NZ’s e-mag for sales leaders ARE YOU ONE OF THIS WEEK’S WINNERS? SEE INSIDE! NZ SALES JUNE 9 TH 2010 / ISSUE 40 Story Time How to get your message across using effective stories How to tell if your sales process is broken Seven reasons why offering ‘try before you buy’ can help you Prepare for tomorrow today
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Transcript
NZ’s e-mag for sales leaders
Are you oNe of this week’s wiNNers? see iNsiDe!
NZSALESJUNE 9th 2010 / IssUE 40
story timehow to get your message
across using effective stories
how to tell if your sales process is broken
seven reasons why offering ‘try before you buy’ can help you
Generating consistent and qualified appointments can be a mundane and time consuming process...
Let the experienced professionals at Ibex Marketing set them for you so you can spend more time meeting with
prospects and helping them solve their problems!
NZsM / JUNE 9h 2010 / 4
t h I s W E E K ’ s M U s t R E A D
story time
how do we ensure our communication
is understood? how do we get
communication to be relevant, interesting,
and exciting to the other participant?
In communication we understand that there are
two key elements – one is the information you want
to impart, and the second is the method that you
choose to use.
the main methods are verbal, written, and
nonverbal, each with their own strengths and
weaknesses. By far the fastest and easiest is verbal
communication, and this is an area where we make
the most mistakes, the most misinterpretations, and
the most miscommunications. If you think back to
the successful communications that you
remember in your conscious mind, many of them
will have a common element, that is, they are a story.
From the time we tell stories to our young children
at night before they go to bed, listen to their stories
from the playground, listen to their stories from
the college grounds, and listen to stories from
our family members, team members, customers
and clients, we realise that the most powerful
communication is a story.
As human beings involved in business, we love
stories. We love stories of success, we love stories
of disasters, we love stories of interesting problems
being overcome.
richard Gee is a leading sales and marketing coach, author and seminar presenter. Visit www.geewiz.co.nz for more information.
how to get your message across using effective storiesBy Richard Gee
5 / JUNE 9th 2010 / NZsM
Because people are interested in people, and people do business with people, the good communicator uses stories that involve people to best effect.
As a good communicator, the power to create a story makes
the communication of the information much more powerful
and much more interesting.
A good story has three main components – a beginning, a
middle and an end. In the beginning of the story you need to set
the scene, describe the problems, describe the people involved,
describe the situation, and perhaps even add a time element.
In the middle, you should build on the information. tell the
story of how the people overcame the problem, or investigated
the problem and the solutions that they looked at, or how the
client worked through the problems with your sales rep, or
the steps that were taken to evaluate and analyse the situation.
Include people’s thoughts, their fears, and what they wanted
to change and what they didn’t want to change, and then start
drawing towards a conclusion of the story.
the end needs to have a successful conclusion to
overcoming the problem, preferably with your product,
service, or people being the hero. Follow the logical set
of steps that has developed through the use of a formula or
through the weaving of the story so that the rational next
step to take is clear. Include a summary of actions to take to
follow up, and perhaps even a moral to the story or a key
point, or personal activity that people can engage in.
towards the end you may allow time for questions. Always
give an advance warning before you start your ending
summary of action, by telling the audience that there will
be an opportunity for questions when you complete your
summary of action.
You can improve the art of your story in the way in which
you use tone of voice, loudness of voice, perhaps even add
some sounds within the voice so that the mind picture that is
created in the theatre that is your mind, becomes more vivid.
Your body language gestures, such as moving the arms,
waving the hands and nodding the head all add to the
effectiveness of the picture that will be created from the
verbal presentation.
Because people are interested in people, and people do
NZsM / JUNE 9h 2010 / 6
business with people, the good communicator uses stories
that involve people to best effect. these become highly
interesting, they become stimulating, and best of all they
get listened to.
Well told stories like “the trojan horse” have managed
to survive for over 3,500 years since emerging as a
Greek legend. how long will your communication of the
information last in your environment?
While the best stories are certainly verbal, because of the
theatre of the mind activity, of course you can create a story
in writing, and by emails, using exactly the same approach.
