During these challenging economic times, I’ve more than once heard a business owner or sales person tell me that they didn’t connect with their current customers, because “they probably weren’t going to buy anyway.” Not only might their assumption be wrong, since when did the customer relationship become only about today’s sale?

The social web has changed the way that your customers purchase products and services! If you aren’t visible to them, you put yourself at significant risk of losing sales opportunities. Buyers these days are proactive. They educate themselves about what is available, which means that the sales process has been transformed into a “buying process.” Unfortunately, many sales people fail to realize that things have changed. Smart sales people will take advantage of the opportunities that the social web offers by being visible, staying on top of trends, looking into the future and finding ways to position themselves as a well-educated navigator who is an open influencer instead of a convincer. Become a “trusted adviser” who stays connected regardless of the economic situation.

Three 3 Tips for Reconnecting

1. Evaluate your communication process with your current customers. When is the last time you talked to them? Are they aware of all that you have to offer? Don’t assume they know. Ask yourself what you can do for them…can you make a connection for them or share a valuable piece of business information that helps them seal a deal?
2. Use tools like LinkedIn to expand your reach in an account. Who else in the company has a LinkedIn profile that you can get to know? If your current contact has moved on to other things, you can use the LinkedIn “Companies” feature to search out new connections within the account.
3. Create newsletters using email marketing products like Constant Contact. Share relevant business content to keep your customers informed about industry trends, market opportunities and the newest in what you have to offer.

Remember that your existing customer base is a gold mine of opportunity; a competitive advantage that is often overlooked. Stop randomly chasing new opportunities when “acres of diamonds” are sitting right in front of you!

As the awareness of social networking’s power grows, questions inevitably arise about how to use social media to increase sales.

It is a great question that I am asked often. The decision about which technology to use will vary from company to company. After all, each business will have their own specific set of objectives that they want to accomplish. But it seems to me that the question people really want answered is “can you” make money using social media? My answer is yes. And, it doesn’t happen overnight.

From experience I know that the blending of social networking tools like LinkedIn into a well thought out sales strategy has huge benefits for increasing revenue. Using the telephone and email doesn’t go away, but when you use social networking tools effectively, you can speed up the sales cycle.

Getting Started

Before embarking down the social media path, it first starts with getting clear about three things:

• Purpose
• Platform
• Plan

You need to clarify these three things or your results will be lackluster at best. This is also an ideal time to assess what’s really working in your sales organization and what’s not. Technology is merely an enabler. The use of social media will not “fix” a sales process that is broken. It won’t do you much good if your people are not right for the role, or they lack the proper training to do their job.

Right now, people are curious to learn more about social media and they should. At the same time, I see many people taking a short-term, shot gun approach, because they are too focused on the “point and click” aspects of tools like LinkedIn and Twitter. In large part, they are not making time to ask the questions I’ve suggested. If you want to succeed with your online efforts – make the time!

An Opportunity for Driving Sales

Social networking tools like LinkedIn can and do play a huge role in the first few critical phases of the sales process: investigate and early qualify.

A rep’s ability to quickly identify, qualify and focus on the “right” opportunities remains a big challenge in most sales organizations for lots of reasons that can be discussed in another post. Why focus attention on the problem? In a word – dollars! It is very expensive. Many sales managers often don’t know what an “hour of selling” actually costs them. They know that money and time is wasted with their people chasing down phantom opportunities, but they don’t know exactly how much.

Rick McPartlin, President of The Revenue Game gave an example of the size of the problem at a recent conference I attended. Let’s say that you have a sales person with a $1,000,000 quota. After salary, commission, benefits, etc., the cost for your rep is $150,000 annually. Assuming 2400 hrs of annual sales time, your cost per sales hour is $62.50. That probably doesn’t sound so bad does it? It wouldn’t be if your rep was actually selling all 50 hrs each week.

How much time do you think your people actually spend doing their job? Consider the real hours spent “selling”, which for an average company with a decent strategy and pretty good business alignment; you may be getting 5 actual sales hours out of your people each week. At 5 hours a week, your $150,000 sales rep costs you $625 per hour, which means you need to generate slightly more than $4,100 of revenue per hour if you hope to reach your annual target.

