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Archive for the ‘Sales’ Category

My day job vs my passion

Posted by Eddie Frame
Wednesday, January 11th, 2012

Anyone that knows me knows my biggest passion is carp fishing.  I have been carp fishing since I was 6 years old.  Some people might say I’m obsessed and during the summer months I spend as much time as possible down by the lake, going to fishing shows or just buying carp magazines.

I have now been working in Sales for 10 months and one thing that has surprised me the most is the similarity between sales and carp fishing, this may sound stupid but let me explain…

I believe that in carp fishing the most important thing is to never stay in the same place for too long. If the fishing is good carry on and stay put, however, it won’t stay like this forever and once you have either caught all the fish in the area or disturbed the area too much that nothing comes close then it’s time to move on.  The same thing can be said within sales, if you stay in the same area e.g. speak to the same clients or potential clients all the time you will eventually sell to everyone that wants your product or get told to never call back again because you are bothering them too much.  It is very important to move around and speak to as many different industries and potential clients as possible.

During one of my week long fishing sessions I make sure I always have 3 rods with me. These will all be fished at the same time.  The reason I do this is to ensure that I cover as much ground as possible, covering different depths and in different areas of the lake.  Again this is very similar to sales as it is very important to have as many existing and potential clients in the pipeline as possible and not just focus in on one area.  If the area isn’t producing or that rod isn’t in the right place you will leave with nothing. Make sure you have as many rods in the water as possible!!!

Another very important thing is to ensure that you have a variety of different baits in your tackle box, you would be surprised how fussy carp can be.  Something that worked one day could very easily not work the next. In sales make sure that your tackle box is full of different baits/products as this makes it much easier to relate the right features, advantages and benefits to the client’s needs.

Finally, patience! This is crucial – don’t pester people to try to make a sale as this will only lose you potential customers.  If you’re not patient in fishing you will end up scaring anything that comes close, or you’ll probably give up before the fish have even had a chance to find your bait.  There is also no harm in getting back in touch with people after a few months to see if they have any requirements – if it was a need once it will more than likely be a need again.   Just be patient!

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What is customer service?

Posted by Martin le Comte
Thursday, October 13th, 2011

Effective customer service should be a combination of robust processes and great people, but I have found it is always the people that make the difference. That was never truer than my recent experience trying to purchase a new wood floor.  It was one of the worst customer service experiences I’ve ever had; it would have been laughable if it hadn’t been so painful and stressful.

  • Deliver – Do what you say you are going to do, when you say you are going to do it.

My flooring supplier missed five delivery slots in the space of two weeks; one of the missed slots was promised as a personal delivery by the company owner.

  • Get it right! – Make sure you have all the information you need to fulfil the customer’s request.

One of the excuses used by my flooring supplier, after the fifth missed delivery, was that they had the wrong delivery address even though I had confirmed it with them on, at least, four separate occasions

  • Take Ownership – Inevitably things sometimes go wrong, take responsibility and personal accountability for putting things right. Do everything you need to do to turn customer dissatisfaction into delight.

If the company I’m referring to had bothered to do anything that they said they were going to do to put things right – I would have simply thought that it was one of those things and been satisfied, they haven’t!

  • Communicate – Tell the customer what is happening throughout the process. The value of regular on going contact cannot be underestimated.

The flooring supplier that I used just stopped answering my calls (over 250 of them) deliberately dropping them only replying via email or text message with more broken promises! It got so bad that I was on the verge of contacting a solicitor to investigate how I go about starting legal proceedings to recover my money. Eventually, by text, I was told that the reason the supplier stopped answering my calls was that he was “profoundly embarrassed”. If he had just taken the time to talk to me the situation could have been resolved much sooner.

  • Follow up – Find out if the customer is satisfied with the product or service they have received. Ask them what you could do better and what they liked/appreciated about your company. This data is vital in improving the product or service that you offer, differentiating you from your competitors.

Needless to say in my recent experience this has not happened in any way shape or form, except that the partial refund promise has, you’ve guessed it, been broken.

On a final note, think about how many people I’m talking to about my recent terrible experience. Trust me, I’m not just blogging about it, I’m telling anyone who will listen.  Research tells us that the people that I tell will tell between 7 and 10 others about my experience to ensure that they avoid using the same supplier. That’s a lot of feedback and potentially a lot of lost sales.  From a purely commercial perspective how can you afford not to offer customers goodservice?

