Posted by Geoff Alexander on Mon, Jan 26, 2009 @ 02:33 AM
Today's post is not only for telesales managers, incidentally. If you're a telesales rep, you're potentially on the fast track to becoming a manager yourself. Don't believe me? Well, over 120 inside sales reps that have taken my classes have become sales managers or execs, and they did so by thinking like managers while they were inside sales people. So let's discuss the ramp-up time necessary for new telesales reps to be successful, a question common to virtually all managers that have telesales teams. The title question in today's blog post actually got asked in another sales blog a few months ago, and the answers were, frankly, all over the board. It caused me to think a lot about what my own ramp-up period was when I was a telesales rep. And here's how I answered it.
"I'm going to take a radical departure from the other responders. You should be doing such a thorough job in the hiring process that your rep can begin selling by week three at the latest, and while being interviewed, understands that a quick start is part of the job. No new rep will be completely familiar with his or her new product line, but should know what it is, know that it works, and be able to articulate how it has helped other customers. The new rep should have fast access to pre-sales tech support if technical issues come up for which the rep doesn't have a ready answer. You should hire reps that are "a quick study." Prepare a sales manual that will tell them what they need to know, and maybe more importantly, what they don't need to know. Tell them they'll hit the ground running at the beginning of week three, and they may have to study the sales manual at home in the evenings during weeks one and two, in order to begin selling by week three. You want to hire brilliant reps, not mediocre ones. Savvy reps can start being productive in week two, and should be rolling well, quota-wise, after the first month. If this is not in accordance with your experience, look hard at your hiring practices, and perhaps what you're paying new reps. Great reps are driven to succeed, and succeed quickly. They want to get selling as soon as possible. If you hire smart, savvy reps that learn fast, you'll find that they can handle any product, any sales cycle, quicker than you can imagine."
So that's what I told the folks who read that blog, and it's right from my own experience. I was selling by week three in all of my companies, by week two in a couple of them. It's the same thing when you're introducing a new product line to sell, too, isn't it. Back in my days at Atron, we sold software debuggers. Then we introduced the 68020 Probe, an in-circuit emulator. My boss Perry Lynne bought all of us inside sales reps a primer on microprocessors. We didn't become 68020 experts, but we sold enough emulators to become wildly successful very quickly. We had terrific presales tech support, the product was a damn fine one. So if you're hiring a new inside sales rep (or if you're a newly hired inside sales rep yourself) set the bar high from day one. The best reps will meet the challenge, because they'll want to start getting those big commission checks as soon as they can. Add this to your Management Best Practices casebook.
Posted by Geoff Alexander on Mon, Jan 19, 2009 @ 01:00 AM
One of the great things about reading new books is that they might give you new ideas well beyond the scope of the book. I just read Anneke Seley and Brent Holloway's terrific new book Sales 2.0: Improve Business Results Using Innovative Sales Practices and Technology. As Anneke points out, savvy companies now realize that customers and prospects use the web to investigate a company sometimes well in advance of a salesperson's call. Sales prospects are not just looking for solutions, either. They're looking for credibility through corporate transparency, too.
In addition to all the important information about how companies and salespeople are using next-generation technologies to predict and create business results, there's an important subtext hinted at in the book, which is that companies had better get smart on how to empower their websites to get new qualified prospects. To Anneke's thoughts, I'm going to add two additional elements that occurred to me as I read the book. If your own company isn't doing these things, it is probably falling behind in the marketplace:
1) Making a website more relevant through Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Making a website into a sales lead generation machine means more than just buying keywords. It involves, among other things, investigating the efficacy of keywords, and creating text, articles, whitepapers, and a blog around these words. This makes the site easier to find through major search engines, and allows, through the blog and whitepaper responses, better two-way communication with prospects and customers. Companies like HubSpot have whitepapers explaining basic and advanced SEO concepts. If your company is not aware of these concepts, it should be, as it's ignoring a valuable sales lead generation resource.
2) Ensuring that your web visitors know the individuals that are running your company. People who are interested in doing business with your company want to know who's running it. It's not just about Corporate Branding either. They want to know who's responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company if they're going to invest in their solutions. If something goes haywire with an installation for example, they want to be able to contact an executive, and they want to know that your executives are proud enough of their solutions that they'll put their names behind them. Over the past few months, I've been shocked at the number of companies that have no corporate information on their websites. Even worse, many of them have no contact information beyond a form to fill out; no phone number, address, or city. This lack of corporate transparency creates a credibility gap and destroys any trust the prospect has in dealing with the company. And it encourages propsects to run to competitors that are more transparent.
