3 Sales Shifts to Outpace the Economy: Positioning (1)

Applying the V-Principle for Sales Success

At the recent ROI Leader Forum, I talked about vital shifts in sales processes and sales people that CEOs, presidents and business leaders must make to ensure their sales teams have the speed, agility and resilience win.

It’s equally important to strategic listen to how your sales team is conveying your company’s positioning when talking with prospects and clients.

As autumn approaches, those of us who live in the Midwest will once again witness great flocks of Canadian geese flying south for the winter in their infamous V-formation. Before a flock of geese start the migration process, they know their destination. And, they are clear on what they have to do to get there.

Hunting: I often find that salespeople are unclear about the unique value your solutions can add to your clients’ businesses. This slows down the entire sales process. Since prospects aren’t clear, there’s little response to the salesperson’s new business development or hunting efforts.

Qualifying: A lack of clarity on the value of your services and products will translate into a non-descriptive discovery and qualification process, leaving prospects thinking that you offer yet another commodity.

Closing: There will be no sense of urgency on the prospect’s part, because the decision can be delayed until there’s a competitive face-off. So, does your team have a questioning strategy that positions your company providing a unique solution? Or, does their approach breed a more-of-the-same response from prospects and clients?

What causes the delay in hunting, qualifying and closing?
Recently, we helped a client to survey their sales people so that we could determine whether the sales team was in sync with the leadership and marketing team on Brand Promise, Value Proposition and Elevator Pitch. There were four separate Brand Promises that emerged from the sales staff:

28% said: “We fit the highest level of technology.”
15% said: “We provide the highest level of professionalism.”
34% said: “We have the highest quality product and service.”
23% said: “We stand behind our product 100%.”

With a confused sales staff, your clients and possible new prospects will be confused too. So, ensure your team is targeted and flying in formation when it comes to your positioning and messaging.

Sales Growth Question: How clearly and succinctly can your sales team articulate your Brand Promise? Value Proposition? Elevator Pitch?

Sales Growth Lesson: Ensure that everyone on your sales team has a questioning strategy that helps define your unique positioning.

For steps on how to create a clearer target message, check out Targeted Sales Focus.

August 29, 2011 | Filed Under Sales Lead Generation | Leave a Comment

3 Sales Shifts to Outpace the Market: People

At the recent ROI Leader Forum, I talked about vital shifts that CEOs, presidents and business leaders must make to ensure their sales teams have the speed, agility and resilience to outpace the market.

A friend of mine recently traveled to Finland. Being a great granddaughter of Finnish homesteaders, I asked him what four words captured the essence of the Finnish people. He said, “Humility. Intelligence. Determination. Resilience.”

I immediately recognized these as the same characteristics of top sales performers who WILL succeed in today’s unpredictable economic conditions.

Humility:

Top performers have a quiet confidence that allows them to quickly build trust with clients. They have the prospects/clients best interests in mind at all times without being arrogant.

Intelligence:

Selling complex, business-to-business, technology solutions that positions client companies to better serve their customers is an intellectually challenging task. Top performers know that they need to constantly improve their business acumen.

Determination:

Top performers access all resources at their disposal to accomplish a task. Sometimes it means that they need to learn new skills to stay current with technology and global competition. Other times it means shifting their sales strategy in order to win the business. Whatever is needed, they do it. Finns call this intense determination to accomplish your goals, SISU. (Read more about SISU here.)

Resilience:

My Finnish great grandparents who homesteaded this desolate part of North Dakota knew all about resilience. No matter how often they failed, they got up again. Resilience is a key characteristic for your entire sales team.

With all the changes happening economically, it’s imperative for a team to embrace the challenges, looking for the unique opportunity to help clients succeed in these unpredictable times.

What does your sales team look like? Do you have a team of status-quo players? Or, do you have a team that’s committed to thrive in the uncertain world that we’re facing?

Sales Growth Question: Do you have a status quo recovery team that will deliver yo-yo results matching the market? Or, do you have an Acceleration Team that can outpace the market?

Sales Growth Lesson: Having growth-oriented people on your sales team is a must in today’s unpredictable climate.