So…

What would it be worth to you if social networking used correctly could significantly shrink wasted money and time on the front end of the sales process?

By the way…

You should probably evaluate very carefully how much time is actually spent on the act of selling. Anything else means time is being spent on non-revenue producing activities and you should strip away anything getting in the way of sales people selling. And that’s a discussion for another day.

Um – that would be neither and both plus…

Many sales professionals believe that nothing succeeds like a face-to-face meeting or, at the very least, contact via the phone. They believe that activities such as writing a blog, commenting on other blogs and in forums, sending out regular e-newsletters, using social networking, such as Linked In and Facebook are a waste of their time.

I couldn’t DISAGREE more!

First, 65% of all sales are lost in the first phone call. You can go back to one of my sales blunders and read all about it. The stark reality is that most people aren’t good on the telephone and they blow it immediately. That translates into “game over man”.

As for the notion that face-to-face is the winner. Well, just like phone calls there are plenty of people who can’t make a decent sales presentation to save their life. What happens if you get in front of someone – before you’ve built up some type of relationship with them – and you blow it? Yup. You lose. No sale!

Here’s the deal…some things just do not change. You must accept that it can take an average of 7 interactions/touches before a sale is closed. That’s because effective selling is all about building relationships and demonstrating to your prospects the results they will receive when they purchase from you. Technology provides a wonderful advantage in that sense, because you can learn to create value and build relationships far in advance of meeting people personally.

The next missed point to consider is how important it is to protect your time. Success comes from focusing on the right activities at the right time! Your ability to to quickly evaluate sales opportunities will either help or harm your sales activities, because opportunities ARE NOT all created equal. You must learn to become very discerning; otherwise, you risk wasting a lot of precious time.

Building a sales pipeline these days requires a “blend” of approaches, and in this day and age if you are not incorporating the use of online tools into your sales toolkit, you will be left behind. Seriously – you WILL become irrelevant. Contributing to blogs, sending out informational newsletters, participating in online forums, using tools like Twitter, webinars or webcasts offer you opportunities stay in front of people who can either buy from you or refer you to someone else who can buy from you.You’ve got to grasp that when people are ready they think of you!

Recently, I picked up two new clients and $10,000 in new revenue all because I send a monthly newsletter. The point is that it’s naive to think that when you call someone on the phone or meet them face to face for the first time that they’ll be ready to buy at that exact moment. That’s why you need to remain in front of people providing them with relevant, meaningful information that delivers real value to them BEFORE they’ve made a purchase.

Disagree? I’d love to hear why!

Hard to believe isn’t it? So much work goes into networking, securing appointments, making the presentations, writing the proposals and then somehow you never actually get around to asking for the sale. Even if you lack confidence or experience, closing doesn’t have to be painful or bewildering.

Here are a few basic points to follow:

Close from the beginning – not to be confused with the old fashioned hard sell; cutthroat approaches rarely works anymore. You are better off letting your prospect know exactly what you’re selling and how you believe what you offer can benefit their business. Sell value, integrity and, above all, relationship. Using this type of approach paves the way for a smoother close.

Learn to recognize the buying signals. There are lots of ways that people let us know when they are ready to buy, but you need to pay attention. For example, they might indicate their readiness by asking you questions about the solution or the buying process. Listen for the clues: “How long would delivery take?” “When could we expect the work to be finished?” or “Is an upgrade available?”

Don’t respond to questions with a “yes” or “no”. Answer the prospect’s questions with questions of your own. Carefully chosen, these return questions can help lead to a sale. For example, instead of answering the question: “Does this model come in silver?” with merely an affirmative, you could say: “Would you like it in silver?”

Suggest specific terms. Rather than asking whether your prospect wants to buy, suggest a specific buying scenario and then ask if your customer agrees to it. For example, “We can start the coaching project on Tuesday for a retainer of $5,000. Would you like us to do that?” If your prospect is uncomfortable with any of the specifics, they will certainly let you know. Make sure you know enough about their needs before undertaking this approach. Otherwise, you risk sounding pushy.

