The Sales Pro Insider Building Performance Profits and People

My article on goal setting so you can Have The Year YOU Want is nominated this week as a Top 10 Sales Article from The Sales Corporation.  The timing is great because it is now the end of the 1st quarter and time to see how you are doing, make adjustments and take action to have a great 2nd quarter!

Below is the article with a few modifications for quarter end.  The next post will walk you through the Review, Renew, Revise or Recycle process of goal attainment.

5 Steps to Strengthen Goal Clarity

The end of March means we have one-quarter of 2009 to reflect on.  This is a perfect time to look at  your goals and the progress you have made.

To start thinking about goals, a quote by Diane Scharf Hunt…

“Goals are dreams with deadlines.”

Dreams are important so we know where we want to be and the deadlines are going to help us ensure we get to realize the dream!  We need to capture these dreams and deadlines into specific, written and measurable goals.  That is what goal clarity is…having specific, written and measurable outcomes that we are working toward. And we can make this easier by following a process to make it efficient and successful.

Following is a goal clarity strengthening process to implement right now…really, RIGHT now.  Take out a piece of paper and writing instrument and make 5 columns on the page for your own Goal Planner. 

P.S.  If you already did this exercise at the beginning of the year, you’re not off the hook.  Take out the goals you have and revivew them.  Wednesday’s post will have more information on the 4 R process after you set your goals. 

Now, back to writing those goals!

1. In the left column write at least 5 things you want to happen in the next 60 days. These are outcomes like “I have one new sales appointment each work day.” or “I am closing $___ in business each week.” These are now your goal statements.

A caution:  Review the outcomes for measurability and specificity to see whether you can identify whether it is accomplished or not.  A couple of examples of common goals I hear:

•    Goal:  “To have less stress.” What does less stress look like?  How will you know if you have achieved it or not?  How can you determine whether you have less stress or not?  The statement needs to be more specific.

•    Goal:  “More time with my family.”  Another great outcome desired – but not specific or measurable.  Be specific on what time with your family looks/feels like.  Does it mean a certain amount of time each night? Weekend?  Certain activities completed together?  “I will eat dinner with my family 3 times each week.” allows me to know whether I have achieved this or not.

2. Look at each statement and identify the actions you need to take to get there. Write 2-3 actions that will move you toward each outcome in the 2nd column.

3. Write a specific time/date when you will take that action in the 3rd column. Is it each day? Week? How often?  A date is another checkpoint on the road to success.

4. Next, identify your reward for completing those actions or the goal. Think through the BENEFIT of completing the action that leads you to the goal or outcome. Will you sleep better? Will there be self satisfaction? A treat like a special coffee or candy? Be prepared to “reward” yourself when you have completed the action/outcome. Write these in the 4th column.

5. And in the 5th column write the name of a stakeholder for this goal or outcome. A stakeholder is someone that will care about this outcome – it might be a manager, a spouse, a colleague, a friend. You may have different stakeholders for each goal.

Finished?  Congratulations!  Look at this paper – you have at least 5 goals and a plan of action for the next 60 days to get there!

What’s next? Taking action! The first action is to share each goal with your stakeholder for that goal.  Your stakeholders are beneficial as they may be able to:

1. Clarify the outcome with you to make sure it is specific enough for you to know whether you reach it or not.

2. Identify other actions that can get you there quicker or easier.

3. Help you in some way to achieve the goal.

4. Celebrate your progress and ultimate success!

5. Add accountability.

After your stakeholder is ready to stand by your side, it’s all up to you!  The 5 steps to goal clarity will allow you to have the year you want – regardless of changing market conditions.  It starts today with the action you take. 

You don’t need to wait until the first of the year – today is a great day to start to ensure you get what you want out of the remaining three-quarters of this year.

What else have you found is helpful when setting goals?

