Category: Sales & Marketing

Article Contributed by Sharpenz

Time. Such a fleeting thing for most of us. Busy sales managers are on a merry-go-round as they try to keep up with long To Do lists, fewer resources and constantly changing economies, technology and processes. We can’t add a 25th hour in our day, so the question becomes, how do we get more time?

The answer is by being more timely.

A survey by the Sales Management Association (SMA) found a disparity between how sales managers actually spend their time compared to how they WANT to spend their time. The largest difference is in how much time they want to spend with their sellers. It seems the demands of corporate outweigh their best efforts to accomplish the real goal of a sales manager: Make sales numbers through salespeople!

This isn’t anything you don’t know. You know you are stretched thin. So, wouldn’t it be great if you could e-x-p-a-n-d your time? You can, while helping your sellers prepare to beat the competition, capturing more market share and selling more — when you are timely with your sales team!

The time you spend developing your sellers to be more competent and confident pays huge dividends with increased sales and gives you precious time! There are several ways to be timely with your team:
• Field Rides and Partner Selling
• Individual Coaching
• Sales Meetings

All of these actions are necessary and important ways to develop your sellers and meet sales quotas. But which one will expand your time most quickly? Your sales meetings. An effective sales meeting makes a HUGE difference for your WHOLE team.

How much time do most sales managers spend with their sellers? The SMA survey found most spend just 45 minutes a week with each seller. A 60-minute sales meeting can quickly double that!

It’s really easy to brush off bringing the team together. After all, isn’t EVERY minute in the field the most important use of everyone’s time? Probably not. The benefits of consistent and timely connections outside the “front line” include improvement in:
•   Readiness – Prepare to maximize every sales opportunity by strengthening their skills, mindset and knowledge.
•    Recharging – It’s tough out there. Sellers need time to be re-energized to give it their all back in the field. Better with you and their colleagues rather than the local coffee shop.
•    Repeatability – The team needs time to review and learn from each other so all can repeat what goes well (and stop what isn’t working as soon as possible). Sellers like to know they’re not alone “out there.” The other sellers have the same frustrations, challenges and home-runs. Now they can stop wasting time trying to figure out what they should/should not be doing or calling each other.
•    Retention – Turnover decreases when there are regular touch-backs with you and the rest of team.

How do you capture more of that elusive time? Let us know in the Comments section.

About the Author:

Sharpenz is dedicated to providing sales managers the resources and tools they need to motivate and equip their sales team to sell each week. Our 30-minute power sales booster programs help companies increase sales by providing the right tools and training – fast. Designed with the busy manager in mind, Sharpenz’ ready-to-go sales training kits will give your sales team the opportunity to grow and earn more – all in a half hour of power.  To learn more, visit www.Sharpenz.com and sign up for your free sales training kit today!

Article Contributed by Sharpenz

Whether it’s the first of the week, the first of the month or the first of the year, it’s a new beginning! And we don’t have to let the economy dictate OUR success. Selling in a tough economy seems more challenging, doesn’t it? And yet many people are not feeling the pinch as much as others. How can you ensure you prosper during these times? With action!

Here are a few key tips for actions that will help you unlock the potential of your sales activities in the next 90 days. The actions you take now are the ones that will set you up for GREAT success.

1.  Set Goals. You can only get where you want to be if you clearly know where you want to go. And you can only get there if you have a clearly outlined route. So put pen to paper and follow a process to write your goals and then outline a plan to achieve them. Think through the next 30-60 days. What do you WANT to happen? Write that down and  then identify the actions you need to take daily and weekly to get there.

2. Overhaul your value proposition. Think beyond the WHAT of your specific product and service to the value you offer to THIS person, company, and situation. Think about the clients you currently serve and the ones you hope to serve. Your value proposition may need to sound a bit different each time. It’s not just about product features and facts – it’s about how your product or service will enhance/benefit/make life easier for the person you are selling to.

3. Prepare strategically. Research industry trends. Use Google alerts to know what is going on with THIS person, company, situation. Use the information to plan great questions, your value proposition, who you should meet with, and the timing of your contact. Being armed with knowledge can pay off exponentially.

