Author: Andy

Categories
Business management Sales process Sales tips

CLASSIC SALES CLANGERS

It is all too easy to fall into these traps when selling.  Some of you may well have experienced these already; they will be painfully obvious and clear to you.  However, sometimes you may also be unaware that you have slipped up or missed some opportunities. There are many I could have selected!  Here are five of the most common clangers:

Classic clanger no.1:  can happen at that first contact.  Maybe you have contacted who you think is an ideal prospect, but they turn out to be uninterested or have no need for what you are offering.  This is down to sales & marketing preparation: did you find out enough about them before contacting?  Are you talking to the right person?

Remedy:  If you haven’t already, plan your approach and START asking them questions!

Classic clanger no.2  Perhaps they stop you in mid pitch, to point out that your offer doesn’t match their need.  Did you ask enough questions?  Are you too eager to talk about your product and haven’t taken the time to qualify their need by asking simple questions?

Remedy:  Start asking now!

Classic clanger no.3  Did you make your pitch and then give them time to consider?  If you went back to them over a week later you may find they have gone elsewhere for the product.  Unfortunately, customer memory is very short and someone else can end up benefitting from the sale.

Remedy:  Agree with them the best time for the follow-up.  If you are unsure, call in a couple of days; not necessarily to ask for the business, but to check they are still happy with the offer or if they need more help to decide.

Classic clanger no. 4  You are being pushed on price but you have no more room to manoeuvre.  You’re stuck!  You don’t  have to ‘take a hit or walk away’.

Remedy:  Have a contingency; an extra something you can throw into the mix to move the situation forward.  This could be more product, or a related product, or an extra service; ideally, anything that costs you little, but will be seen as good value by the customer.

Classic clanger no.5  ‘Let me know if and when you are ready to order from us’.  THIS IS NOT A LEGITIMATE CLOSE!  If you leave the deal like this, the most likely outcomes are: they will forget all the good things about doing business with you; they will be persuaded to buy from someone else; they will delay their decision or even the project.

Remedy:  Don’t be afraid to close!  If it’s the wrong time, ask them when. Better still; ask them what more you need to do to win the business, then do it!

These are just some of the classic clangers that are easy to make when selling, and suggestions for how to prevent or remedy them.  As with everything, just a few simple techniques and selling skills can make all the difference when it comes to increasing your success and improving your business ‘conversion rate’.

If you’ve dropped a clanger, or are wondering why you don’t win as much business as you deserve, call Andy at Salient.

Categories
Business management Locating customers Sales Ethos Sales process Technical Sales

ISMM courses now available

Not good at selling? Join our ISMM courses in sales & marketing. 

Good at selling & want to prove it? Join our ISMM courses, starting April.

Salient Sales & Training is proud to announce the opportunity for our clients to join Institute of Sales & Marketing Management courses to achieve an Award, Certificate or Diploma in Sales and Marketing to level 2 or level 3.

Salient has teamed up with Green Labyrinth to provide these courses which will start in April 2015.

For more details please call or email Andy at Salient.

Categories
Business management

WHICH WOULD YOU CHOOSE?

 

‘It is our choices…that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities’,   Dumbledore to Harry;  J.K. Rowling

I talk to many companies and entrepreneurs about their business development.  Their needs and aspirations are quite varied, but common themes do become apparent.

Most common is the need for more business; to find more customers and win more sales.  This is useful as these two aspects happen to be my areas of expertise!  However, a common confession from business owners and managers is the difficulty they have in making decisions.  Some of these decisions are for strategic issues, such as matching products to markets, or where to obtain funding.  Some decisions are less critical, but still important, such as in selecting a supplier, prioritising daily activities or when to follow-up contacts or proposals.

Demands for decisions can be both internal and external.  All sorts of issues come into play, from time management, influencing skills, decision momentum and balance, to deciding priorities, urgencies and consequences.  No wonder we cannot make up our minds!

“Alice came to a fork in the road. ‘Which road do I take?’ she asked.
‘Where do you want to go?’ responded the Cheshire Cat.
‘I don’t know,’ Alice answered.
‘Then,’ said the Cat, ‘it doesn’t matter.”    Lewis Carroll

There are some simple techniques and processes that can be applied to every decision, that should make them easier to make, quicker to resolve and ultimately much less stressful.

