December 6, 2009
Q: Premature Elaboration;
What is the best (or even a good) way to demonstrate the most value for your services during initial discussions with the prospect.
A: We are often so eager to show how much we know that we don't wait until the client has fully explained where his or her organization is, how it got there and completely understand the issues or needs that they have. As soon as some sales people, management people and/or consultants hear a problem they think they have recognized and solved the issues before the speaker is finished speaking. Many times they are way too quick to show how much they believe they know because they think this is the way to the buyers’ heart. Many times over the years I have made the statement, “….it’s better to be thought the fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.”
Even when you have solved the presumed problem, you owe the client the opportunity to describe why it’s a need or an issue for the organization and the nature of the solution for which they are willing to engage you. Hold your conclusions until you have explored the issues together. Remember, it is about addressing the client's problem, not showing how smart you are. Your lights will shine bright once you put their pain to rest.
Tip: The title of this tip says it all. Not that every analogy is appropriate but initial sales -client conversations can be considered like dating: show exceptional respect, listen more than talk, and think longer term.
Have a tremendous week and remember that your comments are always welcomed. Call or write if I can be of any assistance.
Regards,
George F. Mancuso, CPC
Gman Business Resources, Inc.
GmanSearch.com
Nationally recognized Retained Executive Search and Employee Retention Specialist.
12/6/09
11/29/09
Building Your Client Base
November 29, 2009
I am often asked, "....which do you think is more important in growing my client base - filling the hopper with leads in the front end or transforming cold leads to warm ones?"
This question could be easily answered if every sales personality was the same. Some sales folks don't like to sell or cultivate prospects/clients. They would rather step into the sales arena and say, "hi my name is Bill, and how do you like me so far? Where's the order?"
Then there is the other end of the spectrum and the development of closing of the sale becomes laborious, boring and balances on the hopeful.
Many times we get a stack of business cards or a referral from a friend or colleague telling us we should meet this person or receive an inquiry from a person who is not quite ready to buy. But the bottom line in any and all sales arenas includes a formal mechanism, a solid definition and filled with professional determination. Consequently, it is not identifying people to put into your hopper that is the limiting factor, but moving them from stage to stage and eventually turning them into buying clients.
I believe it is important that we have a plethora of potential clients. And I too have used the term "hopper" on many occasions, but it is not just having the hopper filled that turns them into buying clients.
If we think in the terms of farming, where the farmer prepares the ground, plants the seeds, cultivates and irrigates the land, supports and watches over his/her field, we are more accurately representing what is needed to develop prospects into buying clients. Bottom line, you need both but without always acting in a defined, determined professional manner, the yield of your harvest may become distressed at best.
The first week of December is now upon us and as always I wish you the absolute best. If I can be of any assistance, please call or write and I will respond immediately!
Regards,
George F. Mancuso, CPC
Gman Business Resources, Inc.
Grinnell, Iowa
I am often asked, "....which do you think is more important in growing my client base - filling the hopper with leads in the front end or transforming cold leads to warm ones?"
This question could be easily answered if every sales personality was the same. Some sales folks don't like to sell or cultivate prospects/clients. They would rather step into the sales arena and say, "hi my name is Bill, and how do you like me so far? Where's the order?"
Then there is the other end of the spectrum and the development of closing of the sale becomes laborious, boring and balances on the hopeful.
Many times we get a stack of business cards or a referral from a friend or colleague telling us we should meet this person or receive an inquiry from a person who is not quite ready to buy. But the bottom line in any and all sales arenas includes a formal mechanism, a solid definition and filled with professional determination. Consequently, it is not identifying people to put into your hopper that is the limiting factor, but moving them from stage to stage and eventually turning them into buying clients.
I believe it is important that we have a plethora of potential clients. And I too have used the term "hopper" on many occasions, but it is not just having the hopper filled that turns them into buying clients.
If we think in the terms of farming, where the farmer prepares the ground, plants the seeds, cultivates and irrigates the land, supports and watches over his/her field, we are more accurately representing what is needed to develop prospects into buying clients. Bottom line, you need both but without always acting in a defined, determined professional manner, the yield of your harvest may become distressed at best.
The first week of December is now upon us and as always I wish you the absolute best. If I can be of any assistance, please call or write and I will respond immediately!
Regards,
George F. Mancuso, CPC
Gman Business Resources, Inc.
Grinnell, Iowa
11/14/09
Are you being paid by the number of quotes you complete in a day?
“….Are you being paid by the number of quotes you complete in a day?”
