Category Archives for Sales Prospecting

TSE 903: How To Get More Time Back As A Sales Manager To Exceed Quota

Jason Loh visits The Sales Evangelist podcast today to help us understand how to make the best use of our time and to help us understand the value of time. When we do, we can help our sales teams get more time back to exceed quota.

Jason is the global head of sales solutions for Anaplan, a software vendor that is pioneering a category of connected planning. Anaplan seeks to bring together people with data in order to help organizations better manage their business.

What is the value of time?

Sellers do best when they have clear marching orders.

Sometimes the problem emerges at the end of Q4 when an organization is moving into a new fiscal year.  Sellers don’t always know whether they are supposed to sell into the same accounts they sold into the last year.

While the company cleans house at the end of a fiscal year, very often the sellers find themselves with a nebulous period of time. They could spend as many as two or three months waiting to see what comes next.

If sellers don’t have a clear sense of what they should be doing, uncertainty causes them to hesitate. By the time the organization gains its footing for the new fiscal year, the company has lost two months’ worth of time, which means it has to complete 12 months’ worth of selling in only 10 months.

One of the first thing sales reps want to know when they begin a new job is how they’ll be compensated. If their compensation will rely on productivity, it’s in their best interest to make the most of their time.

How can teams get more time back?

Sales leaders can’t simply expect sellers to figure things out. Instead, they have to set a good example and get the house in order to remove roadblocks to success and empower their sellers.

Identify the top three things for the upcoming fiscal year.

You must make sure that your organization’s plan correlates to how you’re designing your compensation plans. Without an extra incentive to drive your reps to accomplish those goals, how will you expect them to accomplish those three things? Furthermore, why are you incentivizing things that don’t match your company’s top three goals?

So often there’s a disconnect between senior leadership and the sellers, so people are scratching their heads wondering why things aren’t matching up.

How does a lack of goal setting affect organizations?

The Alexander Group reports that 81 percent of organizations don’t have their comp plans connected to their sales team’s marching orders.

Jason says there are things organizations can control, and things they can’t control. Your organization should do its best to control things like marching orders and sales plans because those things are well within your control.

Things like employee turnover are completely outside your organization’s control and they can present a significant challenge.

How do you effectively plan for the hiring process of bringing on a new rep, ramping for a period of time, covering for employees who are absent for a period of time, all while still managing the entire process?

What platforms and technologies should my sales team be using?

From a seller or sales rep’s perspective, CRM is the core.

For leaders, consider this: does micromanaging your sales teams’ number of emails, number of voicemails and other metrics help you build your larger strategy? Does it get you where you need to be in 12 months?

Aim to help your sellers manage their sales basics so you can transfer a marketing qualified lead to a sales qualified lead.

Opt for a decision-based platform that helps you pull together data. Make sure you know who your contacts are at each organization as well as who your influencers and decision-makers are.

Identify the tools that will help your sales team elevate its game and develop more opportunities.

Measure your reps on whether they delivered.

Productivity depends on the industry you’re in and the tasks and activities you’re required to do. Understanding those requirements will help you understand whether your team is maximizing its productivity.

Imagine this:

If I’m a sales rep with a killer sales forecast and I miss my number, I might be escorted out the door. If I’m a sales rep with a horrible sales forecast, but I exceed my number anyway, I’ll be carried around the office like a rock star.

As a sales leader, it’s challenging to marry the endgame with the leading indicators like phone calls and emails, but it’s worth the effort. Otherwise, your team will focus primarily on the end number without paying as much attention to the process.

If you don’t incentivize the process, your sellers won’t pay attention to it.

There are a lot of movable parts in this process.

It’s all interconnected so the decisions in one part directly impact the other parts.

Introduce a decision platform so you can understand how even small decisions will cascade against the organization. Don’t look at things in a vacuum.

Look at things holistically and see all the components of your sales strategy to make sure you’re able to attain those goals.

“Get More Time Back” episode resources

Find out more about Anaplan or contact Jason Loh directly at the website.

Check out the Video Jungle podcast, which teaches you how to utilize video to stand out from your competition. Plan, create and share your way to better content and strategy. You are a brand, and video can help you set yourself apart.

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Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

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TSE 179: Should I Use A Sales Script or Not?-Part One

Should you use a sales script or not? So many times sales professionals battle whether they should use a script or not. Many sellers feel that they are experienced enough to do without a script when they get on the phone. I was one of those individuals until I came to a better understanding of the errors of my ways and became a convert to sales scripts.

