Increase Sales Blog

Archive for the ‘Sales’ Category

The current wildfires in Colorado within the USA are devastating everything from forests to wildlife to homes.  These uncontrolled acts of nature reminded me how uncontrolled business growth is very similar to a wildfire for these two reasons.

First, wildfires by their very essence are random.  This randomness reduces the ability to fight, control and monitor these acts of nature. Uncontrolled business growth is also difficult to work through especially if the organization is a small business and lacks the strategy,  structure, processes, incentives and people to deal with this challenge as detailed in the 5 Star Model for organizational development.

Second, because of the randomness, resources must be redirected from other critical projects.  For a business to operate a peak efficiency and effectiveness, requires proper allocation of all resources.  Unplanned growth reduces the overall operational effectiveness.

Uncontrolled by its very nature suggests the inability to manage it. When organizations face this type of business growth, this suggests that proper planning was not in place for this anticipated growth or there was a significant event beyond the forecasts within the existing strategic action plan that triggered the growth.  For example, production of the IPhones or IPads are two recent examples.

The ability to increase sales and reduce costs thereby growing the company is a good thing. However, when the growth is unplanned and affects the capacity of the business to carry out its day to day functions, this is a potential recipe for disaster. The end result may look more like the torched, blacken  ground after a wildfire instead of a thriving green forest.

To avoid this disaster requires the following:

• Vision – Where do you see your business in 3 to 5 years?
• Values – What business ethics will be demonstrated through everyone’s behaviors?
• Mission – What do we want to achieve by the end of the current financial year?
• Key Performance Indicators – What daily metrics will we use to ensure we are aware of current business activities?
• Critical Success Factors – What is necessary and sufficient to achieve our current mission
• Strategic plan – How do we coordinate the efforts between marketing, sales, customers, growth & innovation, leadership & management and financials?
• WAY SMART Goals – What specific long term, short term, tangible and intangible objectives do we need to achieve?
• Schedule – How often will we review this action plan?
• Course Corrections – How will we determine when we may need to change the plan?
• Research – What do our customers think of us?  What is happening within the marketplace?
• Assessments – How do we know we have the right people in the place? How do we know that everyone is rowing in the right direction?
• Alignment – How can we ensure that everything is working together like the gears of a clock for optimum performance?
• Communication – How do we share this information with all stakeholders?

By being proactive instead of reactive (fighting wildfires), any business can not only survive, but thrive. The challenge is investing the time to think strategically and then putting together a written plan of action with a commitment to work from that plan if you truly want to be the Red Jacket in a sea of gray suits.

To increase sales suggests you may need to stay ahead of the flow. To take this action may require you to invest some time to learning about where the flow is going.

Pew Research recently released in June of 2010 some interesting information about what Americans now view as a necessity or a luxury.  For example, 42% of Americans now view the television as a necessity.

Telephone landlines have also suffered since only 74% of American households have landlines and this is down from 97% in 2001. With cell phones and other types of mobile devices being so prevalent, some colleges and universities are removing landlines as well.

Savvy small business owners and sales professionals need to be aware of the trends in the marketplace. Then they must invest the time to think about how these trends may affect their potential customers (a.k.a. prospects) and their ability to increase sales. Ignoring the changing marketplace along with marketing  demographics and psychographics is a recipe for business disaster.

However the Internet allows for any enterprising small business owner, sales professional or even marketing consultant to continually monitor the flow through email notifications.  Several of my favorites include:

• Center for Media Post
• Google Alerts based on specific key words
• Smart Briefs

By becoming proactive and investing the time, avoiding business disaster is a little easier especially when you learn how to stay ahead of the flow.  This type of behavior will help you Be the Red jacket in the sea of gray suits.

Harris Poll just released a new survey about what U.S. adults want.  The results were interesting.

• 43% want to be rich
• 21% want to be thinner
• 14% want to be smarter
• 12% want to be younger

So if the majority of those polled want to be rich, then what is keeping them from achieving that goal? Maybe they are confusing wishing with wanting by hoping for a magic Genie to appear and rub the golden lamp?

Possibly by looking at sales research, this may help explain this gap between wishing and doing.

• 50% of all sales leads are left withering on the vine
• 90% of all sales are made after the third contact
• 20% of all sales people make four or more contacts

The answer appears to lie within each individual. Possibly why some fail to achieve what they want be it to be rich or to increase sales, may have to do with not learning some basic concepts to actually having some basic tools. For example how many people have a:

• Written action plan?
• Proven goal achievement process?
• Doable goal worksheet?
• Process or formula for sustainable results?
• System to keep the negative talk or self doubts at bay?
• Knowledge of their talents?