Your story becomes a scene in which the listener/reader
can place themselves as a participant, and judge for
themselves how interesting the presentation was by the
value of the story.
think of the other uses for stories. telling a story to implement
a change in procedure is more likely to have the procedure
adopted, than issuing a set of new rules. Management
reporting in a story style is much more interesting to listen to,
and the figures come alive when you are told a story about the
success of the combined team’s effort.
Personal stories that come from the heart are always going
to be remembered better than stories that are copied from
somebody else.
the length of time it takes to tell a story should never be a
judgement on the story. human beings have attention time
spans that run in 20 minute time cycles, so a story that
is anywhere from several minutes to 20 minutes will be
remembered with ease.
If you have more than one story, then it becomes a speech.
the speech in itself, as a structure, is just a collection of
stories, so if you want to create a speech just add up your
stories. Even negative impact seems to have much less fear
attached to it if the changes demanded are put into a story.
Good stories then become great communication tools.
so go on now, review your stories!
Personal stories that come from
the heart are always going to be remembered
better than stories that are
copied from somebody else.
MID STRENGTHFULL FLAVOURFULL LIFE
NZsM / JUNE 9h 2010 / 8
ian is a leading authority on sales strategy and sales management, and works as a strategic sales Performance coach with both novice and experienced sales managers across a wide variety of industries and selling disciplines. find out more at www.iansegail.com
21 warning signs that it is time to fix the processBy Ian segail
is your sales process broken?
In the last issue, Ian segail described what a sales process
really is and why it is so essential for sales success. In
the second part of this article, to help you assess whether
your sales process is really working or not, Ian now points
out the key indicators of sales process failure.
how can you tell if your selling process is not really working?
firstly, do you have one?
Whilst this may seem like an obvious question on the surface,
in reality, the majority of selling organizations don’t have one
that was designed specifically for them. If they have 10 sales
people then it is very likely that they have 10 different selling
processes happening within their organisation.
9 / JUNE 9th 2010 / NZsM
Consider your current sales process - the way in which you
and your sales people currently sell:
When was your current selling process designed? •
Who was your current selling process created for? •
Does your current selling process deliver consistent sales •
results?
Is your current sales process still appropriate for the •
current selling environment?
Was your current sales process designed to suit your •
market and your products/services?
Was your current selling process designed to suit •
your organization, or was it created on behalf of the
customers you serve?
Does your current selling process focus on the selling of •
your products/services, or is it focused on the way your
prospects and customers buy your products/services?
How different would your existing sales process look if •
it had been designed by your customers, as opposed to
your sales or Marketing Department?
Is your current sales process a hodgepodge of various •
methodologies coupled together?
In his terrific book, “What the Customer Wants to
Know”, bestselling author Ram Charan lists nine warning
signs that clearly indicate that your sales process has broken
down and is no longer working effectively. to his list I have
added a further 12 to look out for.
ram charan’s Nine warning signs indicating your sales
Process has broken Down
Your sales force interacts solely with your customer’s 1.
purchasing department, never meeting genuine
decision makers.
Most of your sales discussions revolve around price. 2.
You use conventional sales training, which is solely 3.
technique based and doesn’t really address the
disconnect between the customer and you, the supplier.
Top management keep fiddling with the incentives for the 4.
sales force in the hope that it will drive better profit margins.
You keep reorganizing the sales team, allowing the 5.
salespeople to spend more time with the customer, yet
you are still achieving similar results.
salespeople are never included in discussions about the 6.
design of product offerings, despite the fact that they
spend the most time face-to-face with the customer.
Little thought is given to your customer’s customer, and 7.
you never get to know how your product fits into your
customer’s offering to their customers.
Your salespeople are internally focused, spending a 8.
significant portion of their work day on administration
and paperwork.
the sales management team assume they are doing a 9.
good job, without any real awareness of larger issues
that are occurring.
here are some additional warning signs to look out for:
Your sales process is designed with sales outputs in 10.
mind, rather than from the customer’s viewpoint.
If you have ten salespeople working for you, you have 11.
ten different sales processes happening.
Your sales process may not be designed to allow multiple 12.
visits to win new business.
