by Ron LaVine
Recently I was researching a prospect before I planned to call them. I had been given a referral however before calling them; I want to do my homework first. First, I realized that at least five or more of my current clients were direct or indirect competitors. This meant this prospect fit perfectly in my target market and therefore was worth the time spent doing an in depth analysis of their operations.
When conducting my pre-call planning, I always start out in the career section. This tells often me what types skills sets are required of people they are looking for and the type of sales training in use. In this case, they were looking for salespeople with cold calling and prospecting skills.
A good start so far. This description also told me what type of sales training they were currently using. Knowing this information, I planned an augmentation strategy rather than a replacement one. Often it is easier to augment a current solution than to try to replace it initially.
Next I went and read the annual report. Since they are publicly traded, I used the link http://finance.yahoo.com/ combined with their ticker symbol in the Yahoo Finance section which led to a detailed financial overview of the company, their industry and their competitors.
I learned when was the end of their fiscal year which would help me by knowing when they would start planning and budgeting for next year. In this case it was June 30 so beginning my process in March turned out to be good timing.
I read exactly what their strategy was for gaining new business. I learned that in addition to going after their existing customer base, they had set aggressive goals for penetrating Global 3000 enterprises. The report also told me that the quarterly revenue growth was in the low single digits differential in sales from last year to this year was in the single digits and the quarterly earnings were negative.
This meant there was plenty of room for improvement and that their current sales training might not be working as effectively as planned. I also looked at the amount they were spending on Selling, General and Administrative which is where typically the sales training budget comes from. I noticed that it was increasing which meant they were adding salespeople or at least spending more money in the area of sales.
Finally I looked at their competition and noticed that two out of the five major direct competitors were already clients of mine. This fact would make it much easier for me to establish credibility and interest since I was fairly sure they were interested in how their competition was being trained.
Next I went over to Edgar http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml to read their annual report or 10K. After studying the annual report's Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Conditions and Results of Operations which laid out:
* Business Overview,
* Industry Background,
* Business Imperatives,
* Strategy (plus the key elements of the strategy),
* Product Descriptions,
* Sales and Marketing (including the number of quota carrying salespeople),
* Description of the Competition
Since I teach live cold calling sales training which involves getting your foot in the door into new organizations, the strategy of increased focus and penetration of key markets was of particular interest to me.
After reading the Annual Report, I went over to their web site and began to read the About the Company section. Not only was a clear and concise two sentence description of what the company did, I also learned that their core differentiators or values were innovation and customer focus.
Although I target VP of Sales, it was in the Executive Management section of their site that I learned that the Chief Marketing Officer was actually responsible for direct response and telemarketing around the world. I also learned that this person worked for one of my clients.
This meant I could leverage one of my client relationships as a means to build credibility with the person who was responsible for sales training or who would know who the person was I needed to speak with.
Leaving no stone unturned, I also read the Senior VP of Worldwide Field Operations (which in this case also stood for VP of Sales). He was responsible for field marketing, direct sales, channel management, strategic alliances and consulting services. This meant he too, maybe a prospect for sales training. I also noticed he worked for a client of mine so I planned to leverage that relationship in the same way as with the CMO.
A search on "@companyname.com" led me to some people who were producing the Users Conference for the company. A quick phone call to one of them led to permission to send her an email which she would forward to the person who was in charge of field marketing and also in charge of sales training. She spelled out the person's name, provided the title, ext and email. When this was all done, I sent off my first email which was followed by a call to be sure it was received.
The whole point of this pre-call planning is to show how important it is to know your prospects BEFORE you begin your approach. I'd say this whole process took no more than 10 to 15 minutes and if this deals closes which I believe it will (although the sales cycle maybe a long one) that time invested may mean thousands and thousands of dollars in revenue.
Your assignment is to choose 10 key target accounts and conduct this type of research before you make your initial call. I think you'll find this approach will help you not only sound intelligent when speaking with your prospects; it will also help you sell more in less time than before.
