The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

Here are three questions for sales managers and sellers:

1. Who has time to waste with prospects that don’t have the cash to purchase the kind of solutions you sell?
2. Who has time to waste trying to get an appointment with a prospect that is impossible to gain access to?
3. Who has time to waste with prospects that have a consumer base beyond the scope of your products?

Most sellers are time-starved with no time to waste… especially when it comes to developing new customers. Investing time selecting quality, new business, target prospects makes all the sense in the world because some prospects are better than others, and qualifying them will help save time in the long run.

Early on in my sales career, there was a prospect that I was determined to close. Everyone on my sales team had tried to gain access to this decision maker, and some had gotten as far a conversation, but it never evolved from there. When my manager suggested I try to approach this target prospect, I eagerly accepted the challenge. In my head, I confidently thought, “I can make this happen.” Ha!

I spent months calling, dropping by, leaving voicemails, and sending emails. I never managed to get through to anyone, but I remained persistent and didn’t give up until one day I was told not so politely to go away.

Often during my career, I have reflected on that cringe-worthy experience. I had been persistent (outright annoying), and at the time, I had truly thought that persistence alone should get me in the door. As I began to develop and grow as a salesperson, I began to see the power of not just being persistent, but being persistent with a purpose. I learned the importance of earning trust and offering value to the prospect. Unfortunately, I had to experience some tough lessons before I got to this point.

Talking about price with a new business prospect can be tricky. If you do it too soon, you might scare away a prospect. If you wait too long, the sticker shock might blow your proposal out of the water because it exceeds reality. 

Here’s a list of recommendations and things to consider about the topic of price along with three effective ways to prompt the conversation (including some easy to use ROI formulas).

We are now a few months into the new year. Often, at the end of the prior year, I spend time talking about the year ahead. I ask the sellers that I coach what they want to accomplish. Where do they want to be at the end of this year? We discuss their professional sales goals, and then we begin to make a plan together to help them achieve those goals.

I encourage them to make sure they understand the importance of high priority prospects or what we call target accounts. Ensuring sales teams understand how to identify, develop, and close (or walk away) is a critical part of sellers achieving their objectives throughout the year.

They don’t know you.
They don’t trust you.
They won’t respond to your emails.
They won’t engage in a conversation with you.
They won’t meet with you!

These are some of the challenges we face from new business prospects when it is early in the sales process. Each is a hurdle we have to overcome to connect and move the sales process to the next step. When you boil it down, the problem is linked to a lack of trust and value. Simply put, you are not valued or trusted in the eyes of new business prospects.

Ouch! How can this be when you have some much going for you?

Need some help connecting with target accounts when prospecting? Do you know the decision maker you need to connect with at a company, but don't have their email address? Have no fear. Trey is here... to share a hot tip that he uses regularly to connect with target accounts. 

Editor's Note: This post was originally published on Liveplan.com.

The longer a sales proposal sits, the less likely it is to convert to an actual sale.

The trouble with these stalled proposals is that you could have 100 potential sales stuck in limbo, but you can’t use those possible sales to pay your real bills. A bloated sales pipeline can start to have a real impact on your company’s cash flow if you’re not careful.

Proper preparation prevents poor performance! 

Take these five P's for a test drive, and your sale performance will improve. 

If you are struggling to uncover desired business results that lead to cash, perhaps it is time to modify your needs analysis process. Here’s a new model that is getting rave reviews — feel free to take it for a test drive during your next discovery meeting with a new prospect.

Which of the following will generate the highest return?

• More customers
• Keeping customers longer
• More revenue per customer

Any one of these can grow revenue. But one has been shown to consistently bring in a higher return on your investment. Most businesses say they are focused on these in the order of the list: adding more customers, than keeping them longer, and finally getting more revenue per customer.

The problem is that the research shows that a focus on more customers is the wrong path to maximize your return. And that it leads you to build the wrong solutions.