Your sales process may only include “bottom up” strategies, 13.
and not “top down.” In other words, your salespeople may
only be working at a user level, in the hope that these users
will sell your solutions further up the chain
Your sales process may be too heavily focused on 14.
working your existing customer base, without sufficient
focus on bringing in “new blood,” or vice versa
Your salespeople are all using different tools and sales 15.
messages in their communication with customers.
Your process doesn’t have an easily measurable output 16.
at the end of each phase allowing you to identify exactly
where along the sales pathway they are at any one time.
how can you tell if your selling process is not really working?
NZsM / JUNE 9h 2010 / 10
Your current sales process is too convoluted and 17.
complicated. there are too many steps, too many forms,
and it is too hard to manage.
Your salespeople do not have the knowledge, tools or 18.
skills to drive the selling system effectively.
the landscape you sell in has changed, yet you are still 19.
selling the same old way.
Your sales process looks good on paper but lacks the 20.
flexibility or practicality to be of value in the current
markets you operate in.
Your current sales process doesn’t really help to close sales!21.
If more than 5 of the above 21 issues listed resonate with
you, then it might very well be time for you to consider
reengineering your current selling process.
what Makes for An effective sales Performance Process?
A well thought out and manageable sales process is simply
a way of mapping out and testing all the steps, actions,
tools and skills required to take a sale from qualifying the
opportunity to closing, follow-up and service.
You should define and standardise your company’s sales
process based on best practices within your team, your
industry, and the sales field in general. However each
phase of your process needs to be tested and constantly
tweaked and refined.
A key to generating an effective sales process is to engage
your marketing department. they need to align their
marketing practices to marry up with the way that you sell.
So by way of an example…
Let's say your first milestone is to secure an appointment
with a qualified and willing buyer. What are all the tools
your marketing department could provide you to drive that
milestone forward, and I am not talking about producing more
company catalogues and company brochures!
A well thought out and manageable sales process is simply a way of mapping out and testing all the steps, actions,
tools and skills required to take a sale from qualifying the opportunity to closing, follow-up and service.
some more impactful marketing support might be:
Website optimization to drive enquiries•
Impact sales messaging •
Online research options•
"how to select" guides•
Industry statistics•
Your improvement norms versus industry/versus your •
competitors
Introductory letter templates•
First meeting follow email templates•
Follow up letter templates•
Ongoing educational marketing•
When marketing and sales line-up together in terms of •
driving the sales process forward, magic happens!
11 / JUNE 9th 2010 / NZsM
what Gets Measured Gets Done
As managers, we are taught that:
What gets measured gets done •
You can’t manage what you can’t measure•
If you can’t measure it, you can’t understand it •
If you cannot understand it, you can’t improve it.•
the role of the sales leader is to support their salespeople
in successfully achieving their sales goals. therefore,
by documenting, replicating and reinforcing the “best
practices” and behaviours of the best sales performers in
your organization/industry, you will create a predictable
and measurable road map for your sales team to follow,
thus ensuring their best chance for success, more often.
An effective sales performance process will identify and
provide you and your sales team with critical success
milestones as well as the specific and measurable actions
required to reach those targets and move the sale forward.
If you are still not sold, a few more beneficial reasons for having
a well thought-out, customer centric sales process include:
seller and buyer risk management•
standardized customer interaction during the sale•
scalable revenue generation•
Repeatable sales process executed consistently across •
each transaction
Process helps you build a sales team of consistent •
predictable sales performers
Offers a road map for advancing a sale to closing the sale •
– knowing the current status of your business pipeline.
Deals move smoothly through the pipeline – knowing at •
any point in time, what stage of the process each of your
customers and prospects are in
strong process helps reduce sales call reluctance•
speeds up ramp up time for new sales team members•
Improves forecast accuracy and assist your team to plan •
their month/quarter
Assists in identifying potential problems before they occur•
A formal sales process allows for ongoing improvement, •
to dial in success.
Offers a host of well-tested design and improvement •
tools from other successful disciplines and process
oriented industries
Provides the sales leader and sales team with the ability •
to measure effective activity and success.
And so much more...!•
Put Your team Way Out In Front Of the Pack With A •
Well Engineered selling Process.
