Great salespeople are made not born.
Feel free to call us: +1 416 456 1440
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.
We all know that good questions are the most powerful tool in sales. But some are markedly better than others. One of the most powerful types is the scale question. What’s a scale question? (Good question!) A scale question is one that asks your buyer to answer on a scale, usually from 1 to 10.
To understand why they are so helpful in sales, we need to take a step back. Solutions, by definition, can only exist if there is a problem. Although many companies claim they sell “X solutions” it’s often not possible because their salespeople haven’t uncovered legitimate problems from the potential buyer that their solution can solve. It’s the dreaded trap of “a solution in search of a problem.”
Needs begin with problems and problems only exist when their is a gap between where someone is currently and where they’d like to be. This is commonly called the “tension for change.” Some might have an issue referring to this “tension for change” or gap as a problem. They might prefer to call it an opportunity instead. It really doesn’t matter what you choose to call it, however. What’s important is that we realize that without a gap, there is no possibility for a sale. The potential buyer sees no reason to change from the status quo. On the other hand, the bigger the gap, the more motivated a buyer will be to find a solution.
During the discovery phase of a sale, a good strategy is to establish what the key result areas are for the customer and then uncover the level of satisfaction in these areas. Here’s an example of a simple way to do this.
You: “John, could you share with me the 3 or 4 most important criteria to you in choosing a (your industry) partner?
Prospect: “Price is most important.”
You: “OK. And besides price, what would be next important?”
Prospect: “Great service.”
You: “OK. Could you be more specific as to what great service looks like to you?”
Prospect: “I’d like to see my rep every couple of months. I’d also like to have my phone calls returned quickly and my emails not as quick but still pretty quick.”
You: “So why is great service so important to you?”
Prospect: “If I have an issue and it doesn’t get fixed PDQ, it can cost us a lot. Plus it’s very frustrating not being able to get a hold of somebody with the vendor we use now.”
You: “So, if you were to rate the service you’re getting now from your current vendor, say on scale of one to ten, what do you think you’d say?”
Prospect: “Oh I don’t know. Maybe six.”
You: “OK. So is it fair to say that there’s room for improvement here?”
Prospect: “For sure.”
Repeat the above for at least 2 other areas. Through this process, you’ll have identified several problems — areas that are important to the customer and that he’d now like to do better in. You’ll see that in most cases, the customer concludes that they are not as satisfied as they could be in key areas and how the “gap” has negative implications. If you simply asked them to tell you what problems they have with their current vendor, not only will you get less valuable information, but they might also say, “I’ve got none.” At this point, you have nowhere to go except out the door!
Your homework for this week:
1) Come up with a scale question that will help uncover an area that you have a competitive advantage in.
2) Use it on your sales calls this week.
You should have your own list of questions that you constantly refer to in sales calls. If you don’t have any pre-written ones, these will give you a great start!
Northbound’s workshop “Questions Are the Answer” teaches you and your team the consultative approach to selling then helps you create dozens of powerful questions that you can immediately use to grow your sales. For more information or for pricing, contact Michael, [email protected].
Most everyone understands the power of compounding. In a nutshell, small increases in anything multiplied by more small increases over a long period of time produces a hockey stick curve of massive increases. Compounding can produce powerful increases in your sales results too. That is, small improvements in your selling skills from sales training and equally small increases in your activity levels can produce massive increases in overall sales.
Let’s take a look below at the different stages of a sale for a typical salesperson who we will call Kevin Kloser.
Like many salespeople, Kevin makes outbound prospecting calls and attempts to connect with decision makers. In this case he makes 100 calls (and/or emails) monthly and, on average, ends up connecting to 20 prospects equaling a 20% contact ratio.
Out of the 20 conversations, he generates enough interest for 4 of the conversations to lead to meetings – a 20% booking ratio.
Finally, with a closing rate of 25%, 1 out of 4 meetings results in a sale. This example is a 4 step funnel, meaning there are 4 distinct steps between first contact attempt and conclusion of the first sale. You may have more or fewer stages in your selling process but the concept remains the same regardless.
