Category Archives: Sales

Let’s Be Honest, Your Leads Are Weak

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“The leads are weak!”

“The leads are weak?! You’re weak!”

Let’s be honest, when Sales gets leads from Marketing, Sales has an automatic assumption the leads are weak.

When Marketing gives leads to Sales, Marketing has an automatic assumption the leads are hot. Or, continuing with the Glengarry Glen Ross example, “ The Mitch and Murray leads.”.

This is like 9 out of 10 people saying they are an above average driver.

It can’t be possible.

If leads are weak, why is there such a disconnect?

You have to begin to answer this question by asking about roles. What the roles of your Sales and Marketing departments.

There are many ways to look at this. Essentially, it is Marketing’s role to generate leads, and it is the role of Sales to close leads. Looking at the two roles from this perspective, we can determine how to work together.

Although this is a deep topic, we are going to approach it from the perspective of leads as the common interest. I am not going to talk about how marketing qualifies leads. Or provide an academic description of a lead. We just want to know if the leads are weak.

What I am interested in, is what your Sales Representatives think about the Marketing leads. In essence, this is what leads mean in the world of your Sales Representatives.

How Sales Thinks About Leads

All a Sales Representative wants in a lead is something they can close. This means the buyer has the ability to buy. This also means, if the lead is not a decision maker, or you know for a fact the company does not have the budget, sales is not excited about the lead. It means the leads are weak.

The amount of ink that has been spilled on what is a qualified lead is impressive. We are not here to discuss this. We are here to discuss what your Sales Representative thinks leads are. This provides a better understanding of what you give them.

A lead falls into the following three categories:

  • The prospect wants information
  • A prospect wants information
  • Prospect wants a demonstration

This may seem like a basic list. Remember, sales is not compensated on leads, sales is compensated on closing leads. So, unless there is a high probability of closing a lead, sales will not consider a lead qualified.

What this means is that Marketing needs to take a larger role in moving a lead through the sales funnel. This is easier to do with Digital Marketing and Social Selling tactics.

In detail, here is what the above three types of leads mean to your Sales Representatives.

Prospect Wants Information

Anecdotally, I would say that 80% to 90% of the leads I receive from marketing fall into this category. Examples of these leads are:

  • Online sign-up form requesting more information
  • Signed up for your online newsletter
  • Requested a published “Whitepaper”
  • Visited your booth at a Trade Show
  • Provided contact information at a sponsored event

These leads are not yet at a point to send to Sales Representatives. They may have said yes to the question “would you like a Sales Representative to stop by?” This does not mean they are ready for a product demonstration.

This is the stage in which marketing should be following up with the prospect to gather more information. Sign them up for the company newsletter. Get the prospect to like the company on Facebook. Confirm whether the prospect has the ability to buy. This is the stage where there is interest in your products.

Keep in mind, a prospect at this stage is nothing more than a cold call attempt by your Sales Representative. And roughly 2% of cold calls become a closed sale.Your Sales Representatives are finding a few of

Your Sales Representatives are finding a few of these every day they are in the field. Thus this is not going to be a priority. The prospects the Sales Representatives have found in the field requesting more information will seem more important.

What this means is that as Marketing is generating leads, there needs to be an understanding that to pass these leads to Sales, the goal should not be contact information. The goal should be a desire for a product demonstration or meeting.

Prospect Wants A Demonstration

This is the type of lead that a Sales Representative likes and can work with. If the prospect is ready for a demonstration, then Sales can work their magic in a sales call. They can begin closing for next steps.

This type of lead is tricky. Although the lead claims they want a demonstration, it does not mean they will answer phone calls. This is where Marketing can provide a value-add for the Sales Representative. The value is scheduling the meeting.

Again, remember that your Sales Representatives are getting these on their own every day. Assistance is what they like. Also, if you are already speaking with the lead, closing for a meeting is the natural progression of the conversation.

Technology is allowing this to be easier and more seamless. By having a shared calendar with Sales Representatives, where they have open blocks, you can easily schedule a meeting with this prospect and a Sales Representative. This is how Sales and Marketing can work together to close more sales.

Prospect Has A Need

This is a dream to both Sales and Marketing departments. This means money in everybody’s pocket. A slam dunk. These don’t come along often, but the more of these that Marketing can find, the more Sales is going to want to work well with Marketing.

This type of lead is not a lead a Sales Representative comes by every day. More often than not, they are the result of effective Marketing.

Companies with a great online presence, great advertising, and a great brand can generate more of these leads.