An effective sales performance process is a little like one’s
health. Our health and well-being is typically taken for
granted and not properly appreciated when everything seems
to be working as it should. however, when our health fails,
that’s when we sit up and take notice.
the same could be said for your current selling process.
Yes, whilst it may have the appearance of working well, a
crisis may be just around the corner. When there is a sudden
economic downturn and everyone is tightening their belts,
and the easy sales have all dried up, the market will begin to
quickly sort out “the wheat from the chaff!”
those selling organizations that have invested the time
and effort it takes to design and test an effective sales
performance process will put themselves way out in front of
their competition.
What will you do today to ensure your sales tomorrow?
NZsM CALENDAR9-10 June sales Management AucklandNZiM Northern www.nzimnorthern.co.nz
10 June building Massive Money Making business relationships Auckland sales stAr www.salesstar.trainingplatform.co.nz/courses/28-building-massive-money-making-business-relationships
15 June consultative selling Auckland sales stAr www.salesstar.trainingplatform.co.nz/courses/5-consultative-selling
15 June the success Attitude whangarei Attitude specialist. www.attitudespecialist.co.nz/workshops.htm
22 Junebusiness to business sales skills Auckland Zealmark Group ltd www.zealmarkgroup.co.nz/profile_Business_to_Business.php
22-23 Junekey Account Management Auckland sales stAr www.salesstar.trainingplatform.co.nz/courses/8-key-account-management
7 Julybusiness to business sales skills Auckland Zealmark Group ltd www.zealmarkgroup.co.nz/profile_Business_to_Business.php
7 July sales Dynamics Auckland sales stAr www.salesstar.trainingplatform.co.nz/courses/9-sales-dynamics
8 July sales Mindset & Motivation Auckland sales stAr www.salesstar.trainingplatform.co.nz/courses/7-sales-mindset-motivation
12 July better business by Phone Dunedin sales stAr www.salesstar.trainingplatform.co.nz/courses/34-better-business-by-phoneworkshop
13 July better business by Phone invercargill sales stAr www.salesstar.trainingplatform.co.nz/courses/34-better-business-by-phoneworkshop
13 July consultative selling Auckland sales stAr www.salesstar.trainingplatform.co.nz/courses/5-consultative-selling
15-16 July essential sales fundamentals AucklandNZiM Northern www.nzimnorthern.co.nz 16 July sales Preparation-reaching Decision makers Auckland Dinanmitewww.dinanmite.com/event-registration
17 July the success Attitude Auckland Attitude specialist. www.attitudespecialist.co.nz/workshops.htm
20 July the success Attitude New Plymouth Attitude specialist. www.attitudespecialist.co.nz/workshops.htm
22 July the success Attitude whanganui Attitude specialist. www.attitudespecialist.co.nz/workshops.htm
22 July business to business sales skills Auckland Zealmark Group ltd www.zealmarkgroup.co.nz/profile_Business_to_business.php
27-29 July Negotiating skills Auckland scotwork www.scotwork.co.nz
JUNE - JULY 2010
Rev Sales Network
visit us at www.rsn.co.nz
Member Update - 9 June 2010
RSN Hubs — Just like online networking (except not just online...)
Love talking sales? Join your local RSN hub and meet with likeminded sales and business professionals in your area!
No shortage of enthusiasm at the Longroom!
Last Thursday saw a group of 17 eager (and rather hyper!) sales and business professionals gathered at The Longroom on Ponsonby Road for the first RSN Ponsonby Sales Professionals Hub meeting. Once hub Leader Jason Dinan got them in line what followed was an interesting and free flowing discussion on the topic of conversion rates and ideas on how to increase them. What was particularly great to see was that while attendees were from a variety of industries and sales related roles, the sales principles discussed and some of the suggestions put forward, had implications for everyone in the room. One thing was clear, a friendly, semi-formal forum to discuss sales related issues was appreciated by everyone in attendance!
