Posts filed under ‘leaders’
(No) Queues Ahead
Who likes queuing? No, me neither. I think it shows. I think the guy sitting next to me can tell, now I’m finally onboard the flight – after queuing through customs, queuing to buy a bottle of Evian, standing in line to buy some Duty-Free.
Still, I’m here now – and all that waiting did give me plenty of time to think.
Like, how come when we’re standing with a basket of shopping, waiting to buy, we get shepherded into those little queuing-pens, and obediently wait to be called?
And then – when it’s our turn to do the selling – every sales training course shows you the same stuff, the same techniques, so you end up stood in another orderly queue, behind every other seller.
That’s the thing about training courses. They’re great for Compliance. You learn a bunch of things, leave with a thick ring-binder manual, and you get on with the compliance. Fine for Health & Safety. Fine for Employment Law. For maintaining standards.
When we’re growing our business, though, we’re not trying to maintain the status quo. We’re not in Compliance-mode. Queuing obediently. We’re in Freedom-mode. Free to adapt to the uncertainties of the terrain. You’re not going to buy a roadmap, because you’re not going by road.
At Sandler, we don’t sell roadmaps. We guide. We support business leaders with our knowledge and experience.
Because, if you’re ambitious, if you’re serious about growing the business, then you know the journey is going to adventurous. So we work alongside you, proving the route we’re both taking, showing you the steps and the handholds.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on throwing away the roadmap – or even just the best idea you had while standing in a queue.
Networking Works!
By Abby Donnelly
Attending a networking event? WHY??
That may seem like a strange question, but time is one of our most limited resources! Taking a few minutes to evaluate why you should attend THIS particular networking event may save you hours of unproductive time and energy. Often, sales professionals tell me that they make their decision to attend an event based on the location of the event and their calendar availability. Instead, base your decision to attend an event based on:
1. Will your ideal target market likely be there? If not,
2. Will people who know your ideal target market be there?
If the answer is no to both of these questions, attending the event probably isn’t a good use of your time. You may meet some great people, you may have some interesting conversations, but you will probably not build the kind of business relationships that will deliver an ongoing stream of qualified referrals. Instead, find a networking event that is a better fit, or invest that time 1-1, building important relationships with key prospects, or with people who know your key prospects.
If you can’t bear to skip the event, at least go into the event with a specific goal. Maybe you set a goal to meet 3 new people. Maybe you set a goal to reconnect with 5 people you already know. Maybe you set a goal to connect 2 people who need to know each other. If you are going to spend your time attending an event, make it count! The additional benefit of setting a goal in advance is that once you achieve it, you are free to leave—you have already had a successful event!
Abby Donnelly is a partner and Executive Coach with Training and Development services, a Sandler Training franchise.
Illustration by Rob Green
Your Invitation to see how you rank!
Want to see how you stack up against the best?
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If you are interested in taking the test follow this link here: Aberdeen Assement.
Strength of Relationship Determines Success
By Bill Bartlett
Spend some time in the psychology or self-help section in any bookstore and you’ll find hundreds of books written on transforming troubled relationships. Whether husband/wife, parent/child, friend/friend or employer/employee, they dominate the shelves promising THE magical solution to resolving any issue imaginable.
If you’re in sales, what about the buyer/seller relationship? The same elements that make any relationship thrive also apply to developing and strengthening bonds with our prospects and customers.
If I were to ask your prospects at the end of your sales calls to rate the strength of your present relationship on a scale of 1 to 10 what do you suppose they’d say? Chances are they might give you a score in the 2-4 range. Trust me. This is not enough to close business without reducing your price to absurdly low levels. Spending an hour dazzling your prospect with marvelous features and benefits doesn’t, nor has it ever, solidified anything, least of all a bond of strength.
What would happen if you said to the same prospect that you understand that they will only do business with people they trust and ask them to share with you the ways to strengthen your relationship and build enough trust for them to make a purchase?
Your new goal is to build that relationship to a score of 7 or above. Bartlett’s rule states: The weaker the relationship, the more pressure that is placed on the proposal. Typically, more pressure on the proposal means a salesperson will need the lowest price in order to close the deal.
Feel free to challenge this rule by reviewing your last ten proposals. Did any close without being the lowest price point? How did the quality of your relationship with the prospect affect the closing process?
Far too many times, salespeople misjudge the strength of the relationship with their prospect by strictly focusing on the way they are treated. Unfortunately, we have taught prospects that if they treat us well we will give them a proposal or whatever they ask for. Salespeople act this way because they are bombarded with so much rejection that they become hostages to any signs of hope or optimism.
Let’s face it. Salespeople in general are often the neediest people on the face of the earth. This neediness can easily lead to delusion and denial and create a false sense of security that the relationship is stronger than it actually is.
Here are three ways to build stronger relationships with prospects:
1. Measure all of your relationships with prospects with Olympic designations: Gold, Silver and Bronze. The goal must be to achieve GOLD status with every prospect and customer relationship. Gold status is “won” when you unequivocally know that they trust your values, your word and your commitment to delivery. A partnership is established whereby any challenge they face is fully explored and they have ultimate confidence that your “solution” is best for them. Conversely, bronze status is just what it infers: either the prospect/customer or you are focused on a price-based sale versus a long-term relationship.
2. Demonstrate that you value your prospects and customers more than simply a source of revenue. I always ask every prospect and customer I have what I must do to provide more service to them than any of my competitors. You must recognize that a sale is accomplished between the buyer and seller, not two companies.
3. Fully comprehend your competitive position. Take out a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle. At the top of one half, write your company’s name and on the other, your top competitor’s. In each column, objectively list the relationship “leverage points” referencing gold, silver and bronze status above that you believe each company has with a prospect. All things being equal, all potential buyers will do business with sellers they know and trust.
Prospects/buyers are more astute today than ever and are armed against the slick, fast-talking, manipulative “antics” of sellers who only want to make money. Professional selling demands that salespeople understand that a rock-solid relationship is the foremost “feature and benefit” for a prospect. Everything seamlessly unfolds from there.
Bill Bartlett is the president of Corporate Strategies & Solutions, a Sandler Training Center in Naperville, Illinois.
Illustration by Rob Green
(No) Queues Ahead
Who likes queuing? No, me neither. I think it shows. I think the guy sitting next to me can tell, now I’m finally onboard the flight – after queuing through customs, queuing to buy a bottle of Evian, standing in line to buy some Duty-Free.
Still, I’m here now – and all that waiting did give me plenty of time to think.
Like, how come when we’re standing with a basket of shopping, waiting to buy, we get shepherded into those little queuing-pens, and obediently wait to be called?
And then – when it’s our turn to do the selling – every sales training course shows you the same stuff, the same techniques, so you end up stood in another orderly queue, behind every other seller.
That’s the thing about training courses. They’re great for Compliance. You learn a bunch of things, leave with a thick ring-binder manual, and you get on with the compliance. Fine for Health & Safety. Fine for Employment Law. For maintaining standards.
When we’re growing our business, though, we’re not trying to maintain the status quo. We’re not in Compliance-mode. Queuing obediently. We’re in Freedom-mode. Free to adapt to the uncertainties of the terrain. You’re not going to buy a roadmap, because you’re not going by road.
At Sandler, we don’t sell roadmaps. We guide. We support business leaders with our knowledge and experience.
Because, if you’re ambitious, if you’re serious about growing the business, then you know the journey is going to adventurous. So we work alongside you, proving the route we’re both taking, showing you the steps and the handholds.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on throwing away the roadmap - or even just the best idea you had while standing in a queue.