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The Importance of a Joined-Up Implementation Strategy

Posted by TimHolmes
Monday, July 25th, 2011
Enchantress

Image by Klearchos Kapoutsis via Flickr

“I’d rather be a boat with a motor than a cork on the water”.  So says the Global HR Director of a FTSE 250 company that I have had the pleasure of meeting on a few occasions.  After the crash of 2008 his company took a battering as some of its core markets declined, and newly arriving into the business he was clear that sales skills and particularly sales proactivity needed sharpening up: they could bob about helplessly on the tide of the global manufacturing market; or they could fire up the engine, set a clear new course and at least drive the business in the right direction, even if market forces made it tough going in the short term.

I’ve been reminded of his maxim lately as I have observed with admiration the joined-up corporate thinking of one of Phoenix’s Sales Academy clients – a business that has engaged with us to help instil a consistent and up-to-date sales approach in its people.  We have worked with this company for several months in the past year, tailoring and delivering workshops in core sales skills, negotiation, objection handling, and other key areas.  Senior management has embraced the project, and directors have involved themselves with enthusiasm in the initial stages, attending the core training personally so that they can understand exactly what the new approach entails, and how it differs from what they had before.

What has really impressed, though, is how they have taken responsibility for their side of our partnership, and come up with a truly interconnected approach to implementation of the learning they have invested in. By implementation I mean what happens internally in an organisation after training.  It’s the process by which learning is embedded into the team or the company once the training delivery is over, and it’s absolutely critical to the success of any training initiative, for without it the learning will not take hold systematically and sustain its effects.

The key people when it comes to implementation of sales training are the line managers who have responsibility for the day-to-day supervision of the sales team.  They need to recognise their paramount role in supporting the learning and providing the environment in which it can take hold – if they do that then this month’s innovation will easily become next month’s habit.  It’s often cited that a new habit forms in roughly 21 days; so you can see how it’s essential to keep the team on-track and practising what they’ve learned daily within that initial period until new best-practice techniques are embedded.

In this company which is currently flying I have been particularly impressed by the Sales Director: as soon as he understood what our expert sales trainers were going to be delivering to his people, he put enormous energy and thought into designing processes that enshrine the new sales methodology at the heart of everything his team does.  For example, he and his Sales Manager take the time each month to listen to half a dozen sales calls made by every one of the team, and evidence is noted on the key elements of the sale (attitude, knowledge, structure, and questioning) and a ’score’ given for each accordingly.  He and his Sales Manager then give feedback and coaching off the back of these observations, in order to keep the sales people focusing on what will make the greatest difference to their results in the long term.  In addition, he has overseen the creation of Product Sheets that lay out information for the sales team to reference, all reflecting the language & structure of the training. Negotiation grids have been created which make clear which variables are preferable to use when striking a deal for each product.  And they are helped and incentivized on a daily basis to apply it, with a newly formulated commission structure that rewards 50% on the right behaviours and not just the results.  As a result he is seeing a powerful consistency of approach which is creating a virtuous circle, with each sales person constantly reminded of best practice by simply hearing their peers around them.

And as expected, this has all had an immediate positive effect on the figures: June 2011 was their best ever month, and the retention team hit over 125% of their target.

But there’s another element to this too, and it is that the organisation as a whole has embraced the new approach, and decided to weave it into the DNA of the company: from marketing materials to product discussions to customer service, the language and structure of their new sales method is constantly reflected and reinforced.  Thus, everything is pointed in the same direction, and there is very little friction or dissonance.

The motor’s running, they’ve set a clear direction, and they’re leaving bobbing corks for dead.  Exciting times indeed.

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Top Ten Tips for Negotiation Skills

Posted by MarinaWirkner
Thursday, July 7th, 2011

We all negotiate in one way or another. Let it be with a client whose business we desperately want to win or try to find the best possible deal which suits all our needs.

I thought I would share some tips with you I have received from our negotiation specialist.

1. Using silence

Saying nothing can sometimes be as powerful as speaking, providing silence is used at the right time and in the right way.

2. Summarising frequently

By definition, negotiations can often be complex, so never be afraid to summarise.