Upcoming RSN Sales Professional Hub Meetings Takapuna: 5.30pm-6.30pm, Tuesday 15 June, Quarry Bar, Smales Farm, Taharoto Rd Ph Colin Quinn on 021 832 209 or email [email protected] Lower Hutt: 5.30pm-6.30pm, Monday 21 June, The Angus Inn, Waterloo Rd, Lower Hutt Ph Paul Newsom on 04 586 4733 or email [email protected]
Ponsonby: 12.30pm-1.30pm, Thursday 1 July, The Longroom, Ponsonby Rd Ph Jason Dinan on 021 526 456 or email [email protected] Nelson: 12pm-1pm, Tuesday 6 July, Venue to be announced, Nelson Ph Paul Kernot on 03 547 8376 or email [email protected]
Highbrook: 7.30am-8.30am, Friday 4 July, Fisher House, 114 Kerwyn Rd, Highbrook Ph Adam Sands on 021 662 452 or email [email protected] To attend, just introduce yourself to one of the friendly RSN Hub Leaders above or visit www.rsn.co.nz for more info.
Our second Auckland Rev-Up for the year is happening from 12pm-1.30pm on Wednesday 23 June, and this time our guest presenter is award winning business consultant John Morrell (aka The Referral Guru) who’s presentation “Tight Market Tactics” will take us through some tried and tested tactics to keep sales booming in tough business conditions.
Consulting throughout New Zealand, John’s company NZ Business Forums won the 2008 Vero Excellence in Business Support award in the category of Public-Private Sector Partnership and was a finalist in the 2010 awards in the category of “One To Many Offering”. With more energy than the Energizer bunny on Redbull be sure you register to hear John speak today at www.rsn.co.nz.
Rev-Up Reminder: John Morrell - “Tight Market Tactics”, 23 June 2010, Auckland
John Morrell, NZ Business Forums
Rev Sales Network and AUT research partnership
We are pleased to announce the RSN has entered into an agreement with the AUT University Faculty of Business and Law to explore opportunities to work together as research partners. The RSN and AUT University share common objectives in furthering Learning and Development in the sales profession. Academic study and research of the sales profession forms a significant part of the work of the University and the RSN looks forward to helping facilitate this research to the benefit for both organizations, their members, students and ultimately NZ’s sales profession.
can significantly increase your attractiveness as a
provider, build trust and enhance your reputation. Clients
and consumers are more critical than ever before, more
cynical than ever before, and there’s significantly more
competition than ever before.
The expectation of being able to ‘try-before-I-buy’ is more
widespread and available than ever. 'Prove you have what
I want before I'm willing to pay for it’ is the mantra for
increasing numbers of consumers, especially younger people.
Although it may seem that the provider may have everything
to lose and little to gain from providing freemium products or
services, the business benefits of helping people engage with
you in a 'low-or-no-cost' way are worth considering before
dismissing it out of hand. Far from devaluing you, providing
freemium products or services alongside your existing price-
based offerings can be extremely beneficial in 7 ways:
seven reasons why offering ‘try before you buy’ can help youusing 'freemium' to enhance your reputation By hannah samuel
hannah samuel is a specialist reputation advisor, author and professional speaker, and founder of onlineperformance-based service directory, tRUstcite. to find out more visit www.hannahsamuel.com
t W O M I N U t E t O P U P
Book Competition!
NZ Sales Manager has two copies of Hannah Samuel’s book to give away...
“REPUTATION BRANDING” How To Grow Your Business Without Spending A Cent
To enter the draw just send an email to [email protected] before 5pm Friday 25 June along with your name and contact details. Winners notified by email.
17 / JUNE 9th 2010 / NZsM
1Freemium offerings can help you test your market and
provide useful feedback that can help you shape premium
fee-generating products or services.
Removing price as a possible barrier to engagement can help
you attract a larger number of potential users who may be
price-sensitive, but who may be willing to move from 'free to
fee' and pay for premium products or services at a later date.
Being able to try your products or services in a low-cost/no-
cost way is likely to reduce any perceived risk or doubt new
users may have initially and help build trust.
Once engaged, you then have an opportunity to create a
positive relationship with the freemium user which may
result in them choosing to pay for other products or services
you provide at some point at virtually no cost to you.
Providing reliable, high-value, freemium items can make
you highly recommendable. Given that it’s 6-7 times more
expensive to attract one new client or customer than it is to
retain one, having freemium users recommend you to others
is a highly cost-effective way of gaining new clients.
