Sales Machine

One of the most popular Sales Machine posts in recent months has been “How to Sell Like a Top Gun”  In that post, I provided some sales  advice from Lt. Col. Rob “Waldo” Waldman, author of the New York Times bestseller “Never Fly Solo.”  Well, I have a treat for you today.  Here are three videos featuring Sellingpower Publisher Gerhard Gschwandtner interviewing Waldman on three subjects that are essential to a great sales career: overcoming fear, building trust, and creating leadership.  Enjoy!

OVERCOMING FEAR

BUILDING TRUST

CREATING LEADERSHIP

Full Disclosure: I write for SellingPower magazine, the producers of these videos,
which also has a distribution agreement with BNET for video distribution.

Want to double, and then redouble, your sales revenue?   Believe it or not, that’s not just possible… it’s easy.

Turns out that sales pipelines are like compound interest.  Small increases in efficiency, applied simultaneously at different points in the sales cycle, result in geometric increases in final sales results.

Here are five easy steps that can easily be implemented within a single quarter.  Any one of these steps will probably double your sales revenue.  But if you implement all five at once — Bingo! — you’ll achieve exponentially higher sales revenue –  quarter after quarter.

BTW, these steps are based on a discussion with one of my favorite sales geniuses: Donal Daly, CEO of  The TAS Group.

CLICK for the first step »

(Illustrations by Mike Cassell)

Cold-calling is always a challenge.  Here are five rules to help you make the process as productive as possible:

• RULE #1. Know your target. Based upon your previous sales rates, figure out how many prospects you need in order to generate the number of sales needed to fulfill your quota. For example, if you must generate five sales a week to make quota, and on average you typically close one out of five prospects, you will need to convert 25 leads into prospects every week.
• RULE #2. Know your timeline. Based upon your previous experience, estimate the amount of time it will take to convert those leads prospects. For example, if you typically convert 1 out of 10 leads into prospects and you need 25 prospects a week, you’ll need to call 250 suspects every week.  If it takes you, on average, 2 minutes to qualify a lead, you’ll need to spend 8 hours a week making qualifying calls.
• RULE #3: Know your purpose. Cold calls are for prospecting and qualifying leads.  They are NOT selling calls. Unless the suspect, of his or her own accord, brings up a desire to purchase, do not go into your sales pitch.  In most cases, your goal is to get a meeting with the suspect thereby transforming the suspect into a prospect.  Don’t overreach.
• RULE #4. Know your script. Based upon your experience or the experience of your peers and manager, define a conversational way to ask, during an initial conversation, whether or not the suspect has a budget, authority to spend the budget, and a need for your offering.  If you need help with this, check out: “The Ultimate Prospect Qualification Tool.”
• RULE #5. Know thyself. Lead qualification requires you operate at peak performance. Think of yourself as a top athlete who must win, even on days when you don’t start out feeling confident and together.  Do whatever it takes to get yourself in an up and positive mood.  Focus on what motivates you and why you want to win this business.

BTW: These rules are based on a conversation with his article is based on a conversation with Thomas Ray Crowel, author of “Simple Selling: Common Sense That Guarantees Your Success.”

Selling is a complex business.  In addition to speaking with customers, you must work with sales technology, learn about products and services, keep track of email and other correspondence, keep your firm apprised of your activities, perform research into prospects and customers, travel from place to place, etc.  All of these “non-sales” activities are, of course, part of your sales job.

So here’s your question:

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CLICK for the correct answer »

Every Friday, I summarize the high points of the previous week’s posts in a podcast.

In this podcast, I review the nine most common mistakes that sales reps make — and how to avoid them.  It’s based upon this post:

• Nine Easily Avoidable Selling Mistakes

As usual, I’ve added some material and extra thoughts in the podcast as I go.

To listen to the podcast online, simple clicking on the widget above.  To get this podcast on your media-player or iTunes, click on the “Get It” button on the widget.

BTW, please let me know if you’re finding these podcasts useful, because they take a bit of extra work and I’m not going to continue them if they’re helping you sell.

I love Hollywood movies about selling, mostly because they’re so ridiculous. Of all the ridiculous sales scenes, however, this closing scene from the movie “Boiler Room” (starring, of all people, Vin Diesel) absolutely takes the cake. I don’t know about you, but just once, I’d like to see a sales pro jump over a desk to take a call.

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Conventional wisdom says that working in Sales is really tough, especially during tough economic times.  However, while it’s definitely harder to make your quota when customers are fewer and further between, Sales remains a good place to be when the going gets tough, according the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

For example, the current recession, which began in 2008, doesn’t appear to have reduced the demand for sales professionals.  There were roughly 16 million sales jobs in the United States alone in 2008, the most recent year available.  That’s up 11 percent from 2007, even though the recession was well under way when the most recent figures were compiled.