4. Maximize every sales contact. Prepare, prepare, prepare. Not only with research on what is going on with them, prepare for communicating value to them. Use a focus on What’s in it for THEM (WiifT) and follow a process within the discussion to connect with the person, ask awesome and thoughtful questions, facilitate their understanding of what you do and what it means to them, work through objections and ASK for a decision.

5. Identify alternative prospect streams. Think creatively about who might use your product or service who currently isn’t. There are some industries that are positively impacted by a slow economy. Look for companies that are performing well in the markets and research their vertical channels. You might have a whole new market to explore.

What have been your successes in selling in today’s tough economy?

About the Author:

Sharpenz is dedicated to providing sales managers the resources and tools they need to motivate and equip their sales team to sell each week. Our 30-minute power sales booster programs help companies increase sales by providing the right tools and training – fast. Designed with the busy manager in mind, Sharpenz’ ready-to-go sales training kits will give your sales team the opportunity to grow and earn more – all in a half hour of power.  To learn more, visit www.Sharpenz.com and sign up for your free sales training kit today!

Article Contributed by Sharpenz

We all know selling in a tough economy can be challenging, but there ARE things you can do to ensure you prosper during these trying times. Here are five more tips for actions you can take to help unlock the potential of your sales activities over the next 90 days.

1. Give something of value today. When we talk about value, we don’t necessarily mean you have to give something of huge monetary away. It also doesn’t have to be your product or service given away. Information is free. Find an article, a reprint, a cartoon that you can share so that you can stay in front of a prospect. Give a cup of coffee, a lottery ticket or give them a call to ask about their daughter’s wedding. Just find something positive to contact them about that doesn’t involve selling. Giving away something today can build a relationship and trust level for tomorrow and the future. It’s a worthwhile investment.

2. Use the power of one. One more action each day can make a difference later. One more phone call, one more email, one more note sent, one more plan, one more question…you get the idea. Before lunch, after lunch, and before you leave at the end of the day are all great times to add ONE more action.

3. Reevaluate your prospect list. Categorize and find out where you are spending your time. And then align your energies and actions to the most likely prospects. What can you do to move them to the next step in your sales process? This may mean you need to adjust your energies and spend less time/effort on your unlikely prospects.

4. Reintroduce yourself to customers you’ve “lost” over the years. You might find a hidden treasure in this group. They were customers once, but aren’t now, only maybe they are ready to return if they were asked. Research what is going on with their company and then reconnect. Remember to focus on the value your product and company can bring to them.

5. Ask for referrals. Tap into reciprocity generosity. As you provide something of value to someone, why not ask, “Who do you know who might benefit from what I do?”  Help the referrer identify prospects by being as specific as possible about the value you provide: “Who do you know who might benefit from increasing xyz or decreasing abc?”   It’s amazing what contacts you might make.

Taking action in tough times is key.

“You cannot change anything in your life with intention alone, which can become a watered-down, occasional hope that you’ll get to tomorrow. Intention without action is useless.” Caroline Myss

Winners find a way to succeed in all economies. With some upfront effort to ensure your actions are effective and efficient, the door to success is wide open!

Let us know about your recent successes and tips you can share to succeed in today’s tough economy.

About the Author:

Sharpenz is dedicated to providing sales managers the resources and tools they need to motivate and equip their sales team to sell each week. Our 30-minute power sales booster programs help companies increase sales by providing the right tools and training – fast. Designed with the busy manager in mind, Sharpenz’ ready-to-go sales training kits will give your sales team the opportunity to grow and earn more – all in a half hour of power.  To learn more, visit www.Sharpenz.com and sign up for your free sales training kit today!

Article Contributed by Sharpenz

What does it take to be successful in sales? There’s no easy answer because the list is long. It’s one of the great debates in the sales community – WHAT does it take to be successful in sales?

One indication of the debate is the response to a recent question posted on LinkedIn. The question asked:

What is more important in sales, great selling skills or expertise on the product?

The more than 250 respondents – sales managers and sales professionals – were split with their answers. Many couldn’t choose one over the other.