Now, let’s see what happens when Kevin does some good sales training (and more importantly implements it). Kevin learns how to leave better voicemails and uses other powerful strategies to increase his connection rate from 20% to 24% immediately.
This results in connections to almost 9 more people. He learns how to engage the customer on the phone in such a way that they want to learn more about his product or service. This bumps up his number of meetings booked by 20% which now equals almost 7 when combined with his higher contact ratio.
When in “discovery” meetings, he gets better at uncovering the customer’s true issues, challenges and problems and is able to connect his solutions to these in a compelling way. This causes his closing ratio to increase from 25% to 30%. Armed with fresh and proven ideas, increases of 20% in these skill areas are very realistic. In my experience, it’s not uncommon for salespeople who apply themselves to become 100% better in these areas!
In addition to growing his skills, Kevin also learns how to manage his time better so he can make 20% more contact attempts through phone calls, emails or social selling platforms. The “Kloser + 20%” column below illustrates what happens to Kevin’s sales results. Incredibly, he has more than doubled his sales!
Can you get 20% better?
I’m confident that you can if you’re committed. After mentally making the commitment, the next step to doubling your sales is to get yourself or your sales team some great training. Click here for a complete list of workshop topics that Northbound can deliver to your team to help you with your own “20% Solution.”
Happy Selling!
There are many reasons (excuses!) most people don’t get around to it. Here are the 4 biggest.By Michael Caron, President Northbound Sales
Of course, at this time of year, many of us are thinking about what we’d like to accomplish in 2024. Like a lot of people, we might call them New Years resolutions. Just over 40% of North Americans set at least one New Year’s resolution. Sadly, most people fail to reach them by the end of the year but don’t let this stop you as studies have clearly shown that you always get better results with a goal than without.
Some of you already know that setting goals works. If you’re a reader of sales-enhancing literature, you’ve surely read lots on the power of goal setting. If you consistently set written, realistic goals with all the other necessary components for goal success, then read no further. If, however, you are one of the 60% of the population who is convinced, continue reading to help overcome your resistance.
A powerful question is, “If setting goals is so great, why do less than half of us do it?” I don’t know what the statistics say for the number of us who exercise, but I suspect they are similar. Both are activities that undoubtedly produce immense benefits yet seem to elude the average person. There are 4 main reasons why we don’t set goals.
#1 – Fear of Failure
The dreaded F.O.F. Many of us are stopped by the thought that, “If I set a goal and miss it, I will feel like a failure.” What is not understood is that having a goal always gets better performance than not — even if the goal is missed. What’s key is the need for goals to strike a balance between being too hard and too easy. If you’re hitting your goals all the time, it means that it’s time to raise the bar. You need to be challenged more to sustain growth and generate that feeling of accomplishment that salespeople thrive on. If, on the other hand, you are consistently missing your goals and all the other components of good goal setting are present, it’s important to reduce your goals to something more realistic. If your goals are simply too out of range, you will give up and they will no longer provide the power to motivate.
Also, what people who fear failure might not realize is that failure is necessary for growth. Knowing what not to do next time can be very valuable. Winston Churchill said, “I would rather fail my way to success rather than be a successful failure”. Failing can be the greatest learning experience.
#2 – Procrastination
To misquote Alexander the Great, “Why do something today that you can put off until tomorrow?” The art of procrastination is worthy of an article of it’s own (put title and link here). Setting goals, while incredibly powerful, isn’t something that has the urgency of other countless day-to-day tasks crying out for attention. Disappointingly, like other important but low urgency life enriching activities like exercise, learning and family, we put goal setting in the “when I have time” category.
#3 – “I’ve done OK without them”
If you’re satisfied with a just “O.K.” life, then this is a perfectly good excuse.
#4 – “I keep them in my head”
When teaching our “Bulls Eye! – Setting and Reaching Your Goals” workshop, I often hear this one. My immediate response is a query on the individual’s goals in key areas. The typical responses are some vague generalities with no time frame, no plan and most importantly no answer as to “why?” For the immense power of goal setting to be released, they must be taken out of your head and written down. The mere act of putting something in writing solidifies your brain’s ability to focus.