3. Making notes

This too helps keep negotiations on track.

4. Leaving people feeling good at each step

Negotiation typically builds agreement progressively. Make sure you emphasise that each stage is good – preferably for both parties.

5. Reading between the lines

Remember that negotiation is essentially an adversarial process. Watch out particularly for danger phrases that often mean something other than they seem to, even the very opposite.

  • “You’re a reasonable fellow.”  Meaning: “I am”.
  • “That’s much fairer for both of us.” Meaning: “Especially for me”.

6. Remaining neutral

Maintain neutrality as much and as long as possible. Negotiation works best as a balancing exercise.

7. Concentrating – all the time

Concentrate. Build in time to think if necessary. Use delaying tactics to stop you getting into difficulty.

8. Keeping your powder dry

Beware of acting precipitately. Try not to make an offer, certainly not a final offer, until everything that needs negotiating is on the table.

9. Beware deadlines

It is said that there has not been a deadline in history that was not negotiable. Timing is a variable.

10. Remembering constraints and variables are interchangeable

Almost anything the other side presents as fixed may be made into a variable. The word fixed is as likely to mean we do not want to negotiate this, as it cannot be used as a variable.

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Getting Things Done!

Posted by BillOsmond
Monday, December 6th, 2010
Day 15 - Juggling [Explored]
Image by lipjin via Flickr

What is it about human beings that means that they don’t do things that they know they need to do and would help them if they did it?  What makes one person act immediately?  What persuades another that it is fine to leave something until next week?  Why do people say “I know I need to do that” but then don’t?  This came to mind when I was working on our business plan.  It struck me that many plans become unstuck and fail not because they are over ambitious, ill thought out or hopelessly complicated (although many are).  It struck me that they fail due to a failing of practical instigation.  They are often dependent on certain individuals carrying out given tasks or actions at a, or by a, certain time.  Put simply people very often don’t do what they are asked to do by the time they were asked to do it.

I then started to examine this trait within two groups of people, sales people and managers.  Getting things done is vital to the success of both groups.  Sales people generally know what they have to do.  However they display a wide variety of approaches when trying to carry out the tasks that lie ahead of them.  Managers tend to focus on what they absolutely need to do that day and rarely think of what they need to do for the future.  John Adair principle of Action Centred Leadership recognises the need for managers to focus on three key areas namely “team”, “task” and “individual”.  When challenged, managers often accept that they focus far too much time on task orientated actions.  They will achieve far greater results by allocating time to team and individual as well as task actions.  Sales people fall into the same trap, they focus on actions that will help them hit tomorrows target and often not enough time on building for the future.  So as opposed to “team” “task” and “individual”, they could maybe adopt the headings of “target”, “strategy” and “pipeline” or something to that effect.  The point is the same and boiled down to its simplest headings we could settle on short, medium and long term.

I do understand how both groups fall into this short term approach.  Pressure on targets pushes one to work on what is going to make the biggest impact on that target.  This brings into question what actually makes the biggest impact on targets.  Short term activity is quite easy to measure and results appear instantaneous, longer term activities bring less immediate reward.  So is it a question of motivation.  Does the human being prefer to carry out tasks that hold more instant gratification?  It is certainly true that people prefer to do the tasks that they like to do or feel comfortable doing.

It appears that sales people and managers perform better under pressure, when they have to.  The key is to retrain the brain.  Long term strategic tasks should be viewed as top priority by a sales person or a manager.  The brain must be taught to view tasks as holding equal value.  Clearly some are more important but it is the framing of the task that helps humans tackle them.  Categorising tasks would help with this.  As a sales person, you may well spend a lot of time focusing on this week’s target, which is fine as long as you find some time to redress the balance and think strategically about the following weeks target and not forgetting the actions you need to take to ensure a strong pipeline.  Managers would do well to divide their time equally amongst team, task and individual.  Making a conscious effort to juggle these three balls will help to maximise performance.  Coaches often refer to removing barriers in order to enhance performance.  The message is to work on all aspects of your role, all actions that make up your role and actions that effect the short, medium and long term.  All of which will enhance your overall performance whether you are a sales person or a manager.