I recently had the privilege of meeting with the owners of a construction firm that has a national footprint, to discuss the growth path of their organization into 2010. A successful company by most any standards, they like all of us, would like to move up to the next level and wanted my advice. (That always makes me feel GD).
During the course of the rather lengthy conversation and interview process they explained to me how instrumental and effective their Internet presence was in delivering leads to them on a daily basis. I personally do not hear the loud cries of success from a company’s website, so I was a bit skeptical. “How many leads in a month would you estimate that you receive” I asked. 300 was the answer! Yes that wasn’t a typographical error, they said, “THREE HUNDRED LEADS A MONTH!” Holy Smokes! 300 leads a month???? In this economy or any economy, that is fabulous!
Then I asked the logical question…..”What is your percentage of closes?” Sadly, that percentage was extremely low. So I asked to speak to the sales manager and asked about their quoting process. The explanation was, “we get a great deal of simple quotes. Many of those I can turn around in a couple of minutes. But it’s the ones that give us a great deal of detail that take the most time and usually turn into sales.”
The short version of this conversation is, the sales department quoted whatever came across their monitor from an Email quote request. Even those inquiries who state; “Do Not Call Me, I Just Want a Quote.” So of course I asked the next logical question, “….Are you being paid by the number of quotes you complete in a day?” Of course the answer was no.
So my recommendations were as follows;
1. You must create a reason to speak with the prospect
2. You do not send any financial information to any prospect who doesn’t want to be contacted unless you create a reason to get involved in a open dialog.
3. In even a simple quote, you must initiate the request with a question that forces them to respond. i.e. “I am working on your proposal but have a couple of questions for you. Please advise a good time and phone number for me to call you or please call me at XXX-XXX-XXXX”.
4. Sending blind quotes is an exercise in futility. Have sales people ever made a sale from a blind quote? Of course but you are dealing with thin air. You must get the prospect in the game or if NOT in the game at all; have the discipline to walk away.
5. Don’t give prospects ammunition that can be used against you if the proposed project turns into a price war.
6. In ALL sales cases you must create and sell value. Without value, the quote is only a number on a piece of paper. Have you ever given a quote to a prospect and then out of nowhere they tell you they are going with another firm? Of course, we all have, but who is to blame in that scenario?
7. If the low number takes ALL no matter what, then it’s a sand box you should not have been playing because it’s their game and their rules and those rules are stacked against you.
8. It’s not business as usual if you want to survive. Think outside the box is a term we have all heard, but few achieve. Complacency kills companies. Complacent employees kill companies. Complacent owners and managers kill companies. Again I say, IT IS NOT BUSINESS AS USUAL if you want to survive.
Have a tremendous week. If I can assist in anyway, please call or write and I will respond immediately!
Regards,
George F. Mancuso, CPC
Gman Business Resources, Inc.
Grinnell, IA 50112
I recently had the privilege of meeting with the owners of a construction firm that has a national footprint, to discuss the growth path of their organization into 2010. A successful company by most any standards, they like all of us, would like to move up to the next level and wanted my advice. (That always makes me feel GD).
During the course of the rather lengthy conversation and interview process they explained to me how instrumental and effective their Internet presence was in delivering leads to them on a daily basis. I personally do not hear the loud cries of success from a company’s website, so I was a bit skeptical. “How many leads in a month would you estimate that you receive” I asked. 300 was the answer! Yes that wasn’t a typographical error, they said, “THREE HUNDRED LEADS A MONTH!” Holy Smokes! 300 leads a month???? In this economy or any economy, that is fabulous!
Then I asked the logical question…..”What is your percentage of closes?” Sadly, that percentage was extremely low. So I asked to speak to the sales manager and asked about their quoting process. The explanation was, “we get a great deal of simple quotes. Many of those I can turn around in a couple of minutes. But it’s the ones that give us a great deal of detail that take the most time and usually turn into sales.”
The short version of this conversation is, the sales department quoted whatever came across their monitor from an Email quote request. Even those inquiries who state; “Do Not Call Me, I Just Want a Quote.” So of course I asked the next logical question, “….Are you being paid by the number of quotes you complete in a day?” Of course the answer was no.
So my recommendations were as follows;
1. You must create a reason to speak with the prospect
2. You do not send any financial information to any prospect who doesn’t want to be contacted unless you create a reason to get involved in a open dialog.
3. In even a simple quote, you must initiate the request with a question that forces them to respond. i.e. “I am working on your proposal but have a couple of questions for you. Please advise a good time and phone number for me to call you or please call me at XXX-XXX-XXXX”.
