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The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

5 Signs It's Time to Tweak Your Revenue Development Process

revenue-modelSales managers are faced with quantum leap growth demands—too bad their sales organizations and sales processes are structured to deliver incremental growth. Managers are like Scotty on Star Trek, often saying, “We can’t take much more of this, Captain!” If you feel like Scotty, and you’re giving it all you have, and you can’t take much more because you’re always coming up short... you might be ready to tweak your sales process. 

Here’s a list of five signs you might be ready to boldly go where most sales managers are afraid to go... into the world of sales process engineering:

1. Talent

You’ve moved out the dead wood and upgraded the talent on your team. Now it’s time to tap into your talent and allow your sellers to do what they do best: sell

Topics: Sales

Are You Missing the Sale Because You’re Too Hard to Contact?

missing-the-sale-hard-to-contactI just got off the phone with Debbie. I had to pass along the story she related to me.

Topics: Sales Brand and Connect

I Showed My Sister How to Use “How to Use”—and She Got the Job!

interviewMy sister is an elementary school teacher in Portland, and for the last two years, has wanted a change. She recently decided to pick up everything and move to San Antonio (and before you ask, the answer is no, she’s never been there). She applied for three jobs: two teaching positions in the San Antonio School District, and one at an educational services company selling science curriculum to school districts. 

Topics: Sales

Don't Call on the Person in Charge of Buying

calling-warm-leadsCall the person in charge of selling, not buying! Sound crazy? Not if you’re developing new business. The problem with calling on the person in charge of buying when you’re trying to develop new business is their focus is on your product, how expensive you are, and other technical aspects of your delivery. People in charge of buying are trained to compare products and dismiss you, or to pit you against your competitors to get the lowest price.

If you want a solid sales strategy, and you want to develop new business for your company, why not call on the person in charge of selling? There is a director that runs a smoking cessation clinic in your city. He has a quota to make. There is a regional manager for a group of health clubs in your market and she has numbers to meet. There might even be someone in charge of indirect distribution for one of your wireless providers–someone who has to figure out how to get more phones and more contracts out of mall kiosks and other retailers they sell to.

Topics: sales strategy Sales

How to Get Upgraded to First Class—in Sales!

first-class-upgradeI recently read an article on how to get one of those choice seats in the first-class cabin. One suggestion was to be nice and smile at the gate agent. Gee, I don’t think so! Yes, I should be courteous and warm, but no, there is darn little chance that being sweet will get me upgraded. I know the computer makes those decisions based on the passenger’s status in the airline’s loyalty program, how much they paid for their ticket, when they bought it, and numerous other factors. Rarely does the gate agent have any discretion as to which of us weary travelers gets that last first-class seat.

But the article did have value—because it made me think about how salespeople get “upgraded” in the minds of our prospects. In that realm, there’s no computer and no algorithm. And while smiling probably won’t make much of a difference, how we behave totally determines how we’re perceived and whether the prospect gives us first-class treatment (an appointment) or not.

Topics: Sales

The Trap That is Set for All New Salespeople

free-cheddar-mouse-trapI saw this quote on the bathroom wall of my favorite Asheville coffee shop this week.

“There’s always free cheddar in the mousetrap baby.” 

It’s a lyric from a Tom Waits song, a song I’m not particularly fond of, but this lyric line got me thinking. The main message, of course, is that the easiest path is not always the best. The mouse would be better off slowly nibbling on alley scraps through the day to end up with enough food to survive, instead of trying to grab the full days’ worth of nutrition at one time from the mouse trap—making it his last meal!

As I thought about this timeless truth, I started thinking about the trap I see many new salespeople fall into. Too often, a new seller makes a quick sale or two before they know what they’re doing, before they are following the right steps and committing to enough activity.

Topics: Sales

Are You in Sales or Service?

service-and-sales-chocolate-and-peanut-butter

I can still see it in my mind—the old commercial for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. Two people would run into each other, and then exchange accusations: “You got your peanut butter in my chocolate.” “No, you got your chocolate in my peanut butter.”

You should think of selling and customer service in the same way. It’s not one or the other. They should work together. That was always the case, but these days it is even more dramatically true: selling and serving should be inseparable, and nearly indistinguishable.

Topics: Sales

How to Solve the Stage Fright of New Business Development

stage-fright-salesperson“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players…” 

- William Shakespeare

An account manager recently sent me a note with this cool compliment: “Thank you, thank you, thank you. I always feel so confident after we speak.”

That last line stopped me in my tracks and brought a smile to my face. Confidence is such an important aspect of what we all do. With it, great things can be accomplished; without it, few things will even be attempted. So I reflected on the conversation that led her to make that statement. Why did she reach out to me? And what, exactly, happened during our call?

Topics: Sales sales process

What do Ordering Dessert and Selling Have in Common?

ordering-dessertI know you have been there. We all have. You go to any restaurant, and they are always trying to upsell you. Do you want a drink with that? How about a jumbo large fries? And even at nice restaurants they ask if you would like to see a dessert menu, or they just bring the dessert cart to your table without even asking.

Are they really doing that for you? Are they trying to solve your hunger problem after you just ate a huge meal or ordered a double meat cheeseburger? Of course not! They are trying to solve their problem, which is to grow their bottom line. (Drinks and desserts have the largest profit margins on most menus, but you knew that.) And we know we are being upsold because if we wanted or needed that pie, we would have ordered it!

Topics: Sales sales process

Checklists Save Lives. They Can Save Sales, Too.

checklists-save-livesA decade ago, a group of hospitals in Michigan implemented a procedure in their ICUs that reduced the infection rate by 66%, cut expense by $75 million, and saved an estimated 1,500 lives. Some new technology? A wonder drug? Nope. 

It was a checklist, used when inserting an intravenous line into a patient. Author James Clear calls this the power of never skipping steps, and he wrote about in a recent blog post at JamesClear.com. Surgeon and best-selling author Atul Gawande wrote a very strong-selling book about the extraordinary impact of the simple checklist, The Checklist Manifesto

Topics: Sales sales process