Great salespeople are made not born.
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Stop telling and start selling. Ask questions and then listen carefully.By Michael Caron, President, Northbound Sales Training
In my business, I’m often asked, “What’s the biggest mistake salespeople make?” Of course, I tend to term them “opportunity areas” rather than “mistakes”. Whatever you want to call them, the most common is the area of questioning. The second area that goes hand-in-hand with number one is the inability of typical sales professionals to quit talking and listen after they’ve asked great questions!
The average salesperson is high in the “D & I” of the DiSC personality assessment, which means that they are “dominant” and “influential”, they like to control their environment and generally, they love to talk (to learn more about the DiSC profile, send me an e-mail for a sample). While these are critical personality traits for a sales professional to possess, they can also be their Achilles heel. In a meeting with the prospect, they think that selling is best done by being the one who talks the most. Their best definition of communication is “taking turns talking”!
How many times have you encountered a salesperson when you’re the buyer and they did the classic, “Show up and throw up!”?
The shortest course on selling is “ask questions and shut up”. Good use of open ended, closed and probing questions allows you to accurately determine your prospect’s priorities, challenges and needs. How can you truly provide a solution, which is an overused word in sales these days, without knowing precisely what the problems are and where the opportunities are?
You should never go into a sales interaction without a list of well thought out questions. At Northbound, we’re hesitant to use the term “presentation” as it implies that the salesperson is “presenting” while the prospect carefully listens while it should be just the opposite.
Except for very small and simple sales, I strongly recommend you use a two step meeting selling process. The first meeting, whether live or virtual, is used to uncover needs and is named the “Goal Aligned Sales Interview” for good reason. You should be essentially “interviewing” the buyer to uncover problems, challenges and issues.
Problems lead to needs and needs lead us to the next phase of the sale which is the “Goal Aligned Presentation” meeting. This is where you’ll be able to demonstrate to the buyer how you can solve the specific challenges uncovered in the previous meeting.
If you’re a sales leader, Northbound’s “Questions Are The Answer” workshop includes a solid skills building segment in this area. For more information or pricing, contact Michael Caron at [email protected] or 416.456.1440.
Growing a book of customers means more than doing your route.
By Michael Caron, President, Northbound Sales
You’ve worked hard over the years and now have a sizeable client base that you’re responsible for. When you get to this stage, your time will be spent less on attracting new customers and much more on going “deeper and wider” with your existing accounts. Here’s how to make the most of your efforts.
Drill where there’s the best chance of hitting oil
The tendency of many Account Managers is to make field calls on the biggest and best customers. Often, these are also the customers we have the best relationship with. It’s likely that we consider many to even be our friends. The argument is “I’ve got to take care of them because that’s one of our biggest accounts”. I’m not suggesting that taking care of your customers doesn’t make sense but the key here is balance.
Is it possible to over-service a client? Absolutely, when it comes at the expense of others that have tremendous growth potential. We’re already probably getting a big “share of wallet” with our biggest, most loyal customers and it’s questionable how much more business we can get by spending more time with them. I know the thought of calling on that account who favours our competitor and was kind of standoffish with you last time doesn’t sound appealing but that’s where your biggest gains might come from!
We recommend that you prioritize your clients using a combination of existing purchasing volume and “sales opportunity gap or SOP” — that is, the difference between their maximum potential volume and current volume. The customer who buys $10,000 annually from you but spends $100,000 on products/services in your sector has a $90,000 SOP. The client who currently spends $150,000 with you and spends $200,000 in total has an SOP of only $50,000.
To continue with our metaphor, the other oil wells have already been tapped. Let’s look for some new ones!
I spend a lot of time in the field observing sales reps do their thing and in my experience, this is how many field calls go. “Hi Bob. I just thought I’d drop in see if I can do anything for you.” This is usually followed with way too much small talk and finally when they do get down to business, it might consist of something like, “What do you need?”
Your job is to uncover sales opportunities, not be an order taker, and this requires planning. Before heading out and dropping in, brainstorm on what the opportunities are. What are they buying from our competitors that they could be buying from us? How can our product or service help them accomplish more than our competitor’s? Do they know about all our products? What problems, challenges or issues are they presented with these days?
