline, focusing on procedures, thinking those are the keys to generating results—or at least to keeping their job.

Hall monitors tend to be oriented to process, are organized, and have a strong sense of discipline.  All admirable characteristics—but they’re misguided.  The Hall Monitor makes a great bureaucrat, a lousy sales manager.  He’ll make sure everyone knows their place and that procedure is followed—at the cost of morale and sales. 

Although the Hall Monitor is focused on enforcing procedure on subordinates, she feels justified in fudging (lying) to upper management when completing reports.  She has no intent of letting her subordinates hold her down or put her job in jeopardy.  If numbers aren’t met, margins aren’t being held, or sales calls aren’t being made, she is fully capable of showing management why it isn’t her fault. 

The Visitor

The Visitor is going places—fast.  Their current assignment of managing the sales team is temporary—and the more temporary, the better.  Their key to moving is getting some numbers to catch the eye of management.

The Visitor cares about no one other than himself and that translates into demanding sales at all costs.  Price is never an obstacle—sell it no matter what.  His message to his team members is get out and get orders and don’t come back until you got ‘em.  His implied message to the sales team is “the quicker you get the numbers, the quicker you get rid of me.”

Need help?  Need advice?  Need coaching?  Don’t ask The Visitor because frankly, he doesn’t give a damn.  If it isn’t something that’s going to help him get the next promotion and get it NOW, forget it.

Have a suggestion or advice to give?  Don’t bother because The Visitor doesn’t care—doesn’t plan on being around long enough to implement it anyway.

The one thing you can count on from The Visitor is a sales goal he is sure he can easily obliterate.  Oh, yeah, management will see those numbers destroyed, guaranteed.

The Good Buddy

The Good Buddy is everyone’s friend.  Managing is a popularity contest that he intends to win.  He’ll be a great drinking buddy, a top notch shoulder to cry on, a guy you can trust to cover for you.  He’ll make sure the office atmosphere is loose, that everyone feels welcome, that the office is a fun place to be.

Discipline?  Well, that’s not something you’ll find in his office.  An insistence on hitting quota?  Something else that isn’t a priority.  Coaching?  Nope.  Lots of back slapping and high fiving, but no coaching.  Decisions?  Don’t expect The Good Buddy to make the hard decisions because he might hurt someone’s feelings. 

The Good Buddy is weak and lets his team members run the office.  Ultimately, most everyone in his office ends up unhappy.

The Super Closer

We all know the Super Closer—the guy or gal who believes they can close anyone, anytime.  They generally have a massive ego, more than likely a strong sales history, an A type personality, and little respect for the others on their sales team.  The Super Closer sees their charges as grunts who know nothing about sales and whose only job is to go out, work through the chaff to find the prospect, then call in The Super Closer and watch the master work.

The Super Closer is concerned with one thing and one thing only—today.  Get today’s numbers, Numbers, numbers, numbers.  By gosh she’s never missed a quota and she’s not going to start now.  If you suckers can’t get the business—and God knows you can’t, she’ll close it for you.  Her sales team doesn’t have to worry about anything except getting her in front of a prospect.

Planning?  Who needs it?  Reports to management?  All they care about are quotas being met and exceeded, so she’ll tell them what they want to hear and then worry about making it true. 

The managers above have developed their own definition of what a manager is because:

  • They misunderstand the nature of their position.  Most companies don’t train their new sales managers.  The assumption is that good salespeople will know what needs to be done.  Consequently, most companies simply instruct new salespeople to call their manager if they have questions, maybe give them a day or two introduction to the reports and paperwork they’ll need to complete. 
  • They believe that today is more important than future days.  Get today’s numbers today and worry about tomorrow tomorrow.  This often comes from a demand by management—stated or unstated—that numbers be met today.  Many senior managers mouth a long-term growth philosophy while demanding numbers be made today so they get their bonus–and to hell with tomorrow (Wall Street anyone?).
  • They aren’t manager material to begin with.  A great salesperson will not necessarily be a great manager.  Often great salespeople make terrible managers.  They know what they are good at and want to continue being the sales superstar but with a management title.  Converting to be a real manager is impossible for some of these sales stars.
  • They can’t make the adjustment from being one of the group to being the leader of the group.  They want the new position but they don’t want their relationships to change.

The Sales Leader

Fortunately, there is a fifth type of sales manager—the real deal.

