Step Number Two: Being Open To All Answers

 Articles, Selling  Add Comments »
Oct 082009
 

I was recently asked a series of probing questions by an executive who was showing all the signs of having thought deeply and broadly about some of the sales issues of the day.

What can we do to increase our sales when we are doing all the right things?

With so few new opportunities out there how do we compel a potential client to abandon their existing solution?

What can we do to increase the favourable response rate to the RFPs we fill out? Not filling them out is not an option and the client refuses to speak with us beforehand!

A good discussion ensued from there. And the more we talked the more I knew that something is missing from the discussion. The missing element: a needed paradigm shift.

A good example of this is Salesforce.com. They were not the first to introduce a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) or Platform As A Service (PAAS) to the market. For those honours think Siebel, Maximizer or Clarify and Amazon and its ‘elastic computing’ respectively. Yet, Salesforce was the brave company that decided to broadly commercialize a new model in delivery for the CRM. Salesforce.com is still around, but Siebel was sold off to Oracle, Clarify to Nortel and so forth. Is your company/process/sales pitch/demonstration/methodology brave enough to break itself down in order to rebuild?

When is the time to do so? At the height of your success.

If the Requests For Proposal (RFP) are not garnering their fair share of positive responses then perhaps the paradigm shift includes not answering these requests. Many companies have instituted a policy of not responding to RFxs. Why? A hands-off paper-based abstract is not a substitute for understanding your client’s needs and specific requirements. The prospect that denies you this understanding and two-way discussion is probably neither a good client nor will end up buying from you. Are you brave enough to better utilize your own resources?

A partnership, after all, requires two parties conversing, understanding and exchanging information. A buyer/seller relationship is a partnership.

If the customer is always right, then it might be prudent to listen to the manifest actions and reactions of the customer if the old way of doing things is not working.

Between 1908 and 1927 Ford became the world’s biggest automobile manufacturer with its Model T. It had the best workers, the best benefits and sold over 15,000,000 cars. GM took over next. These companies had to lose their coveted status and billions of dollars before they began to reluctantly take action. Shouldn’t they have begun reengineering themselves before disaster hit?

Growth In The Midst Of The Recession

 Articles, Selling More  Add Comments »
Oct 012009
 

The news is bad and there have been companies that have been severely affected in the midst of the current recession, but a Canadian-specific report today highlights how the downturn has not been uniform.

We all know what the economy has had to endure in the last couple of years. We also know that companies like Nortel, GM, Chrysler or Sun Microsystems have not fared well recently. Along with the downturn have come lay-offs. Several of the more familiar stories of workforce reduction have come from the aforementioned car giants, Microsoft and a myriad of firms on Wall Street.

A report from Deloitte today, however, highlights some positives. Look at the report and find companies that have grown anywhere from 312% to a whopping 18,070% in 2009. Yes, eighteen thousand percent. “ProSep Inc. designs, develops, manufactures and commercialises a wide range of process equipment to separate oil, gas and water.”
Surely, this proves that a good management, good product and motivated employees can triumph over a downturn. Moreover, these companies are probably in a hiring mood (or is that mode?).

techfast50

Here is the report:

TechFast50

The Business Case For Selling To The Technology Group

 Articles, Selling  Add Comments »
Aug 182009
 

A while ago, I wrote about selling by sitting on the other side of the table. Other Side post

Let us drill down to the IT executive and the increasing pressure from the company’s executive team for all technology investments to be aligned to explicit business strategies. Companies are demanding that IT only ask for money for projects it can prove have a return on investment that positively impacts the bottom-line or other specific and stated goals.

Could you connect the dots for your IT prospect, which they, in turn, can justify to their internal audience?

These are:

  • Understand what the company’s goals and plans are. Example: Lower electricity consumption and energy costs in all data centres.
  • How is the goal calculated? Example: the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) is reviewing the company’s annual million dollar utility bill.
  • How does change management work at the customer’s company? Example: Are metrics presented by IT to the finance committee automatically accepted or are outside agents utilized? Could you present your research metrics or is there another gauge that is needed?
  • Communicate and plot your process and capabilities. Reach an agreement before you set out to create a business case. It is important to have both an assurance from your audience and to include senior members of the IT team to work with yours. The technology team members assigned to work with you should have the trust of the group’s foremost senior manager. This process identifies your product or service’s value and its alignment to company goals and needs, but also outlines the type of time and money required from the customer. Example: A 15% reduction in utility bills includes a 20% reduction in number of physical servers translating into a total saving of $500,000 over two years. The cost for the service: $300,000 financed over two years.