Filed Under: goal setting, productivity, sales tips

The rise of email prospecting has created a great discussion among sales experts – does it work?  Previous posts here and here give the background and a “Pro email prospecting” (with the right type of message) viewpoint.  Today’s post gives three other viewpoints and some great tips on email prospecting. 

First, Ardath Albee, Marketing Interactions (a market strategist):

I’d be surprised if this ever works. There’s no compelling reason why the recipient should respond. Nothing to engage, no tie to any business priority. This is lazy email communication focused on getting what the sender wants without any consideration of providing value to the recipient. And that first sentence is designed to make the recipient feel bad – like they’ve failed to reply when they have been given no reason to do so. Shame on them!

 Ah, you just gotta laugh, you know? It’s so very sad.

 Here’s a link to some blog posts Ardath has written about this topic.

• Lazy emails
• First-Sentence

Next up:  Colleen Francis of Engage Selling (check out her phenomenal Powerhouse Event scheduled for April):

After receiving another cold email claiming they had been in touch before and “its been a long time”,

Sigh….I guess never having been in touch with me and “it’s been a while”are synonymous to this sales person.
That opening line is designed to make me feel like I might know this company and person thereby psychologically goading me into taking the
 survey. Ding so will confirm my address and get me on their list. Not honest and definitely not a top 10% best practice. Sure it might
work in the short term but my rule is that if the activity is something you would be embarrassed about be caught doing. Don’t do it.

You will only sacrifice the long term relationship and lifetime customer value.

Another note from Colleen:

Cold prospecting by email is too passive and not an effective way to build a relationship.
Email is a create relationship enhancer especially if the emails you are send are high content and of value to the receiver.
I have seen one exception….a client of mine had a very successful cold email prospecting campaign to a very targeted market and
routinely saw a 10-11% positive response rate.
They were able to replicate this success for over 3 years.

And finally, Tonya Signa of Signature Marketing Services:  

Has anyone been exposed to Ari Galper’s Unlock the Key program?  It’s all about building relationships with prospects based on trust, etc…he would call this an example of “hope-i-um”, meaning you lob the communication over the wall and hope it works!

We provide this type of prospecting service for our clients -and I can tell you, if there is a lack of personal engagement (especially in B2B sales) like this is a perfect example of, your results and ROI will be disappointing at best.

 Pick up the phone and show you care.

Thanks all for sharing your expertise.  To wrap up this discussion a few tips if you use email prospecting:

1. Use email as partof a larger nurture/touchpoint strategy, not THE strategy.
2. Make the message focused on THEM, not you and why you can’t call, haven’t been touch, etc.
3. Ensure the message is value focused, not feature focused.
4. Don’t expect your prospect to take actionor do YOUR work – give them good information and how you will follow-up with them.
5. Personalize the message.

What tips do you have to share with the rest of us?  Help us all learn!

Dedicated to your sales success,  Nancy Bleeke The SalesProInsider

You can reach me at 414.235.3064

Filed Under: prospecting

Top Sales Experts – a group of which I am a proud member - is starting Sales Roundtables.  The TSE Roundtable Program will deliver the best sales practices of some of the most successful and globally recognized sales gurus in the world.

The Roundtable Kick-Off Event promises to deliver so much value in helping you understand the Future of Professional Selling.  Details below:

Join the debate, as five of the world’s leading sales gurus, discuss what professional selling will involve in five, ten, and even twenty year’s time

•      Does professional selling as we know it have a future?
•      What impact will Sales 2.0 have on the way we sell?
•      How will organizations train and develop their sales teams?
•      Today, what is the relative value derived from sales training courses versus coaching?
•      Will “one-size fits all” classroom training, be consigned to the annals of history?
•      Which industries are more likely to witness the death of selling as we know it today?
•      What can front-line salespeople do to protect themselves from possible extinction?
•      After this current financial meltdown, will lost jobs be re-created?
•      Will the rapid growth of online sales training and coaching continue?
•      Ongoing research shows that sales performance has been declining year after year.  Why?
•      Quite simply, will selling ever be the same again?