Currently it is common for sales managers at all levels to be called ‘Sales Leaders.’  Nice title that really doesn’t fit most managers.  A true sales leader is very different from the more typical managers we saw above.

The true sales leader:

  • Isn’t focused on today but rather is looking into and planning for the future with the intent of molding the future instead of being molded by it. 
  • Is looking to coach his or her team members to stardom, not to be The Star themselves. 
  • Manages through demonstration and inspiration, not intimidation or fear.
  • Is a student, open to suggestion, criticism, advice, and continual education. 
  • Leads by being trustworthy and demonstrating integrity and honesty.  His/her team members may not like The Sales Leader’s decisions, but know the decisions are honest and based on what the Sales Leader believes is best for the team.
  • Is a decision maker, not afraid to make the hard decisions and to live with the consequences. 

The Making of a Sales Leader

A Sales Leader doesn’t just happen, they are created, they’re formed, they’re developed.

The development starts with the selection of  the new manager.  Traditionally companies have selected top producers to become the new frontline sales manager.  Sales management is viewed more as a reward for production than as a critical job in its own right.

What makes a great manager isn’t what makes a great salesperson.  The activities are very different.  The relationship building needs are different, the communication, planning, and organizational needs are different.  Unless a company is seeking a Super Closer or a Visitor, promoting a top producer may not be a wise idea.

Although the management problems start with the selection of the new manager, more important is the “training” most new managers undergo—none.

One of the most common training formats companies have is upon promoting the new manager, the new manager is are given a day or two training on hiring and firing procedures, how to handle sexual harassment issues, and how fill out payroll paperwork.   From there, the new manager is told to call his or her manager if they have questions or need guidance.  After the first few questions directed to their manager, they begin to notice their phone calls aren’t returned as promptly as before, their manager’s tone of voice is a little sharper, the answers and guidance more and more abrupt. 

Soon they realize they’re on their own to sink or swin as they can.

No wonder they have no idea how to be a leader.

To create a Sales Leader companies must invest in their new manager.  They must either create a multi-disciplinary in-house management program or hire an outside company.  In addition, each new manager needs a coach—either an in-house coach or an outside professional manager coach.

Each new manager must be schooled in the skills of management, but more importantly must be guided in the roll of and skills of leadership.  Filling out paperwork, creating a sales plan, assigning territories, and resolving issues with shipping are all important, no doubt. 

But far more important to the success of the company and the sales team is getting the most out of team members, developing team members who have the desire to succeed, who are willing to invest the time and effort to be the best.  These aren’t instilled by a manager, they’re brought out by a leader.

The last thing your sales team needs is a manager.  You need Sales Leaders. 

If you want Sales Leaders, do the things necessary to develop them—investing in them is investing in your company’s future success.  Refusing to invest in them is an investment in your company’s failure.

October 22, 2009

Book Review: RFPs Suck:How to Master the RFP System Once and for All to Win Big Business

Filed under: Book Recommendations,Book Reviews,business,Sales Resources,small business — Paul McCord @ 9:40 am
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RFPs suckIf you’ve had to respond to RFPs—even just one—you know that RFPs do, in fact, suck.  Lots of books have titles that don’t work well, are misleading, or weak, but RFPs Suck is a title that speaks to the soul of anyone who has fought—and probably lost far more often than won—the RFP system.

RFP’s Suck: How to Master the RFP System Once and for All to Win Big Business by Tom Searcy (Channel V Books:  2009) is designed specifically for small to mid-size companies seeking to compete with their large competitors in the game of responding to the Request for Proposal or Request for Quote that is so often the vendor selection method preferred by major companies and by government agencies.

Searcy is a veteran of the RFP wars having won over 1.5 billion dollars in business through the process.  He’s turned that experience into a lucrative consulting/training business.  Now, he’s taken the next step and turned it into a book.

RFPs Suck is a short, direct, to-the-point guide to giving you and your company the advantage you need in order to compete in a process that is, as Searcy says, “not built for you.”  The system is built for and caters to large vendors, not small to mid-size companies.  In fact, Searcy says, in many cases rather than giving you a chance to compete, the system is designed to keep you out.

Can you as a small to mid-size company compete in a system that is built not only to cater to your large competitors but to keep you in your place? 

According to RFPs Suck, you certainly can—IF you learn how to recognize and take advantage of real opportunities, avoid those where you have little or no chance of winning, and construct a proposal that gives you the winning advantage.