Well, there you have it. The Top 10 Sales Blunders and How You Can Avoid Them. I hope you’ve enjoyed this journey as much as I have. My passion is in helping YOU to attract more clients and close more sales, more often.

There are four distinct phases to the buying cycle that you need to be aware of. Learn to recognize these phases when talking to your prospective clients and save yourself time and heartburn down the road.

• Phase I: Need – your prospect is aware that some sort of change is required either in themselves or in the company they work for; they may feel uneasy or possibly under pressure to quickly find a solution to the problem.
• Phase 2: Learn – knowing there is a need; your prospect sets out to research products or services that may potentially fix their problem. They are asking themselves who offers the best solution, so they will compare the offerings of several different companies during this phase.
• Phase 3: Buy – fear about choosing the right solution is weighing heavily on your prospect’s mind at this point. They’re thinking: “What if I make a mistake? What if the sales person oversold the capability of their product or service? What if I commit to this approach and it doesn’t solve the problem like I think it will? Will my career be in jeopardy if I make a mistake with this decision? Will we be able to agree to terms?”
• Phase 4: Value – in the value phase, your prospect is considering whether or not they will see the results that they’ve been promised. They might be wondering if they’ll really end up satisfied with the solution. They are weighing the value of the solution against the problem they need to solve and evaluating the risks involved with potentially making the wrong decision.

Make sure you understand what phase of the buying process your customer is currently in. This will help you be more aware of the issues at stake and make you better prepared for selling your solution.

In most things in life, a one-size-fits-all approach is rarely effective. This is especially true with selling. Approaching the sale the same way with every person just doesn’t work. Sure, you might be marginally successful with a few who have a similar style to yours, but you’ll be losing the chance to sell your product or service to about 75% of those others who are very different from you.

As you meet prospective clients observe their pace – do they walk fast, talk fast and ask rapid fire questions? If the answer is “yes”, your best bet is to dispense with the pleasantries, cut to the chase, tell them what results they’ll get when they work with you, and then get out of their office. Others you’ll encounter will want detailed explanations and facts and figures to back up what you are offering, to be reassured that the buying risk they are taking won’t leave them twisting in the wind.

DIFFERENT PERSONALITIES COMMUNICATE DIFFERENTLY

To get started you’ve got to know yourself first. Assess your current sales strengths and capabilities. Get to know what you’re really good at and definitely get to know where you have challenges in the sales process. What comes next is learning about the personality styles of other people and what works for them in the sales process.

An important tool that you can use is the Everything DiSC Sales Profile to help you understand exactly where you excel and where you will need help. And more importantly, you will learn exactly what you need to do adapt your communication and pace in order to better connect with your prospect. When you understand how to meet people where they are and give them what they need during their buying process, your sales success will definitely soar!

Once you’ve secured the appointment, the real work begins. You must decide what your objective for your meeting – whether it’s face to face or on the telephone – actually is and then create questions that lead the conversation to the destination you have in mind. I cannot stress strongly enough how important it is for you to PLAN for your meeting BEFORE walking in the door or calling them on the phone. Shooting from hip gets your nowhere, so if you are serious about closing sales, you need to do your homework.

DETERMINE YOUR OBJECTIVE

The first thing you need to do is determine your top 1-2 objectives for your sales meeting. It might be to generate enough interest to secure another meeting or get the purchasing commitment right on the spot. Whatever your goal, you must be very clear what outcome you expect to achieve when you sit down to meet.
KEEP THE MEETING FOCUSED

To keep your meeting on point and focused on your objectives, I recommend that you sit down and plan at least 10 questions that you will ask during that meeting. Think about how you can create them in two ways, just in case the answer to your first question falls flat. For example, if you ask: “How was your most recent quarterly sales performance?” and they say “fine”, you need to be prepared to ask the question another way in order to get more information.

Frame your questions using “how” and “what”. Open ended questions tend to elicit answers that give you more than a simple “yes” or “no”. Preparing questions ahead of time keeps your conversation focused and flowing, and you are far more likely to listen to the answers and learn what you need, when you have considered your questions in advance.

Let’s say you’ve been consistent and persistent and you finally get your prospect on the line. Do you know what you plan to say?

