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Credibility - Pipeline Development - Generating Revenue

When the market is down or up - Sales Effectiveness makes the difference. We have a team of Coaches that can answer your questions. Our Vice President of Dale Carnegie & Associates, Michael Crom is an active resource in this segment of our website. He or I, your local Coach will address challenges in the field and support you in maximizing your opportunities to generate better results. Please send your questions to the Carnegie Coach at Deb.Titus@DaleCarnegie.com

June/July 2009

Dear Carnegie Coach:
Our company just announced that everyone with customer contact would become involved in the sales process. I manage technical support and my team is especially nervous about this. Several say they're planning to quit because their job is to help people, not sell to them. The company is planning some basic sales training but I need to help my people get over their fear.

Suzanne

Dear Suzanne,
Your company is pursuing a state-of-the-art business tactic. The theory is that everyone, no matter what his or her job, has some role in selling the product. Following this theory, your department would naturally become more involved on the front-end of a sale because your employees have such close contact with customers on a second-by-second basis.

The problem is that your employees are being asked to do a job they weren't hired for. In addition, salespeople have an unfortunate reputation to being pushy extroverts. Your task becomes one of building their confidence while convincing them that they do not have to change personalities to become solid sales professionals -- good salespeople are helping people by leading them to the right product. Try these tactics:

1. Show your enthusiasm for the change and your support for their new roles. Enthusiasm is contagious. Every time the subject comes up, tell your employees how excited you are. Tell them you know how well they'll do because sales is just a small extension of customer support.

2. Use role-plays. Role-play exercises are a crucial part of the training. They can practice new skills in a safe, non-threatening setting. They can work together to develop "scripts" for overcoming objections unique to their industry. I would encourage you to have monthly role-play meetings where your staff can bring in sticky problems they've encountered.

3. Coach them. Even with good training, your employees will be nervous when they enter the real world of sales. Coach them while they work and give them nothing but positive reinforcement. Eliminate all criticism - even constructive criticism - until they are comfortable with their new tasks.

4. Keep them focused. This includes helping them prioritize accounts and providing tools such as sales literature and scripts that can increase efficiency. It also means developing a departmental vision and ensuring every activity flows from that vision.

Your task is not easy but these tactics are a strong cornerstone for building your sales management skills.

May 2009

Dear Carnegie Coach:

I recently began a career in sales. I am proud of the products I represent, and do a great job in the selling-aspect of things, but fall short when it comes to the negotiation stage. Our company focuses more on getting the customer to say yes than on the final result details. What are some guidelines that I should keep in mind?

-Cindy

Dear Cindy,

The negotiation is the most important part of a sale. While we go much further in depth with our training on this vital business skill of negotiation, to help establish a process, we suggest you start with the following steps.

1. There should be three stages of every negotiation. Learning the other person's goals and establishing what you want will direct the flow of the discussion. Gather information on the other person and his or her needs by doing your homework. The goal should be to reach a compromise. And both parties should leave the negotiation satisfied.

2. Work with, not against, others in determining neutrally beneficial solutions. Try to create a win-win situation. Your customer should feel good about the transaction and you should walk away happy about your sale. Never attempt an offer too quickly; you don't want to think you could have done better twenty minutes later, nor would you want to leave anything out.

3. Finalize all agreements.
Don't depend on working out all the details later. Time pressures cause us to be vulnerable to compromise and human errors as well as the customer backing out later claiming certain points were not discussed. Offer to write up the agreement, if possible. There are always small points that are unclear. When you write the agreement, you define those points.

4. Follow through.
Do what you said you would do and do it when you said you would do it. Make sure the customer follows through on their end of the agreement.

March/April 2009

Dear Carnegie Coach:

Like many companies, our sales numbers are not quite where we need them to be. To be specific, we're hearing so many objections related to the economy, it seems our sales people are agreeing with the prospect. I think my sales team is frightened of seeming too pushy, alienating their customers and causing a hardship for the prospect. They seem to be getting these objections before they can even introduct themselves. What do you think a good approach is to answering objections related to the economy?