Survey: Take a quick, 7 minute survey to figure out what parts of your sales organization need to be honed in order to build that Acceleration Team: Sales Force Grader.

Comment from attendee at ROI Leader Forum: “I like how you broke down the sales process into small discrete steps and components. Too often it is viewed in a broad sweeping intuitive way, which is also helpful, but I like your more rigorous scientific approach. It helps me to understand the importance of process, people, and positioning.”

August 22, 2011 | Filed Under Sales Assessment | 2 Comments

3 Sales Shifts to Outpace Your Competition: Sales Processes

What a great audience Friday morning at ROI Leadership Forum where we talked about Speed, Agility & Resilience: 3 Sales Shifts to Outpace, Outrun and Outmaneuver the Competition!

The topic is especially relevant in light of the renewed discussion about the next leg of the double dip. It’s difficult to predict the future; however, the discussion is a warning for us in business. We need to be asking ourselves whether we’re making the right investments, the right “sales shifts,” so that we can weather the economic uncertainties.

Here are 3 shifts that you can start making today:

Shift 1: Sales Processes
Ensure that you’re continuing to strengthen your sales processes. In our 2011 Strategic Sales Initiative Survey, we discovered the following:

73% of companies have no defined sales process
53% have no process to update strategic sales plans
77% have no defined sales coaching process
82% have no defined sales management process

It sounds dismal. However, there’s an important finding. Growth companies said that they did have these processes with 30% more frequency!

Here’s the point. Be intentional in shifting your sales processes into high gear. Here’s a sampling of processes to double check in your sales teams:

Recruiting: Hiring Process, Termination, Expectations, Ramp Up, Onboarding
Motivating: Compensation, Sales Meetings, Support Systems, Goal Alignment
Coaching: Sales Performance, Training & Development, Pre-Call Coaching, Post-Call Debriefing, Pipeline Coaching
Accountability: Tracking and Reports, Goal Setting, Meeting Rhythm, Execution of Automation
Growth: Business Plan, Territory Management

Stay tuned for Shift 2 and 3.

What can you learn about growing a business or sales from riding motorcycle? Here are some of the ideas I got from friends, colleagues and clients in response to that question:

Accelerate too fast and you quickly lose control. Mike Shannon, Axiom Experience
Know when you should play it conservative and when you can open up full throttle. John Palen, Allied Executives
Be acutely aware…all the time. Rocky LaGrone, My Professional Development

Sales Growth Question: What steps are you taking to shift your sales team into high gear?

Sales Growth Lesson: Successful selling starts with a strong sales process.

For more information on how you can measure if your current sales process are ready to weather the storm, take a quick 7 min. survey, the Sales Force Grader. The results will be emailed to you immediately.

August 15, 2011 | Filed Under Sales Assessment | Leave a Comment

How does Growing Sales relate to Riding Motorcycles?

What do you think is the connection? If you’re a motorcycle fan, I’d love to hear your insights!

I’ve been invited to speak at the ROI Leader Forum. My topic is: “Speed, Agility, Resilience: Three Sales Shifts to Outrun, Outmaneuver, and Outperform the Competition.” I’m going to be sharing some of the ideas I learned on my recent motorcycle trip to the Black Hills and how it relates to growing a sales team. These are some of the take-a ways:

You’ll learn how to:

1.) Identify whether or not you have the right sales team to sell in the new economy.
2.) Help your salespeople speed up deals that are languishing in the pipeline.
3.) Determine what needs to change for your team to sell at higher margins.
4.) Find out whether your teams is a “Recovery Growth” team or a “Acceleration Growth” team.

The event will be held from 7:30 – 9:00AM on Friday, August 12. We will be meeting in the offices of Lurie, Besikof, Lapidus & Co. at 2501 Wayzata Boulevard in Minneapolis.

To register for this free event click here.

I understand that August is a busy month with many people traveling. If you can’t attend, feel free to forward this invitation to your friends and colleagues who are frustrated that sales aren’t growing as fast as they had hoped.

Remember, if you’re a motorcycle fan, let me know your thoughts.

Hope to see you there!

Sales Growth Question: How do you rate the speed, agility and resilience of your sales team?

Sales Growth Lesson: Be diligent to get better every day—your competition is doing that.