Leads come in three categories. The categories are: does the prospect want more information, does the prospect want a demonstration, or does the prospect want to buy.

A lead requesting more information is a Marketing lead, and a lead that wants a demonstration is a Sales lead. A lead requesting to buy is everybody’s dream.

Armed with this perspective on how to work with leads in your company, you can better integrate your Sales and Marketing efforts.

Good luck and good selling!

Please Care About Your Relationships

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The individual who cares less holds all the power.
 
I think this is a horrible way to start a relationship, but all too often it is how we attempt coming together. This is a fundamental concept in negotiation, selling relationships, business relationships. It even applies to personal relationships.
 
What if we decided to stop living by this mantra? What if we decided that enough was enough with the power struggle?
 
I believe the best relationships, which the best relationships are the only ones worth having, are those in which both parties feel thankful to have the other. Each party would be devastated to lose the other.
 
If a vendor went out of business, the purchaser of that vendor’s products would too. If one spouse dies, the remaining spouse dies with them. These are the relationships I want.
 

Why is it so often we play the relationships power game?

This concept does not only apply to business. I have watched friends date. This is the best environment to watch people try to build a relationship.
 
It is basic and primal. Watching two people try and earn each other’s love. But when I watch them date and interact, it is all about who can care less. Who can have the power in the relationship?
 
The goal is to remove the vulnerability. But if you’re not vulnerable, then what is the point? Who wins?
 
The answer: nobody wins. As I watched my friend date and try to struggle for power it didn’t work. They broke up. Now they’re both alone.
 
I have watched this in business as well. I have watched a colleague try and sell a customer, but was having no success. The colleague’s strategy was to not appear desperate. They made it seem as though they did not need the customer. They wanted the power in the relationship for better price negotiation.
 
The colleague wanted to make a few extra bucks. They didn’t get the sale because the customer could sense they didn’t want the business. The plan backfired. The colleague missed quota.
 
I don’t think this plan works anymore, or maybe it never did. In an environment, as competitive as the one we are in, where everybody is trying to make a living, the best way to build a relationship is to be thankful. To solve problems and provide solutions.
 
We need to create relationships where both parties are thankful. My solution to get there is:
 

Care

Caring is such a simple concept but gets overlooked. Businesses get accused of not caring all the time.
 
People say: “All they care about is profits” and “They don’t care about the customers”. This is occasionally the case, but more often it is a perception. When perception is a reality, the reality is you don’t care.
 
Care about the people you want to build a relationship with and make it perceptible. Ensure they know you care and value their partnership.
 

Be Empathetic

Seth Godin recently had an article defining empathy. I find it eloquent and thorough. Empathy is understanding. Try and understand the other person and what makes them tick.
 
This not only allows you to be a better partner but also provide a better solution.
 

Provide Value

I have written about this before, but it can’t be overstated. What value are you providing? This could be customers, colleagues, friends or loved ones. What are you giving to them that is of value and importance?
 
Value comes in many forms and is not always immediately monetized. Not only provide value but provide the type of value that is valuable to the people you are trying to provide value to.
 

Be Honest

Honesty is the best policy. This isn’t in the context of not lying. Honesty is believing in what you say, and the products you promote.
 
People sense if you are not bought into your own message. Be authentic and honest with yourself and the message you are promoting.

Become Indispensable

Becoming indispensable is holding up your end of the bargain. In a relationship, where each person believes the other is essential, it is your job to make yourself indispensable.
 
This means doing all the above. Working hard to put more into the relationship than you expect to receive. Becoming indispensable can’t be self-serving. Put in the work.
 
Having a relationship that is built upon both parties being thankful is difficult and takes time. But, quality relationships are how you build businesses.
 
How will you start building your relationships?
 
Good luck and good selling!

Do You Think Jack White Would Have Coffee With Me?

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I have an obsession with Jack White. (For those who do not know who Jack White is, please click here.) This includes The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather, and Jack White. If he joins a fifth band I will probably like them too.

You could say I am one of his “True Fans”.

This obsession could be bad for my health.

Does this make me a stalker?

I don’t think so. I haven’t actually approached him yet. Maybe after the writing of this article, he will notice me. Maybe he will want to get coffee with me? Probably not.

My obsession is about more than his music. It is his style of business. I don’t think he considers himself a businessman. I’ve heard him say many times he is an artist (in interviews on YouTube).

Artists have to sell too. They need to make a living somehow.

The reason I have an obsession with Jack White is two-fold. He is creative and he is a hustler. I like people who hustle. Hustlers have ambition.