But before you get all rowelled up, let me explain what I mean by a script. I’m not a talking about reading and sounding like a robot, I’m talking about having something to follow to make each call purposeful and effective. It’s being able to have a guide so that a seller sounds more articulate, professional and as a expert in their field. Scripts allow the seller to gain more confidence from their prospects and helps them develop more confidence in themselves.

During this two part series episode I explain more about why you should consider using a script and how to create one. Here are some of the major points from part one:

1. Why professionals use scripts (see actors, etc)
2. Planning and having a guide is essential for important matters
3. The more prepared you are, the greater your confidence
4. Time saving factor or know what to say before the call
5. You gain the trust of prospect and come off as an expert (which you are)

Obviously, there are many other benefits that one can see from using a script, but these are the most important factors I’ve come across. Stay tuned for part two as I dissect “how” to prepare a script, what you should have and what you may not need. Until then, do BIG THINGS!

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TSE 091: How To Offer Value Through Education And Win More Deals!

Today, we will dive into the power of giving value to your customers through educating them first before you even start selling. Our guest for this episode is a California dude Anthony Tran. His company, Marketing Access Pass, is a full web service business that designs websites to social media marketing search engine optimization. He also has a podcast, Marketing Access Pass, where he interviews online entrepreneurs as they share their online tips and strategies so that people can take their business the the next level online. He talks about online business, how it operates, and how online marketing can integrate with their business

In this episode, Anthony shares with us his wealth of knowledge on educating customers as your avenue to sales as well as providing education in order to create a great buying experience for your customers.

Bring value, value, value first…and business will naturally come knocking on your door.

Here are the highlights of my conversation with Anthony:

People buy on emotion more than they buy on logics.

The importance of educating before you start selling.

• Through teaching your audience, you get their trust to do business with you.
• Builds relationship with your clients.
• Even acquiring clients out of serendipity.

How Anthony educates and brings value to his audience:

• Creating YouTube video tutorials and online training to educate people (ex. tricks to operate faster, cool plugins, better layouts for higher conversion, etc)
• Marketing Access Pass Podcast
• Blog

Becoming the trusted resource.

The principle of “thinking different.”

Creating a blog for your ideal customers:

• Start with a WordPress platform – easy-to-use content management system
• Think of how you can educate and help people understand.

Other ways to educate your customers:

• Live workshops
• Webinars
• Sharing content on social media

Figuring out what to provide to your customers:

• They will usually give you feedback, just ask them.
• Ask them. (ex. what they’re struggling with or what is it that they want to learn)
• The power of opening up to people and interacting with them.

The power of giving out free content so customers can test your product.

Shift from a mindset of just closing sales to building the trust of your customers.

Projects Anthony is currently working on:

• Virtual Summit in 2015 – interviewing online entrepreneurs to share traffic generation and marketing strategies.

Connect with Anthony at MarketingAccessPass.com.

Anthony’s Major Takeaway:

Sometimes sales may have a bad stigma to it. But through this approach, you can actually make sales without pressuring the people to do it. And by giving value and training people, you’re going to make sales… people are going to have a great experience buying from you.

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TSE 055: Is There a Proper Way to Ask For a Referral From a Client?  

A few episodes back I mentioned the power of asking for referrals from everyone, even prospects. Now, granted the quality of a referral from a prospect may not always be the strongest avenue to get a referral but it sure beats a sharp stick in the eye for not asking for a referral at all. I have asked prospects and seen very good results, but what about asking a current client? Is there a proper way/time to ask for a referral? I think these referrals tend to have more weight and would require more research. In this episode I break it down in details and share a bit more. Here are some of the major takeaways:

1. Ask for a referral from a client when they become confident in your products or services.
2. Ask for a specific person by name that they may know.
3. Get an email or if possible a personal introduction (lunch etc).
4. Thank the client who gives you the referral before you meet with the prospect.
5. Offer updates and information to the client on the processes/outcome of the meeting with the referral.
6. Thank the client who offered the referral and if the their friend elected to purchase your service or not.
7. Rinse and repeat with other clients.

Listen  to the episode to learn about my personal experience and how it turned into a successful new client. As aways, I hope this was beneficial to you but most important is my desire for you to apply it. So go out and DO BIG THINGS!

MUSIC PROVIDED BY FREESFX

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TSE 039: Learn To Prospect Like An Expert With Steve Kloyda!  

One of the major challenges I faced as a sales representative was always finding qualified individuals to add to my pool. This is a challenge that is faced by many sales professionals and entrepreneurs who are looking to grow their business. Well, this is why I decided to invite Steve Kloyda to join us on the podcast for an episode, solely focused on sales prospecting.