These can include:

  • Knowing yours and your businesses’ true priorities and being true to these
  • Establishing the difference between ‘urgent’ and ‘important’
  • Considering different processes and techniques; choosing the best way forward
  • Developing a personal decision making process that is straightforward and comfortable
  • Establishing background; involving stakeholders and influencers; managing expectations
  • The ‘laser approach’, versus ‘sheepdog focus’, or even ‘option adoption’ techniques
  • Applying time management skills to ensure indecision does not prevent progress
  • Striking the right balance between the ‘head’ and the ‘heart’ approach
  • Considering Transactional Analysis as a possible option for achieving the best personal outcome
  • Being prepared to decide not to decide, but fixing and keeping to a new decision deadline
  • When logic does not suit; using the ‘approach attributed to Einstein’

Some say that there are no such things as ‘wrong decisions’.  They argue that whichever route we choose is the correct one, based on what we know and how we feel at the time.  This approach has merit as much time, energy and stress is wasted in regretting past decisions.  This forward looking approach can make a big difference to your confidence when you are challenged with more decisions to be made.

Decision making is a fascinating art (and science).  Being comfortable with the process is important in order to maintain the quality of, and satisfaction in the result.

If you want to consider this further for you and your business, Salient is holding a workshop in February called ‘Decision Making – made easier’.  For more details and to book, go to the events page here.

Categories
Business management Sales process

5 GOOD REASONS TO PRACTICE THE FOLLOW-UP

5 GOOD REASONS TO PRACTICE ‘THE FOLLOW-UP’                                                       / ‘FOLLOW-THROUGH’ / ‘FOLLOW-ON’

Whatever you call it, this is one of the most important activities in sales and marketing, in fact, in business as a whole.

Whenever I gain a new customer, among the many things I ask them is how and why they chose me.

This is a common-sense approach that can often elicit huge insight.  From the responses I have received, the main reason I was chosen was that I had actually ‘followed-up’ my proposal or quotation.  Strange as it may seem, there are many businesses that simply don’t bother.  In fact, too often I hear of companies that do not even respond to a request for a quotation!  This is very un-professional to say the least, and wastes good business opportunities.

For example:

Take my recent contract to train a sales team in France.  They had approached four companies; two French and two English.  They did not say how many had responded with a proposal, but apparently, I was the only one to follow-up my quotation!  Needless to say, during the subsequent conversations I was able to match my product to their need and I won the contract.

So, why follow-up and how can it help to make the sale?

Following up……

  1/  Helps to build the personal relationship
  2/  Is an opportunity to learn more about the prospect and build this into your                   approach
  3/  Gives you the chance to make further adjustments to your quotation, making it           even closer to their need, and to differentiate yourself from the competition
  4/  Provides another opportunity to try and arrange to meet up, as the face-to-face           approach generally is far more successful than trying to win business by ‘phone
  5/  Is a chance to open negotiation, aiming to close the deal and win the business

It is wise to try and monitor and manage these follow-ups to ensure that no opportunities are missed.  I use a simple spreadsheet I call my ‘Opportunity Log’.  It lists contacts that I believe should be nurtured and followed up as I have identified potential for:

  • New business
  • Referrals
  • Support for, or supply to my business

How soon should you follow-up?  I would normally say within 2 to 3 days of the initial contact.  If in doubt, ask or suggest.  ‘Can I get back to you about this on…/in a couple of days?’  They are then duty bound to read it, as, when you call or visit, you are likely to be asking questions!

If you’ve left them something to think about, don’t waste the opportunity, follow-up and make sure you win the business.

Categories
Technical Sales

TECHNICAL SALES

WHY IS SELLING INTO TECHNICAL MARKETS THAT MUCH MORE

DIFFICULT AND COMPLICATED?

I spent nearly 20 years selling various products and services into technical markets.  During this time I developed a ‘best practice’ sales process that could be applied to any business.  However, technical markets require an added layer of expertise, over and above the ‘standard’ approach. Often there are barriers to making a sale which are difficult for those who were trained in a different discipline to appreciate and to overcome.

The Problems

Nine times out of ten, the problems in selling to technical clients are those of communication, or rather the lack of it.  The biggest issue of all? –  Finding the real decision maker(s).

Larger Companies

Unless you are dealing with very small companies, there is much separation between technical departments and commercial departments.  This separation is often physical and cultural.  In many cases the two disciplines have different structures, priorities, thought processes, jargon, decision making processes etc.  It is hardly surprising that each discipline requires a different sales approach.

Sometimes, just one of the departments, purchasing or technical, is involved, but this is rare, and in such cases technical sales skills will still be required.

Smaller companies

In smaller companies, it is common for the decision makers two wear at least two hats and sometimes it is necessary that the roles and responsibilities of both disciplines are controlled by one person.  This means that the decision maker is likely to be either an engineer attempting to grasp the essentials of sales and the commercial processes, or, they are business-trained and working hard to define the technical aspects of their need.  In either case they would benefit from learning the priorities, needs and requirements of their ‘secondary’ discipline.

Important tip:  don’t just take the word of the first contact you make that they are the decision maker.  They may believe they are but there are likely to be others who will seek and expect to at least influence that decision, if not take the responsibility themselves.  It is important to engage with everyone involved, technical and commercially based.