The reality is that 65% of all sales are lost in that opening telephone call. And frankly, this could apply to how you leave voicemails also.

If you think back to my very first blunder, I talked about how most people selling a product or service tend to default to a feature dump. That usually happens in telephone calls too. This is NOT the time to “sell” your prospect something or to be talking about yourself.

Here are the elements to think about before making your call:

• Introduction – A great call starts with this foundation! Clearly introduce yourself – first name, last name, your company – be confident and above all, be articulate. You don’t get a second chance to make that critical first impression, so take it seriously. If you are leaving a phone mail ALWAYS leave your telephone number at the beginning and end of your message.
• Grab their interest – determine what might capture their interest long enough to spend a few minutes talking with you. What economic trends might be affecting their industry? What challenges do your current clients mention to you that might also apply to your prospect? Take the pressure off yourself and them by getting them engaged in a conversation with you.
• Ask for time – Once you’ve captured their attention, ask them for a few more minutes. Then stick to the agreement. If you asked for 10 minutes, end the call in that time or less. Demonstrate that you are a professional who respects their busy schedule. Your goal is to secure a future appointment, so don’t try to sell them in the first call. Get them interested and they’ll be far more likely to want to meet with you.

Don’t just roll into your sales pitch. Take the time to put a framework in place for building a relationship with your prospect. Using this approach, you capture their interest in a way that lets them know you are a professional, that you understand their world. And you’ve gotten them to talk about issues that you know your product or service can help them solve. Now, that’s a great first step!

No matter what business you are in, you’ve got to sell. Developing a sales mindset means you need to understand the sales “process” and then follow it persistently and consistently.

As a sales veteran, I can tell you that the sale rarely happens as a result of a first meeting. On average, it takes 7 “touches” before you will close the deal. That means you’ve got to stick with it long enough for your prospect to become a client. Herbert True, a marketing specialist at the University of Notre Dame studied sales behavior and discovered some interesting things.

• 44% of all people quit trying after the 1^st call.
• 24% quit after the 2^nd call.
• 14% quit after the 3^rd call.
• 12% quit trying to sell their prospect after the 4^th call.

Statistically speaking, people give up pretty easily, even those who call themselves Sales Professionals. Ninety-four percent of the people quit after the 4^th phone call; yet, True’s research found that 60% of all sales were made after the 4^th call.

What would happen if you became one of the 6% who kept going and tapped the 60% of business that comes after four or more calls? So, get going! Look over your prospect list right now…find out with whom you need to reconnect in order to make the sale and do it!

Working with clients, I notice that they often expend too much time and energy focused on opportunities that have little to no potential for actually becoming a bona fide sale. This happens because they have not taken the time to ask the right questions – questions that will help them determine if they should be spending time on this prospect now or following up on in three months from now.

Does this sound familiar?

You met someone at an event and they said they wanted to know more about your service. You called them and scheduled an appointment, met with them and told them all about what you have to offer. They suggest you write a proposal, which you feel pretty good about because you think that means they are really interested. So, you spend several hours putting together that killer proposal and send it over thinking a sale is coming any day. But then when you follow up they say…well, we really don’t have the budget right now, so call me back in 6 months. Excuse me? Even worse is when you realize that all that hard work crafting your proposal was merely a way for them to get their current provider to lower their price! Yup, at some point it has happened to all of us.

Remember that just because someone expresses interest in learning more about your product or service, that doesn’t mean they have the means or the ability to buy right now. Before you spend much time scheduling meetings, crafting presentations or submitting proposals to your prospect, be sure you ask the questions that will help you determine what stage of the buying cycle they are in.

The key is having a healthy sales pipeline is to learn how to balance between closing short-term sales and developing long-term opportunities. Here are some examples of the type of questions you can ask:

• When do you plan to make your purchase?
• Do you have budget now or is this something you are thinking about for next year?
• Are you the only one who is involved in the buying decision?
• How long does it usually take for a buying decision to be made?
• Is there paperwork required for me to complete to be considered as a vendor?

Don’t be shy about asking questions right up front that help you better qualify your potential prospects ability to buy now. You will save yourself time and a lot of aggravation!