Being able to be rich or increase sales can happen provided you make it happen. When individuals take personal responsibility and accountability for their actions, then results will begin to be realized.

P.S. In my book, Be the Red jacket in the sea of gray suits, the Keys to Unlocking Sales Success, these issues of having a plan to understanding one’s talents are discussed along with providing additional resources.

The goal to increase sales is comprised of many specific marketing message actions including:

• Direct Mail
• Paid Advertising (Traditional such as media, radio and print)
• Internet Pay Per Click and Banner Ads
• Tradeshows
• Sales Letters
• Article Marketing
• Blogging
• Business to Business Event Networking
• Cold Calling

Most of these marketing message actions require direct expenditures to indirect ones such as time invested (salaries).  Yet there is one way to increase sales that does not cost you one single Washington or better yet even a dime.  Now do not over think.

Jeb Blount in his book, People Buy You, devoted 8 pages to this one cost-free marketing action to increase sales.  Do you know what it is?  You probably do it at least once a day if not more.

Before I share this no cost feature, if you have not already guessed, let me ask you this one question, Why do people buy or better yet what prompts people to purchase your products or services?

Now some may answer, benefits or features while others will talk about referrals from others.  These are all true answers, but when we render down the buying decision  process and understand how people make decisions along with how the human brain and mind actually works, then foundational answer is what I call emotional receptors.  (Sales Training Coaching Tip:  Emotional receptors are those senses that receive emotions including sight, sound, taste, touch, smell and feelings.)

As many have said before, people buy first using emotions and then justify those emotions with logic. This works with how the human brain and mind function. The primitive brain receives all sensory data and then it goes to the neocortex or logical thinking.

Since people buy first based upon emotions, then your goal to increase sales should utilize that basic fact within the buying decision process.  And what better way than just to smile when you meet someone or even when talking on the telephone or taping the keys on your mobile device or keyboard?

A smile is 100% cost free and is natural human reaction to an event. This action also has the power to create a reciprocal smile in others.  How many times have you smiled at someone, a complete stranger, and he or she will immediately smile back at you?

Emotions are why this statement is also true, people buy from people they know and trust.  Have you ever bought something of any significance from someone you did not know or worse yet did not trust?

A smile costs you absolutely nothing (except for many some visits to the dentist and that is part of your overall health care maintenance much like eating).  However, the return on this almost automatic action can be deemed to be priceless.

Possibly this is why this quote “Smile and the world smiles with you” (source unknown) continues to be true along with so many other smile quotes.  So if you wish to increase sales, just smile from your heart and who knows you may even make a friend.

P.s. Sales Training Coaching Tip: Have you ever heard people buying from grumpy people?

Gary S. Hart in a recent post on his blog Sales DuJour discussed the lever that remove price from negotiations. In this posting, he shared an old story that my father told  me many years ago and one I had actually forgotten.

In price negotiations, sometimes it helps to understand that you can increase value by adding or removing some aspect and this may even include cash discounts or payment options. All of this actions do not affect the proposed price to be paid by the potential customer. (Sales Coaching Training Tip:  Read the Blue Ocean Strategy to understand the impact of adding, subtracting, increasing or decreasing.

However, given some information found in the Harvard Business Journal’s July 2010 issue, there appears something on the horizon that will compete with price and may even exceed price as an objection. That pending obstacle is time. (Read more in this past increase sales blog posting.

What this article suggests is customers (think qualified prospects) want two things within their buying experience:

1. The basics done well
2. The experience to be effortless

Time is behind these two desires because people do not have time for return trips to the vendor and they do not have additional time to waste in making their purchases. Today’s world is crazy busy and how well you address this factor will help you in your sales or selling  negotiations.

Time has always been present. Buyers want solutions and want those solutions to be time driven because they must focus on other priorities. There will always be those who want to negotiate price, but for many who are time constrained, how will your solutions work with those time constraints just may earn you the sale. Sales Training Coaching Tip: Learn how time now affects the sales process in Jill Konrath’s book – Snap Selling.

The investment (your price to your qualified prospect) will be important. Yet do not forget that time may be as John Miller suggests in his book, QBQ, the question (objection) behind the question (objection). By being aware of this potential obstacle allows you to be ahead of the flow to increase sales as well as to be the Red jacket in the sea of gray suits (all those other sales people).

According to various sources including the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD), the majority of training and development including sales training does not stick.  In other words there is no positive impact to the bottom line as defined through Kirkpatrick’s Four Level Model of learning and training evaluation process.