Offering some of your freemium products or services as a ‘value-
add’ to non-competitors or media outlets to use as a give-away,
prize or thank-you item can enhance your exposure to a wider
audience and enhance your relationship with the third party.
Developing freemium items on a regular basis can help you
stay current, explore new thinking and opportunities and
reinforce the value of your premium fee-generating products
and services.
Utilised wisely, freemium products and services should not
detract or devalue your fee-generating offerings. On the
contrary, they should provide value in their own right whilst
underscoring the value your premium products provide.
It’s smart business practice in 2010 and beyond and can
help 'Increase the Value of You'.
234567
Book Competition!
NZ Sales Manager has two copies of Hannah Samuel’s book to give away...
“REPUTATION BRANDING” How To Grow Your Business Without Spending A Cent
To enter the draw just send an email to [email protected] before 5pm Friday 25 June along with your name and contact details. Winners notified by email.
NZsM / JUNE 9h 2010 / 18
Q U I C K F I X
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PrePAre for toMorrow toDAy
For many of us, the morning is our most productive
time of the day, with the two hours after lunch being
the least productive. (that’s why those sensible people
in southern European countries take a siesta – we are
naturally programmed to rest during the early afternoon!)
Spending the first hour of the day deciding where to start
your day is a waste of your most productive time. (And
if you enjoy a coffee, read the sports news, catch the
gossip and clear the junk email you are in the inefficient
majority. You should do this in the early afternoon while
you are ‘sleep working.’)
Planning tomorrow is best done at the end of today. so, 10
minutes before you leave the office, or sitting in your car for
10 minutes when you get home before you go inside, take
a sheet of paper or your latest i-gadget and write down the
important things you will start your day with tomorrow.
When tomorrow comes, have the discipline to begin your
day with the first thing on your plan. Knowing that tomorrow
is planned, you will be more able to switch off from work
today, and enjoy the evening more too.
it's not what you sell, it's how you sell
Quick fix
WIN A LAsER POINtER PEN FOR YOUR QUICK FIX!
If you have a favorite ‘quick fix’ that you would like to share with our readers
(without giving your winning secrets away!) then email the editor at pauln@
nzsalesmanager.co.nz. You will be in to win a high-powered laser pointer
pen, courtesy of the great guys at Brand storming Promotions.
The Rev Sales Network invites you to join us for
“Tight Market
Tactics”
With John Morrell, The Referral Guru
The Topic
Keep your sales booming in hard times with Tight Market Tactics!
Don’t be dominated by a poor performing market, “TMT” is a weapon for proactively battling the mar-ket with a clear plan to keep business booming. Join award winning business consultant John Morrell – aka The Referral Guru, as he takes us through some tried and tested tactics dedicated to increasing your ROI in tough business conditions. John will help you deploy unrealised support net-works and leverage the strength of your existing customer base—something we all need to do!
In John’s 45 minute presentation he will outline:
• The key behaviours critical to sales success
• The importance of sound planning
• Correlation between service and referrals
• Who to ask, when to ask and how to ask for referrals
• Unleashing the power of third party endorsement
The Presenter
RSN Rev-Up Series 2010 “Tight Market Tactics” With John Morrell 12pm—1.30pm, Wednesday 23 June 2010 OfficeMax Training Centre 30 Sir Woolf Fisher Drive, Highbrook, East Tamaki Auckland Rev Sales Network Members: Free Non-members: $49 + gst pp Includes light lunch
John Morrell is a proven partnership broker with over 30 years of hands-on Sales and Marketing experience. A top performer in sales and sales management, John understands the daily challenges faced by motivated professionals when it comes to leveraging sales teams and their respective clients for new business. Based in Hawkes Bay and working throughout New Zealand, John’s company New Zealand Business Forums won the 2008 Vero Excellence in Business Support award in the category of Public-Private Sector Partnership and is a finalist in the 2010 awards in the category of “One To Many Offering”.
Visit us at www.rsn.co.nz
The Details
To register your attendance click here to go to our Event Registration page, or just go to our events page at www.rsn.co.nz and complete the registration form before Friday 11 June.
Hurry! Our last Rev-Up was oversubscribed! Spaces allocated on first reserved, first served basis. Limit 80 attendees only.