Your homework: Get yourself in a quiet place where you won’t be interrupted. Write down the biggest sales failure in your career to date. What were the negative outcomes? What were the positive outcomes? (yes, you will find some if you look hard enough) Lastly, what did you learn?
An M.I.T. study found that the 3% of a graduating class who had set clear, written career goals upon finishing school, had cumulative net worth 20 years later than the entire other 97% combined!.
With a little bit of effort and discipline to avoid the classic goal setting obstacles noted above, you too can turn your dreams into reality.
Click here for more information on the “Bulls Eye – Setting and Reaching Your Goals” workshop or contact Michael Caron at [email protected] or 416.456.1440.
When prospecting, don’t miss an opportunity to use voicemail to deliver your value message.Are you frustrated constantly by trying to connect to buyers when prospecting and getting their voicemail? I hear this complaint from many of our clients.
Times have changed. In the early 90’s before voicemail was ubiquitous, studies showed that one business person attempting to contact another business person would get through 22% of the time. Sounds low doesn’t it? But it gets worse. Spurred on by the pandemic, the work-from-home trend makes getting people at their desk next to impossible and today’s stats are more like 10% or even less. That means that 9 out of 10 times, you’re going to get voicemail when doing cold prospecting.
What I find crazy is how many salespeople don’t leave a voicemail when they’re calling a buyer. By not leaving a message, they are missing a great opportunity!
Instead of looking at this marvel of communication engineering as being your enemy, it can be your friend – at least in the short term. Before you say I’ve lost my selling marbles, let me explain. How many of you can convey a compelling description of your product’s benefits and features in 30 words or less? Some of you may be able but wouldn’t it be nice if you had a full minute? Of course it would. A good prospecting voicemail can do just that for you.
There’s a big difference between getting a prospect on the phone right off the bat and being able to leave a voicemail message first. I far prefer to leave a carefully crafted, practiced, voicemail message as my first voice contact with a prospective customer. You can’t get cut off, you can build some “personality” and trust and with many systems, you also have the added benefit of erasing it and doing it again if you screw up. Be careful to leave the message as best you possibly can and finish before trying to erase it though in case you can’t!
Just like in advertising, multiple impressions are often required before a message registers with someone. Each time your buyer hears what’s possibly “in it for him” to have a conversation with you, it helps strengthen your case.
Obviously you eventually want to connect in real time with the prospect and there are specific techniques to drastically increase your chances when the time is right but that will have to wait for a future post.
Using voicemail to your advantage is part of Northbound’s “Connecting to the Big Cheese” workshop. To arrange a complimentary condensed version of the workshop for your team, contact Michael Caron @ [email protected] or 416.456.1440.
Our live instructor-led online program, Goal Aligned™ Selling, will give you the skills & strategies to close more sales.
Last fall, we launched our Goal Aligned™ Selling program for individual salespeople and the feedback was fantastic!
If you’re a sales manager, this is a perfect way to develop solid foundational selling skills for a select few members of your team!
B2B selling is evolving and is more challenging than ever and you’ll need to equip yourself with sharper selling skills to capitalize on every sales opportunity. Our 8 module Goal Aligned™ Selling program equips you with the essential skills, strategies & tools that will not only help you exceed your target this year, but also set you up for greater sales success for years down the road.
You will be part of a small cohort of like-minded sales professionals and be taken through a carefully honed module each week.
When? 8 weekly 2-hour Zoom sessions lead by our Founder & President, Michael Caron
What’s included? Includes PDF workbooks, field exercises & customizable templates, 90-day email reinforcement, networking with fellow participants
What’s the cost? $1,395
200% Guarantee Your fee is totally refundable if you’re not completely convinced that Northbound’s program has given you skills and strategies to at least double your investment in the first year!
