Real Life Selling Rotating Header Image

Poacher turned gamekeeper – When someone wants to sell to you

Mar 5th, 2010
by mark.
No comments yet

Oh no! I'm a prospect...

One of the most interesting and entertaining experiences for sales people is when someone tries to sell to them. Common opinion is that sales people are easy to sell to because the sympathise with person selling to them. I’m not really sure whether this is the case, personally I quite like to torture the person selling to me.

I can recall when I was in my early twenties, single and living in a flat/apartment. The kitchen was pretty horrible so I phoned a supplier and asked for someone to come round to give me a quotation for a new one. An appointment was made and a few days later a super-keen young man arrived on the doorstep.

On entering the flat the first thing he did was compliment me on my “lovely home”. This was very nice of him, but remember this was a bachelor flat complete with empty take-away cartons, festering rugby kit, probably a good selection of empty beer cans scattered around… you get the picture. I told him that we must have been on the same sales training course because I’d heard the (naff) tip about starting the meeting with a compliment. That was his credibility shot from minute one.

He then launched into a presentation with the aid of a flip chart (this was in ancient pre-Powerpoint days). I don’t think he really asked me anything about what I wanted, why I wanted it or how serious I was. What I wanted was what I asked for, a quotation. I had no idea whether a kitchen cost £5 or £50,000 and wanted to find out.

After his presentation he finally got round to giving me a price. I thanked him for his time and pointed him in the direction of the door. He then said that as a one-off token of good will, valid only for today, he would give me a 30% discount. This didn’t raise his credibility in my eyes… he had just tried to rip me off to the tune of several thousand pounds. I thanked him again (less vigourously) and once again indicated where the door was. He then told me as I edged him out that he’d taken a liking to me and while putting his materials back in the car would ring his boss to see what might be done.

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as he went through the pantomime routine of “ringing his boss”. He shortly returned to tell me that he had twisted the arm of his boss and they would be happy to sell me the kitchen half-price, but I would have to sign immediately on the spot. So now I knew that he was going to rip me off to the tune of double the going price only a few minutes earlier. Adios.

Actually I don’t like to torture people selling to me. Like all customers, if I think the sales person has my interests at heart, is credible, honest and respects my time I’m more than happy to talk to them. If I think they are manipulative, untrustworthy and not really interested in my needs they get the bum’s rush. Twas ever thus.

Posted in: sales culture.

Some useful air travel tips

Feb 24th, 2010
by mark.
No comments yet

CloudsOver the last week or so I’ve come across some interesting articles and tips on air travel. Given the amount of time we sales people spend travelling I decided to pass them on. I hope you find them useful…

Book Airline Flights Past Your Destination for Cheaper Fares

Save Money by Shipping Your Luggage

Dealing With Flight Delays and Cancellations

What to pack for business travel

SeatGuru – Find the best seat on your upcoming flight

Booking a flight the frugal way

Posted in: business travel.

A prospecting no no

Feb 17th, 2010
by mark.
No comments yet

It’s a amazing sometimes how you find new prospects. The other evening I was in the pub with some friends and introduced a new acquaintance, Bert, to an old friend of mine, Fred. After a minute chatting it turned out that the organisation Fred worked for was a prime prospect for the service that Bert was selling. Furthermore Fred was really interested. Contact details where exchanged and the follow up arranged. Bish, bash, bosh. It doesn’t get any sweeter than that.

But… then Bert (obviously feeling very pleased) continued to rattle on for 10 minutes about the virtues of his company and products. I could see Fred’s eyes glazing over as he tried to get back to his beer. I’m certain he was by now thinking “what on Earth have I let myself in for?”

The idea with any type of prospecting (even when one lands in your lap) is to qualify the prospect and get the appointment. You do not want to get into selling at this point. It’s the wrong time and place. Your efforts may very well work against you.

Ask yourself…

  • Is my product/service a good fit for the prospect?
  • Does it solve a problem for her?
  • Are they a good fit for my company? Do I want to do business with them?
  • If so… ask for a meeting with the prospect
  • Got it? Job done, now save your selling for the big day.

Posted in: sales tips.