RFPs Suck is a short, direct, to-the-point book that wastes little space.  You won’t find lots of tangents, filler stories, or attempts by the author to become the next Hemmingway or Faulkner.  Instead, Searcy concentrates on laying out in concise chapters the guidance you need to become an RFP expert:

  • How to recognize a real RFP opportunity—and how to recognize and avoid dead ends that can cost an arm and a leg in both time and money
  • How to determine if your company is ready and capable of competing
  • How to ‘read’ an RFP to discover the real motive for issuing it 
  • How to stand out from the crowd and give yourself the necessary advantage to win the battle
  • How to write the RFP from cover letter to the addendums
  • How your proposal will be evaluated and how to get it into final consideration
  • Detailed examples of responses to RFPs with an analysis of the response

In only 143 pages Searcy takes you from beginning to end in evaluating and responding to an RFP or RFQ and shows you how to create a winning proposal and does it very well.

In a world where RFPs are becoming increasing important, knowing how to create a proposal that gives you the best possible shot at getting the business is crucial—and surprisingly simple (simple, not easy).  Whether RFPs are a regular part of your business or just an occasional pain, RFPs Suck is a guide book you really shouldn’t be without.

August 14, 2009

Recession Buster Webinar

Filed under: business,cold calling,developing expert reputation,lead generation,marketing,Networking,Personal Marketing,prospecting,Referral Selling,sales,sales training,selling,small business — Paul McCord @ 9:08 am
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Recession Buster Webinar

4  Tremendously Powerful Strategies

4  One and half hour Sessions

1  Session Everyday for 4 Days

Monday, September 28 through Thursday, October 1

Each day from 3 PM to 4:30 PM Central Time (4PM to 5:30 PM Eastern; 2PM to 3:30 PM Mountain: 1PM to 2:30PM Pacific)

4 of the Most Powerful Strategies to Find and Connect with Quality Prospects:

Monday, September 28
The PWWR Referral Generation System

You’ll Learn:

^ Why what you’ve been taught about referrals doesn’t work
^ How to work with your client to generate a large number of great referrals
^ How to guarantee you get at least four great referrals from every client
^ How to continue to get great referrals from every client every year

 

Tuesday, September 29
The Best Damn Networking Process There Is, Period

You’ll Learn:

^ Why networking at the Chamber meeting or at the leads breakfast group never
seems to pay off
^ Where to spend you time that will really pay off
^ How to create and execute a realistic, profitable, business producing networking strategy
^ How to work a networking room to maximize your time and create relationships with prospects fast
^ How to set a telephone or in-person meeting with every person you want at a networking event

 

Wednesday, September 30
Never a Cold Call, Always an Introduction

You’ll Learn:

^ Why decision makers hate cold calls
^ Why calling and fishing for a reason to meet with a prospect will get you nowhere
^ How to discover REAL issues your prospect has that you KNOW you can help solve
^ How to guarantee you get past gatekeepers and get voice mails returned without being deceptive, evasive, or lying
^ How to make using the phone to prospect far more enjoyable and productive for both you and your prospects
^ How to make more money by spending less time on the phone

 

Thursday, October 1
Get the Phone to Ring: Become the Expert

You’ll Learn:

^ Why if you don’t have the reputation and image of an expert you’re losing and will continue to lose in the marketplace
^ What it means to be an expert
^ How to use the tools at your disposal to CREATE your image and reputation as an expert in your field targeted to your specific market
^ How to totally eliminate price as an issue
^ How to get your phone to ring with people who want to work with you and only you

 Who Should Attend?

The Recession Buster webinar is designed for anyone who sells in a relationship driven environment such as:

^ Business to Business sellers

^ Professionals: attorney, accountants, architects, financial planners, consultants

^ Business to consumer services such as financial services, personal services, realtors, travel agents, etc.

Whether you are struggling to establish your sales practice or you’re established and simply seek to add more business–or maybe the recession has really devastated your current client base, this webinar will help drive your business to new heights.

These aren’t the same old worn out “strategies” you expect to hear. You’re not going to hear some worthless drivel like “ask for referrals,” or “tell everyone you meet what you do,” or “set a goal to make 50 dials a day and you’ll succeed.”

You know and I know, that’s crap. That’s the same old junk you hear from every “trainer” who doesn’t have anything of value to say.

You don’t need some worn-out, worthless piece of advice, you need real, workable, proven strategies to find and connect with quality clients.