Recordings All sessions will be recorded for exclusive access for 60 days after
Nov 15 – Bulls Eye!: How to set and reach your goals
Nov 22 – Goal Aligned™ Time:Manage your most precious resource
Nov 29 – Selling to Different Buyer Types:Learn how to adjust your selling style for all types of buyers
Dec 6 – Connecting to the Big Cheese:Connect to high level prospects and book meetings with them
Dec 13 – Questions Are the Answer:Learn how to create and deliver the most powerful tool in your toolbox
Jan 3 – Goal Aligned™ Sales Interviews:Uncover your buyer’s needs in face-to-face or virtual selling situations
Jan 10 – Goal Aligned™ Sales Presentations:Deliverpowerful presentations that will close the sale
Jan 17 – Handling Objections:Learn how to deal with price and many other common objections that get in the way of making the sale.
To reserve a spot or for more information, contact Michael at [email protected].
We’ve all spent a big chunk of our life in formal learning environments, most commonly called schools! Over the course of a decade or two, we acquired a tremendous amount of knowledge — some of it useful, most of it not. Unfortunately, once we enter the working era of our life, our rate of knowledge acquisition falls off. This makes sense in that we are now expected to use this knowledge. But the really successful people in all walks of life never stop learning.
In training thousands of salespeople over the years, I’ve clearly seen that top performers are actually more open to learning new skills than average performers. How ironic!
There are 5 phases to learning. Take a look at the list and ask yourself, “What can I do to apply all 5 phases to a new selling skill?”
The Five Phases of Learning
Phase 1 — Commit to learn
behaviour. During the central training experience, learning activities and media illustrate
how new skills, knowledge, and attitudes help learners address job-related issues and
achieve job-related goals. This phase succeeds when learners open themselves to new
possibilities and resolve to master and apply essential interpersonal skills.
Phase 2 — Assess current performance.
levels of knowledge and application of a key interpersonal skill. Recognizing their
own performance gaps further motivates learners and helps them focus effort in areas
for improvement. Post-training assessments measure recollection of training content
and skill use in the workplace.
Phase 3 — Acquire knowledge.
skill through presentation, reading, discussion, observation and analysis of realistic
examples, simulations, and other activities. Typical content includes environmental
cues that prompt skill use; a sequence of behavioural steps; relevant terms; examples of
use and absence of use; and tips, tactics, and pitfalls for each step.
Phase 4 — Develop competence through practice.
rehearsing with humans—the intended audience for the new skills—in order to achieve
competency. This real-time practice with another human being, whether face-to-face,
voice-to-voice or online, is essential to soft-skill mastery. In a safe setting, learners
rehearse the skill, receive constructive feedback, observe others using the skill and
offer constructive feedback. The goal of this is to develop baseline competence and
build confidence.
Phase 5 — Apply new learning.
A range of activities—discussions, testimonials, printable online planners, and others—
give learners the clarity and resolve to apply their knowledge and skills. Managers
of trainees can also reinforce and sustain skill application through coaching, recognition
of skill use and modelling the skills.
An Unpleasant but Often Necessary Part of SellingContrary to what some think, negotiating isn’t something that only takes place at the end of the selling process. We are actually negotiating and laying the groundwork for further negotiations throughout the sale. When the customer has agreed that your solution fits with their needs but there is not agreement on variables such as delivery, terms and, of course price, good negotiating skills will bring the sale to successful completion. Here are 6 essentials.
1. Plan – Never go into a negotiation without a plan. Do your homework. What do you know about the individual you are negotiating with? What is their personality style? How can you adjust your style to be more effective with them? What information do you want to disclose or keep confidential? What is the time frame for this negotiation? Go through some of the other points below and write this information down.
2. Have a collaboration mindset – Most negotiations involve parties with which you want to have a long term, mutually profitable relationship with. You will only be able to protect and nurture this relationship if an agreement is reached that is truly win win. Enter the negotiation with this in mind and test the commitment of the other party to a win win, collaborative solution. If both parties agree that an agreement will be easier to reach if creativity, openness and collaboration prevail, the negotiation will have a much greater chance of delivering a successful deal.
