Archive for the ‘Proactive Selling’ Category

The Golden Moments in Business Development

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

There are many companies (notably, those in the business of selling professional services) who have a business model structured around “business development.” They use the term “business development” rather than “sales” because their focus is growing the business through expanding the base of customers or clients using their service and finding leads on potential customers/clients. Meanwhile, there are companies who may have a “business development” person or team as well as people in a “sales” capacity. In either case, business development people are also in the practice of selling and follow the same procedures as salespeople.

Typically, the people who are part of a company or firm’s business development team are sales people by trade; they have a sales background and a sales person’s mindset. Also, they use a sales person’s approach and tactics, such as cold-calling prospects, scheduling presentations and engaging prospects in follow-up discussions to win the deal or business.

Although my book, “The Golden 120 Seconds of Every Sales Call” and my consultancy look at the “sales” process, the principles I discuss also apply to business development.

The person engaged in “business development” (he/she could be the business owner or someone in the role of heading up business development) is “selling” themselves, their company, their brand and their value proposition as well as the key features of their service or product. They’re trying to make an impression as, like the salesperson, they are often trying to set themselves apart from companies who are competing for the business.

For those of you in business development, there are also those critical junctures with a prospect — those golden moments — in which what you say and do can impact whether you win the prospect’s business. These junctures are brief and can come and go before you have recognized them and grabbed at the opportunity and acted upon them.

Like the sales person, preparation prior to a call or meeting is crucial, including planning how you’re going to engage the prospect in the first 120 seconds. You need to employ proactive behaviors to move things forward in your business development interactions, however you want to make sure you observe proper protocol for dealing with and winning over prospective clients.

By using the approach of acting on “The Golden 120 Seconds,” you can gain the confidence, the focus and the edge you need to close more business.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Business development, Proactive Selling, The Golden 120 Seconds Of Every Sales Call, sales preparation | No Comments »

The Power of First Impressions: The Most Important 120 Seconds of Every Sales Call

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

I talk about “The Golden 120 Seconds of Every Sales Call,” yet there are several junctures during a sales call or meeting that can be considered “the golden 120 seconds.” And none of those junctures is more important than the first 120 seconds of the sales call.

We all know how important first impressions are in a new relationship or situation. They can truly make a difference in how the relationship proceeds and the situation unfolds. But there is probably no instance in which making a first impression is more important than a sales call. A poor first impression will have you trying to dig your way out of a hole, and you probably won’t sell anything — no matter what you’re selling.

I know this fact may be intimidating! The good news is you have complete control of the situation and through preparation, practice and confidence building, you can be sure you are putting only your best foot forward and making an impression that will get you off to a positive start with the prospect.

Preparation involves a number of steps — the most important of which is creating a framework of what you’re going to say and how you’re going to say it during those first 120 seconds. Preparation involves both mental and tactical preparation and should include the following elements:
• Researching the prospect beforehand;
• Determining objectives for the meeting;
• Knowing who will be at the meeting;
• Developing the meeting collaterals; and
• Setting the agenda and forwarding it to your prospect before the meeting.

With these elements in place — as well as the elements of body language discussed in my December 30th blog post — you can produce a flawlessly-executed opening during the all-important first 120 seconds of your sales meeting. Those two minutes will be the springboard for the rest of your meeting, so make sure you have water in the pool before you jump in. Because how you present yourself will not only set the tone for the meeting, but will make or break your selling opportunity.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Proactive Selling, Sales Training, Uncategorized, sales preparation | No Comments »

“The Golden 120 Seconds of Every Sales Call” official release date today!

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

Today is an exciting day, as it’s the official release date of my book (my first), “The Golden 120 Seconds of Every Sales Call.”  The press release announcing my book can be found online.

The motivation for writing this book came from what I’ve seen and learned in my 25 years of working “in the trenches” in sales.  Sales people — and particularly those who are experiencing the challenges of selling products and services in this economy — are often finding themselves “stuck” and unable to make things happen with prospective customers.  They want to improve their sales performance and better manage the sales process.  As a result, they desperately seek out new approaches, techniques and ideas that will help them close more deals. 

What I touch on in “The Golden 120 Seconds of Every Sales Call” is a sales approach I developed using the knowledge I’ve acquired and the techniques I’ve honed, as well as what I’ve learned from my own sales call mistakes.  This approach focuses on common sense tactics that sales people actually already understand but for some reason fail to execute.  The good news is they can start applying these tactics immediately.

Most importantly, my approach looks at those critical junctures during a sales call or meeting — the 120 seconds — in which the sales person’s behavior with the prospect can most impact the outcome.  Until now, these junctures — and developing strategies for navigating them — have been virtually ignored. 

My book is loaded with examples of both sales successes and sales blunders.  I’ve used this approach to grow my company and shared it with my clients to help them increase their sales and revenue.  If you are looking for a way to turnaround declining sales or end a pattern of lost sales opportunities, my book provides a solution.  Check it out at the Barnes & Noble website or Amazon.com.

Posted in Non-verbal comunication in selling, Proactive Selling, Sales Training, Sales Training Book | 4 Comments »

Reconnecting with current and former customers – a rich source of viable prospects!

Monday, August 10th, 2009

In the frenetic pace of seeking and converting new prospects into customers it’s easy to forget about a very rich source of leads:   our current and former customers!    

It’s easy to neglect this or put it off; but there are a multitude of benefits to reconnecting  with the people who’ve already made the decision to buy from you.  We all know organizations that are very good at this. Unfortunately we can also name a few that seem to forget about you “after the sale is made.”  Make sure your selling organization doesn’t fall into the latter group! 

And, while you’re at it, does your sales process include a formal approach to asking your customers who else could benefit from your product or service?   Does your “sales tool kit” include two or three references from satisfied customers who are delighted with your service?  Have those customers agreed to be references for you?  Is the information readily available for new prospects – and in a presentable form?

Now is a good time to re-visit your current and former customers, re-cultivate the relationships your organization has already spent thousands of dollars developing and leverage those relationships into new opportunities and new business.

Posted in Proactive Selling | No Comments »

Reactive vs. Proactive Selling: Don’t wait for the fish food to be sprinkled on top of the fish bowl — go and get it!

Monday, July 20th, 2009

Recently I was speaking with a President & CEO of an organization who offered me the analogy  that she felt her sales team was like a group of fish in a fish bowl.   She said that they waited for the fish food to be sprinkled on the surface of the water and reacted well when they finally saw the food hitting the water…but when there was no food, they didn’t really do anything but swim around.  This reactive approach to selling was expensive to the organization in lost opportunity cost, tepid sales results and overall inefficiency.

Today’s economic climate and challenging sales environment stagnates the reactive sales professional waiting for something to happen.   The phones ring less, the flow of customers into the place of business is slower and a “just-hang-in-there” mentality pervades the reactive sales team.

However, this very same economic climate and challenging sales environment creates wonderful opportunities for the sales hunter, whose skills at proactive selling strategies, networking techniques and the ability to position his or her product or service apart from the competition creates more buying and selling opportunities.   Generating top line revenue and bottom line profit in today’s market often simply hinges upon having a greater number of successful business conversations with more prospects.  That won’t happen if you’re waiting for people to come to you.

Doing the things today that out-hustle, out-smart and out-flank your competition means that tomorrow you’re looking at your competition in the rear-view mirror.

Embrace the proactive selling techniques that make you stand out.  Let the other guys wait for the customers to come to them. 

Don’t wait for the fish food – go and get it!

Do your sales training programs prepare your sales teams to take advantage of the opportunities in today’s market?

Posted in Proactive Selling, Sales Training | No Comments »