4. Sending blind quotes is an exercise in futility. Have sales people ever made a sale from a blind quote? Of course but you are dealing with thin air. You must get the prospect in the game or if NOT in the game at all; have the discipline to walk away.
5. Don’t give prospects ammunition that can be used against you if the proposed project turns into a price war.
6. In ALL sales cases you must create and sell value. Without value, the quote is only a number on a piece of paper. Have you ever given a quote to a prospect and then out of nowhere they tell you they are going with another firm? Of course, we all have, but who is to blame in that scenario?
7. If the low number takes ALL no matter what, then it’s a sand box you should not have been playing because it’s their game and their rules and those rules are stacked against you.
8. It’s not business as usual if you want to survive. Think outside the box is a term we have all heard, but few achieve. Complacency kills companies. Complacent employees kill companies. Complacent owners and managers kill companies. Again I say, IT IS NOT BUSINESS AS USUAL if you want to survive.
Have a tremendous week. If I can assist in anyway, please call or write and I will respond immediately!
Regards,
George F. Mancuso, CPC
Gman Business Resources, Inc.
Grinnell, IA 50112
11/7/09
Is The CFO Overriding The Sales Plan?
QUESTION: We are truly a sales driven team of tangible big ticket items. We are constantly coming up with new or improved methods to differentiate ourselves from the competition. But our marketing and sales plans seem to continually get hijacked by the finance department, who focus on daily or month to month data and not long term goals. How do we get over the CFO’s wall of resistance?
ANSWER: There is little doubt my answer to this multi-company corporate problem will probably bring a touch of anger from our readers within the finance arena. Although we’ve all got an intricate place in the company structure, I continually state that companies should be managed by a management team that tends to lend itself to the sales side. However with that said, Performance Management Systems can be developed to help win over the finance men and women.
Performance measurement systems are affected by the very culture of the group designing and using them. There is nothing wrong with a financial reporting system, but this should not be confused with a performance management system. The latter is intended to guide an organization to results. The finance function, however, is embedded in a culture of risk avoidance and control. The effect of that perspective is to focus on process, accuracy of predictions and variance with expected data.
How much variation in month to month results are typical for your industry? Are long-term trends heading in the right direction? Does your executive team have evidence that past variance with plans is a good predictor of failure to meet goals? Is there a basis to believe this is the case now? Is the finance function being given undue influence over business operations? Remember, accounting is a trailing indicator and, while a provider of important data, it is a supporting function and should not be confused as a business driver.
Discuss with your finance group about a performance measurement system designed for your specific culture, perspective and the impact each department will have on providing data and interpreting that data. Talk about how decisions will be made if one set of data is well outside of expected predictions. How are accountabilities to be set, i.e., how much allowance is appropriate for variance and who is accountable for "fixing" that variance? Have these conversations during the design phase and it will help reduce conflicts with regard “a number” rather than measuring progress against long-term organizational objectives.
As always, your comments are welcome. Please accept my wishes for an outstanding week! If we can assist in any way, call or write and we will respond immediately!
Regards,
George F. Mancuso, CPC
Gman Business Resources
ANSWER: There is little doubt my answer to this multi-company corporate problem will probably bring a touch of anger from our readers within the finance arena. Although we’ve all got an intricate place in the company structure, I continually state that companies should be managed by a management team that tends to lend itself to the sales side. However with that said, Performance Management Systems can be developed to help win over the finance men and women.
Performance measurement systems are affected by the very culture of the group designing and using them. There is nothing wrong with a financial reporting system, but this should not be confused with a performance management system. The latter is intended to guide an organization to results. The finance function, however, is embedded in a culture of risk avoidance and control. The effect of that perspective is to focus on process, accuracy of predictions and variance with expected data.
How much variation in month to month results are typical for your industry? Are long-term trends heading in the right direction? Does your executive team have evidence that past variance with plans is a good predictor of failure to meet goals? Is there a basis to believe this is the case now? Is the finance function being given undue influence over business operations? Remember, accounting is a trailing indicator and, while a provider of important data, it is a supporting function and should not be confused as a business driver.
Discuss with your finance group about a performance measurement system designed for your specific culture, perspective and the impact each department will have on providing data and interpreting that data. Talk about how decisions will be made if one set of data is well outside of expected predictions. How are accountabilities to be set, i.e., how much allowance is appropriate for variance and who is accountable for "fixing" that variance? Have these conversations during the design phase and it will help reduce conflicts with regard “a number” rather than measuring progress against long-term organizational objectives.