Document, document, document in order to justify. More importantly, keep everyone on both sides notified and have the customer’s own conclusions included.

The joint working project is another opportunity to educate, sell and transfer knowledge between the two companies.

Collaboration And The Company

 Management  1 Comment »
Jul 122009
 

As is often the case the biggest impediments to progress and productivity stem from within one’s own company. A recent account highlighted such a situation. Lacking a proper collaboration tool that enhances decision-making, coordination, collaboration and remote brainstorming a sales team sought the launch of an appropriate tool within the department.

The group was looking to expand beyond e-mail and conference calling to something less regimented and more open with more control back into the hands of the relevant users. This team wanted to spread knowledge.

  • The response from IT: the installation of such a tool requires CEO approval.
  • The rationale presented: all non-routine expenditures and time spent by IT on new projects needs C-level approval.
  • The no-win situation: The chances of anyone sticking their neck out to submit the idea or anticipating personal interest from the company president were minimal. Despite many options, such as a Wiki or a forum, being freely available and costing the company next to nothing in purchase price or installation the project was DOA.

With the executive rarely taking the lead on the usage of technology and not being directly involved in departmental interests the said sales team had to stick with and make do with what was already in place. It was a case of an unwilling corporate culture mired in inertia and micro-management.

Companies that unleash the creative juices and allow bottom-up movement are the ones, which will prosper. Old school is old and this is not school anymore, folks.

Sales, marketing, project management, product management IT and even the executive would benefit from technologies such as a forum, Wiki, Sharepoint/IBM Connections/similar, blogs, etc. technology. Collaboration and knowledge sharing are the business of any company and enabling siloization of information is out. Executives should awaken the energy in their employees and welcome (and in fact lead in usage of) real-time business tools and productivity ideas. The fastest way to encourage employees is to not install unnecessary barriers in the first place. It is, by definition, the executives’ job. Employees who are not thus empowered may abandon their interest and ideas or endanger the companies’ proprietary information by going the external route i.e. start using Yahoo or Google Groups. This is not an ideal situation.
Time to encourage innovation. Collaboration and discipline are not opposites.

Workload Stress And Promotion

 Management, Marketing  13 Comments »
May 182009
 

Many studies and surveys correlate handling pressure and a crushing workload with being seen as responsible and effectiveness. Such studies probably over-emphasize the impact of hard work and dedication and diplomatically minimize talk of office politics and the politics of the corporate jungle. Nevertheless, there is no denying how managing one’s workload is conducive to being seen as efficient not to mention maintaining one’s sanity. Ironically, as corporations lay off people they expect the remaining employees to cover for those that were let go.

In fact, to move up in a corporate structure one must be seen as cool, calm, collected and in control. Nothing says ready for promotion than underutilized and not busy enough!

This is why it helps to be efficient.

  1. Place calls early. Busy people are more likely to pick up the telephone or respond between 8:00 to 9:00. Moreover, an early message is more likely to get returned on the same day.
  2. Multi-tasking is your enemy. Concentrate on one thing at a time. Place the telephone on ‘ Do Not Disturb’ and uncheck the notification alert on the email program.
  3. Report more not less. Delivering more does not signal that you need a bigger workload; rather it tells your manager and company that they do not need to look over your shoulder.
  4. Never, lose your cool. It is imperative that you show grace under pressure and never melt under a deadline.
  5. Most importantly, be organized. Take time upfront to develop a rational yet simple filing system whether in a drawer or on the computer. You never know when a graphic may come in handy once again.

These tips help one finish the job without sweat and make it home in time for dinner.

The path to promotion or potential advancement is hardly a mystery then if the political end is taken care of. Aside from efficiency and control, company executives are expected to:

  • Be educated. A Masters degree is better than a Bachelor’s is better than a Diploma, which is better than a high school degree.
  • Maintain a professional image including personal hygiene and quality attire.
  • Have a more diverse background. Being at the same company in the same country for 15 years means you are stuck.
  • Sneak in some operations responsibility, duties or a job into the business or technical mix of things.
  • Work or communicate with other offices or emphasize it should you be well-travelled.

10 Strategies For Selling And Operating In A Recession

 Marketing, Selling  2 Comments »
May 172009
 

1.    Consider Hosted Services, Outsourcing or Cooperation/Collaboration with another service provider in lieu of acquiring new products or adding new services. This way it is possible to offer an immediate service as part of the larger offering and broader service without committing time and capital resource. Obtain an SLA (Service level Agreement) from your provider that ensures your good name is intact with your customer.

