The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

This week, we wrote about nonprofits, and how they're not so different from us. We focused on individual focus meetings, discussed where vs. what, and we broke inbound marketing into pieces that even a five-year-old could understand.

The Center for Sales Strategy Weekly Wrap-Up

• On Monday, Jim Hopes told us that when you're looking for a nonprofit fundraiser, there are eight talents to look for, and it takes more than a good heart to succeed.

• Tuesday, Matt Sunshine gave us three things to add to our individual focus meetings to make them better.

Have you ever gone to the grocery store hungry and without a shopping list?

Do you make strategic and wise choices or do you bounce around from aisle to aisle frantically looking for “something to eat” and realize later that you picked up some things you didn’t really need?

I think Albert Einstein was onto something with that statement.

If you’ve ever found yourself trying to explain something technical or complex to someone who isn’t familiar with the topic, you know what I mean. Perhaps you work in finance or real estate and are all too familiar with the puzzled looks from your clients when you try to explain mortgages, stocks, or investments. (This is where all those “______ for Dummies” books come in handy, right?)

As an inbound marketing consultant, I get the confused look pretty often. It’s easy for me to assume everyone knows what inbound is. After all it’s a big “buzzword” in the digital marketing world. But the reality is it’s still a relatively new topic and those in other industries don’t always understand. Sure, maybe they’ve heard the term, but they don’t really have a good grasp of what it is or what it looks like. In fact, I have friends in sales, management, and even some working in traditional (outbound) marketing that are still giving me that quizzical look even after I provide them with the general definition—and these are people that should know. They’re the ones who can really benefit from it.

It’s at this point where I typically recall (and laugh about) the scene from The Office, where Steve Carrel’s character is trying to understand an explanation of their budget but doesn’t get it. After briefly pretending to understand, he finally asks his coworker to, “Explain it to me like I’m 5.” And, ever since then, I’ve found myself thinking this same thought when someone is trying to explain something complex or technical that I’m not familiar with, or when I need to explain something of similar nature to someone else.

Here’s our official definition of inbound marketing:

The process of attracting the attention of prospects, through content, before they are even ready to buy; the best and most cost-effective way to convert strangers into customers and promoters of your business.

But, again, what does it really entail? What does it look like? Complexities and technical jargon aside, of
course. 

Salespeople and sales managers universally loathe the individual focus meeting. That's too bad, because it's a wonderful way to connect with your employees, act as a resource, and let them know you trust them and are interested in their success.

Everyone gets busy, that's for sure, but you shouldn't get too busy to sit down with your salespeople once a week for one-on-one time with each salesperson who reports to you.

Follow these three steps and make your individual focus meetings more effective and productive.

"It takes more than a good heart."

These were words spoken to me by the Senior Pastor at my church when he was convincing me to take a major role in the upcoming capital campaign. He was right. You know yourself in today’s competitive fundraising environment that it takes more than a staff with a love for your cause to secure a major gift from an individual or a corporation. It takes talent to be a successful development officer.

Talent is different than skills. Skills can be learned. Talent is innate. So if you are facing a big increase in your fundraising budget this year or next, the most important thing you can do is employ fundraising professionals with the innate behaviors that will allow them to ask for and receive major gifts from a wide variety of donors.

But what talents, what innate behaviors, should you look for? Based on research with thousands of professionals whose role is to seek commitment, we suggest strongly that you look for these eight key talents:

1. Intensity for the work effort.

Getting in front of key donors is hard work and uncovering their underlying needs and goals for giving requires effort as does fashioning a tailored solution. The best fundraising professionals love to work and go about their work in a very focused manner. They work hard, they work smart, and they work long.

2. Discipline.

The very best have standards for excellence and produce quality work. They can manage details easily and spin multiple plates, rarely dropping a single one.

3. Successful development officers are not afraid to ask.

They have a certain command about them that allows them to persuade and convince naturally. They are very comfortable with the notion that they must bring others around to their way of thinking.

4. The very best are great problem solvers.

They gather more information, they ask better questions, and they devise more creative solutions.

5. We see that top performers have a positive outlook.

For these people, the glass is always half full, they deal with change well, and they have a wide circle of people who like them.

6. The best are also blessed with a “sixth sense” that allows them to pick up on how someone is feeling at the moment.

This genius-level empathy allows them to know how and when to proceed. Donors feel a real sense of being cared about—because they are.

