Want to give EXTRA value to your customers in tough economic times?  Give great business gifts (free or low cost) now!  With cost cutting in most industries and everyone trying to do more with less, its refreshing to know that there are still easy and inexpensive ways to give value today.  And giving value today allows you to receive sales tomorrow.

Giving value to customers does not necessarily mean discounting your price, buying large gifts, or giving more of your product or service at no charge.  In the long run, giving value to the PERSON is more important than all of those things.

Three Extra Value gifts you can give:

Information.  With time pressure listed as one of the biggest stressors and constraints to further success, many people struggle with not enough time to keep up with the “latest”.  It could be the “latest” topic or information in:

1. their industry trends
2. what their competitors are doing
3. something that is unique and specific to them (hobbies, interests)
4. resources

Find useful information and send it them directly.  Books or links to articles, podcasts or forums that are helpful to them all work.  I sent a group of financial advisers I had worked with an ezine link for an expert on getting referrals in their industry.  Months later one of them wrote to me that they are still finding value in that expertise and getting more referrals for it.  They attributed the success to me, though all I did was make the “link” for them! 

You can send the information electronically or surprise them and send them a hard copy of an article in the mail! 

A caution on this tip is to make sure you verify the quailty of the information first to check the relevancy.  You don’t want to send them information that doesn’t fit and waste their time. 

Tools to help them do something better, quicker or easier. A client that liked photography commented on the price of PhotoShop.  I found an article about Paintnet - a free download that does many of the same things as PhotoShop – and sent it to him.  He was so happy when I sent him a note with the link!  

There are so many legal free-ware items available that can help people with nearly everything.  Do they like to travel?  Do they need to do something more efficient at work? 

Think about specific customers and what you know about them, do some research and send them the tool.  Whether it be an electronic link or a “concrete” tool. I had a client trainer that loved my scented markers but her company wouldn’t let her purchase them.  She was thrilled when I sent her a box of scented markers!

Time.  Don’t underestimate the value of your time and attention.  Getting time from customers might be tough, unless they find that time with you is valuable to them! 

Most people value someone taking an interest in them, asking some great open ended questions that aren’t directly tied to what you sell and then having the opportunity to talk.  The questions might be about the current status of their company, the security of their job, the effect of the economy on people they know.  If you are trusted, you may find you will hear about challenges, fears and “new” news because they want to talk to SOMEone about it. 

Demonstrate restraint and don’t jump into “selling” them something right then and really listen. The perceived value of your relationship will increase.

Customers want value – even when they do not have budgets to support it.  They also want sales people to pay attention to THEM – not just when there is a sale at stake.  The type of attention they want is going to be very different depending on the person.  The closer you match what you give to what is important to them (because it still is about What’s in it for THEM?) the more VALUable the gift.

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Filed Under: Sales Productivity
Tags: consultative selling, maximize sales productivity, productivity, recession proof sales, Sales, Sales Productivity, sales success, Sales Tips, WIIFT

Want to find more prospects? Tap into your creativity to make a huge difference in your sales success.  The next tip to recession proof your sales and have a great 2009 in a down economy is to Identify alternative prospect streams.

Industries and markets are affected differently by the economy.  Some prosper in a down economy.  Our business is an example…as sales experts that bring tools and enhanced skill and productivity to sales teams, a slower economy can be great opportunity.  When new business is effortless companies don’t invest as much in sales skill training.  In tougher times, the need to maximize sales performance, help each rep squeeze the most out of every customer interaction, retain margins is more important and so are we!

But what about you?  What prospective customers might need what you offer NOW? Following are several industries that are still fluid and ramping up for growth in the next two years.  These include: 

Service industries. In a down economy, consumer spending changes.  Purchases of new cars, appliances, and houses do go down.  Service providers that repair and maintain these items have a huge opportunity.  The “throw-away” mentality is buffered.  Maybe spending the $150 on a new coil for the refrigerator is better now than $1,500 on a new one!

Health products and services.  Our aging population isn’t getting any younger!  Services and products will continue to be needed. 

Green providers.  High gas prices earlier this year have led to higher interest and investment in alternative energy and other recycling products and services.  What are the vertical markets to these providers?