That’s what you get in the Recession Buster webinar.

Four real strategies that work. That produce results. That will get you business.

Why four strategies over four days? Wouldn’t it be easier to just lay out the one best strategy in one session?

It would certainly be easier on everybody involved. It takes commitment to take time out four days in a row.

True. But there isn’t one single “best way” to generate business. We have to have a business building matrix that gives us several avenues with which to connect with prospects. And in today’s marketplace where more and more prospects are rejecting the traditional methods sellers have used to connect with them, we need several ways to find and connect with them that they’ll accept, respect, and respond to.

That’s the power of the Recession Buster webinar
 

Early Registration Until September 10

1 to 4 attendees only $199.00 per person

5 or more attendees only $159.00 per person

Register HERE

Afraid you can’t make the session each day? 
Don’t worry.  Each session will be recorded and within 24 hours of the end of the session each attendee will receive a link to the recording.  Whether you missed the session or just want to hear it again, you’ve got it at your fingertips to listen to when you want.

October 28, 2008

Guest Article: “Ten Tips to Tap the Power of Prospecting,” by Dave Anderson

Filed under: prospecting,sales,selling,small business — Paul McCord @ 5:55 am
Tags: , , , ,

Ten Tips to Tap the Power of Prospecting!
by Dave Anderson

Many salespeople prospect little, if at all, for two primary reasons: they are so focused on short-term results of their job that they fail to build a career and they become discouraged, because they see little immediate results from their prospecting efforts. Sadly, most of these efforts are sloppy and haphazard! With a little bit of common sense, consistency, and courage, you can build a prospecting discipline into your sales arsenal that not only brings in immediate results…but will also convert your job into a long-term, high-paying career.

1. Prospect before you need prospects.
Many salespeople prospect only when business is slow. They are motivated primarily by desperation and the fear of starvation! The key, one-word strategy that makes prospecting far more effective is “proactive,” because you will never build a pipeline of prospects if the only time you prospect is when you’re desperate. A key strategy for becoming proactive at prospecting is to set weekly prospecting goals and scheduling the activities necessary to achieve results.

2. Remember that a key to prospecting is consistency.
Inconsistent prospecting efforts bring little results and much frustration, just as with inconsistent dieting or exercise. You’re often worse off for your half-hearted efforts than had you never started in the first place. Develop discipline, because without it you’ll never develop the work ethic necessary to see tangible, long-term results.

Definition of discipline: Making yourself do the things that you know are important even when you don’t feel like doing them; even when doing so is not easy, cheap, popular, or convenient!

3. Use follow-up to convert initial introductions into relationships.
Without follow-up, prospecting is an extremely low-percentage proposition. Following up by phone, sending out information, or placing the prospect on your mailing list is essential to turning a “new face” into a consistent source for sales. It’s important to remember that giving out your business card or brochure is only half of the prospecting equation. You must also gain and record the prospect’s contact information for future follow-up.

4. Avoid “Hail Mary’s” unless all high percentage efforts have been exhausted.
“Hail Mary’s” are long-shot time wasters: cold calling from the yellow pages, mailing to prospects who have not been pre-qualified, and the like. “Hail Mary’s” connect every so often, but you don’t want to bet your career on them. Long shot, low percentage prospecting efforts are one of the key killers of enthusiasm for prospecting.

5. Use soft-touch and not hard-sell.
Pushy prospecting efforts turn off potential buyers and destroy any chance you have for building a long-term relationship with them. Keep in mind that prospecting is NOT finding strangers and trying to sell them your product. Rather, it is planting seeds to let people know who you are, what you do, and where you work…while you gather their contact information in order to build a master list for future follow-up and sales efforts.

6. Transform your role from a vendor to a resource.
A vendor is someone you hear from strictly when they want to sell you something. A resource also wants to sell you something, but they bring reciprocal value to the relationship to create win/wins. From time to time, send or bring a relevant article, website link, etc. to a prospect that will add value to their business or life.

7. Give people a reason to ask for you.
Be memorable, in a positive way! What makes you different? What makes you better? You’ve got about ten seconds to communicate this to your prospect. Determine your personal value proposition. Have you been at your business for a long time? Do you have specialized knowledge in a certain area? Do you offer customers something special that no one else offers? Put this type of differentiation to work for you.