I hear you knocking…

Feb 10th, 2010
by mark.
No comments yet
I hear you knocking…
Most sales trainers advise you not to knock the competition and in general that’s very wise advice. Early in my career I’m embarrassed to admit that I ignored it (as most inexperienced sales people do) and came a cropper. I was competing for a good size deal and from previous experience thought that the person I was competing with had questionable ethics. When it came down the final two I couldn’t help but slip this into a conversation with the customer… I thought I was doing her a real favour. As it turned out the customer knew my competitor personally. I didn’t get the order and also had a very embarrassing conversation the next time I bumped into my competitor, who had been told about my opinion of him.
So that you don’t have to learn the hard way like me, here are three problems that arise from knocking the competition…
* It reflects badly on you and can be seen as “dirty tricks”.
* You may actually raise the profile of the competitor in the eyes of your customer. For instance if all of your product comparisons are against one particular competitor you are as good as saying “these are the guys we worry about at night”.
* You open a can of worms. The customer may be enthusiastic about your comparison with the competition and start asking you how you compare on other features that aren’t so favourable to you.
However we all know that sometimes the customer will ask you how you stack up against a competitor. Or your competitor may have “knocked” you… and the customer wants to know if their facts are correct. So if you must talk about the competition…
1. Make any comparisons generic rather than specific to the competitor. So you might say “our new flanged widget offers a 20% speed increase and 10% downtime reduction compared to older unflanged designs”. This way you are seen to be making a general point and as even-handed.
2. If you are forced to comment in a one-to-one way about a competitors product talk about your features, advantages and benefits not the competitor’s short-comings. This way you are more likely to come out of it smelling of roses. Also if you try and comment on your competitor’s features you may be wrong (you haven’t been trained on them after all) and you could look foolish.
So, as ever, put your brain into gear before you your mouth goes into action. It’s tempting to take a cheap shot, especially when you think you are helping the customer but better to take the high ground.
Knocking the competition

Most sales trainers advise you not to knock the competition and in general that’s very wise advice. Early in my career I’m embarrassed to admit that I ignored it (as most inexperienced sales people do) and came a cropper. I was competing for a good size deal and from previous experience thought that the person I was competing with had questionable ethics. When it came down the final two I couldn’t help but slip this into a conversation with the customer… I thought I was doing her a real favour. As it turned out the customer knew my competitor personally. I didn’t get the order and also had a very embarrassing conversation the next time I bumped into my competitor, who had been told about my opinion of him.

So that you don’t have to learn the hard way like me, here are three problems that arise from knocking the competition…

  • It reflects badly on you and can be seen as “dirty tricks”.
  • You may actually raise the profile of the competitor in the eyes of your customer. For instance if all of your product comparisons are against one particular competitor you are as good as saying “these are the guys we worry about at night”.
  • You open a can of worms. The customer may be enthusiastic about your comparison with the competition and start asking you how you compare on other features that aren’t so favourable to you.

However we all know that sometimes the customer will ask you how you stack up against a competitor. Or your competitor may have “knocked” you… and the customer wants to know if their facts are correct. So if you must talk about the competition…

  1. Make any comparisons generic rather than specific to the competitor. So you might say “our new flanged widget offers a 20% speed increase and 10% downtime reduction compared to older unflanged designs”. This way you are seen to be making a general point and as even-handed.
  2. If you are forced to comment in a one-to-one way on a competitors product, talk about your features, advantages and benefits not the competitor’s short-comings. This way you are more likely to come out of it smelling of roses. Also if you try and comment on your competitor’s features you may be wrong (you haven’t been trained on them after all) and end up looking foolish.

So, as ever, engage your brain before putting your mouth into gear. It’s tempting to take a cheap shot, especially when you think you are helping the customer but better to take the high ground.

Posted in: sales culture, sales tips.