“Home” interests.  Saving money on daily living items is HUGE!  Making meals at home, entertaining in the home, stay-cations, etc. are all more cost effective as people watch their budgets more closely.  How can you tap into those interests?

This is a thought-starter list.  What can YOU do to find alternative prospect streams? 

1. Research emerging trends.  How do these tie into what you do?
2. Look at what you do/offer from other viewpoints. Ask people who aren’t as close to the product/service and they may have ideas that you would never have thought of!
3. Look through magazine racks and the newspaper for news and topics that you never considered before.  Publishers won’t publish information unless there is an interest from readers. 

Challenge yourself to find at least one prospect stream that you haven’t tapped into before…you might discover gold!

What other ways can you think of to creatively find non-traditional prospects?

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Filed Under: Uncategorized
Tags: maximize sales productivity, productivity, recession proof sales

In the past week I have surveyed dozens of sales managers about tools and solutions they need to help their sales teams be more productive.  The managers shared their insights and opinions on what is needed to be successful in selling.  When I analyze these expert sales managers’ feedback, the key ingredient or “secret” to high sales productivity is ACTION!  Successful sales professionals take action when others don’t and actions that others won’t. 

Ernest Hemingway said, “Never mistake motion for action.”   This is so true in sales!  We can be in motion but not going anywhere.  Action means productively moving forward.  The activities of planning, preparation, research, reworking value propositions, and putting together effective presentations are all important.  But without action with clients or prospects, those activities are insignificant. 

The sales professionals I work with to increase selling skills intellectually agree with the tools, steps and behaviors we outline and practice.  What makes the difference in results is that the most successful people immediately put these ideas, skills and tools into action in sales calls.  And they make sales. The others make excuses why they couldn’t use them, get caught up in busy work and then are surprised when sales don’t happen. 

Want to increase your sales results?  It’s really not a secret after all…move beyond activities that are just motion and take purposeful and consistent ACTION with your customers!

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Filed Under: Uncategorized
Tags: recession proof sales, Sales, Sales Tips

Maximizing productivity is a key objective for sales people and sales managers. Time and money is spent on CRMs, planners, Blackberries, and more technology. And, when used appropriately, technology can help us with efficiency. Yet there is more…we also need to squeeze the most out of every contact and discussion we have. We need to continuously advance the sale WITH each prospect.

An effective sales discussion starts before contact. It starts with preparation that includes identifying:

• Who, what, why and when for this contact.
• Potential objections that may be raised.
• The decision needed at the end of the contact. Some sales are closed in one discussion, many are not, and the decision might be to schedule a next meeting, introduce you to someone else in the company, provide you information or specs, etc. We need to know what our decision at the “close” of this discussions should be.

After preparation we can maximize the actual discussion with the person by using the acronym WIIFT for specific steps and a road map. WIIFT is a 5 step sales process AND a philosophy of focusing on What’s in it for Them through the discussion.

Wait. Pause and mentally prepare before contact. Review the notes you made, think about this person and company and the value you can possibly provide them. And then…

Initiate the contact. Help the person break pre-occupation by asking them open ended questions that draw them into conversation. Connect with the person before jumping directly into your product information or your business questions. Put the spotlight on them by asking about their job, their history with the company, their interests (look for clues on this one). This step might take 2 minutes or 20, pay attention to time and move the discussion to business when appropriate.

• Tell me how you ended up in this role…
• How is your day going?

And then move the discussion into business…

Investigate. Use additional open-ended questions to allow them to discuss and clarify:

• What their objectives are
• What is happening now
• What are the risks of doing nothing
• What are the rewards of taking action

The gaps between these areas is your opportunity. Use great listening skills by summarizing what you hear, taking notes, and helping them clarify their responses. Once gaps are identified and clarified, you can move to explaining how you can help them.

Facilitate a discussion where you use your expertise to educate them on how what you do/have can eliminate the gaps discovered in your investigation. The more closely you match what you do to THEM, their situation, their needs and opportuntiies, the higher the perceived value (and the less they want to wait to get what you have).
Use YOU transition statements from WHAT you have to the WIIFT (what’s in it for them).

• Our service provides ongoing technical support and in YOUR situation that means that YOU will not have 2 a.m. phone calls from your users.
• We have 20 years of experience which means that YOU will be able to use proven processes that help YOU reach your goals quicker.