I turn to Jack White and his musical career because it teaches me how to be better in business. His style is unique, memorable, and authentic. He is like the blues version of Taylor Swift, before Taylor Swift was Taylor Swift.

They are both authentic, and they both go on rants about the state of the music industry. People like to be outraged by this. You can’t fault them for having opinions.

As you sit back and enjoy some hard hitting blues riffs with Jack White; let’s discuss five business concepts he excels at.

Jack White Authenticity

Jack White is authentic. This is what makes him appealing. Jack White exemplifies authenticity in the way he plays and writes music. Jack White’s music is stripped to its roots. Simple, hard-hitting blues. So simple in fact, his first band was only two members (The White Stripes).

Authenticity is important in business. Nobody likes to buy something from someone who is fake. It is like ordering Cheese Cake at the Cheese Cake Factory, only to later find out it was fat-free. That would enrage me.

Authenticity is about telling the truth and creating value.

Branding

Jack White is a master at branding. Every project he does has a brand. The White Stripes had a red, white, and black color scheme. His current band, everything is powder blue. His color scheme creates an association with his brand.

This attention to detail is everything. His brand is one of classic simplicity. You will never see him in “normal street clothes” because this does not go with his brand. He will either be in an eccentric suit, or clothing to match the color of his show.

Creating a personal brand is essential. This is what makes you different and memorable.

Originality

Jack White is original. He was the first to create a two-piece band (in the 90s). He even said this in Rolling Stone, saying the Black Keys copied him.

To be original, Jack White writes all his music, unless otherwise specified for a 1920’s blues cover. He believes in creating an original work of art every time he plays.

It is said creativity is the new literacy. Creating an original solution for your clients is a great way to separate yourself from the competition. We are seeing this in all forms of products. People want a more personal connection.

Connected

Jack White is connected with his audience. He makes a point to be in tune with who he is playing for. This is why Jack White doesn’t play with a setlist.

I saw Jack White for the first time live in August 2014. This show changed how I viewed a Rock concert. He connected with me. The show was in San Francisco and was the second show of a two-night stand. Completely different setlist than the first night. He even played a cover song dedicated to the Oakland Athletics (my favorite baseball team).

Connecting with your customers helps you form a relationship. Relationships are important for a multitude of reasons. Most importantly, creating opportunities to grow accounts.

Hustler

Last but not least, Jack White is a hustler. Jack White has four bands, three of which he is actively writing and creating music with. This is on top of a record store, record label, and recording studio (Third Man Records).

I find his drive inspiring. I wish I had that many projects.

Sales is about hustling. At times it is a numbers game. So do as Jack White and have many “projects” at once.

Jack White, on the surface, seems as though he belongs at a different time in history. Maybe the 1950s. This is what I think of when I see his brand. It is what makes him Jack White, and it is working for him.

Now that I have sung Jack White many praises, maybe he will get coffee with me.

Good luck and good selling!

Why You Need An Email List To Grow Sales

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Social Selling is an exciting topic. As a sales professional, it means a new way to groom and find prospects. Social selling is another tool in the sales professional’s bag of tricks. A sales professional still needs a strong foundation of traditional sales techniques.

What is Social Selling and how do you incorporate it?

In the eyes of the traditional Outside Sales Professional, Social Selling is a way to groom prospects. Help move them through the buying decision using online platforms. The Sales Professional is always going to ask, how will this help me close sales today?Starting an email list is a basic way for a Sales Professional to begin Social Selling. The goal of Social Selling being to move prospects through the sales cycle. I see the email list as a very

Starting an email list is a basic way for a Sales Professional to begin Social Selling. The goal of Social Selling being to move prospects through the sales cycle. I see the email list as a very low-cost way to move prospects through your sales cycle.

You have control over the information your potential buyer sees. You can steer your potential buyer to online resources. Also, you have more constant contact with your potential buyers.

There’s no preventing a potential buyer from looking at competitors. An email list will provide a vehicle to connect with your potential buyers.

Why an Email List

With more of the buying decision occurring online, the Sales Professional needs to find a way to have their message in front of the buyer at an early stage. An email is a very low commitment item to get, and through emails, you can provide value and an effective message.

If your Sales Professionals are anything like me, then they will question the need to adopt new techniques. Usually, it comes from a place of will this help me make quota this quarter (or month).

The beautiful thing about an email list is most sales professionals already do some form of this. It is for an end of month promotional scramble to get a few extra orders.

This is adopting a value-based email rather than a promotions email. Now you provide what Gary Vaynerchuk would call, “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook.”