It’ll be alright on the night… the art of the demo

Jan 29th, 2010
by mark.
No comments yet
It’ll be alright on the night…
Being in tech sales has certain pluses and minuses. One of the pluses is that you get to see lots of cool technology before the guy on the street. One of the minuses is that you sometimes get to demo to state-of-the-art stuff before all of the wrinkles have been ironed-out.
If has a pound (or even dollar) for every time I’d sat in a customer meeting trying to divert attention while an applications engineer colleague desperately tried to get a piece of kit to work I’d be a rich man.
Although to a certain extent this comes with the territory there are some things you can do to minimise your chances of embarrassment…
Don’t just do a demo because you can. This is a “throw it at the wall” and see what sticks strategy. Have a very clear understanding of what the customer needs, what you want to show them and how this will advance the sale.
As the old British Army adage says “Prior Planning and Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance”. Do a dry run before the customer meeting. Do this far enough in advance of the customer meeting that you can fix any problems that you might find. In the dry run replicate exactly what you are going to show the customer.
If you have one, take a spare. If the demo is a really important one (for instance you are going to be on stage at a major trade show) send the spare via a different route. That way if your luggage gets lost or stolen you aren’t left empty-handed.
Take all the hardware you will need. If you rely on hooking-up to a piece of customer equipment it might not work the way you expect.
Don’t let anyone else tinker with your equipment! I can recall several demos where the apps engineer to have to stop and hacek for 10 minutes because someone else had used the machine and changed the Unix directory structure.
Be open with the customer about the state of the product. Better to explain in advance that they are really lucky to be seeing something hot out of the labs… but it’s not quite there yet, than to give them the impression it’s tried and tested… and then watch it fall over.
Get feedback from the customer as you go along…
“Is that useful to you?”,
“Does that explain how you would implement feature xyz in your abc?”
“Is that enough performance for you application?”.
Try and get feedback on other demos they may have seen from competitors. Be subtle… ask how yours shapes-up, not for exact data on your competition.
If the customer doesn’t seem to be liking something ask them why. It might be something that you can easily rectify or a simple misunderstanding.
So good luck with your product demos. I guess demos really act as accelerators of the sales process. Done correctly it can move you quickly to a close, done badly it you can move you quickly back to thebeginning.

Preparing for the big demo

Preparing for the big demo

Preparing for the big demo

Preparing for the big demo

Being in tech sales has certain pluses and minuses. One of the pluses is that you get to see lots of cool technology before the guy on the street. One of the minuses is that you sometimes get to demo state-of-the-art stuff before all of the wrinkles have been ironed-out.

If I had a pound (or dollar) for every time I’d sat in a customer meeting trying to divert attention while an applications engineer colleague desperately tried to get a piece of kit to work I’d be a rich man.

Although to a certain extent this comes with the territory there are some things you can do to minimise your chances of embarrassment…

  • Don’t just do a demo because you can. That would be a “throw it at the wall and see what sticks” strategy. Have a very clear understanding of what the customer needs, what you want to show them and how this will advance the sale.
  • As the old British Army adage says “Prior Planning and Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance”. Do a dry run before the customer meeting. Do this far enough in advance of the customer meeting that you can fix any problems that you might find. In the dry run replicate exactly what you are going to show the customer.
  • If you have one, take a spare. If the demo is a really important one (for instance you are going to be on stage at a major trade show) send the spare via a different route. That way if your luggage gets lost or stolen you aren’t left empty-handed.
  • Take all the hardware you will need. If you rely on hooking-up to a piece of customer equipment it might not work the way you expect.
  • Don’t let anyone else tinker with your equipment! I can recall several demos where an apps engineer had to stop and hack for 10 minutes because someone else had used the machine and changed the Unix directory structure.
  • Be open with the customer about the state of the product. Better to explain in advance that they are really lucky to be seeing something hot out of the labs… but it’s not quite there yet, than to give them the impression it’s tried and tested… and then watch it fall over.
  • Get feedback from the customer as you go along…

    • “Is that useful to you?”,
    “Does that explain how you would implement feature xyz in your abc?”
    “Is that enough performance for you application?”.

  • Try and get feedback on other demos they may have seen from competitors. Be subtle… ask how yours shapes-up, not for exact data on your competition.
  • If the customer doesn’t seem to be liking something ask them why. It might be something that you can easily rectify or a simple misunderstanding.

So good luck with your product demos. I guess demos really act as accelerators of the sales process. Done correctly it can move you quickly to a close, done badly it you can move you quickly back to the beginning.