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Closing Skills

Posted by BillOsmond
Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

After running a couple of short workshops under the title of closing skills, I was reminded of the complexities that surround the subject and indeed the myths that appear whenever the subject is mentioned.  I often hear sales managers refer to their teams as “good but can’t close”.  I guess that means they ultimately aren’t “good”.  What is significant is that the closing skills of the sales team

are often targeted as the reason why they are not achieving great results.  This creates a knock on effect – the managers continue to put pressure on the sales team to “close, close, close”.  The result of this pressure means that the sales person focuses on what they believe to be a closing technique.  The famous sales mantra from the days of power selling springs to mind “always be closing”.  I wonder if there is any logic telling sales people to do this or is it simply an attempt effect their mentality and develop an aggressive manner when selling, only concerned with getting a result.

I suppose every sales person should be concerned with getting the result they set out to achieve.  However the problem with only worrying about closing is that the rest of your sales technique and structure will probably suffer.  Where I do agree with the “always be closing” mantra is in as much that you should always be doing something to help you close the sale.  One analogy that we discussed during the workshops was that closing should be like the closing of the barn door once you have the cow in the barn.  The point being that closing the door should be a simple task once the cow has wondered happily into the barn, because they have wanted to.  The sales person must get the client to want the product/service that they are selling and then close behind them.  If you try to close when the cow is halfway through the door it can be a tricky process!!

Cow Arzúa, Galicia)
Image via Wikipedia

So what will help you close the sale comfortably?  Firstly, have an objective.  Never go into a call or meeting with a see how it goes attitude, it makes it incredibly difficult to gain an advance or a close.  Secondly, use questions to develop a need to sell against.  Questions, when used effectively will help change the clients view of the issues and problems they are facing, heightening needs means that the client is more likely to look for a solution.  (the cow starts to move).  Thirdly, gain agreement from the client that they do have needs and recognise them.  Fourthly, when demonstrating how the product or service will help the client, make sure you gain agreement from the client that they do recognise this and are not simply nodding politely.  Finally make a clear suggestion as to what they should buy and ask for the business.  Do not ask “is that the sort of thing you’d be interested in?” or “how does that sound?” or any variation of the above.  You should have demonstrated exactly how it would help them and therefore it is question how much they should buy not whether they will buy or whether they like it!

So, always be doing something to help you close, listen for buying signals and respond quickly, using those opportunities to gain agreement and close.  Always seek to gain an advance from each call or meeting.  All of your closing should revolve around progress.  Good closing skills require all the key elements of sales structure to be used: good introduction, good questioning and need development, good use of the products features and therefore benefits and then an awareness of when to close and a confidence to do so.

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Reality Check

Posted by OliverO
Monday, June 28th, 2010
Info from the English WP http://en.wikipedia.o...

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At Phoenix we always place a great emphasis on understanding exactly what it is our clients are trying to achieve.  This part of the training process is so valuable and yet it is so rarely done as effectively as it might.  At best, it involves a meeting with a selection of key stakeholders, whereupon broad objectives are agreed and content is designed around these.  In many cases it is simply based upon managerial observations and anecdotal feedback which does not always get to the root of the real development issues.  What’s more, the participants themselves are rarely involved in this process which is also not ideal.  By consulting with at least some of those who will actually be attending the training, you not only get a better chance of designing something relevant but also of establishing participant “buy-in”.

This is a particular concern when designing content for telephone sales workshops.  We are often told that the participants need help on a particular skill – for example, closing, negotiating or questioning.  No problem – we’ll design something around these and in many cases, what we design will work pretty effectively and provide the participants with some key tools and techniques that will improve their results.  But how much better could it have been, had we been able to do some real analysis and actually listen to the quality of calls that the participants have been making to their potential or existing clients.

Call recording equipment has been around for many years, however, it is expensive to install and has usually only been utilised at larger call centre operations.  Improved technology has however now made it very easy for any type of organisation to benefit from call recording and here at Phoenix, we have really begun to see just how useful it can be.  Phonecoach provide a very straightforward system which enables call recording simply by adding a prefix to the number dialled – there’s no hardware involved and all the recorded calls are automatically saved as MP3 files.