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Ron LaVine, MBA is president and founder of Accelerated Sales Training, Inc., a sales training firm located in Oak Park, CA. You can get a special report “41 sales Tips You Can Use Right Now” AND the free bimonthly Sales Tips for Selling Success eZine all by signing up at http://www.telesales-sales-training.com. If you would like information on Live Cold Calling Sales Training please call Ron at 818-991-6487 PST. ©2011 by Accelerated Sales Training, Inc.
Showing posts with label telesales training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label telesales training. Show all posts
Monday, January 24, 2011
Sunday, October 17, 2010
11 Actions Sales Reps Should Avoid
By Ron S. LaVine, MBA, President
Accelerated Sales Training, Inc.
Cold Calling System for Success – Live Phone Sales Call Training
01. Sales reps should avoid talking too much and listening too little. Using close-ended questions, which tend to kill a conversation with a yes or no answer instead of open-ended questions that extend a conversation because they cannot be easily answered with a yes or no.
02. Sales reps should avoid not getting people to commit to a yes or no decision rather than a perhaps or a maybe. Get rid of the prospects that keep dragging their feet. Simply ask, "Is there still an interest in [your product or service]? If yes, what's the next step?" The sooner you know the quicker you can invest your time in those prospects who have an interest and are willing to take action or "move forward".
03. Sales reps should avoid forgetting to ask permission to speak or lack respect for the other person's time. An executive's time is one of their most limited and valuable assets. If it is not respected you will quickly find yourself disconnected. Would you want to speak with someone if you were in the middle of an important meeting? No. So remember a little common courtesy goes a long way. ALWAYS ask permission to speak. I happen to like "Is this a good time to speak?" or "Do you have a minute?"
04. Sales reps should avoid asking too many questions in a row. Too many questions in a row are frustrating because the prospect doesn't know which question to answer first and the conversation becomes confusing real fast. Remember one question at a time, then STOP! You'll have plenty of time to ask more questions and the prospect won't be defensive since they are unable to answer multiple questions at once.
05. Sales reps should avoid talking over other the prospect's answer to a question or interrupting while the prospect is speaking. Since most if not all of us like to hear ourselves speak, it takes tremendous discipline to remain silent until someone has finished what they have to say. What if the part of the answer that you spoke over was a crucial piece of information? You'll never know, will you?
06. Sales reps should avoid calling on the wrong people who have no authority to buy. Many reps would rather spend their limited selling time calling upon lower level people who, while they maybe good sources of information, they lack the authority to buy. These people can stymie the sales process by saying don't go above me and don't go below me. I am the only person you need to speak with. What happens then? You become in the "let's talk some more and more or show me more and more" position. This type of scenario will drag your sales process to a halt.
07. Sales reps should avoid speaking too fast, too slow, in a monotone or without enthusiasm or conviction. People buy from people they know, like and trust and trust means similar to them. Learn to match and mirror the rate of speed, tone and the volume of the prospect's voice. Listening to a person's voice mail often provides a clue as to what type of speaker they are. If they speak fast, speed up. If they speak slowly, then slow done. The same applies to louder and softer. As for tone, learn to move your voice up and down and enunciate clearly.
08. Sales reps should avoid pitching. Pitching is for baseball games not selling. Pitching implies something will be caught yet not necessarily the "right thing or solution". A good salesperson never needs to pitch since by asking the right questions and listening they know what the prospect wants resented to them and the close becomes a natural conclusion.
09. Sales reps should avoid leaving their phone number only once and speaking too fast when they leave a voice mail. This means the prospect has to play the message over and over again when it is much easy to just erase it. Make it easy for people to do business with you. SLOW DOWN when you leave a message and leave your phone number twice in a row. The first time you leave your number gives the prospect time to find a pen and the second gives them time to write down the number.
10. Sales reps should avoid forgetting to make eye contact. In Nicholas Boothman's book, How to Connect in Business in 90 Seconds (Workman Publishing $16.95) he claims people make "like/don't like" decisions within the first 90 seconds of meeting someone. This means you must be able to win someone over fast. For you field reps it is a known fact that looking people directly in the eyes establishes you as trustworthy and open. Practice making a mental note of each person's eye color and you'll automatically look each person you meet right in the eye.