As always, your comments are welcome. Please accept my wishes for an outstanding week! If we can assist in any way, call or write and we will respond immediately!
Regards,
George F. Mancuso, CPC
Gman Business Resources
10/30/09
Expanding Your Sales Horizons
11-1-2009
Q: As the economy rebounds, what suggestions do you have
for broadening my sales prospects, thus growing my own business?
A: Race car drivers accelerate coming out of a turn instead of waiting for the straightaway. This is also a good model for sales people. What areas of the economy and your market are going to be slow to recover or never recover? Which of your clients will YOU stand by if it takes longer to get back to their former strength? What trends were YOU counting on that are picking up strength or were shut off by a changing economy? Now is a great time to be looking at regional and/or national trends to identify where you can begin to cultivate opportunities.
Many major trade organizations publish on occasion a "state of the industry" summary. Recognizing that these are promotional to some extent, they still contain good information on current structure, capacity, demand for products, and changes in production practices or consumption of its products. Also consider government reports that address more macro trends or longer term trends. These reports, even if they are not in your industry, can provide some deep insights into how the economy is changing and where your opportunities may lie.
Tip: If the trade association for your industry has no such "State of the Industry" research, and you feel reasonably sure you know a lot about the industry, suggest teaming up with the association's research staff in developing such a report. This is something their members would value and what better way to get known as the "industry expert" than to have the implicit endorsement of a trade association.
Now with all this said, I would strongly encourage you keep a positive mind, positive attitude, positive speech pattern, positive body language and develop my “SURE ‘NUF” thought process. And if missed that in one of my previous newsletters, here it is again:
“My thoughts of today are programming my tomorrow!” SUR ‘NUF. You wake up in the morning, put your feet over the bed, look out the window and say to yourself, “it’s going to be a lousy day!” SURE ‘NUF! You tell yourself, “this State is so depressed, I’ll never sell enough to make a living.” SURE ‘NUF! So the call is yours.
Get your proverbial act together, get into the field, be a leader and make things happen. If you are lazy and are waiting for somebody else to do it then hand it to you, the time has come to change professions. Without sales teams growing themselves and their companies, the company ceases to exist. The burden is on OUR shoulders. US the sales professionals of the world.
As always , enjoy your week and your comments are always welcome.
Regards,
George F. Mancuso, CPC
Gman Business Resources, Inc.
Q: As the economy rebounds, what suggestions do you have
for broadening my sales prospects, thus growing my own business?
A: Race car drivers accelerate coming out of a turn instead of waiting for the straightaway. This is also a good model for sales people. What areas of the economy and your market are going to be slow to recover or never recover? Which of your clients will YOU stand by if it takes longer to get back to their former strength? What trends were YOU counting on that are picking up strength or were shut off by a changing economy? Now is a great time to be looking at regional and/or national trends to identify where you can begin to cultivate opportunities.
Many major trade organizations publish on occasion a "state of the industry" summary. Recognizing that these are promotional to some extent, they still contain good information on current structure, capacity, demand for products, and changes in production practices or consumption of its products. Also consider government reports that address more macro trends or longer term trends. These reports, even if they are not in your industry, can provide some deep insights into how the economy is changing and where your opportunities may lie.
Tip: If the trade association for your industry has no such "State of the Industry" research, and you feel reasonably sure you know a lot about the industry, suggest teaming up with the association's research staff in developing such a report. This is something their members would value and what better way to get known as the "industry expert" than to have the implicit endorsement of a trade association.
Now with all this said, I would strongly encourage you keep a positive mind, positive attitude, positive speech pattern, positive body language and develop my “SURE ‘NUF” thought process. And if missed that in one of my previous newsletters, here it is again:
“My thoughts of today are programming my tomorrow!” SUR ‘NUF. You wake up in the morning, put your feet over the bed, look out the window and say to yourself, “it’s going to be a lousy day!” SURE ‘NUF! You tell yourself, “this State is so depressed, I’ll never sell enough to make a living.” SURE ‘NUF! So the call is yours.
Get your proverbial act together, get into the field, be a leader and make things happen. If you are lazy and are waiting for somebody else to do it then hand it to you, the time has come to change professions. Without sales teams growing themselves and their companies, the company ceases to exist. The burden is on OUR shoulders. US the sales professionals of the world.
As always , enjoy your week and your comments are always welcome.
Regards,
George F. Mancuso, CPC
Gman Business Resources, Inc.
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