What we do to help

Salient offers a two, three or four day course in Technical Sales Training, covering sales essentials and the extra layers of skill needed to overcome the barriers and to improve sales conversion and success.

Our latest course was presented to a team from a French company based in Bordeaux.  Feedback from the course was very positive, with the team managers saying:

   “ The delegates were from non-English speaking background with varying degrees of experience. Each person found the training offered useful for our day-to-day sales programme.  We were also able to identify new marketing strategies to put into effect immediately.  Thank you!”

Technical Sales Training in Bordeaux
Technical Sales Training in Bordeaux

   “ A very enjoyable and fruitful experience to help us think more sales and less technical”

For more details, click here, or contact Andy on 01793 843118 or 07941 041364

[email protected]

Categories
Sales Ethos Sales process

GIVE-AWAY, SELL…OR BUY?!! – the importance of managing expectations

I am often asked; “How much should you be prepared to give away before you start charging for goods and services?”  In a nutshell, my advice is always:

“ Give until they get it”

In other words, give them small pieces, sufficient for them to get the point; for them to appreciate the value you offer, to understand your business, and the advantage they will gain from working with you. It is also important to manage expectations.  Agree the point when you need to start charging and make sure they understand the mutual commitment between you; you provide them with something they value and they pay you for the benefits this brings.  Don’t forget, you are in business; you are there to make money, to make a profit.

This whole concept was turned somewhat on its head last week when I had a call from the Business Growth Show. Was I interested in speaking at the next show in Swindon in July?  I always enjoy speaking and it’s great to impart some wit and wisdom relating to sales.  We talked of the date, the content (he felt it should be in some depth….and then he said,                                  “oh, by the way, there is a charge related to this”                                          Apparently, previous delegates had been disappointed with some speakers and felt they had not received good value.  The clear and obvious solution would be for them to find better speakers.  But BGS in their wisdom, had decided to charge the speakers £500+VAT for the privilege of giving away, ‘in depth’ valuable insight, for the benefit of their delegates!!  To me this is a strange way of securing a higher calibre of speaker. I have heard that a speaking opportunity can be offered as part of an exhibiting package, but never before have I heard of charging the speaker to give away their expertise!   I declined, politely.

In summary, whenever you make a sales pitch or presentation;

  • Be clear in what you are offering
  • Manage expectations on both sides
  • Be prepared to give, up to a pre-agreed point
  • Then sell

Unless you manage expectations in this way, you may well experience embarrassment or even a ‘nasty surprise’ further along the sales process.  You may even lose the business.

DON’T PANIC  –  KEEP SELLING!

Categories
General

5 Top Tips – contacting prospects

5 TOP TIPS:  Making contact with new prospects

Many people find contacting the most difficult of all sales activities.  This is likely if we are ‘cold-calling’, but if we have manageable list (not so large that we cannot follow-up all the contacts made), and we have a few useful techniques for winning their attention and gaining their interest, then we stand a good chance of doing business with them.
Here are 5 tips designed to help achieve good and profitable contacts every time:

  1/  Make sure your prospecting has been effective and you have identified those who will be most likely to understand why you have contacted them; what you are offering and will have an interest in hearing more from you.
  2/  Try and identify the Decision Maker before you make contact, or at least a named employee.  Asking by title may well draw a blank, whereas receptionists or ‘gatekeepers’ are likely to respond positively if you can use a name.
  3/  Make friends with the Gatekeeper.  They are not interested in fulfilling your need so simply ask for their help.  Many will deny an approach; ‘I need to talk with…’ whereas few will deny a plea for help.
  4/  Apply ‘AIDA’ to the conversation (if this is not familiar email or call and I’ll explain!).
  5/  Try to emphasize the benefits of your product or service which are relevant to the          role of the contact; a buyer will be interested in price and delivery, whereas an MD          (or FD) will be more focussed on return-on-investment and cost-effectiveness.

These are just a few tips; there are many more tips and techniques you can use to great effect.  If you would like to discuss these or learn more, please call or email.

Categories
General

5 Top Tips: feeding the sales pipeline

5 TOP TIPS:  Feeding the sales pipeline.

To avoid ‘stop and start’, ‘feast and famine’ sales, where an unplanned approach to marketing fails to attract a continuous stream of prospects or enquiries, here are 5 tips designed to help achieve sales continuity and a steady flow of new business:

1/  Construct a powerful message that really catches the eye and creates interest.  Include special offers, guarantees, value statements, new testimonials etc.
2/  Devise marketing initiatives that work in parallel, not in series, i.e. have more than one promotion operating at the same time.  These could involve a newsletter, LinkedIn, flyer campaign, website ‘latest news’, networking etc.
3/  Link all the initiatives together, signposting from one to the other to reinforce the message and provide extra detail.
4/  Include a system for registering interest; on your website, return form, newsletter feed etc.
5/  Follow-up ALL contacts received, however minor the interest claimed, and try and obtain feedback as to which promotion initiative caught their attention (useful for future campaigns).