Why? Because both are equally important. However, to truly be successful more is needed! With our work with thousands of sales professionals over the last 12 years, we have found that the top performing sales professionals we know all have 5 Success Factors in common. They are:

1. Goal Transparency – Goals are written, specific and measurable. They are easily seen and detected by self and others.

2. Focused Energy – Personal energy that is exhibited each day. The energy is focused toward proactive and productive activities and is not diffused or scattered.

3. Human Connection – The understanding of, and ability to connect with, others in communication, actions and ideas – in the way that person prefers or needs.

4. Emotional Intelligence – The awareness of, and ability to manage, one’s emotions in a healthy and productive manner. Being able to roll with the ups and downs of sales.

5. Expertise – Skill and knowledge of industry, product, customer and sales process. This is more than just having the information; it’s knowing the value of what the offer does for your customers and the ability to tie WHAT (the features) into the WiifT (What’s in it for Them – the benefits to that person.)

If you think about the most successful sales professionals, you’ll realize these Factors are part of who they are.

The great debate on WHAT it takes to be successful in sales does not have ONE answer. Five Success Factors do form the foundation of long-term sales success. And the great news is that you don’t have to be born a natural salesperson – these Success Factors can be developed over time.

So, don’t just read the list. Print it out, gauge your strength in each factor then identify how you can strengthen each one. Being successful takes more than just selling skills and ‘who you know’. YOU matter.

About the Author:

Sharpenz is dedicated to providing sales managers the resources and tools they need to motivate and equip their sales team to sell each week. Our 30-minute power sales booster programs help companies increase sales by providing the right tools and training – fast. Designed with the busy manager in mind, Sharpenz’ ready-to-go sales training kits will give your sales team the opportunity to grow and earn more – all in a half hour of power.  To learn more, visit www.Sharpenz.com and sign up for your free sales training kit today!

Article Contributed by Sharpenz

What could golf possibly have to do with increasing your sales? Well, my golf game the other day gave me a wake up call to increasing sales that can apply to everyone in the field, golfer or not. It’s all about process.

After many lessons –and practice – over the past five years, I have my handicap down to a 13.  But today I started off poorly and had a 50 stroke score at the end of the front 9 holes.  This is 7 strokes higher than my average!  For the competitive person that I am, I felt as if I was failing, not living up to my potential and more concerned that I’d repeat that performance on the back 9.

I decided to assess the situation and my results.  For some reason, I felt uncomfortable over the ball and was having difficulty focusing. I knew I had to slow down, relax and think about as few things as possible. More importantly I had to think about the process that works for me – focus and basics.  Picking my target, the proper stance, shifting my weight, and following through.

I turned to my partner said, “I need to shoot a 40.”  And I did exactly that.

So how exactly does this relate to sales? In sales when we’ve lost our groove and too many clients are saying “no,” we can take ourselves down into a dangerous funk.  Each customer contact comes up in the loss column and we may feel like we can’t get out of our own way.  And slowly we see our sales tanking.

The best thing we can do for ourselves is stop and ask, When I was successful, what was I doing?  What was my process that worked?  What was making the difference for me to increase sales? Was it that I was taking 5 to 20 minutes before each call to prepare?  Did I write out the objective of the upcoming sales call?  Did I formulate the questions I needed to ask to accomplish the objective? It may be that simple:  slow down, take a breath and go back to the process that worked for you before.

As a manager, when you see any of your seller’s loosing their edge it’s a coaching opportunity.  Take the time to regroup, help them remember past successes and reflect on the process the followed for their successes and a focused plan.

What’s your process that gets your back 9 to count to increase your sales?

About the Author:

Sharpenz is dedicated to providing sales managers the resources and tools they need to motivate and equip their sales team to sell each week. Our 30-minute power sales booster programs help companies increase sales by providing the right tools and training – fast. Designed with the busy manager in mind, Sharpenz’ ready-to-go sales training kits will give your sales team the opportunity to grow and earn more – all in a half hour of power.  To learn more, visit www.Sharpenz.com and sign up for your free sales training kit today!