The Experts in this Roundtable include:

Speaker		Jonathan Farrington Chairman of The Sales Corporation and CEO of Top Sales Associates based in London and Paris. He is also the author of the upcoming “So You Really Want To Be A Top 5% Player In The Game Of Sales?”
Speaker		Jill Konrath A leading-edge sales strategist … author of the instant sales classic, Selling to Big Companies … an in-demand sales speaker who provides a much needed wake-up call to sales organizations.
Speaker		Linda Richardson Linda is the Founder and Chairman of Richardson, a global sales training business. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence for 2006
Speaker		Dave Stein Dave Stein is the founder and CEO of ES Research, an organization that provides on-line, membership-based analyses of, and recommendations about, the sales training and sales performance and consulting marketplace and the companies that serve it.
Chairman		Nigel Edelshain Nigel is CEO of Sales 2.0 Companies use Sales 2.0’s telesales and consulting services to take their sales to the next level, typically boosting results 3 – 10 times.
Host		Paul Simon Paul is communications director for Top Sales Experts. Through TSE, and as contributing sales editor for AllBusiness  and content manager for CanDoGo, he works closely with sales experts throughout the United States and in other countries.

You really can’t go wrong.  I’ll be in Aruba “unplugged” so join the Roundtable and send a note on your top learning tidbits!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Email prospecting seems to be on the rise.  The last post  on The SalesProInsider started the discussion on whether it really works.  I posed the question to sales expert colleagues and Kendra Lee of the KLA Group is PRO for the right type of email prospecting:

Nancy,

Yes, email prospecting does work. I write, speak, coach and train on how to do it all the time and get people who tell me what great success they’ve had. However, the approach this person used is inappropriate for a number of reasons. Here are just 3 strikes against her:

1. She probably never sent the first email she referenced and the recipient will know that
2. There’s nothing that would interest the recipient because it’s all about the seller – no value proposition, triggering event, ROI
3. It’s all about clicking to go their site, nothing about talking and learning about the recipient’s needs which a good seller knows is key to selling anything

And then a very entertaining response from another colleague, Molly Cox:

As a buyer my first thoughts would be …why isn’t she calling me?   Does she have a man voice?   Does she talk though a voice box?

 Okay, seriously tho’, if people can do this more power to them. There is an art to writing a compelling e-mail that would make someone want to go to the next level. I’ll be interested to know if soon we’ll be texting people for sales.

 Guess I’m an old “build the relationship” kinda gal.

 Molly Cox  Strongcoffeeink  (Molly has a special blend of coffee just for sales pros!)

Kendra (always the practical one) sent another note in response:

Great point, Molly!

 I think a combination of email & phone are always best when you have a key prospect you want to reach. When you have a group of prospects who are similar (like a target market) and are trying to identify interested prospects, using email can be a great tool, but it MUST sound like the email was written just to you, not some generic thing like Nancy’s friend received.

Now what to do?  Does email prospecting work?  Kendra says Yes, if done with the right OTHER proactive activities.  She has two articles on her site that give some good tips on how to use it effectively (and I understand her next book on prospecting will cover this thoroughly).  You can access the articles:

Is Email Hiding Your Personality? Read
Email is the New Phone Read

Thanks for the advice Kendra – we all look forward to your next book on prospecting. 

Stay tuned…the next post has a marketer’s opposing viewpoint on email prospecting. 

Filed Under: prospecting

Prospecting is generally one of THE activities salespeople dislike the most (along with reports requested from management   They find all kinds of ways to avoid making a “live” contact.  And Technology (email for example) gives a way out.  We can just whip out messages, hit Send and cross prospecting off our To Do list.  Yet, does email prospecting work?

It must get some results as there are thousands of companies and people using this approach to gain your attention and asking YOU to call them or schedule an appointment.  And some are more effective than others. 

Following is a REAL email sent to Alice Kemper, a colleague of mine.