This is ‘joined-up’ marketing and, well constructed, can be far more effective at attracting new business.

This is the first of 8 in our ‘5 TOP TIPS’ series. These will be followed by:
Contacting – first impressions that count
Presenting or ‘pitching’ – building interest and credibility
Negotiation – the best deal for all
Closing – introducing the Salient Ultimate Close
Customer Care – developing loyalty
More Time – practical techniques in time management
Smart Networking – making the most of face-to-face contact

Categories
Business management

How to deal with competition

I was asked the other day: ‘How should I deal with competition’? 
It seems that another supplier of this persons services had moved into the area, and, more significantly, into their circles, their network.

The immediate reaction is often to be affronted; ‘I was here first’, or to panic; ‘There’s not enough to go round’.
BUT, as with all things, there are ways of turning this situation on its head; turning a problem into an advantage.  After all, you can’t exactly ask them to go away!

Here’s what to do:
1/  Accept that they are there and have just as much right as you to target local business
2/  Realise that all the work they do to promote their services helps to ‘seed’ the market’ and show more businesses the value of what you do.  They help to create the market.
3/  Look for differentiators – those aspects that make you different from each other; the individual strengths that allow you to say, ‘they do this aspect well, but we specialise in this other area’.
4/  Meet with them, confirm the differentiators and explore the opportunities together.
– They may be targeting companies of different sizes or geographical areas from you.
– They may claim one expertise but not have the resources to provide it.  Can you provide it for them?
– They may be happy to set up a referral agreement whereby they pass to you the business that they are not best suited to provide and vice versa.

This has happened to me on a number of occasions, and each time I have been able to turn the situation to mutual advantage.

So, don’t resent the competition, embrace them!
Categories
Sales Ethos

Salient Ethical Sales – no pressure!

Are you fed up with ‘pressure selling’ and ‘pushy salesmen’?  

Having witnessed yet another example of this the other day I decided that Salient must now take a stand on this.  I have been promoting ethical sales since I started the company in 2007, but have never really shouted about this aspect.

Sadly, pressure selling techniques are still rife.  There are many ways of adding spin and pressure to a pitch and I am sure you have all experienced the common ones:

“This offer is only available today.”  

“Normally sold at £1000, but yours for £97” (!)

“Everyone is buying this, do you want to miss out?”

‘Pressure selling’ is often confrontational, manipulative, pressured, spin-focussed and pushy.  This is less likely to engender trust, or develop an honest and productive relationship.  If you felt you had been pressured or manipulated into buying, would you want to use that supplier again?  Would you trust them?  Selling does not have to be like this.  Salient Ethical Selling uses simple techniques which rely on an open and supportive approach.  This will ALWAYS win more loyalty, more customers and more business.

WHAT IS ETHICAL SALES?  –  it is a sales ethos focussing on:

  • an honest and open approach
  • clarity and straight-talking
  • trust and mutual support
  • relationship development
  • being that bit better than the rest

How is Ethical Sales different?

‘Ethical Sales’ is about fulfilling the need of the buyer first, then the seller.

This approach has proved to be far more effective in:

  • Developing productive business relationships
  • Fostering trust and growing loyalty
  • Achieving ‘preferred/best/ideal supplier’ status
  • Winning EVERY opportunity
  • Receiving referrals, testimonials and recommendations
  • GROWING YOUR BUSINESS EFFECTIVELY AND ETHICALLY

“In all the years I’ve known Andy and Salient I have been impressed by his absolute consistency in his determination to operate and promote an integrated and ethical approach to doing business.  I have used his ideas and found them to be effective and profitable; they work.”     Andrew Hudson, Marketing Manager, Envitec Ltd.

“In my business, building a trusting relationship is vital, without an ethical sales approach, I’d fail”.   George Seward, Owner, Corporate Mergers Ltd

With ETHICAL SALES – it’s winning all round:

THEY WIN a trustworthy and honest supplier, and…

YOU WIN their respect, their trust, their loyalty, and their continuing business.

Salient is holding Ethical Sales Training days starting in January 2014.  If you would like to find out more or book your place, talk to Andy on 01793 843118 or 07941 041364, or email [email protected]

Get Started

Discover More

About Salient

Want sales, marketing and business development tips, techniques and discounts dropped straight in your inbox? Subscribe below!

Our Newsletter
Back to top

Get our email newsletter full of sales, marketing and business development tips and stories by subscribing via the button below. And why not follow our social media pages?

Our Newsletter
Back to top