When you can relate the expanded purchasing of your company’s products or services to the solving of your customer’s problems or the achievement of some goal that’s important to them, you will enjoy continued account growth. That’s why Northbound’s sales methodology is called “Goal Aligned™ Selling”!
If you’re a sales leader, Northbound’s “Bumper Crop! Account and Territory Management” workshop outlines a proven system to help your team in growing their accounts. For more information or pricing, contact us.
In the high-pressure world of sales, maintaining a positive attitude isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s a critical component of success. Salespeople face rejection, competition, and constant targets, which can be daunting.
Compounding the issue is that 80% of salespeople, and likely you too, have much more than the average of the Influence dimension in their personality. One of the highest needs of people high in Influence is social acceptance. Their biggest fear is rejection, yet paradoxically, we get ourselves into a career that involves a huge amount of it. The average # of prospects: # of sales is more than 20:1. This means that for us to make a sale, we have to be rejected 19 times! It’s not a sales funnel. It’s a rejection funnel!
The ability to maintain a positive attitude throughout all this rejection is not for the light hearted. Despite common opinion, it’s not something you’re born with. It’s a learned behaviour meaning you can learn to get better at it if you want to.
Those who harness the power of positivity not only survive but thrive. Here’s why a positive attitude is a game-changer for sales professionals.
1. Enhances Resilience
Sales is a rollercoaster of highs and lows. A positive attitude equips salespeople with the resilience needed to bounce back from setbacks. When faced with rejection, a positive mindset helps in viewing it as a learning opportunity rather than a personal failure. This resilience fosters a growth mindset, allowing salespeople to continuously improve and adapt.
2. Builds Stronger Relationships
Positivity is contagious. Salespeople with a positive outlook are more likely to build strong, trusting relationships with clients. Customers are drawn to those who are enthusiastic, optimistic, and solution-oriented. A salesperson who radiates positivity can create a more enjoyable and collaborative experience for the client, leading to stronger business relationships and increased loyalty.
3. Boosts Performance and Productivity
A positive attitude directly impacts performance. Research shows that optimism can improve problem-solving skills, creativity, and decision-making. Salespeople who approach their tasks with a positive mindset are more motivated, proactive, and persistent. This leads to higher levels of productivity and better sales outcomes.
4. Reduces Stress and Enhances Well-Being
Sales can be a stressful profession, with constant pressure to meet targets and deadlines. A positive attitude helps in managing stress more effectively. Positivity can reduce anxiety, improve overall mental health, and increase job satisfaction. Salespeople who maintain a positive outlook are more likely to experience job fulfillment and a healthier work-life balance.
5. Drives Team Success
Positivity within a sales team fosters a collaborative and supportive environment. Salespeople who are optimistic can uplift their colleagues, share successful strategies, and create a culture of mutual encouragement. This collective positivity drives team success, as members feel valued and motivated to achieve common goals.
Practical Tips for Cultivating Positivity
1. Leads cost money, and your team is probably dropping more than you think! According to a major study of top US firms conducted by CSO Insights, over 50% of leads are not properly followed up, and only 20% of all leads are actually followed up in the recommended fashion!
A good CRM system can completely change the dynamic of a sales pipeline review from one where the sales manager asks the same questions over and over again:
Leave micro-management to the system. All these questions are captured in the opportunity record so that weekly meetings can be much more strategic; that is, “how can we win this deal?”
If you even think you might need CRM, you’re already leaving thousands of dollars of revenue on the table! At a minimum, every customer we work with who says “yeah, we might benefit from CRM” will see a bump of 10% in top-line sales by doing so.
If you currently use Outlook, you’re probably only using a fraction of its capabilities. If you’re not ready to commit to full CRM like Hubspot or Salesforce, you can set up Outlook to perform many of the basic functions of a CRM. Northbound’s associate, Andy Sherwood of Priority Management, has trained many Northbound clients on “Using Outlook as a CRM”. For more information and pricing, contact Andy: [email protected] (905) 334-1575.
Sales managers are usually promoted into their positions because they were good individual performers. They were consistent performers in their work and they showed an interest in advancing their careers by earning their promotion into management. They were offered their sales manager position because senior management felt they were competent. But have they been trained on how to “coach and counsel” their people to be as successful as they were? Here are seven tips for coaching success:
1. Coach all the people on your team – the top performers, those in the middle and the bottom.
2. Coach each person one-on-one regularly – a good rule of thumb is 1/2 day a month – more often when possible. Some people will need more frequent coaching, depending on their development level.