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Hi Alice,

I’m following-up on the email I sent you a couple of weeks ago. I’m checking to see if you’ve given consideration to Sales Training Consultants and XXXX working together on setting business appointments for your sales team. If you’d like to talk more about this, just let me know when I should give you a call.

For more about our work with the Business Services industry, click here.

You can also make a direct online inquiry about our services.

Sincerely,

-   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   –

Guess what Alice’s response to me was?  “Are her fingers broken?  Do people really do this through email and have success?”  If you notice, the Sincerely is in a different font size so this was not a “custom” message.

What do you think? Can you just zip off a couple of “canned” emails, give instructions to a prospect and expect them to contact you for an appointment?  Alice and I don’t think this is an effective approach AND we don’t think it speaks well of how important we are to someone wanting to do business with us.  But maybe we are old fashioned. 

So, I decided to ask a couple of experts – authors such as Kendra Lee, Ardath Albee, Colleen Francis, Tonya Signa and more – to weigh in on this topic.  And I will share their responses over the next few days.

Let’s get the conversation started with your comments – Does email prospecting work for you as a sales pro OR as a consumer?  If it does, how and why?  If not, why not?  

Filed Under: Sales, prospecting, sales tips

What you focus on, you will find.  My mom often gave us that line.  And it is so true! 

What are people focusing on today?  The economy – and the focus is mostly on the negatives.  Yes, our economy is in a position that most of us have never had to work through before.  Yes, unemployment numbers are up. Yes, making sales means we need a different level of preparation, strategy and perseverance than in the past.   And yes many people are still finding plenty of success. 

The question is, what can we do to make sure we are finding success? If we aren’t positive, how much will our prospects and clients want to talk with us?  They don’t need anyone else with “bad news.”  Most people are looking for a sign of hope from someone! Let it be you with a spring in your step and a smile in your voice!

I’m going to play “Polyanna” today.  If you need a little inspiration or to hear something positive, try these sites:

• Happy News - Real  News. Compelling Stories. Always  Positive.
• Good News Network
• Daily Good - this even has a Business section!
• Upbeat  - Positive, Optimistic, Inspiring News for All Ages
• Optimist News - What a great name!

After you have a smile on your face and hope in your heart – then back to work with a focus on success: 

1. Find your goals.  Dig them out and review your progress. Where are you at this point?  Not where you want to be? What actions can you take today to move forward? 
2. Find something unexpectedly positive you can do  for someone on your team (work or home .  Then do it!
3. Find the time to make the phone calls you have been procrastinating on.

Your positive focus will help you find more success!

Filed Under: focus, sales tips

Anne Miller, a friend and colleague, sent the following exercise on some easy goal setting activities in her newsletter this week.  I thought it was so good that I should pass it on!

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No Time to Wait for Flying Ducks

There is a Chinese proverb that says, “Man with mouth open wait for long time  for duck to fly in.” When business is tough and the fun has gone out of the work, or appears to be AWOL, which it does a lot these days, the antidote for panicking, inertia, or the blues is not to wait for better times or for business to come in over the transom, but to be as pro-actively visible, valuable and memorable as possible to protect what you have, and to plant the seeds for future business.  

Establishing-and executing—time-specific numeric goals for various activities will do that for you. Here is a useful exercise to help you do that. There is also an important part in this for your personal benefit as well.

Exercise

1. Block out an hour and make a written list of time-specific numeric goals for the activities below appropriate for your business.
2. Keep this list visible. Out of sight is out of mind.  Check it at the end of each day and at the end of each week. Let it drive your priorities and scheduling for the following day, week, and quarter.

Be Visible
I will make X# of face-to-face relationship calls with existing accounts this month

I will make X# of relationship contacts with existing accounts this month: to share new products, to meet new people, to check satisfaction, to review new needs

I will meet X# of new key people at my best existing accounts this month

I will make X# of face-to-face new business calls this week via voicemail, email, fax, and snail mail

I will attend  X# of networking events this month

I will participate X# of times in the various appropriate networking sites

Be Valuable
I will develop X# of new ideas for my existing accounts this month (who can you collaborate with on this either inside or outside your company?)