By being able to listen to exactly what is being said, by both sales person and customer, we are in a much better position to identify what’s working and what skills need further developing.  From a design point of view this “reality check” enables us to focus only on those areas that really need it, ensuring that the training is lean and extremely relevant.  Where appropriate, we can even use the recorded calls to illustrate key learning points during the training itself – which can also be very powerful for the participants.

For just £24 + vat, we can record up to 500 minutes of calls, which is usually enough to get a good selection of a team’s telephone sales activity over a week or so.  After some thorough analysis, we report our findings back to the client and only then, will we design a course based on what’s actually happening.  This ensures that any sloppy techniques can be instantly identified & addressed, leading to a direct impact on an individual’s sales performance. Which is, after all, exactly what any high quality sales training should do.

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Tailored vs Open Courses

Posted by MarinaWirkner
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010
Scales for ambox use

Image via Wikipedia

I’m often asked by potential customers, what exactly are the key differences between open and tailored training. This got me thinking that it might be useful to develop a quick reference guide that will help you make a more informed decision.

Open Courses

  1. Open courses provide the participants with a brilliant overview of their chosen subject – whether it’s Introduction to Sales, Essential Management or Inspirational Leadership.
  2. Open courses enable you to work alongside individuals from different industries but often with very similar concerns. They also provide you with great networking opportunities!
  3. Open courses provide an off site learning environment to discuss openly challenges & concerns which in some cases individuals feel more open to talk about when not in the company of colleagues.
  4. Open courses represent a highly cost effective solution where only one or two individuals require development in a particular area.
  5. Open courses give individuals a new set of skills and the opportunity to practice them in a ‘safe’ environment and build their confidence to apply the newly learnt skills back in their own workplace.

Tailored Training

  1. Tailored training provides you with a comprehensive training needs analysis conducted in advance of any events we deliver on your behalf.
  2. Tailored training enables us to include a wide range of disciplines within a single given event.
  3. Tailored training will meet a specific requirement through the unique design to match the objectives of the individual or group.
  4. Tailored training offers the possibility to design a specific programme for the whole organisation where everyone will be involved, this enables lasting change which is encouraged and supported internally & externally.
  5. Tailored training can be designed specifically to a given company and industry with a choice of ‘best fit’ Learning Consultant
  6. Tailored Training allows more flexibility with training dates and location.

I hope this was useful and if you would like to discuss either option in more detail please get in touch and I will be delighted to help.

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Networking Events

Posted by BillOsmond
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010
People Mingling
Image by VancityAllie via Flickr

As I write this blog I feel slightly embarrassed that after nearly fifteen years of running my own business, today was the first time that I attended a networking event.  I have been to conferences and seminars but not an out and out networking event.  I have to say that I have always been a bit dismissive of the idea of going to such an event.  My impression of a networking event was of lots of people all selling their products and services at each other.  I now realise that networking events could be like that but also could offer a lot more to those who attend.

The event I attended was hosted by the Southwark Chamber of Commerce.  When we arrived we were greeted positively and encouraged to grab a cup of tea or coffee and “mingle”.  At this point I thought “here we go” small talk time and was quite pleased to discover that there didn’t appear to be anymore tea available so I quickly made myself busy seeking out some more.  However, once the tea had arrived and my fellow tea drinkers and I started to introduce ourselves and chat, I realised that it is the small talk that gets it all going.  Lots of people find small talk a little awkward, talking to those that you don’t know can often be difficult.  The networking event environment actually helps you here.  The fact that you don’t know anybody means that you have to dive in.  There appeared to be a collective sense of “well we’re here so we might as well talk”.  I suppose that is obvious and seasoned networkers would understand this.  After a short period we were invited into a dining room where breakfast was to be served.  A sit down breakfast, again not what I was expecting, I thought a bit of mingling, few cups of tea, breakfast with those who you came with and go!

As my colleague, James and I entered the dining room, I decided that there was no point sitting next to him, so I headed to the other end of the table and found myself sitting at the head of the table, a chair others had avoided I think.  First good decision:  don’t sit next to your colleague, it is comfortable but limits your networking options.  I found myself next to a guy called Tony and a lady called Chica without going into detail, they worked for very different organisations.  I soon got into the swing of introducing myself to others around my end of the table but the Chair of the Chamber of Commerce also asked everyone to formally introduce themselves in turn to everyone round the table.  People took their chance to make a good impression and it gave everyone a chance to identify who they might want to have a chat with at some point.  The Chair of the Chamber welcomed us all and reminded us of what the Chamber was all about and it made me start to think about other benefits of this type of event.