Sales is remaining a reasonably well-paid job, too, probably because smart firms see sales as MORE important when times are hard… and compensate accordingly.

According to the BLS, sales reps inside high tech firms and financial services firms command a median compensation of around $70,000 a year.  Real estate agents did even better, with a median salary of $83,000.  And sales managers - the upward career path — commanded a hefty median of around $100,000.

And if you’re really good at sales, the rewards can be dramatic.  The top 10 percent of sales reps in advertising, insurance and real estate agents gross an average of $93k, $102k and $113k respectively.  The top 25 percent of sales reps in the financial industry average $122k a year, while top sales reps who have engineering experience can earn well over $130k a year.

So if you’re suffering from the tough times, take heart.  It could be a lot worse.  You could be working in marketing… and those jobs are disappearing faster than a flock of magician’s assistants.

READERS: How is YOUR career going?

Ever feel slighted because the marketing guys have MBAs and you don’t?  Not to worry.

An increasing number of colleges and universities now offer degrees in Sales, according to the University Sales Education Foundation.  Unlike most MBA curricula, these programs include opportunities to obtain classroom training and hands-on experience specific to professional sales.

According to the foundation, an MBA in Sales gives you more than just bragging rights. The foundation claims that students from these programs demonstrate faster ramp-up time and increased productivity when compared to their peers from other areas of study.

On the one hand, I think it makes sense for business schools to become interested in Sales, since it’s a growth career path.  And selling today requires more than just a winning personality and the ability to close.

Let’s face it.  Selling at the highest levels requires considerable business acumen, so that you can better diagnose customers requirements and negotiate deals that work for both firms.  So I can see where some higher education could help.

On the other hand, I’m not sure whether the academic environment is conducive to learning how to sell.  I suspect that many of today’s most productive sales professionals have practical experience in industry or business that they bring to bear in order to better understand customers.

So I must confess I’m a bit agnostic on this.  I am, however, interesting in what you guys think, so here’s a poll.

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Role models are important, because they’re the easiest way to learn how to be successful. Irina Haydon started out as a customer, entered sales and has since doubled her income every year for the past decade. She now earns $1 million a year, selling for Heartland Payment Systems, one of the most innovative credit card processing companies in the world.

Full Disclosure: I write for SellingPower magazine, the producers of this video,
which also has a distribution agreement with BNET for video content.

Last week, I posted an interview with the famous Tom Hopkins.  In that interview, we discussed his new book, Selling in Tough Times - How to Sell When No One Is Buying.  However, I took advantage of having him on the phone in order to ask some general questions about sales and selling.  Here’s some of what he told me:

• Geoffrey James: What advice do you have for somebody beginning a career in sales?
• Tom Hopkins: You’ve got to become a student. My book takes a step-by-step approach that can be very helpful for beginners. My colleagues Zig Ziglar and Brian Tracy also have some great ideas. When first began in sales, I was inspired by Og Mandino’s book. The main thing is that you must think of yourself as a student learning a great art. There is so much to learn.

• GJ: What is the prime characteristic of a great sales pro?
• TH: It’s a combination, but if there were one aspect, it would probably be the ability to view oneself as a servant rather than as a seller. If you get into Sales in order to serve your fellow man it completely changes your demeanor and the nature of the interaction. Prospects begin to relax and work with you to solve problems and come up with a win/win scenario, rather than seeing you as somebody who’s trying to sell them something they don’t want or need.

• GJ: What your view on the use of technology in a sales environment?
• TH: When I got started in sales, there was no email and no internet. Today, sales professionals are incredibly fortunate that they have such great tools with which to keep in touch with their clients. However, it does take considerable discipline to use those tools regularly and use them well. The primary key to success with communication is to reach out to each of your clients in the manner in which they prefer. Some people will prefer email, others may prefer a phone call. Use all of today’s technology, but don’t treat everyone the same unless they tell you that’s okay with them. Remember: when you get a name, address, phone or email, that contact is part of your “family”, so you’re now committed to keeping in regular touch.

• GJ: How much time should a sales rep spend prospecting?
• TH: At first, as much time as it takes to build your pipeline. That could be as much as 95% of your time when you’re new. However, once you’ve carved out a position in your industry with a reputation as one of the best… then selling is really fun. Remember: the true goal of prospecting is to do it enough early on so that you don’t ever have to do it again.

READERS: Do you enjoy this kind of stuff?  The reason I ask is that I love talking to these gurus and if you like these interviews, I’ll do more.