3. Do not ignore the problem thinking it will get better by itself – it won’t.
4. The biggest mistake I see when I’m “coaching the coach” is that the sales manager takes over the call and doesn’t get a good look at what the salesperson does when they’re not there! When together, avoid jumping in at the first sign of trouble. You’re there to coach, not do the call yourself. Don’t let them drown either.
5. Find something positive to say in every coaching session.
6. Have them analyze their performance first – what they like best and least – and then give your feedback. You want your people to get into the habit of reviewing the quality of their calls even when you’re not there.
7. Recommend and model the preferred method – Goal Aligned™ Selling. Team less experienced people with your best people.
One of the most important jobs for a sales manager, is to help his or her people become successful. Starting right now you have to help your people become the best they can be. You will be successful when you help your people grow and enhance their performance. Perhaps they will become even more adept than you were in that function. How can you do that? By coaching and counselling your people to achieve the desired results.
It’s hard to catch the news on the radio, TV or the web without being exposed to the disturbing economy. Another company laying off; investments plummeting; housing slumping. In the sales world, we have our own unique set of problems — dropping margins, sinking closing rates, customers not calling us back. What can we do? As sales leaders we clearly have two primary paths to choose from: 1) Wait for the economy to recover (and it will!) or 2) Increase our sales efficiency to help compensate for the downturn. Naturally, option 2 is preferable so the next question becomes “How?”
Prospect every day. Block some time in your calendar daily and devote it exclusively to making introductory calls to uncover new leads. Generally, you ought to be able to make 10-15 calls per hour on the phone and 5-7 per hour in person. If your personal goals require that you make 25 calls daily to hit your revenue objectives, it means you need to set aside two hours every day. A study by M.I.T. shows that the best time to make calls to prospects is at the beginning and at the end of the day but I recommend starting by blocking this time for first thing in the morning. That’s when you’re at your sharpest, and are least likely to have other issues or tasks competing for your time.
Congratulations for reading this and not putting it off! Procrastination has been appropriately called the “silent killer of careers,” yet few people have ever had formal training on how to overcome this immensely costly habit. While managing this problem is a constant challenge to me, I have learned some strategies over the years that have worked very well.
Instead of thinking of how difficult the process may be to accomplish something, think rather of the end result and all the great things that it will mean to you. Turn thoughts of “I hate cold calling, it’s not much fun” into “if I make two hours of calls, I’ll probably book one meeting, I usually close one out of two meetings, so I’m 50% towards a sale if I make some calls!” Once your brain clearly connects the doing of a task with the major benefits of doing so, you will be unstoppable!
Last week’s post on time management got some really good interest even though managing our time is not a technical selling skill. This week’s post is a follow-up strategy. Frankly, most sales people, including myself don’t come by time management naturally because of our personality type. That’s why, at Northbound, time management is almost always part of a program. We often get a serious productivity boost, allowing us to sell more just by getting better organized and disciplined with our time.
I’m going to share one of the best ways to improve your productivity that is echoed in the #1 New York Times bestseller, “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. The power of saying “no”. Clear states (you could say very ‘clearly‘) that “Not doing something will always be faster than doing it. For example, there is no meeting that goes faster than not having a meeting at all.
This is not to say you should never attend another meeting, but the truth is that we say yes to many things we don’t actually want to do. There are many meetings held that don’t need to be held.”
But how do you say “no” to people who you deal with on a regular basis without upsetting them? “It’s worth asking if things are necessary. Many of them are not, and a simple ‘no’ will be more productive than whatever work the most efficient person can muster.” says Clear.
He adds, “Saying no to these people can be particularly difficult because we like them and want to support them. (Not to mention, we often need their help too.) Collaborating with others is an important element of life. The thought of straining the relationship outweighs the commitment of our time and energy. For this reason, it can be helpful to be gracious in your response.”
For this reason, here are 17 ways to say no from our Goal Aligned™ Time Management workshop. My favourite is number 11. They can be used with customers, co-workers, even your boss. If you’re going to use them with friends or family, choose carefully!
Try these:
1 – “I’m sorry. That’s not a priority for me right now.”