2.    Offer two-tier pricing: higher rate is for immediate service and the lower means delayed gratification and priced for the recession. Say you normally charge $175/hour for service. Regular 3-day response can be $125/hour, while the immediate or same-day service is priced at $250/hour.

3.    Use ‘down-time’ to motivate and train employees. Human resource is more important than lip service. Whether it is offering your staff courses, training or coaching now is the time. Make your sales team part of an implementation or service call and the services team part of the sales strategy. Teach everyone how to act in an industry-specific or market segmented way. Can these groups articulate an ROI (Return On Investment)?

4.    Analyse your expenditure and revenue sources. Do some customers/vendors/partners cost you more than they bring in? Now is the time to discover them and ditch them. Be brave about it.

5.    Be Japanese not American! Do not sacrifice short-term revenue for profitability by thinking long-term. Now is not the time for a fire sale. Companies shoot themselves in the foot and are setting themselves up for both a loss now and sustained low margins in the future. Remember: it is the net margin that counts and pays the bills not the revenue coming in.

6.    This is not the time to stand still. Hire the best talent and obtain the best products and services at a bargain. The best talent and acquisition is available now for cheap and probably leads to a higher income than 2% return on bonds in the bank. Buy now and you get a bargain. It sounds simple, but this requires thinking that is confident and against human nature.

7.    Solution selling in a recession does not mean denying the recession. There can be a powerful argument for recognizing the recession – especially when combined with the above notion that now is the cheaper and smarter time to buy. Do not deny that everyone is caught in hard times. The economy is real, tangible and a shared pain for you and your customer. Instead, explore how you product can help lessen the impact of a recession on your customer.
o    Could your Business Intelligence software tell your customer how much exposure they have to a downturn and indeed how much they need to cut (when the economy is on the upswing they can turn the software back to measuring transaction costs or the profitability of advertising, etc.)?
o    Are you in the banking business? Can your service tell customers how much liquidity they need to maintain in order to weather a global recession? The downturn can and must be your friend.
o    Could your manufacturing process tell them firms which configurations need to be produced less of and what the market will demand more of?

8.    Focus on the industries that are better weathering the storm or even profiting by it. Country Clubs might be in trouble, but Tim Hortons sure isn’t. Discrete manufacturing is in trouble, but auctioneers are not. There is a recession in New York City, but did you know that Nebraska has a 4.6% unemployment rate, thank-you very much (New York is 7.8% as of March, 2009).
o    Click here for statistics: http://data.bls.gov/map/servlet/map.servlet.MapToolServlet?survey=la&map=state&seasonal=u

9.    Revisit old leads, old customers for more opportunities and when all else fails, generate good will and future business by showing even better customer service now and add to your personal touch. Take advantage of your competition’s turmoil and their lay-offs, which are lowering their service levels.

Remember that it is less costly (some say by 50%) to tap your existing clients than to acquire new ones. Sell more often, sell more dollars on average and collect faster from your existing clients. Can your customer base support a direct referral program that compensates them upon your completing a business transaction with a company they referred?

10.    Don’t be a living self-fulfilling prophecy. Remain active and on the job! Less business requires more work and activity – not less!

Former Cisco CEO John Chambers is quoted as saying, “companies break away during downturns.” Think about it. He guided Cisco during the 2001 meltdown and the Great Recession.

 

*Things That Need To Go Away: Buying High And Selling Low. It Is For Lemmings.

 

Selling By Sitting On The Other Side Of The Table

 Articles, Selling  4 Comments »
Nov 022008
 

Years ago my employer paid me to play a game, er, I mean to take a course.

It was called Decision Base. http://www.pantelisinc.com/decision_base.htm

The courses teaches one to think from the perspective of a business owner or a manager and make decisions about hiring, lay-offs, investment, buying, borrowing and more.
Good idea, isn’t it?

How do your customers make decisions and what forms their strategic vision for their business? Where does your product or service fit in? Think about these components of strategic and tactical envisioning:

Automation: Lower Headcount, Higher Productivity, At-will Availability, Fast Access…
Example: Self-Service Human Resource Management System for employees

Delegation: Line-of-business employees who are given permission to make their own decisions. What does it take to make this happen? The right information, training or workflow perhaps?
Example: A bank manager who – with the right training – can offer a pre-approved loan without needing approval from the headquarters.

Control: Knowing what is happening in real-time accurately through a single source of truth.
Example: Automated alerts via email, mobile messaging or executive dashboards. The accuracy and timeliness of information translates into effective management and decison-making. Real-time knowledge equals quicker intervention.