Steve is a prospecting expert and has over 30 years of real life sales experience. He teaches individuals from all areas of the sales spectrum, to better hone in on their ability to find potential clients. Here are some of the major take aways from our conversation:

• Make sure to plan out your sales calls by having an understanding of your purpose
• Go only where qualified clients are and don’t waste time with people who are not ideal
• Speak with people who can say yes
• Utilize technology to find people, but don’t be afraid of picking up the phone and communicating with prospects
• Learn to ask thought provoking questions that are  relevant to the     prospect’s needs
• Seek permission to speak with the prospect, don’t interrupt them and expect them to be ready to buy your product or service

Stay Connected with Steve:

Website: www.TheProspectingExpert.com

Email: steve@TheProspectingExpert.com 

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TSE 034: Mastering The Art of DISCOVER Questions™ with Deb Calvert

One of the most important skills that ANY sales professional needs to master is the ability to effectively ask questions. From being able to connect with folks on a personal level to understanding what challenges they are facing. A successful seller MUST master the art of properly asking questions.

During this episode I had the pleasure of interviewing Deb Calvert and discussing principles from her book DISCOVER Questions™. Here are some of the major take aways from her book:

• The right questions can help the prospect discover value for themselves
• DISCOVER Questions™ also allow the seller to be more human
• When asking questions, don’t ask manipulating questions seeking to back someone into a corner or hit them with a “gotcha”
• Ask questions that will stimulate the mind of the prospect so they can really THINK for themselves
• Before your call or a visit with a prospect, know what you need to learn from them and ask questions with a purpose

Learn more about Deb’s book at Peoplefirstps.com: Click Here To Get A Discounted Price on Deb’s Book!  

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TSE 013: “The Best Way To Get Referrals, Is To Give Referrals” Bryan Daly

In this episode I interview Bryan Daly who is a local financial expert. Three years ago Bryan Daly started a local networking group after he left the mortgage industry. Bryan’s networking group (Palm Beach Business Connection: Your Link to Local Business) has grown to over 15,000 members strong and stretches across multiple states. When Bryan started his networking group, he built it on the premise that “anything of real value only multiple when it is given freely”.

While speaking with Bryan he gave some great advise, I didn’t write them all down, but here are a few major takeaway from our conversation:

• Go to networking events with the idea to see what you can give
• Networking is more about farming than it is hunting
• When you go to a networking event, seek to make a new friend every time
• When you give a referral, others will want to give you something in return (try it!)
• If you give a referral, make it easy for the receiver by preparing the prospect and being there for an in-person introduction if possible
• A few books Bryan mentioned:Endless Referrals; The Go-Giver; The Slight Edge
• Bryan’s group “Your Link to Local Business”  is focused on the right mix of online and offline networking

If you enjoyed learning from Bryan today, feel free to connect with him here at bryan@bryandaly.com

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TSE 012: The Easiest Sales Opportunities to Close Are?

Have you ever wondered what are the easiest sales opportunities to close? Well, in my experience, I feel those are unsolicited referrals! Think about it, if you were in need of a product or service and a trusted friend gave you a really convincing recommendation, how likely are you to get that product or service?  Chances are that I would buy that product or sign up for the services ! Why, because someone I know and trust already did all the work for me and they have experienced it. They know what I am looking for and understand my needs. This is why I feel that those who are referred to you from your “raving fans” are the easiest business opportunities to bring on.

But, there are two sides to referrals. There is the giving opportunities and the receiving opportunities. We must all seek to give referrals and  naturally in return we will receive referrals. In this episode I  share a couple experiences when I received and gave a referral.

Here are some of the take aways from this episode:

1. Look for opportunities to give referrals.

2. When you receive a referral, always offer gratitude and keep the giver in the loop.

3. Referrals are the easiest business  opportunities to close.

4. A BIG referral secret to getting more referrals (You must listen to the episode and hear the secret).

Come and listen to the episode and learn how you can do #BIGTHINGS!

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How To Know Who To Go After!

This is my first sales tip video on the blog! I wanted to try something new and share a simple, but powerful principle. Watch this video to learn who to go after when you are prospecting.

Keep in mind these three key sales strategies when you are looking for new clients:

• Research and select the specific client type you want to target
• Focus on your prospects needs
• Learn how YOU can solve their problems and NOT create more problems

As always, apply what you have learned and share with me your results. Enjoy!