8. Give people a reason to buy NOW!
You should plant this seed in general terms when first meeting a prospect and then follow up with more specificity and urgency after your initial contact. This, “one-two” combination for transforming buyers from immobility and indifference to ready and willing is essential to capitalizing on the momentum of your initial contact and increase the chances of seeing faster results from your efforts.

9. Chart your results and set goals for improvement.
If you don’t measure and track your progress, you are unlikely to stick with your prospecting efforts. Tangible results will make a believer out of you. They will also offer clues for improving your efforts or reinforcing strategies that are already working for you. Once you track your progress for ninety days, you’ll have a benchmark to set intelligent goals for the future.

10. Always try to turn one deal into two or more.
Maximize your friends, prospects, and sold customers by gaining a referral from them that will serve to fill the empty slot in your pipeline and replace each customer that you sell.

Peak performance author, columnist, trainer and speaker for sales and leadership, Dave Anderson walks the talk of a leader. He has led some of the most successful retail automotive dealerships in the country; most recently heading up a dealership with more than $300 million sales. Dave gives more than a hundred speeches, presentations and workshops all over the world and has delivered his leadership message in 13 countries. Dave has written nine books and writes a monthly leadership column for two national magazines. He is president of the Dave Anderson Corporation and LearntoLead.  Visit his website at http://www.learntolead.com

October 14, 2008

Guest Article: “Managing the Millennials,” by Gregory Stebbins

Filed under: business,Coaching,management,sales,Sales Management,selling,small business — Paul McCord @ 3:45 am
Tags: , , , ,

Managing the Millennials          
by Gregory Stebbins  

Independent, tech-savvy, social, and optimistic – why are these “kids” so hard to manage?

The New Millennial’s, people born after about 1981, are now entering the work force en masse. Even seasoned sales managers are having challenges helping these people become productive. They have a different approach to life, which greatly impacts their ability to sell effectively. Understanding them and some key events that took place during their youth will help you get a handle on their outlook on life in general and work in particular.

While they were growing up there was a technology explosion. Their every day reality included video on multiple devices, mobile phone, computers, and iPods. They have been bombarded with marketing messages that are constantly changing. School violence and global terrorism (specifically 9-11) have made them wary about the world and helped them develop a global perspective. For the most part, poverty is something that they have seen on television. Watching their parents get downsized in the 80s and 90s has caused them to question loyalty to the company. Reality television, MySpace, Facebook, Second Life and Google have caused them to believe (and experience!) that information is available for the asking so being “transparent” (putting everything out there for all to see) is the way things should be.

While I often hear comments about their lack of work ethic, those are the same comments that were leveled toward Generation X and Baby Boomers when they first entered the work force. Neuro research now tells us that the prefrontal cortex of our brain continues to mature until about the age of twenty-six. So Millennials may continue to be a little irresponsible until they’ve been on the job for a while. It’s neurological, not attitudinal. So make life a little easier on yourself and cut them some slack.

What is different is their work style, motivations and view of the world, especially the corporate world. These individuals do have loyalty, which is focused on their social network and specific managers and members of the team – not on the company.

Generally they have an ability to find information about anything at a rate that far exceeds expectations of management. What they lack is discernment about the accuracy of the information. If it’s on the Net they tend to believe it must be accurate. They can instantly communicate this information to their social network via Blogs, Instant Messaging (IM), personal Web pages and cell phones. Some companies have found out the hard way that their management mistakes are common knowledge within days, if not hours.

Many of these people had parents who hovered over them during every waking hour, giving birth to the term “Helicopter Parents.” With probably hundreds of possible activities, from soccer to music lessons, Millennials have been over-committed and over-scheduled. They also have been smothered in praise with constant reinforcement about how great they are: blue ribbons for the entire team, there are no losers, etc.  They expect recognition for everything, even the most mundane activities. They may not know their own strengths and weaknesses because there have not been many opportunities for self evaluation or honest, constructive criticism.

This creates your greatest management challenge. How do you help them understand that there are indeed losers as well as winners in the sales world? How do you provide constructive criticism without devastating their psyche?

Keep in mind that these people will tend to look at you as a parental substitute. I know that makes most sales managers more than a little uncomfortable. Nonetheless, since their parents didn’t wean them, you get to do that. And, generally, this is going to be a shock to the Millennial. You’ll need to teach them basic decision making by coaching and guiding them step-by-step, before you tell them, “You decide.” Don’t be surprised if they’re calling you constantly asking the simplest questions.