To facilitate means to “make it easy” for someone else. As you share your information make it easy for them to see how what you have fits with them…involve them, let them be a part of discovering how this fits with their situation, the value they see, make it a discussion versus a “pitch”.

Collaborate. Beyond consultative selling – collaborative selling is working with someone else to accomplish something. Ask what type of objections or obstacles they foresee in moving forward. Then work through the objections WITH them as a problem solver. Finally, ask for a decision and the next step to close the discussion (and the sale).

Following a sales system brings efficiency and consistency to each discussion. It allows us to keep moving the process forward and using “face” time most productively. Then we can use our technology to capture the order, schedule the next appointment and report to our managers. Productivity will increase as we maximize every discussion.

What do you do to maximize your sales discussions?

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Filed Under: Uncategorized
Tags: Collaborative Selling, collaborative+selling, consultative selling, maximize sales productivity, recession proof sales, sales process, skills, WIIFT

Prior proper planning prevents poor performance! Our productivity is greatly increased when we make the time to prepare. Notice I didn’t say ‘find” time. Preparation is a discipline and successful professionals make the time.

Preparation is even more important in a changing economy. And we need to change our strategy during this time. What worked yesterday may not work today.

For each contact do your homework and prepare for:
1. Who you are meeting with. In the overall sale, is this person the only person you should be meeting with? Are there others within this organization that should be included in the discussion? For this person, what is happening with them today? How is the economy affecting them personally? As you consider how to approach them identify a question or two that is just about them!
2. The industry they are in. Conduct research on the Internet to find out what is happening specifically in this industry today. Are lines of credit to this industry lessened? Does the global implication matter to them? These are all starting places.
3. The company. Have they had layoffs? Are they hiring? What is happening with their stock (if applicable)? What is their competition doing? There are many companies have found a way to capitalize on the financial situation in the US.
4. Review notes from past contacts. What level of discussion have you had? Has it been strategic – tied into increasing results, decreasing costs or lessening risks? Or tactical – focused on one specific piece of information that is tied directly to what you offer? Prepare to broaden your discussion to strategy and help them solve business problems or create opportunities.

To make your preparation efficient, are few tools:
1. Google alerts. Use these to receive an email when a specific industry, company, or person is in the news. Go to http://www.google.com/alerts to set your alerts.
2. Use your in-house CRM system – Garbage in, garbage out. If you have input good information, now is the time to use it! If you haven’t, set aside 30 minutes a day to populate your system.
3. Put pen to paper! Writing your call objective, questions you will ask, benefit you can crate and problems you can solve will help you retain focus during the discussion.

The biggest obstacle to preparation I hear is the “not enough” excuse. Not enough time, not enough information, not enough value in doing it. In our control studies, the sales professionals that prepared were 17-25% more effective than those that didn’t. How would those productivity increases impact you?

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Filed Under: Uncategorized
Tags: recession proof sales, sales, sales success, strategic preparation

“Our value proposition” is becoming the phrase in sales these days. But what is it? And how do you maximize and use it to increase productivity? A value proposition is the end-result benefit statement of what you offer. Though this seems straightforward, how you have described your value in the past needs to be overhauled to better fit what is happening today.

In an unpredictable economy, more concrete specifics around decreased costs, increasing productivity, and reducing risks and unpredictability are necessary to get attention. You will need to adjust your value proposition statement to make your point most POWERful

POWER up your value proposition by:

Preparing a value proposition that is directly linked to the situation. Generic propositions such as “We save our clients money” can be so much better when it is relevant to them! Take time to research something about this person or company and find a specific value or benefit that will fit them.

Observing how the statement sounds and looks as you practice it on paper and out loud. The word choices and length of what you include may be very different if it is stated verbally or in writing.

Working specific metrics into the value statements whenever possible. Numbers speak!

Explaining the What this means for YOU  is… Spell it out – don’t make them work to make the connections between what you provide and what it will mean to them.

Restating the value throughout your discussion. Don’t dump all the benefits on them in one statement. Sprinkle them in when appropriate – during your introduction, prefacing some of the questions you ask, during your presentation and especially before asking for a decision.

A value proposition is not a one-size-fits-all statement. And overhauling yours to best fit the realities of your customers and prospects within today’s economy will help you continue to move sales through your funnel.