Posted in: presentations, sales tips.

Minuting customer meetings

Jan 26th, 2010
by mark.
No comments yet
The great Sir Winston Churchill once said “History will be kind to me for I intend to write it”. He was true to his word, writing “The Second World War”, “A History of the English-Speaking Peoples” and winning the Nobel prize for literature in the process (as you do).
[photo]
Likewise for us the importance of getting your version of a meeting circulated first is not to be underestimated. In fact I heard a story a while back about an ex-colleague who visited a very major account, had an OK meeting and went off on his way. A month or so later his boss wanted to visit this very major account with him and asked our friend to arrange it. So he picks up the phone calls them and asks for the meeting… to which they respond “no… we haven’t seen the action list from the last meeting yet”. Ouch.
As we’ve documented on Real Life Selling previously, sales people are notoriously shy of paperwork. However this is one case where you really have to grit your teeth and bash those minutes out.
If you don’t get your minutes out pretty quickly there are two risks…
* The momentum of the sale is lost. You’ve had a great meeting, got some commitment, but in two weeks time both you and they have moved on to the next urgent item.
* The customer minutes the meeting. “Great” you may think, “that’s saved me the effort”. But, of course, in their version of the minutes the commitments they made may be just a little softer than they seemed at the time and the items you committed to have been “bigged up”.
Here are some suggestions on minuting that I hope you’ll find useful…
Minute meetings as soon after they finish as possible. If it’s at your office, stay on in the meeting room for 15 minutes to write-up the meeting. If it’s at a customer’s site, sit in your car outside and write it up on your laptop before you leave, or at the airport, or on the plane home.
Concentrate on the next actions and use W3… who, what, when.
Start your follow-up actions immediately. You may not be able to finish them, but at least initiate them. So if you need a quotation… fill in the form and submit it. If you need someone to do something, email or call them and tell them what needs doing and by when.
Use your diary or electronic calendar to set some follow-up reminders.
Thank the customer for their time and hospitality.
And finally keep the minutes to-the-point and business-like. As Sir Winston once said “This report, by its very length, defends itself against the risk of being read”.

The great Sir Winston Churchill once said “History will be kind to me for I intend to write it”. He was true to his word, writing “The Second World War”, “A History of the English-Speaking Peoples” and winning the Nobel prize for literature in the process (as you do).

About to get his version in first!

About to get his version in first!

Likewise for us mere mortals the importance of getting your version of a meeting circulated first is not to be underestimated. In fact I heard a story a while back about an ex-colleague who visited a very major account, had an OK meeting and went off on his way. A month or so later his boss wanted to visit this very major account with him and asked our friend to arrange it. So he picks up the phone calls them and asks for the meeting… to which they respond “no… we haven’t seen the action list from the last meeting yet”. Ouch.

As we’ve documented on Real Life Selling previously, sales people are notoriously shy of paperwork. However this is one case where you really have to grit your teeth and bash those minutes out.

If you don’t get your minutes out pretty quickly there are two risks…

* The momentum of the sale is lost. You’ve had a great meeting, got some commitment, but in two weeks time both you and they have moved on to the next urgent item.

* The customer minutes the meeting. “Great” you may think, “that’s saved me the effort”. But, of course, in their version of the minutes the commitments they made may be just a little softer than they seemed at the time and the items you committed to have been “bigged up”.

Here are some suggestions on minuting that I hope you’ll find useful…

  1. Minute meetings as soon after they finish as possible. If it’s at your office, stay on in the meeting room for 15 minutes to write-up it up. If it’s at a customer’s site, sit in your car outside and use your laptop before you leave, or at the airport, or on the plane home.
  2. Concentrate on the next actions and use W3… who, what, when.
  3. Start your follow-up actions immediately. You may not be able to finish them, but at least initiate them. So if you need a quotation… fill in the form and submit it. If you need someone to do something, email or call them and tell them what needs doing and by when.
  4. Use your diary or electronic calendar to set some follow-up reminders.
  5. Thank the customer for their time and hospitality.
  6. And finally keep the minutes to-the-point and business-like. As Sir Winston said “This report, by its very length, defends itself against the risk of being read”.