2 – “I can’t help you on this now, but I can get to it next week. Would that be okay?”
3 – “I have so much on my plate now I don’t know when I can get to it. But I do know someone over here who can help you now.”
4 – “Before I take this on for you, let me show you a few things so that you might be able to do it yourself.”
5 – “I have made so many commitments to others, it would be unfair to them and you if I took on anything more at this point.”
6 – “If I can’t give you a ride to the school dance on Friday, how else would you get there safely?”
7 – “I don’t know how soon I can help you on this, but I will get back to you as soon as I am able to help you.”
8 – “I’m sure we’re close enough that when I say “no” you’ll understand it’s for a good reason.”
9 – “Sure I can help you with your request as long as we both agree and understand that the item I agreed to do for you yesterday is going to have to wait.”
10 – “Before I take this over from you, what do you think we ought to do about it?”
11 – “I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is, I sure can do that for you. The bad news is, I’m so overloaded with everything else, I’ve become delirious and have been lying about my commitments.”
12 – “When I get overwhelmed like I am now, I remove every third person who asks me for something, from my “Good Friends List” and the second person just left.”
13 – “No.”
14 – “Thanks for thinking to ask me, but, no thanks.”
15 – “I would like to help you out on this but you understand I don’t have the resources available to do the right job for you.”
16 – “Now that’s the type of thing I would love to help you on if only I had the time.”
“17 – Just like you, I get overloaded sometimes and have to tell some very special people, “no”. This is one of those times.”
And as you speak, smile.
Knowing where your time is being used will allow you to spend more time on the sales activities that make you money.
I don’t read many books but at least I try to implement good ideas from the ones I do get around to reading. One of the oldest books on my shelf that is still in my top 10 is “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey. The chapter on time management speaks of all activities in you life fitting into one of four quadrants. The concept is that there are two variables that can be attached to any activity you engage in.
1) Level of urgency
2) Level of importance.
Plotting one of these against the other produces four quadrants as in the diagram below. Armed with this insight, you’ll be able to make better choices deciding what you’re going to spend your time on and be more effective.
Let’s first be sure we understand the difference between urgency and importance as people often confuse them with each other. “Importance” represents the amount of value that this activity brings to you. A good example would be preparing a proposal for a big prospect. On the other hand, “urgency” refers to how quickly it needs to be done. Responding to a complaint from your biggest customer is a good example of an urgent activity. Combining both urgency and importance allow us to place them in quadrants 1 through 4. You’ll see some examples of common activities also noted in the diagram.
The problem is when we end up spending most of our time reacting to urgent activities, quadrants 1 & 3, the important. The non-urgent activities in quadrant 2 take a back seat — sometimes forever! People who live in the world of urgency often love the thrill of the accompanying adrenaline and cortisol rush but fail to grow. They often find themselves languishing in key areas of their career and life. We’ve all heard the stories of hard driving executives whose health or marriage is failing.
Closer to home, I’ve see countless salespeople who want greater sales success but can’t manage to find the time to attend training sessions or do 1 more hour of prospecting each week. They spend their time on low value, urgent things or even worse, low importance, low urgency activities like social apps or watching Netflix. They “major in the minors.” I know catching up on social and TV can be very entertaining and addictive. If it’s at the expense of building your career, getting healthy or spending time with your kids, however, I’d argue that it’s not the best use of your time.
Why does this happen? Because quadrant 2 activities take planning and discipline to happen. They don’t just appear out of nowhere crying for your attention whereas urgent activities, by definition, do. If you don’t workout today, what’s the big deal? It won’t kill you — at least not today. If you don’t make those 3 extra calls, it’s not going to kill your career — at least not today.
Set the alarm on your phone or watch to alert you every half hour. When it goes off, write down what you did in the last 30 minutes. Do this for 3 days and then mark beside each item which quadrant it falls into. Add them up in total time. I promise you that you will be shocked when you see how much time you are spending in quadrants 3 & 4. I know you will want to spend more time on quadrant 2 activities. The good news is that after this exercise, it will start to happen as you gain increased awareness and focus of where your time is going.
Effective people are experts in managing their time and have developed a ruthless approach to “time suckers.” Apply this knowledge and you too can be one of these people.
Happy selling.