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Filed Under: Sales Productivity
Tags: recession proof sales, Sales Productivity, value proposition, WIIFT

What a way to start our week in sales as this morning’s headlines continue to paint a grim financial picture for the global economy! We don’t have to let the economy dictate OUR success though. Following are tips that will help you make the most out of the next 90 days. The actions you take now are the ones that will set you up for a better 2009.

The foundation of success in ANY economy is having clear goals. A former post gives a simple process for the #1 tip of goal setting. And once you know where you want to go, following are 10 additional tips that you can put into action:

1. Overhaul your value proposition. Think beyond the WHAT of your specific product and service to the value you offer to THIS person, company, situation?
2. Prepare strategically. Research industry trends, use Google alerts to know what is going on with THIS person, company, situation.
3. Maximize every sales contact. Prepare, prepare, prepare. Not only with research on what is going on with them, prepare for the WIIFT. Using a focus on What’s in it for THEM and following a process within the discussion to connect with the person, ask awesome questions, facilitate their understanding of what you do and what it means to them, work through objections and ASK for a decision.
4. Identify alternative prospect streams. Think creatively on who might use your product that currently isn’t. There are some industries that are positively impacted by a slow economy.
5. Give something of value today. Information is free. Find an article, a reprint, a cartoon that you can share and stay in front of them. Give a cup of coffee, a lottery ticket. Find something positive to contact them about.
6. Use the power of one. One more action each day can make a difference later. One more phone call, one more email, one more note sent, one more plan, one more question…you get the idea.
7. Reevaluate your prospect list. Categorize and find out where you are spending your time. Identify actions you can take to move the most likely prospects to the next step in your sales process.
8. Reintroduce yourself to customers you’ve “lost” over the years. Maybe they are ready to return if they were asked. Research what is going on with their company and then reconnect.
9. Ask for referrals. Tap into reciprocity generosity. As you provide something of value its the best time to ask “Who do you know that might benefit from what I do?” It’s amazing what contacts you might make.
10. Tap into social marketing. There may be a whole group of prospects that you can now connect with. There are many webinars and articles about how to use the many tools.

Each of these tips will have its own post in the upcoming weeks. But don’t wait! Good intentions will stall you, find something you can do today.

“You cannot change anything in your life with intention alone, which can become a watered-down, occasional hope that you’ll get to tomorrow. Intention without action is useless.” Caroline Myss

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Filed Under: Uncategorized
Tags: recession proof sales, Sales Tips, sales tips, WIIFT

Selling in a tough economy seems more challenging, doesn’t it? And yet, many people are not feeling the pinch as much as others. How can you ensure you prosper during these times? With action! I am writing a series of articles on what you can do to ensure your sales success isn’t derailed. And I’m not going to make you wait for it all to be done!

This is the first in a series of posts with practical tips and ideas for you to ensure a great end to 2008 and a prosperous 2009. The ideas and tips won’t help you if you don’t take action on them…today!

The first tip is to Set Goals. In the past month many of my “students” have told me that they CAN’T set goals because everything is changing and they aren’t sure what tomorrow holds. What? That is WHY we should set goals! So we don’t get caught in reactionary activities and then don’t get where we want (and deserve) to be. To get us thinking, a quote by Diane Scharf Hunt…”Goals are dreams with deadlines.” Who couldn’t use a little dreaming today?

Following is a goal process to implement right now…really, RIGHT now, take out a piece of paper and writing instrument and make 5 columns on the page:

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 meaningful sales appointment each work day.” or “I am closing $___ in business each week.” These are now goal statements.

2. Look at each statement- what actions do you need to take to get there? Write 2-3 actions for 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?

4. Next identify your reward for completing those actions. 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 with what you write. 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.

Now look at this paper – you have at least 5 goals and a plan of action in the next 60 days to get there! Congratulations.

What’s next? Taking action! The first is to share the goal with your stakeholders as they may be able to:
1. Clarify the outcome.
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.

The rest of the tips I share in the next weeks may (and should) become actions for you to add to this Goal paper. For today, this is a GREAT start.

Did you get this completed? Tell us your reaction to having these items on paper!

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Filed Under: Uncategorized
Tags: goal setting, recession proof sales, Sales Tips