Posted in: sales tips, time management.

A couple I learnt the hard way…

Jan 19th, 2010
by mark.
No comments yet
I recall one of my largest ever sales with mixed emotions. The deal for a mixture of hardware, software and design services was a whopper and had been in the pipeline for months. Likewise it had been in my forecast for months and all eyes were on me. I went in on my own for the final session to actually get the order and knew there would be some negotiating to be done. However, we were in a very strong position technically and I suspected that, as far as the engineers were concerned, it was a one-horse race.
For a one-horse race I sure got beat up. I was in my mid-twenties and meeting up with Reg, their procurement VP, who must have been around sixty and knew every low-down trick in the book. What I had expected would be a final, quick haggle on price turned into a mammoth session going over the price, technology, deliverables and Ts & Cs with a fine-tooth comb. By the time I left I’d given away half of the farm, my head was spinning and I still wasn’t sure if I’d got the order. It wasn’t so much a negotiation as a very long, painful series of concessions.
I remember two of his tactics particularly vividly…
1. The salami technique. He took me through our Ts and Cs line by line with him questioning each one, telling me why they couldn’t accept it and asking me what we could do about it. So during the course of the meeting I made more than one call back to base to find out if we could move… and mostly we could.
2. The power of legitimacy. I’m sure you’ve probably heard about this concept… it’s the un-thinking respect for standard terms and conditions, operating procedures and in general anything documented. Reg used this to full effect with his terms; they were written in stone… absolutely couldn’t be changed… never in the history of the company had they been modified… he’d be fired for even thinking about it. Of course, when it came to our Ts & Cs he had zero (0) respect for them and expected each one to be individually re-drafted for him!
So what did I learn from this exercise?
Firstly, don’t let them get you “on a roll” with the salami technique. If you do have to go over a lot of items just ask what they want on each one to begin with, don’t comment on any of them and move to the next. Make absolutely sure you have the complete, full list of requests before you comment. Then at least you are in a position to trade e.g. “I can do something on warranty if you can…” I actually wised-up to this half way through the negotiation with Reg, but by that point I was “on a roll”.
Secondly, when someone wants concessions from you make sure that you have the power of legitamacy on your side.
“The (written) quotation is fixed and firm”.
“Our system doesn’t allow that”.
“We put a lot of work into it to make sure it’s the absolute best deal”.
“Maintanenance is not negotiable”. (When I sold software I can’t recall any customer questioning this!)
Thirdly, prepare! If it’s a big deal don’t expect the customer to cough-up the order without some hefty negotiationing, especially of procurement are involved.
As it happened I did get the order, had my moment of glory and big bonus cheque. What I’d negotiated didn’t really effect the value of the deal, just the terms… and my bonus wasn’t paid on what the terms were. There’s probably a lesson for companies there as well… don’t send out young sales guys to negotiate on their own when they have their b**** on the table and a big bonus at stake!
When the negotiating balls are in the air

When the negotiating balls are in the air

I remember one of my largest ever sales with mixed emotions. The deal, for a mixture of hardware, software and design services, was a whopper and had been in the pipeline for months. Likewise it had been in my forecast for months and all eyes were on me. I went in on my own for the final session to actually get the order and knew there would be some negotiating to be done. However, we were in a very strong position technically and I suspected that, as far as the engineers were concerned, it was a one-horse race.

For a one-horse race I sure got beat up. I was in my mid-twenties and meeting up with Reg, their procurement VP, who must have been around sixty and knew every low-down trick in the book. What I had expected would be a final, quick haggle on price turned into a mammoth session going over the price, technology, deliverables and Ts & Cs with a fine-tooth comb. By the time I left I’d given away half of the farm, my head was spinning and I still wasn’t sure if I’d got the order. It wasn’t so much a negotiation as a very long, painful series of concessions.