Here’s a four step process that can be helpful in guiding them in decision-making (this process may take two to six months total):

    1.    The first time they approach you, work with them to think through at least three options. Then make the decision for them. Having them consider options is the first step of developing the ability to reason.

    2.    After this, when they want your input, make sure they come in with the three options already thought about. Then help them understand the consequences of each option. Add in other options if they haven’t considered all of the consequences. Then, you make the decision.

    3.    The third stage is that they come in with three options, understand the consequences and a recommendation for the course of action. Either agree with their course of action or make suggestions. Essentially they will be making the recommendation which you are approving.

    4.    The final stage is to cut them loose and have them handle a situation on their own. However, also have them provide a written report (IM or Text message is OK). The report needs to tell you what the situation was, the options they considered and the decision they made. This step won’t last that long as their need for independence will kick in and they’ll just stop coming to you with every little situation.

Keep in mind that these individuals are going to need much more coaching than their predecessors. The good news is they are used to being coached. After all, many of them have been on soccer teams since they were four or five years old.

Like all previous generations they’ll be coming into the work world thinking that they have all the answers and know how to do the job better than you do. Once we turn about 35, we begin to realize that we don’t have all the answers and things may not be as they seem. Developing mastery at work requires us to listen intently, understand the history of each situation and gather the different perspectives of each of the players involved. However, growing up protected and interacting with others largely through technology, has created a generation whose people savvy is very limited. Their ability to read a person in a face-to-face situation (and almost all selling is face-to-face) will tend to limit their success, especially when selling to people of a different generation. Help them understand the nuances of body language, the uniqueness of each person’s office and what the contents of that office reveals about the customer. (Shameless promotion: Our book, PeopleSavvy for Sales Professionals covers these points in detail.)

In your coaching efforts with Millennials, your focus and approach may need to be different from others you have worked with. You’ll need to provide structure and give information in bite-size pieces. Praise for what they do is important to their self-esteem. If they’ve messed up you’ll need to present it as a development opportunity. Course correction instead of scolding or brow-beating is a better approach.

Millennials generally have short attention spans, so keep your coaching sessions short. If you go beyond about 20 minutes you will lose them. Use technology freely before and after the session; they’ll come in to the session better prepared and will actually appreciate the follow up. If you’re not comfortable using IM, it’s time to learn. Their mobile phone is like a third arm and gives you more access to them than you’ve probably ever had with anyone.

Have frequent coaching sessions. Remember they’ve been sitting in front of video games knowing instantly what their score is and how they compare with others. Waiting to give them feedback at their annual performance review won’t work. In fact, without feedback, they will probably be long gone before that performance review happens.

Provide the rationale behind your coaching. This generation is hungry to learn and if they feel they’re learning from you, they will be loyal-to you. If they feel like their skills aren’t being developed, they’ll leave.

In some ways you’ll need to teach them patience. They’re used to instant gratification. On the plus side, their impatience for results can be a bonus in the sales world. On the negative, they can be easily frustrated when they don’t get immediate results.

Work/life balance is important to Millennials. One of the biggest challenges to Baby Boomer managers is that Millennials don’t want the same life style. Many Baby Boomers were brought up in sales to believe that if you were working from 6 AM to 6 PM, you were still only working half days. Millennials want “time and flexibility” often before financial compensation and benefits. No other generation has had “time and flexibility” in their top three drivers.

And finally, transparency or confidentiality is often mismatched between Millennial and manager. It is not unusual that a private discussion between a manager and employee becomes public. You’ll need to teach your Millennials why discretion is important, and it may be difficult for them to understand. If your entire life is on the Web for anyone to see-even pictures in a drunken stupor at a college party-they just won’t understand why someone wants to keep something private or would be embarrassed about it being public. Be patient and explain why it’s to their benefit. In other words, you may need to sell them on the idea.

Smart managers that focus on developing Millennial’s people savvy and who understand flexible work roles and effective virtual teams while leveraging technology will help them become a valuable asset sooner rather than later. Managers who meet the challenges of working with, not against, this generation will reap the rewards that come with shorter ramp times and more rapidly gaining some very valuable sales professionals

 

. Sales Psychology Expert Gregory Stebbins has helped over 20,000 sales professionals become the point of differentiation while their competitors struggle with how to differentiate their product and service. In his book PeopleSavvy for Sales Professionals, he unveils for the first time his simple but groundbreaking plan to win your customers’ trust and business forever. Visit his website at http://www.peoplesavvy.com

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