Yesterday I came across a website from someone who sent me a social media cold calling message  (sales letter) which lead to an earlier posting on cold calling using social media. One of the results from her training solution as noted in her website was the impact of 5% to 25% increases in sales within the first 60 days.

For some organizations this might be a good thing, but is it enough? Given that sales research suggests 50% of all sales leads are not followed up and 80% of all sales are earned between the fourth and twelfth contacts, then in 60 days should there not be more results?  The answer is probably yes.

The reason why such results are not secured is because the discussion never became real specific and focused as to the pre-determined desired results.   This is a direct result of poor goal setting and writing skills on behalf of the sales training company and probably poor fact finding sales skills as well.

Many are familiar with the SMART criteria.  The S stands for Specific. Most people from my experience truly do not write specific enough goals. Hence any result is acceptable. However when specific is truly understood, this becomes the magnifying glass and truly differentiates a general statement from a truly specific one.

For example, a goal is written to increase sales by a certain percentage. The client and the sales training company agree to this goal. Yet what would happen if the goal was even more specific?

Increase sales by a total of X% with X% coming from new customers; x% coming from existing customers and X% coming from inactive customers beginning in the next 30 days and continuing for 6 months with a review of the results at the end of the designated time frame.

• Would this rewritten goal statement be far more effective in realizing the desired end result to increase sales?
• Would such a specific objective be easier to track and to determine where the gaps are in the current overall business strategic plan?
• Does it provide a tactic to review and evaluate the achievements with a designated time frame?

Effective (meaning doing the right thing) sales training and sales coaching firms truly understand how important specificity is in relationship to the the desired results. So the next time you are solicited by a sales training firm and they advertise their great results ask where those results were achieved?  If they cannot provide a specific and detailed response, then you may wish to consider seeking another firm or individual who can answer with specificity and make sure it is beyond 5% to 25% increases in sales improvement.

Another cold calling marketing message (sales letter) crossed cyberspace from a social media site.  This one at least used my name which one would think is obvious. However this cold calling message still left me with a these 3 chills.

Cold Calling Chill #1 – Failure to do research about your target market and qualifying your prospect or potential customer.  From the content of this marketing message, I can honestly say the author failed to do research about me and what I do.  She was soliciting me as a potential customer to her sales training. If she had invested a few moments, just Google my name, she would have learned her business and my business ADVANCED SYSTEMS generally provide similar services. Her website which I quickly checked out suggests her sales training practice is not geared toward other sales training or sales training coaching businesses.  Sales Coaching Tip:  Return to your strategic action plan and specifically to your marketing action plan.  Work from that written plan or make any course corrections if necessary.

Cold Calling Chill #2 – Only asking closed ended questions with a presumption that Yes means I am interested. Since she failed to do her homework, even though I answered yes to her questions, I still was not interested in connecting with her.  The use of only closed ended questions is probably not the best cold calling sales letter strategy.  These type of questions fail to excite the emotional receptors.  In many cases after asking close ended questions, the internal response by the prospect is Okay, So what?  Unless you have a compelling take action and becoming a fan or following someone on Twitter or Facebook is not compelling nor very powerful,  all your marketing message will do is to chill (turn off) the prospect.

Cold Calling Chill #3 – Providing no value in her marketing message.  Asking close ended questions as well as open ended ones are a great way to attract attention. However, they must have value to the intended recipient or your target market. When there is no value, the potentially qualified prospect or customer will not take action.

If you are using social media to connect with prospects or potential customers, then remember the AIDA model for effective marketing. This simple model has been around for a long time and is an easy way to avoid some of these cold calling chills.

• A - Attract attention and that should be positive attention because you want people to engage with you through some emotion
• I – Incite interest through connecting with those emotional receptors those being the senses of seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, tasting and feeling
• D - Develop desire by building upon those previous emotional connections because people make buying decisions first on emotion and then justified with logic
• A – Call to ACTION is required and that call must be both powerful and compelling

Social media is both a marketing platform and a message delivery vehicle. Sometimes this dual role confuses people and thus their attracting attention messages through cold calling invites (think sales letters) may chill their intended prospects.  By not making these three cold calling chill mistakes and applying the AIDA model, you can be the Red jacket, have success not to mention save yourself a lot of time because social media is truly not free.

This “Thinker” question of how do I build better rapport with my prospects  is asked by many sales professionals and well answered by far fewer sales trainers or sales  training coaching experts.

An article written by Jeb Blount is one of the best that I have read concerning this question.  Take a few minutes to read his article on how to build better rapport and then leave your thoughts there as well as here.

As always thanks for stopping by.