I remember two of his tactics particularly vividly…

  • The salami technique. He took me through our Ts and Cs line by line with him questioning each one, telling me why they couldn’t accept it and asking me what we could do about it. So during the course of the meeting I made more than one call back to base to find out if we could move… and mostly we could.
  • The power of legitimacy. I’m sure you’ve probably heard about this concept… it’s the un-thinking respect for standard terms and conditions, operating procedures and in general anything documented. Reg used this to full effect with his terms; they were written in stone… absolutely couldn’t be changed… never in the history of the company had they been modified… he’d be fired for even thinking about it. Of course, when it came to our Ts & Cs he had zero (0) respect for them and expected each one to be individually re-drafted for him!

So what did I learn from this exercise?

  1. Don’t let them get you “on a roll” with the salami technique. If you do have to go over a lot of items just ask what they want on each one to begin with, don’t comment on any of them and move to the next. Make absolutely sure you have the complete, full list of requests before you comment. Then at least you are in a position to trade e.g. “I can do something on warranty if you can…” I actually wised-up to this half way through the negotiation with Reg, but by that point I was “on a roll”.
  2. When someone wants concessions from you make sure that you have the power of legitimacy on your side.

    3. “The (written) quotation is fixed and firm”.
    “Our system doesn’t allow that”.
    “We put a lot of work into it to make sure it’s the absolute best deal”.
    “Maintenance is not negotiable”. (When I sold software I can’t recall any customer questioning this!)

  3. When you want concessions from someone else… don’t be awed by the power of legitimacy. Feel free to question their standards terms, their company policies… especially if they are directly at odds with yours. Something has to give.
  4. Prepare! If it’s a big deal don’t expect the customer to cough-up the order without some hefty negotiating, especially if procurement are involved.

As it happened I did get the order, had my moment of glory and big bonus cheque. What I’d negotiated didn’t really effect the value of the deal, just the terms… and my bonus wasn’t paid on the terms. There’s probably a lesson for companies there as well… don’t send out young sales guys to negotiate on their own when they have their b**** on the table and a big sales bonus at stake!

Posted in: negotiation.

Five things sales people can learn from sports

Jan 12th, 2010
by mark.
No comments yet
Five things sales people can learn from sports
Is it just me or does it seem to be the case that most sales people I know have either played sport at some time, or are obsessed by it? Just looking back at the sales people I’ve worked with over the years this seems to be the case. Thinking about it I think I can see why this might be…
Firstly selling is by its very nature competitive. You are always either competing against a quota or a competitor. So it’s not great surprise that people who revel in the excitement of competition are attracted to selling.
Secondly I believe that the social skills that are learnt on the sports field and afterwards in the bar are invaluable in creating the kind of rounded person who fits well in sales.
So what can we learn from sports…
1. Training. It amazes me that someone can expect to get to the top of their profession without training. Do people really think that because you’re good at something you can stop training? Does Tiger Woods train (when not busy elsewhere)… you bet. But often I’ve been on sales training courses where half of the people are there under sufferance; they’ve been there, they’ve done it, end of story. If you want to be good train, and train hard.
2. Goal setting. It’s been statistically proven that setting goals helps people achieve higher. Setting increasingly challenging goals is the key to high performance. If you don’t set a goal how do you know when you get there! You might want to take a look at this article on setting goals for 2010.
3. Resilience. If you’ve ever played sport you will know what it’s like. It’s raining, the sun’s going down, you’re losing, you’re sore in place you didn’t know you have and the opposition is looking to rub your nose in it. But you have to pick yourself up for the sake of the team and your own pride. Sport teaches people that kind of gritty determination to get stuck in when you least want to.
4. Teamwork. In sales everyone wants to be a star, which in itself is not a bad thing. But sometimes the task is just too big and you have to ask for help. In fact in key account sales if you’re not a team player you’re at a real disadvantage.
5. Magnanimity. As Rudyard Kipling said in his poem “If”…
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same
When we do win let’s play it cool and if we lose let’s be magnanimous. When you don’t get the order (which does happen occasionally to us all) be willing to shake hands with the customer, wish them well and promise to be back… we will do business sooner or later!
Coming through! Sometimes you just have to press on...

Coming thru! Sometimes you just have to press on...

Is it just me or does it seem to be the case that most sales people I know have either played sport at some time, or are obsessed by it? Just looking back at the sales people I’ve worked with over the years this seems to be the case. Thinking about it I can see why this might be…

Firstly selling is by its very nature competitive. You are always either competing against a quota or a competitor. So it’s not great surprise that people who revel in the excitement of competition are attracted to selling.