I will send X# of relevant emails, cards, articles, updates, research, newsletters to clients and prospects

Be Memorable
I will do/send X# of things to clients and prospects to stand outfrom the competition: written thank you notes; mail in a red envelope; a fax instead of email; a relevant cartoon or story to provide a light moment to clients; useful info for their personal interests, e.g., a new resource you came across (Iike my recommendation below); a book, restaurant you think they would like; lunch at an unusual place – a museum, outdoors in good weather; get your fortunes read; host a breakfast for clients who you think would just like each other; other?

For Myself: Stay Sharp
I will read X# of trade media or websites this month

I will attend X# of outside industry seminars, lectures this quarter

I will spend X amount of time strengthening my skills this quarter (attend a seminar, read a book, joint call with a more senior person)

I will review the materials/website of my competitors monthly

I will spend X amount of time expanding my business insight this quarter (attend an event, meet people, pick up media outside my industry)

And, last, for myself I will schedule time to do something fun and relaxing every day and every week! (Get those endorphins going!)

The Ultimate Pay-Off
Goals, numbers, activities and deadlines may be boring, but they are tangible and measurable. They give you a point to move towards, provide a framework for action, and reward you with a sense of accomplishment as activities are  completed. The visibility, the value, and the edge you gain from these activities will help lead to the business you want.

Tough times. Keep that sales energy and creativity going! See you next month.

Anne Miller
“Make What You Say, Pay!” ©2009, Anne Miller, author, “Metaphorically Selling,” www.annemiller.com
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Thanks Anne!  Sound advice to be proactive.  And though we don’t want to stand with our mouth open waiting for a duck to fly in to eat, we should always watch overhead for any flying ducks (Or maybe that is just a Wisconsin thing with geese.)

Filed Under: Uncategorized, goal setting, sales tips

How do you feel about the bailout plan being implemented in the U.S.?  I totally agree that we need to stimulate the economy but giving loads of money to so many companies that were obviously poorly run is tough for me to swallow.  That is why the Make a Referral Weekinitiated by Duct Tape Marketing is a “Wow, THAT’s the way to stimulate the economy.”

The goal is to have 1000 referrals made THIS week to small businesses.  You can read the details here.  I’m sure all of you know of a deserving small business and can make a connection for them.

The current # of referrals on Day 2 is nearly 300.  You can join in and help stimulate OUR economy! 

Need more incentive to make the referral?  There are FREE events given by sales experts for you to learn more about how you personally can increase your sales this year.  Jill Konrath (a dear friend and master sales expert will present on Friday, March 13th) put together a great list  of  the free Education Series:  

Tuesday, March 10
Scott Ginsberg, founder NametagTV on being more referable and Rich Sloan, author of Start up Nation on low-cost referral strategies.

Tuesday March 10 Noon CST
Special live web conference featuring Bob Burg, author of the Go-Giverand Ivan Misner, founder of BNI and Bill Cates, author of Get More Referrals Now.

Wednesday, March 11
Scott Allen, author of the Virtual Handshakeon using social media for referrals and  Andy Sernovitz, author of Word of Mouth Marketing on small business word of mouth strategies.

Thursday, March 12
Ben McConnell, author of Church of the Customer on creating customer evangelists and Pam Slim, author of Escape from Cubicle Nation on Personal Branding

Friday, March 13
Guy Kawasaki, author of Reality Check on the art of the referral and Jill Konrath , author of Selling to Big Companies on customer referral strategies.

What are you waiting for?  Click on over to read the details and participate in this economic stimulus plan!

Filed Under: Economic Stimulus, Uncategorized, recession proof sales

What did you think of the headline?  Who is it about?  What will you get if you read the sales tips?  More sales!  This headline is an example of turning a WHAT into WiifT.