The concept is to provide immense value to your potential buyers. The result is establishing credibility. Thus, you can ask for the sale. This is the power of the email list.

What This Means To Your Sales Cycle

The email list means you are constantly grooming your prospects for a sale. The goal of doing this through email is, as your prospects are doing their online research, you get your message in front of them at a critical stage.

The direct effect of this to your sales cycle is having full sales funnel. The full sales funnel will allow you to spend time creating engagement with your prospects. So, as you begin the purchasing process, you have a deeper relationship with the customer.

Actions To Take Today

A few steps you can take today are:

Today, you can craft an elegant email to all your contacts in your CRM or customer database. This initial email is to alert your prospects, customers, and contacts you will be sending them informative information about industry trends, company updates, and any other relevant information.

Send only one email alerting them of your newsletter.

After the initial email, you will want to remove any prospects that ask to be removed. The last thing you want is to get off on the wrong foot with your prospects and customers. Also, for the purposes of this email, it’s better to have your contacts needing to opt out rather than opt in.

At the beginning, a weekly newsletter would be a great frequency, which is not too Spammy. With this in mind, forcing the opt out is not unreasonable. This will retain more emails to your list, as the likelihood of an opt-out is low.

Once you have your list determined, a great starting point is to begin a weekly email newsletter. The newsletter should consist of industry topics that interest you (so you are consistent). Also, it needs to provide value to your prospects and customers.

This requires you have a deep understanding of your target market. Understanding the struggles of your customers and leads.

Once you are ready to send an elegant newsletter, the following resources can help.

Resources

MailChimp – Great, easy to use email marketing program. Uses elegant templates. Allows you to create signup pages. And tracks the success of your email campaigns.

Salesforce – If your company is using Salesforce then you can send email newsletters from the CRM. Most other CRM programs have a similar feature, Salesforce tends to be the most used.

As more and more of the buying decision moves online, it’s essential that Sales Professionals work to get their message in front of their potential buyers early in the research stage.

The use of an email list can be the tactic to get there.

Good luck and good selling!

Your Cold Calling Strategy Is Out Of Date

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Social Selling is a buzzword. I get the feeling, marketing fuels a lot of the discussion. Possibly sales professionals too. Social Selling is about cold calling strategy.

Why is there buzz around Social Selling?

For most sales professionals, social selling is a cold calling strategy. It’s for getting appointments. Making contacts and getting leads with potential customers.

When we look at social selling, we’re looking at how cold calling and prospecting is evolving. It is evolving to make this process more efficient.

The result when you’re in the field, you are in front of qualified prospects. This is how the role of the sales professional is changing.

The Old Cold Calling Strategy

Only a few years ago, my old cold calling strategy was to use the shotgun approach. I’m talking spray and pray. I would send mailers, fax blasts, drop off literature, call any phone numbers I had to get a name. Then, I would narrow my list down and target many individuals to try and get in front of them.

Why this strategy is working less and less is because potential buyers no longer need to listen to Sales Professionals. Sales Professionals aren’t the source of new industry information. All prospects need to do is Google their interest, and they get the most updated information.

Understanding this, Sales Professionals can now discuss different ways to get our message in front of our potential buyers. Also, we can determine how we are going to get in front of our potential buyers.

Why Is This Concept Important?

Potential buyers will ignore the Sales Professional until they are ready to buy. The potential buyer will not look at mailers. They will delete your voicemails. And they are ignoring your emails.

The result is needing to find a new way to get in front of potential buyers. Enter Social Selling. Or, more accurately, Social Cold Calling.

What does Social Cold Calling actually look like?

Social Cold Calling is utilizing social media outlets, email lists, as well as internet message boards, to get to your potential buyers. With the gatekeepers getting better, you need to determine how to avoid the gatekeeper.

Ask yourself where are my potential customers? How do I get to them?

First, you need to determine where people in your industry get information.

Next, you can get to them through a secretary, a colleague you know, or directly. The goal is to gain an introduction, and use social media and internet searches to do this.

Where Do You Begin

To use the Social Cold Calling technique, the best place to start is LinkedIn. Using LinkedIn you can search for your specific contact, the company your contact works for, and determine if your potential buyer has any similar connections.

The next place to search is places like Twitter. Also, industry job boards to see if potential buyers in your area are active in an online community. Using these techniques will separate you from the competition. They are far more cost effective methods for a cold calling strategy.

Social Cold Calling is going to become a larger part of the sales cycle. Especially as more people move online. No longer is Social Media a place to see what your friends did this past weekend.

It is becoming another avenue for selling.

Good luck and good selling!