11. Sales reps should avoid making selling too complicated. Often it is better to be reminded and return to the basics above rather than to continue behavior, which should be avoided, if you want to be successful in sales.
Make it a great day and a successful week!
Ron
Call 1-818-991-6487 for a free sales training or telesales training needs analysis.
Accelerated Sales Training, Inc.
Cold Calling System for Success – Live Phone Sales Call Training
01. Sales reps should avoid talking too much and listening too little. Using close-ended questions, which tend to kill a conversation with a yes or no answer instead of open-ended questions that extend a conversation because they cannot be easily answered with a yes or no.
02. Sales reps should avoid not getting people to commit to a yes or no decision rather than a perhaps or a maybe. Get rid of the prospects that keep dragging their feet. Simply ask, "Is there still an interest in [your product or service]? If yes, what's the next step?" The sooner you know the quicker you can invest your time in those prospects who have an interest and are willing to take action or "move forward".
03. Sales reps should avoid forgetting to ask permission to speak or lack respect for the other person's time. An executive's time is one of their most limited and valuable assets. If it is not respected you will quickly find yourself disconnected. Would you want to speak with someone if you were in the middle of an important meeting? No. So remember a little common courtesy goes a long way. ALWAYS ask permission to speak. I happen to like "Is this a good time to speak?" or "Do you have a minute?"
04. Sales reps should avoid asking too many questions in a row. Too many questions in a row are frustrating because the prospect doesn't know which question to answer first and the conversation becomes confusing real fast. Remember one question at a time, then STOP! You'll have plenty of time to ask more questions and the prospect won't be defensive since they are unable to answer multiple questions at once.
05. Sales reps should avoid talking over other the prospect's answer to a question or interrupting while the prospect is speaking. Since most if not all of us like to hear ourselves speak, it takes tremendous discipline to remain silent until someone has finished what they have to say. What if the part of the answer that you spoke over was a crucial piece of information? You'll never know, will you?
06. Sales reps should avoid calling on the wrong people who have no authority to buy. Many reps would rather spend their limited selling time calling upon lower level people who, while they maybe good sources of information, they lack the authority to buy. These people can stymie the sales process by saying don't go above me and don't go below me. I am the only person you need to speak with. What happens then? You become in the "let's talk some more and more or show me more and more" position. This type of scenario will drag your sales process to a halt.
07. Sales reps should avoid speaking too fast, too slow, in a monotone or without enthusiasm or conviction. People buy from people they know, like and trust and trust means similar to them. Learn to match and mirror the rate of speed, tone and the volume of the prospect's voice. Listening to a person's voice mail often provides a clue as to what type of speaker they are. If they speak fast, speed up. If they speak slowly, then slow done. The same applies to louder and softer. As for tone, learn to move your voice up and down and enunciate clearly.
08. Sales reps should avoid pitching. Pitching is for baseball games not selling. Pitching implies something will be caught yet not necessarily the "right thing or solution". A good salesperson never needs to pitch since by asking the right questions and listening they know what the prospect wants resented to them and the close becomes a natural conclusion.
09. Sales reps should avoid leaving their phone number only once and speaking too fast when they leave a voice mail. This means the prospect has to play the message over and over again when it is much easy to just erase it. Make it easy for people to do business with you. SLOW DOWN when you leave a message and leave your phone number twice in a row. The first time you leave your number gives the prospect time to find a pen and the second gives them time to write down the number.
10. Sales reps should avoid forgetting to make eye contact. In Nicholas Boothman's book, How to Connect in Business in 90 Seconds (Workman Publishing $16.95) he claims people make "like/don't like" decisions within the first 90 seconds of meeting someone. This means you must be able to win someone over fast. For you field reps it is a known fact that looking people directly in the eyes establishes you as trustworthy and open. Practice making a mental note of each person's eye color and you'll automatically look each person you meet right in the eye.
11. Sales reps should avoid making selling too complicated. Often it is better to be reminded and return to the basics above rather than to continue behavior, which should be avoided, if you want to be successful in sales.
Make it a great day and a successful week!
Ron
Call 1-818-991-6487 for a free sales training or telesales training needs analysis.
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