The goal to increase sales is always present.  A recent article over at Salesopedia by Jim Meisenheimer Unconscious Selling Competence discussed the works of A. Maslow and his Learning Quadrant. My research suggested this was constructed by Thomas Gordon and was called Gordon’s Learning Ladder.

Regardless of the author (but I now need to engage in some additional research), the premise is that people walk through 4 stages of learning:

1. Unconscious incompetence – I do not know what I do not know
2. Conscious incompetence – I now know what I do not know
3. Conscious competence – I now know what I know
4. Unconscious competence – I now know what I know without thinking

To increase sales, the goal is to be unconsciously competent.  For this to happen goes beyond your own professional develo9pment and is truly about your business ethics.

People buy from people they know and trust. This suggests you must be authentic in all of your actions regardless if the other person is a possible customer.

When you have a clear articulated personal core values statement and you have invested the time to describe the behaviors associated with those values, then these behaviors should over time become part of your subconscious personality. When you met people, you do not think about being sincere, trustworthy, helpful, etc.  These values immediately are displayed.

Most people have met those sales professionals who will do anything, say anything to “close the deal.”  Also, we have probably encountered those salespersons who say all the right things, yet down deep inside of us we “sense” something is amiss.  Both of these types of selling professionals are probably operating under the fourth quadrant of being Unconsciously Competent however what is missing is positive business ethics.

Of course since both ethical and not so ethical people can be unconsciously competent when it comes to selling and achieving the goal to increase sales, this requires more diligence on the part of the buyer. And does suggest listening to that inner intuitive sense which some suggest is a talent intelligence for additional guidance.

Business ethics are not something one wears one day and discards the next. These behaviors are part of who you are each day.  Consistent demonstration of these unconscious competence behaviors will increase sales, improve your own credibility within the marketplace, allow you to be the Red Jacket and if you have a conscious provide you sleep filled nights.

One of the most fatal marketing mistakes to make is to sell from the stage. Small business owners, professional salespersons, entrepreneurs to C Level executives have experienced this “faux pas” if not at least one time to dozen of times.

For example, you attend a conference or similar event and in many cases you have exchanged your profits or your disposable income with the hope or better yet the goal to walk away with:

• New way to think
• An idea to increase sales
• Strategy to improve productivity

You sit in your comfortable or maybe not so comfortable seat to listen to what you believe are some gems of wisdom to take you from where you are now to where you want to be. Suddenly your ears pick up and you hear the last thing you want to hear that dreaded sales pitch.

Sometimes this fatal marketing faux pas comes half way through the presentation or at the end. Regardless of where this appeal is made, your eyebrows and possibly even hackles have been raised. What then happens is you become suspicious of all future events even those offered by different organizations or individuals because no one wants to be sold from the stage.

Now with the expansion of social media this poisoned marketing action has now evolved to selling from the page. Read the Tweets, Facebook wall writing or LinkedIn discussion posts and instantly any small business owner, salesperson, entrepreneur or C Level executive can quickly see the plethora of selling from the page. Many of those engaged in this first phase of the sales process where they attempt to gain attention and to build the relationship just skip right over it. They immediately jump into spewing the 3Ps virus of product, price or proposal or what Jeb Blount of Sakes Gravy shares in his book People Buy You as “pump and dump.”

Individuals who do deliver such messages are engaged in the traditional sales or product based marketing instead of education based marketing.  Their goal is not to educate and create pr show value, but rather to overwhelm their potential customers (a.k.a. prospects) with what they know about their products or services.  In many cases, these salesperson disguised as marketers are truly clueless about the value their products or services deliver. Sales Coaching Tip:  Marketing is the first phase of the sales process where the goal is to have an established relationship. Selling to strangers is very difficult.

So how does one determine if someone is selling from the page or not beyond the very obvious attempts?  One way is to see if the URL within the message takes you to a squeeze page (I truly dislike that term) where you are immediately asked to buy something. This page may be a very well written and long  sales letter.

Another way to determine selling from the page is if you go to the directed URL, attempt to leave and then receive a message are you sure you want to leave?  If the words (copy) on the page truly provided value, why must there be such a message?

Many authentic salespersons who are engaged in education based marketing and truly understand the sales process will write articles, leave thoughtful words such as the quotes of others or even pose a great discussion questions. Their goal is to share and educate not to sell. By proving their expertise by not selling, they have enhanced their credibility and have begun to build that necessary relationship.

Social media may have changed the marketing platform, but this one thing does not change. People will buy from people they know and trust. If  you want to be the Red jacket, then make sure you are not selling from the page.