What Motivates Employees (continued)

 Articles, Management  1 Comment »
Jul 132008
 

When in March, 2007 we looked at factors motivating employees salary (i.e. money) came out on top. A year later InformationWeek has conducted a survey focusing on Information Technology workers and affirms the same.

In a survey of 9,653 IT professionals “base pay” ranked as #1 on the list of things that matter the most to employees. It was most important for 57% of staff and 50% of managers. The ranking is rather similar for both management and staff ranks, except “challenge of job/responsibility” which matters the most to 45% of staff (ranked third), while it stands at 55% for management!

The same survey finds that the median raise percentage this year is 2.9%, down from last year’s 3.3% which is possibly reflective of the difficult economic times. managers, in the meantime, are getting a median raise of 3.7% in the United States.

The survey is a confirmation of my assessment that the current generation of workers is looking for base (pun intended) benefits that are concrete and tangible. The millenials and, to some extent, Generation Xers have been raised in a more secure and confident environment and thus have higher demands.

While other factors remain important and helpful it is the amount of money on the pay cheque that determines the level of motivation and happiness of most employees. Once again, let us not kid ourselves.

What Matters Most To Staff

Base Pay 57%

Benefits 52%

Challenging Job 45%

Job Stability 42%

Flexible Work Schedule 39%

Respect 33%

Source:
http://www.informationweekanalytics.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=42

*Things That Need To Go Away: reserved parking for salesman of the month – unless a salesperson likes the idea.

Not Competing On Price

 Articles, Marketing  Add Comments »
Jul 062008
 

Hands up anyone out there who isn’t tired of competing on price. Why is it that everyone insists they do not compete on price, but ends up wheeling and dealing, bargaining, being haggled and giving a discount? Vendors are sick of it, customers know they can get away with asking for less and spend precious time playing the game instead of tending to what they really should be doing and resellers routinely hit up their product’s publishers for rebates.

It is a vicious circle. No one admits they are part of the problem either.

What is a poor seller to do? Differentiate yourself with both substance and marketing.

The difficult part first. Knowing yourself leads to knowing your value proposition, which in turn leads to figuring out what you do better than everyone else (if you honestly cannot answer that question then you are in trouble). Now put some substance behind it. Stop compensating your sales department for short-term goals. Incorporate customer satisfaction and long-term revenue into the remuneration package. Make sure everyone at the company is aware of your value proposition, your differentiated value proposition and is consistently educated in that field. Can your salespersons, consultants, implementers and customer service team explain what specific industry or business result you specialize in and can they hold an in-depth discussion about it with your customers?

For instance, if you have accidentally or consciously decided you are after the public sector business, can your entire team speak to the requirements of the levels of government you serve? Do they understand who is who, what the language of government is and what results governments demand?

The simpler part is the marketing. Does your website, collateral and discussions focus on your differentiator? Your website has to target your core competence with the appropriate business requirements and testimonials. Does the company’s brochures lay claim to your specialty instead of talking about the company’s history and management and who knows what else? Does your channel carry the knowledge around with it? Focus on branding your focus and who you are and make sure you walk the talk.

The implication? You are ready to walk away from non-core business and no one can beat your knowledge of the domain. That is value that for which the customer can safely pay more.

It is only now that your company can confidently stay away from discounted business and the price concessions that have become so prevalent. You are not commodity and you should be priced accordingly.

Is It A Sale Or Not?

 Articles, Negotiating  Add Comments »
Jan 202008
 

There comes a time in every salesperson’s professional career in which he or she is at the stage where the hard work pays off and a sale is imminent – and then the prospect goes silent. It is a bewildering time assuming one has done all the right things. Why was one promised and consequently presumed success only to be confronted with silence instead of a Purchase Order? Where has the contact gone? Why are they not returning your calls? Did you miss something or have circumstances changed? Who knows?

It is time to call a meeting!

Without news or updated information it is impossible to act, react or interact and to find out whether a deal is happening or not. If not, why not? Is it something that can be addressed? If yes, when and are there any modifications at hand?

It is time to invite the prospect’s team to a meeting – telephone, videoconference or in-person. It is important to invite a team from the customer for several reasons. A larger team can bring any concerns to the table. It can give one different perspectives and open up the flow of information. It signals a sense of immediacy and a desire to resolve the issue.
It also has the effect of nudging your contact(s) into action. It is likely that this escalation will help one receive the information one needs either through the group’s collaboration or by forcing the other party’s hand, providing momentum and illuminating the situation. Their acceptance or rejection of the meeting will yield plenty of information either way.
Of course, isn’t it time your customers started feeling like collaborators and part of the team and accepted periodic meetings?

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