7. In order to ask for big donations, you have to feel as though you deserve a big donation.

Top people see themselves as significant, worthy of sitting with high-net-worth individuals and top corporate officers. They can make a “big ask” because it lines up with their self-image.

8. If you are going to meet a goal you have to think in terms of measurement and winning.

Top performers are constantly striving to best last year’s, last month’s, and even yesterday’s performance. They think in terms of winning, and when they are winning for your cause, everyone wins.

This week, we learned about how to know when leads are ready to be contacted, got inspired by leadership quotes, brushed up on in-field coaching, and were reminded that everyone in the company is involved in sales support and customer service.

The Center for Sales Strategy Weekly Wrap-Up

• On Monday, Dani Buckley told us how to figure out when it's time to call someone who filled out a form and downloaded something.

• Tuesday, Matt Sunshine recalled 12 moving leadership quotes that we heard at our company's annual meeting.

In this job, there’s never a shortage of unusual travel experiences. And many could be considered “teaching moments.”

The gate agent for a recent flight said my name over the intercom. (Nothing else, just my name. No instructions, such as “please see me at the desk,” just my name.) As I walked up, she was looking down at the notes on her desk. I said, “Hi, my name is Mike Anderson, and you just paged me.” Then, without so much as looking up from her desk, she slapped a new boarding pass (first class!) on the counter and shoved it my way. She did not say, “Hello.” She did not smile. Nothing.

Here’s why this matters: Airline upgrades just don’t happen as often as they used to. And if you travel a lot, they’re kind of a big deal. (More room to open up your laptop and get work done, and better snacks and beverages.) As often as gate agents have to deliver bad news to the traveling public, you would think she might have savored this opportunity build on the goodwill an upgrade to first class represents. It would have made the trip—and the airline—more memorable and enjoyable.

Nothing went wrong with this experience. It just didn’t go nearly as right as it could have.

Last month, all of us at The Center for Sales Strategy attended our annual summer company meeting. In preparation for the meeting, a small group of people were given the responsibility to bring with them a leadership quote that they really liked and that they could share with all in attendance at the meetings. The quotes were fantastic and lead to a lot of great discussion. We liked them so much that we thought we would share with you. Feel free to share this blog post and we hope you enjoy these quotes as much as we did.

12 Quotes About Leadership, from The Center for Sales Strategy's Annual Meeting

1. There are no traffic jams along extra mile. -Roger Staubach Click to Tweet!

2. Excellent firms don't believe in excellence only in constant improvement and constant change. -Tom Peters Click to Tweet!

3. There are a lot of people who touch the customer. -Roger Staubach Click to Tweet!

4. At a car dealership the seller is the hero, but if the service department doesn't service well, the customer doesn't come back. -Unknown Click to Tweet!

We're heading into the dog days of summer. The days are warm, but the leaves are starting to change. We wrote about all kinds of things this week: what to do after you finally get that first appointment, how to secretly find talent, ways to achieve client satisfaction, and how LinkedIn's tools can harm your efforts.

The Center for Sales Strategy Weekly Wrap-Up

• On Monday, Mike Anderson told us what to do after getting the appointment.

• Tuesday, Mindy Murphy told us how to spot talent without asking questions.

If you've been online lately, you may have noticed LinkedIn's prospecting tools geared to help salespeople. Some of those services include tools to efficiently prospect within LinkedIn's network, premium services that allow greater depth and information on those you wish to contact, and even a Reference Search where you can get a list of people in your network who can (if they choose) provide a reference for someone you want to connect with.

These services may interest you and may be worth $24 a month or more, but don't attempt to let technology and social media do the prospecting or networking for you. LinkedIn claims that a premium account will help you find and contact the right people but what you say when you approach a prospect will make all the difference—it will either make that subscription fee worth it or make you feel like you've wasted your money. 

Unfortunately, I come across more salespeople who feel they wasted their money than those who actually make progress. And here's why: No amount of additional services can take the place of your own ability to attract quality prospects through empathy, expertise, and problem solving capabilities. There are plenty of other salespeople prospecting and requesting to connect on LinkedIn every day. You can either be seen as one of many who letting the technology speak for them—or as one of the few who know how to approach a human prospect.