Jim

Dear Jim:

Most sales people don't like to make enemies. What we often find is that sales people are focusing on themselves as an imposition rather than on the client or prospect as a leveraging consultant. This is a great time for you and your team to demonstrate to your clients and prospects that you are relationship builders.

Your clients and prospects need to hear from vendors that are confident. Many clients are feeling lost, they are confused and the competition, if average will not know what to do and by the way, are not the ones that are asking questions such as yours. So what to do?

• Recommit your team to having client interviews/service conversations. Check in with them. Find out first hand how they are doing. Let's not read the news and automatically believe that their situation is the same.
• During the interviews with clients consider revisiting the conditions upon which they decided to do business with you in the first place.
• Discuss how the initial application of your products/services have supported their business.
• Explore specific results.
• Reinforce that you are a good, sound investment. (This will be particularly helpful for your sales team to hear good news)
• Seek specific Return on Investment (ROI).
• Ask them what they are doing differently
• Ask them how the current econonmy is impacting them.
• Explore what more you can do to support their efforts and further leverage the investment they made with you.

For New Business Development:

• Never go into a new business development situation with your company and your products/services being the center of attention. Objections are on autoresponse. This kind of approach is an imposition. This kind of approach is all about the vendor, not the prospect. This is NOT a trick. This is what we call "Try honestly to see things from the other person's point of view" - the foundation of Dale Carnegie Sales Training. Role play with your team. Be sure this is NOT happening.
• For homework: ask your team to come prepared to a sales meeting for the sole purpose of demonstrating how they can have a business to business conversation without pushing product.
• With your team, explore conversation openers that clearly demonstrate that you understand the other point of view. YOur team must be believable. They must be sincere. They must be confident. They must be leaders.
• Consider vertical markets - what are they contending with that your openers can address.
• Remind your team that any objection that comes up about $ before an introduction has taken place is not an objection to truly answer. A response that goes back to "seeing things from the other person's point of view" would be something like this - We've seen the economy hit a lot of clients hard and let's face it, businesses need to be more judicial in their investments. In what ways has the economy impacted the way you do business? (get them talking). Ask for more. Listen carefully. From what you gathered, let the person know that now is the time to gather all your options. We've found after learning about the options, those important decisions can be made with greater confidence. Does that make sense? So, Jim - whether you were to invest today, next year or never - you would have made a grounded decision. Let's arrange a preliminary conversation. We'll learn more about you and explore how we may be able to assist you in your strategy.

Consider attending this workshop on April 8th, 2009
8 weeks of coaching with Sales Advantage

January/February 2009

Dear Carnegie Coach:

I've always had trouble leaving voice mails. It seems like a very simple task, but I constantly fumble through leaving messages. I'm always losing my place or leaving messages that I know are confusing. What can I do to leave a better message?

Alishia.

Dear Alishia:

You are not alone. Leaving a voice mail that is clear and understandable is a problem that many people have, and most don't even know it. Leaving a voice mail that can be completely understood isn't difficult, you just need to keep a few things in mind. Here are some tips that will help you to organize and create a clear voice mail:

1. Say your name distinctly. When leaving a message with someone you do not usually do business with it is important to clearly state your name. A good idea is to pause, part, and punch. "My name is... (pause) John (part), (punch) Smith." This technique will help to make your name clear and more memorable.
2. Always leave your number at the beginning and end of the message. Repeating your telephone number at the beginning and the end provides the recipient a second chance to confirm they have the correct telephone number.
3. Use language that is easily understood. The body of your message should be easy to understand. Remember what makes perfect sense to us can sometimes be confusing to others. Its important to remember who you are talking to and tailor your message to that.
4. Narrow subject to key points. People's attention span is very short over the phone. It's important to just touch on key points. Remember you will have a chance to fully explain everything when they call you back.
5. Review your message. When the voicemail system allows you to, review the message that you have left. Check to make sure that your name, phone number and message is clear.