The dining room created a very open environment that encouraged conversation and the attendees were taking their chance.  Chica and I did have a chat about training and our roles in the organisations we worked in but actually the bulk of our conversation was about the changing face of South London.  Tony gave me some ideas about how we might go about printing up some training documents and manuals, which was food for thought at the very least.  OK, I didn’t make the deal of the century, James seems to have made more progress in that department.

I did leave with the feeling that I would certainly attend such an event again and felt that somewhere along the line these conversations and contacts will lead to something.  That something may be some training being sold but it also might mean when I do need some printing, some financial advice, a new business property or a self portrait for my office, I might know just the person to contact.  So I now view these events as not just about promoting what we do, they are also about finding out what others do and how they do it.  Overall, I think the message is “don’t underestimate the networking event”.  Make the most of them not only as way of promoting your business but as a way of creating a support network to draw upon.

Foot note:  one day after this event somebody booked onto one of our Introduction to Sales courses as a direct result of a conversation had at the event.  So I am now even keener on networking events!

Written by Bill Osmond – MD

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Telephone Sales

Posted by BillOsmond
Sunday, February 21st, 2010
Touch DDB - Our operators are standing by!
Image by drewleavy via Flickr

With the ever increasing reliance on email, there is a feeling that sales people are forgetting the basics of actually getting on the phone and selling.  Not too many years ago, sales departments were alive with the general hubbub of chatter and “sales noise”.  Nowadays I find myself walking through sales departments and being struck by a wall of silence, only broken by the click of the keyboard.  The big problem is that email although hugely convenient, does not sell!  The telephone conversation should always make more progress.

What is stopping sales people from using the phone? Firstly, as I mentioned, convenience; it is easier to send an email to a client than phone them and still feel like you are working hard.  First tip:  if you are about to write an email to a client, ask yourself the question “could I phone instead?”  Inevitably the answer will be yes.

Sales people get themselves into to what could be referred to as “avoidance focus” behaviour.  This is where they have got themselves into what is effectively a rut.  Their expectation is low and so their phone calls lack impact and that leads to failure so they start to talk themselves out of making calls because they don’t like the result.  To get out of this rut, the sales person has to start developing “approach focus behaviours”.

To do this, try these ideas:

1)    Start making calls early in the day and in doing so get some momentum going.  You will feel much more positive about your day generally if you have made twenty five calls by ten o’clock.

2)    Set yourself targets.  Can you call ten potential clients by the end of the day?  Can you find out a new need from your existing client base?  Sales people tend to respond better under pressure.  When the deadline is not upon you, you need to create your own pressure.

3)    If you have a successful call, don’t rest on your laurels and have a celebratory cup of tea, make five more off the back of that success and momentum.

4)    Equally if you make a call that does not get the desired result, do not sit and mull it over and become depressed by you lack of progress.  Analyse the call, try to identify areas or techniques that you could improve and call someone else.

5)    Don’t be put off by an abrupt or rude response.  People react in all sorts of ways for all sorts of reasons.  It is almost always not personal and should not be taken as such.

6)    Turn your email off for a day and concentrate solely on telephone sales.  Email by its nature is not an “urgent” tool.  If people need to get in contact they can call you.  Likewise if people don’t want to respond to you they don’t have to if you send an email.  Admittedly they don’t have to take your call but it is harder to turn down.

7)    Make sure you have an objective for your call.  Think about how you can gain attention quickly.  Do not sound like you have made fifty calls that day (even though you might have)

8)    Variety can help to maintain momentum.  Call different types of clients, present different products (if relevant), mix up your calling pattern to maintain impact.

9)    Back yourself!  Have belief in your ability to make the call and get the result.  Use techniques and objectives to create interest and engagement.

10)   Positive, imaginative and creative telephone sales can be extremely effective, certainly more effective than a stream of emails.  Think about what sort of impression you are making on your client if you phone them and ask them not if they got your proposal but whether they could see how it would benefit them and if they had any questions.  Sales is all about impact, the telephone call does that far more effectively than the email.

Bill Osmond – MD of Phoenix Training

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