Secondly I believe that the social skills that are learnt on the sports field and afterwards in the bar are invaluable in creating the kind of rounded person who fits well in sales.

So what can we learn from sports…

  1. Training. It amazes me that someone can expect to get to the top of their profession without training. Do people really think that because you’re good at something you can stop training? Does Tiger Woods train (when not busy elsewhere)… you bet. But often I’ve been on sales training courses where half of the people are there under sufferance; they’ve been there, they’ve done it, end of story. If you want to be good train, and train hard.
  2. Goal setting. It’s been statistically proven that setting goals helps people achieve higher. Setting increasingly challenging goals is the key to high performance. If you don’t set a goal how do you know when you get there! You might want to take a look at this article on setting goals for 2010.
  3. Resilience. If you’ve ever played sport you will know what it’s like. It’s raining, the sun’s going down, you’re losing, you’re sore in place you didn’t know you have and the opposition is looking to rub your nose in it. But you have to pick yourself up for the sake of the team and your own pride. Sport teaches people that kind of gritty determination to get stuck in when you least want to.
  4. Teamwork. In sales everyone wants to be a star, which in itself is not a bad thing. But sometimes the task is just too big and you have to ask for help. In fact in key account sales if you’re not a team player you’re at a real disadvantage.
  5. Magnanimity. As Rudyard Kipling said in his poem “If”…
    If you can meet with triumph and disaster
    And treat those two impostors just the same
    When we do win let’s play it cool and if we lose let’s be magnanimous. When you don’t get the order (which does happen occasionally) be willing to shake hands with the customer, wish them well and promise to be back… we will do business sooner or later!

Posted in: sales culture.

What’s a Fair Sales Quota in 2010?

Jan 5th, 2010
by mark.
No comments yet

Here’s an interesting article on quotas by Susan Greco from Inc.com. We’ll take a closer look at quotas this year.

Posted in: sales management.

Five tips help you set your 2010 sales goals

Dec 29th, 2009
by mark.
No comments yet
Achieving 2010 sales goals

Achieving 2010 sales goals

It’s now late December and either you are on vacation or in the office catching up on your paperwork. Most customers are doing the same, so now is an excellent time to sit down and set your goals for the coming year. Here are some goal setting tips for you…

  1. Top Down. If you have objectives set by your management they should, of course, be in there. If you have larger personal or life goals they should also feed into your 2010 sales goals.
  2. SMART. Make your goals SMART ones…

    3. S = Specific. What, why, and how?
    M = Measurable. If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it!
    A = Attainable. You probably won’t really commit to a goal that’s out of reach. Too easy and you won’t get that sense of achievement when you get there.
    R = Realistic. Is it something that is under your control? If not it’s a hope not a goal.
    T = Timely. Set a timeframe. Include milestones along the way… don’t just set a year-end goal.

  3. Make your goals tangible. What will it feel like to achieve those goals? Imagine what you will buy with the commission, what will you do on your President’s Club trip, how will it feel when you get presented with the Sales Person of the Year award at the next annual sales meeting? Use all of your senses here… imagine what that champagne will taste like!
  4. Include professional goals as well as sales targets. What job do you want to be doing this time next year? Do you want to move to another company? Do you want to set up on your own as a rep? What new skills do you want to attain in the next year?
  5. Learn from your mistakes. Take the opportunity to look back on 2009. What did you do well, what could you have improved upon and how? What will you do differently this year?
  6. Reward yourself along the way. Regardless of what your company’s reward policy might be, give yourself some treats along the way for goals/milestones achieved.
  7. Keep the number of goals manageable. Nobody was ever one-sixteenth committed to anything. Better to have two really crunchy, very specific, achievable goals than sixteen flaky goals including how often you should back-up your PC.

The observant amongst you will notice that I promised to give you five tips and actually gave you seven… now that’s what I call value! More on exceeding the customer’s expectations in 2010.

Happy New Year and good selling in 2010!

Posted in: time management.

← Earlier Posts