It’s a great sales principle.  And a recent blogpost by Perry Belcher, an internet marketer, makes it SO simple!.  Whether you love or hate internet marketing the format helps us easily turn Whats into WIIFTs (What’s in it for Them) and really capture attention and more sales. 

Perry states that making powerful headlines for marketing can be done with ONE word as a transition – SO.  I agree that works.  And when we apply this to our sales calls, we can make the transition (and perceived value) even stronger by adding in the word YOU or a derivative of you (your) to the SO which makes the other person sit up and pay attention because now its about THEM!  (What is most people’s favorite subject?  Yup, themselves!)

In our sales training workshops we teach that stating features is very “me” focused.  And that we increase the perception of value of our offering by turning the feature into a benefit for the listener.  We have participants work through an activity of listing features and then imaging that as each feature is stated, the listener is thinking “So what?”  And when we need answer the so what and tie it in to what is important to the listener our credibility increases, their attention increases and perceived value skyrockets!  

• Our wireless timekeeping systems are run by GPS SO YOU will always have accurate time and so that your records are legal.  (two so yous)!
• We will develop a custom hiring process SO YOUR company’s processes are streamlined and more cost effective.
• Our lawn care system is less costly than your other options SO YOU will save time and headaches.
• We guarantee our work SO YOU can rest assured that your investment is protected.
• Our customer service department is open 24/7 SO YOU you will never have to wait to contact us if you need information.

Seems easy enough, doesn’t it?  But what gets in the way of making those what to wiift transitions? 

It takes effort, means we have to know something about who we are talking with so we can make the connection specific to them and we have to remove the focus from me to we or THEM!

Hmmm.  All those actions sound like great collaborative selling.

Check in with a comment…what are some other ways you make sure the focus of your whats are tied into THEM? Make the time to comment SO YOU can reinforce this sales principle and use it to sell more.

And if you want more ideas on how I can help you increase your sales, visit our Sales Pro Insider website.   You can download a free EBook on Recession Proof Your Sales for signing up for the Timely Tips newsletter!

Filed Under: Uncategorized, collaborative selling, sales tips

It took me a while to be comfortable being called a sales and service expert. And in the last month of conferences and events, I heard a lot of professionals struggle with the same thing. How about you?  Are you an expert in your field?

An expert is defined as “Someone who is very skillful or highly trained and informed in some special field.”  And there are different types of experts as you can read in the whitepaper from the National Speaker’s Association.  The great news is most professionals DO qualify as an expert.

To help us claim our expertise, following are several questions to help you embrace your expert status:   

1. How much more do you know about the topic than most of the people you are in contact with?
2. In what ways are you developing your knowledge and skill on an ongoing basis?
3. Do people seek out your advice on the subject matter? And, do they pay you for that advice?
4.  How do you educate others about your industry or products/services?
5. In what ways do you translate your knowledge into useful solutions of your product or service to the user?
6. What types of acknowledgement have you received for work?  From clients, your company or industry?
7. What ethics and values do you exhibit in your daily interactions? 

Your answers to these questions will help clarify your type of expertise. 

As sales professionals, we should be an expert in what we represent.  I truly believe that sales is an education profession.  Not only do we need to be skilled with communication and relationship building, we need to be able to educate others on what our solution can do FOR them.  The hard part is that we need to do this without lecturing and instead find ways to collaborate and explore with the prospect/buyer.  

A caveat in with claiming our expertise…

Never become so much of an expert that you stop gaining expertise. View life as a continuous learning experience.   Denis Waitley

Well said Denis, expertise is an ongoing endeavor especially in today’s information highway.  Yet our expertise today is helpful to someone.  We need to make sure we are finding and selling with those someones, otherwise our expertise doesn’t help anyone.

What do you think?  How can we effectively use our expertise to sell and serve in our markets?

Filed Under: Sales, sales expert, sales tips