Bottom line, if your company is ignoring Search Engine Optimization, it's losing business. And if it has no data regarding the management of the company, it's crippling its brand recognition as well as its credibility. So I invite you to take a look at your company's website and web practices. If it is in violation of the two principles I've outlined above, then it's time for you to have a serious talk with your management.
Posted by Geoff Alexander on Mon, Jan 12, 2009 @ 02:41 AM
Now that the year-end has closed, lots of my customers are reviewing the numbers, their sales processes, and discussing new ideas in overcoming sales objections. Whenever a month, quarter, or year comes to a close, many reps are trying to close important business, and invariably negotiating on price becomes a factor in getting the prospect to agree to a deal. Superior negotiation techniques are always critical. Putting on my inside sales consulting hat for a moment, here are the top 5 mistakes that salespeople typically make when entering into price negotiation discussions:
1) Not building value. You've got to fully understand the value your solution brings to the prospect's business. If you don't, the prospect will have all of the negotiating power. I've written a great free whitepaper on selling by ROI that provides terrific sales techniques for getting the right information from your prospect. If you haven't read it, please do.
2) Starting negotiations with an already-discounted price. Why give up something when you don't have to? If you've correctly ascertained the value of your solution (see #1 above), you never have to begin with a discounted price. Always start at full price.
3) Negotiating more than one price drop per deal. A common mistake is to negotiate a price with the technical buyer, then having to negotiate it all over again with a financial buyer. The financial buyer will almost always try to grab a 10-20% discount (he or she is often "comped" on it), so be firm, and tell the financial buyer you've already negotiated a final price. If the financial buyer persists, call the technical buyer with whom you already negotiated, and have him of her (or the appropriate VP) fix it for you.
4) Not having a "drop dead" date to agree to your price adjustment. Price negotiations can carry on forever if you don't provide a date in which your offer is no longer valid. This assists you in delivering a "fear of loss" close, and also prevents the prospect from asking for the same discount for a later transaction at a later date. You'll also need to provide a good business reason that your discount offer will end on a given date. There are loads of good ones, beginning with "We're agreeing to this right now because we need to close more business this quarter. When the quarter closes next week, the offer will no longer be open."
5) Not having a "walk-away" price point. You should never agree to a price that represents a financial loss for your company. Even a million dollar deal can represent a loss if enough company resources and solutions are "given away." Most sales reps are commissioned on gross sales, so it's tempting to grab a sale, even if it makes no financial sense for their companies. Know in advance of negotiations what your bottom-line price is, and hold the line. Savvy financial buyers will always try to go for an extremely low price, and will sometimes even hang up on you when you hold on price. This is a usually a negotiating tactic, and you'll be on top of things if you understand the value proposition discussed in item #1 (above).
These are just a few of the common mistakes I address in my Negotiation Skills telesales training course, but they obviously hold true for field sales reps as well. Add these inside sales tips to your Best Practices playbook, and you'll have more fun in the exciting world of price negotiations. And if you have your own favorite negotiation mistakes, blog me!
Posted by Geoff Alexander on Mon, Jan 05, 2009 @ 12:15 AM
A few weeks ago, I posted an article mentioning that many inside sales reps tell me that Marketing isn't getting them enough leads, sales management is in transition and directionless, the Field is in conflict with Inside Sales, and on top of that, people aren't returning our calls. In other words, we don't have enough great leads. The bad news is that this is happening at every company under the sun, so changing companies may not help you much. The good news is that you can really do something about it, and today's post is about the concept of vertical marketing, and how you can apply it in your sales territory.
To begin, let's say that you've sold successfully into a company in your territory that operates in the Financial space, and you sell web content management solutions. Believe it or not, you're now an expert in Content Management for financial companies. So go ahead and determine all Financial companies in your territory, and begin calling them. Start with the highest-level executive responsible for your product focus (e.g. VP of Internet Marketing) and lead with "We specialize in content management solutions of financial institutions." Sure, you specialize in Content Management for everything under the sun, but try to craft your message for the specific vertical. You'll find more ears open to your non-generic opener, and we've found, in coaching thousands of reps, that you'll either have a conversation, or get referred to a great contact that will engage with you.
You'll also find savvy execs who'll ask you "What's so different about how the Financial Industry uses Content Management solutions?" I hope you're prepared with an intelligent answer that you thought of in advance. One idea could be "Content for Financial companies involves a lot more security issues, which can involve multiple search paths and passwords," for example.
You've already successfully sold into various verticals, so why not pick 2 or 3 of them this week and start your own campaign. Go back and ask one of your customers how he or she is using your solution to save money or sell more of their products. Now you'll have vertically-oriented user stories to use as testimonials. If you use this sales technique, you'll increase sales this quarter, and have a way of doing business that will build sales success for years to come. I teach this in my telesales training course because it works. Add it to your Best Practices playbook.