Recently while flying to see a client I had the pleasure of sitting next to a real chatterbox. My seatmate started talking to me before we sat down and rarely stopped the entire flight! You know the type. He was the driving force behind the invention of noise-canceling headphones. Too bad I didn’t have any!
At one point during the four-hour flight, he asked me what I did for a living, and I told him I was a B2B sales consultant. His response was an annoying, "Oh, I tried that too when I was unemployed." His response got to me, and I let him know I was in my tenth year as a consultant, and I worked for a firm that's been in business 30 years.
My seatmate responded with, "I guess your firm is doing something right to be around that long, what's your secret?"
The Secret to 30+ Years of Success
Since he asked, I decided to tell him! Here's a summary of what I said:
1. Develop raving fans and turn them into long-term customers.
It costs five times as much to find, romance and convert a new customer as it does to maintain and grow current customers. Five times is a big number and plenty of motivation to deliver ROI and keep current customers happy and spending. By the way, a 90%+ annual renewal rate is a good benchmark to pursue.
2. Use an account list management system that segregates customers by spending level.
Your account list management system should treat top spenders (the top 25% of customers that represent 75% of the revenue) like royalty and will turn them into raving fans. Additionally, limiting the pursuit of new business prospects to those that can spend like the best customers is also an important component of effective account list management.
3. Believe in and teach a proven sales process that stands out from the pack.
I explained the approach I use — How Selling— actually combines training and selling and that salespeople actually close business while learning.
4. Hire consultants with proven track records in B2B sales instead of sales trainers or former sellers.
Not everyone can transition successfully into the world of consulting. Make sure you hire someone who has proven that he or she can do what you’re hiring them to do. Don’t make the mistake of hiring someone who was a sub-par seller. They won’t be great consultants.
5. Spend time in the field with customers
Consultants that stay in the conference, die in the conference room! Don’t get me wrong, conducting a workshop in a conference room is important, but it should not be the only place a B2B sales consultant teaches sellers.
Then It Was Time to Land
After listening to me for a while my now silent friend only had this to say, "Maybe that’s why my deal didn’t work out so well."
My response was this, "Indeed."