3. Make a concession list – make a list of all the things that you could give up and all the things they could give up. Then put two columns beside each, one for cost and the for value. By doing this, you will be better able to give up concessions that cost you little (but have high value to the customer) while accepting concessions in return that have high value to you.
4. Uncover goals – Make a list of goals from your point of view and the other party’s point of view. These should include objective and subjective goals along with business and personal. If you’re not sure of some of the goals of the other party, make an educated guess for now and attempt to confirm them during the negotiation.
5. Don’t counter immediately – when an offer is made, resist the urge to make a counter offer immediately. A person’s resistance to another person’s idea is the greatest immediately after they’ve given their own. Instead, explore it with the other party. Ask questions like, “Why do you think this might make sense for both of us? How exactly would that work in this area?” Probe for this solution meeting the win win criteria and show that you are truly considering it. If it doesn’t meet win win, state why it doesn’t work and then slowly come back by saying something like, “Something such as (terms) might work because . . . “
6. Know your walk away point – The goal of the negotiation is not just to produce an agreement. It’s to produce an agreement that works for both parties and protects the relationship. Know what the minimum terms are for you to accept an agreement. Understand that no agreement might be the best alternative. We call this your “BATNA” or the Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement. By knowing your BATNA, you will prevent being driven into a deal that works for the customer but not for you.
You and your team can learn to produce stronger relationships and more equitable and profitable business interactions with Northbound’s Goal Aligned™ Negotiations workshop. For more information or pricing, contact Michael Caron at [email protected], 416.456.1440
Is there a magic number of attempts before calling it quits?I’m bombarded with this question when I’m delivering a prospecting workshop. I usually pass it back to the group to sound in before I give my explanation. “Never” is often tossed out as is any number between 1 and 10! Like many sales methodologies, the correct answer, although it seems evasive, is “it depends.”
Recent research reveals some statistics that can help us. A study by M.I.T. found that it takes on average 7 telephone contact attempts for a salesperson to get through to a prospective customer. This has shot up from 4 in the 90’s. Of course pre-internet, the phone was the primary method of reaching out with your message when prospecting. With remote work, email, texting and people putting their phones on voicemail virtually all the time, it’s much harder to get through to a live person these days.
So how many voicemails and/or emails should you leave before moving on to greener pastures? Some of the factors to consider when deciding on a reasonable number are:
1) How potentially lucrative is this prospect? Is it a whale or a minnow? Whales are worth a lot more effort.
2) What types of prospecting touches have you used in addition to phone? Regular mail, email, LinkedIn InMail and even faxes are often very effective when used in conjunction with phone calls. I don’t recommend using text when prospecting. Most people find it very intrusive coming from strangers.
3) Has the prospect given you any clues as to their level of interest? If you have something that shows interest, it makes sense to keep going.
4) How high up in the organization is the prospect? Generally, the higher the position the more tenacity will be required to connect with them.
In general, I suggest you leave a minimum of 5 voicemails over a period 3 weeks and combine this with at least 2 other types of contact attempts before you give up on the prospect . . . for now. Park it for 3 to 6 months and then go back to it.
Don’t make the mistake of many salespeople who wrongly assume that if the prospect doesn’t get back to them after a couple of attempts that “I guess their not interested.” It doesn’t mean that at all. People are busy and returning a sales call is a B-52 priority for most people. It doesn’t mean that they have no interest at all. It most often just means that they aren’t going to put it at the top of their to-do list. Case in point – since starting Northbound, the company has made approximately 15,000 prospecting calls, 10,000 emails and delivered 1,500 regular mail packages. We have actually spoken to approximately 2,500 of these prospects. How many have told us something to the effect of “If I were interested, I would have called you back?” A grand total of TWO!
Invariably, what we hear is something like this: “I’m so sorry I haven’t called you back. We’ve just been crazy around here.” They apologize most of the time!
While it’s crazy to never give up, I bet you’re stopping far too early when prospecting. Don’t be scared to crank that number up and you’ll be rewarded by much higher contact ratios.
For more strategies on prospecting, check out our workshop, Connecting to the Big Cheese.