Move The Sales Needle Podcast

Protecting your Territory and Finding Prospects with Google If your sales team is spending time inefficiently to locate customers, prospects, email addresses and market info, you need to upgrade your skillbase. The Google inurl:// search term is an excellent tool to search competitor's sites for a specific person, fact or keyword. Instead of trying to navigate your prospect's site looking for specific listing of the management team. Simple expansion by adding name of the person (in quotes) plus the term ppt can provide one or two key points that can connect with a high level prospect. "Tim Haller" +.ppt Customize your work for your client. Your client's logo has to be up front, in high resolution in any proposal that you send. It's almost certain to be available in the images: special search.   Google Fu is a small but powerful way to differentiate yourself from your competition !

What to do ? The Salesperson's nightmare Doing all of the work without a return commitment and action by your client is a sure way to confuse activity with moving a deal along. If your client has gone silent, all the things that you thought you had are gone. You no longer have access to power. You no longer have (if you ever had) an effective champion. You may be able to employ power to power - by asking your manager to call high and wide to go around the person that has gone silent. You may be able to call their bluff from a buddy's cellphone or Skype. But the reality is the deal is dead because you did not move the deal along properly. Do not get stuck with one person, and always ask for the next step before you agree to move forward.    

Negotiation Starts when you are asked for ANYTHING that costs you time Building commitment with the client early on is a key part of building a deal. The value has to be balanced in the professional sales process.   Negotiation early on for a non-disclosure is a key indicator of access to power. If they are struggling to get a simple NDA, how are they able to get things in gear for a purchase order signature. Next week.. negotiating a good deal.    

Are You Communicating to a New, Younger audience the right way ? Don't forget texting. With Facebook and Twitter getting the lion's share of the publicity, you need to make sure that you have an effective mix to keep your name out there Tim talks with Social Media manager Courtney Wallin about the differences in Facebook, LInkedin and Google searches, and also suggests a few tools to generate tweets, Facebook and blog entries, and tools to measure your social media footprint, and link with thought leaders in your world.  

Everyone has a story. Did you Learn from Yours ? Most sales people have plenty of war stories of successful deals. A few drinks later, they might reveal some stories that did not have such a good outcome.  On reflection, there are lots of good lessons to be learned. Tim and Steven talk about how they were able to learn from some of their sales experience. With their coaching, you can think about some techniques that will enhance your sales performance.  

Are you Married to your Champion ? Most sales people think that they have champions when in fact they do not.  But, if they truly have one - remember that situations change. Your sales people may be afraid to go around them if they lose power within the organization. As soon as you hear the phrase "I'm all you need - you don't need to talk with anyone else" it's a flag.    Even if you have a champion, you can get too close to that champion but never be able to go elsewhere in that account. Now's the time to bring in some boss power. Triangulate the situation. Ask your champion to introduce your boss to his boss, and offer to set the meeting details yourself. Don't spend time on a deal that can't close. Just be because you have a great relationship does not mean that you need to continue in a marriage that's gone sour. Tim and Steven talk about how managing your champion will enhance your sales performance.  

How To Know if You have a REAL Champion Most sales people think that they have champions when in fact they do not.  Champions simply sell for you when you are not there. Valuable as they might be, sponsors, coaches and advocates are valuable but they are not and can not be champions in the account - because they are below the power line and they can't buy. As soon as you hear the phrase "you didn't hear it from me" it's a flag.  Nice people, good intention, maybe good information but definitely not a champion. A sponsor will push for meetings, are known as influencers in the organization and will on occasion advocate for you. But if they are below the power line they have no role as a true champion. A champion must have power, must have influence and hold budget power. But you must confirm with the question that Tim shares in this episode: "Will you be my champion ? " Tim and Steven talk about how email can be used to enhance your sales performance.  

Fresh and Relevant You may have used an "elevator pitch" - but effective sales tactics have moved far beyond that simple approach. A compelling reference story for each of the industries that you call upon, tied in with a piece of collateral delivered through an email service provider, can provide you with a valuable marketing intelligence system. You have to engage your marketing team - but once you have gained their confidence and help this form of custom communications with prospects can leverage your sales effort. Tim and Steven talk about how email can be used to enhance your sales performance.  

Working with Channels : Scale, Reach, and Added Value Channels can provide an extended sales footprint for your company. But a channel manager has to learn that influence is a different sales art.  Once of the big issues is that you are not the boss of that sales team. A great communications strategy helps them to build a roadmap to a good deal, where both parties are engaged. You have to make it easy for the channel partner to do business with you - making it easy for them to talk to their clients.  Tim and Steven look at techniques that will make your channel management strategy productive and engaged.  

Gatekeepers This week - some of the strategies that Tim and Steven recommend in dealing with Gatekeepers. First - do not leave without getting the name of the gatekeeper - because you need to refer to them, by name, later in the process. All of the executive assistants talk daily, and these days they are certainly knowledgeable. And - they know the buying and sign-off process. Tim and Steven look at techniques that will make your gatekeeper skills productive and engaged.  

Gatekeepers The bane of every sales person is the personal assistant or executive admin.  An effective salesperson must realize that the executive admin's real mission is not keeping people out, but letting the right people in. The biggest factor is the attitude - being respectful. You need to be politely persistent, and educated on the company. It's not so important to reach the CEO, but it's important to reach the CEO's office - because they know where to call.  Engaging the person respectfully and asking for their assistance will go a long way. There's one special time during the day then you can crack through to an executive, that Tim reveals. Likewise, there are magic days, and scheduling the first two months of the quarter that will give big results. This episode reveals the timing, and why Friday is the most important day of the week. Tim and Steven look at techniques that will make your gatekeeper skills productive and engaged.  

Engaging with the Phone - Voicemail and Live How and when to use the telephone is a critical skill. There's one special time during the day then you can crack through to an executive, that Tim reveals. Likewise, there are magic days, and scheduling the first two months of the quarter that will give big results. This episode reveals the timing, and why Friday is the most important day of the week. As a sales manager, you can use the CRM system to prepare for a blitz afternoon.  Tim and Steven look at techniques that will make your calling strategy productive and engaged.  

  Use Care Advancing through Levels of Communications NLP gives you better information on how people are responding to you. The speed and pacing of conversation - matching volume and eye contact - can be critical. The logical levels of NLP are a great tool to develop rapport.  Environment, behavior and capabilities are essential foundations, but you have to earn the right to move to higher levels of conversation. Exceptional sales people know how to observe their progress and advance ideas and sales.  Tim and Steven look at techniques to help you classify and turn communications preferences to your benefit.  

  Neuro-Linguistic Programming There a lot of people in the NLP world, and a lot of hocus-pocus claims. In the real world, it's not magic that works magic, but observation and thought. One of the most powerful preferences that individual prospects have  are for one dominant mode of communications: visual, auditory or kinesthetic.  Exceptional sales people know how to observe the preferred mode for clients and advance ideas and sales.  Tim and Steven look at techniques to help you classify and turn communications preferences to your benefit.  

Make it a Metric Driven Introduction New sales people are not trained, but that first day on the job is an opportunity to get them into a metric driven environment - calling on leads that are cold or unknown accounts. Building confidence begins with getting the story down about your company and products.  New sales people are happier knowing what motivates their customers.  Exceptional sales people know how to manage new hires, push them into metrics driven work and knowing that they are going to be measured each day. Tim and Steven look at techniques that will make your new hires productive and engaged.