proactive sales – manage to win
TRANSCRIPT
Manage to Win!
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Outline
1. Develop the customer
a. advance and build relationships
2. Conducting effective sales meetings
b. effective meetings with a purpose
3. The Big KAHUNA
c. surprise!
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Develop the customer
The 25% - 75% Rule
Prospect
Customer
Advocate
Loyal
Your company Competition
$12 Million
$36 Million!
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Develop the customer
Relationship selling changes the selling process:
Advance the customer up the relationship ladder
“Relationships are the foundation to build a long term business partnership.”
(Hudson)
Relationship selling(advocate-loyal)
• Retain existing accounts
• Become the preferred supplier
• Price for profit
• Manage accounts for long-term
profit
• Always get the last look
To:
Transaction selling(prospect-customer)
• Get new account
• Get the order
• Sell to anyone
• Cut the price to get the sale
From:
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Develop the customer
The relationship ladder
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Loyal Customer
Maintenance
Advocate Customer
Customer
Developmental
Prospect
Problem Fix
Maintenance
Developmental
Fix
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Develop the customer
The Relationship Ladder
Problem account: Not buying! – Fix or Fire!
1. Quality issue
2. Payment issue
3. Service issue
Eliminate the problem!
1. Raise prices
2. Strict terms
3. Improve quality and service
Objective: Send the problem account to the competition
or back on the ladder.6
Manage to Win!
Develop the customer
The Relationship Ladder
Developmental
The prospect account:
They have been qualified and might buy. You either need to meet with them, or you have met with them once or twice. (Maybe five or six times to get that first order.) They have seen your advertising. You need to promote your products, quality, service, and competitive pricing.
The customer:
Used to be a prospect, but they have bought from you. Very price conscious. Often places order with lowest bidder. Doesn’t always give you a last chance. Doesn’t view you as a friend. You need to get to know them personally. You need to promote your value proposition when you get the opportunity.
“If you are not taking care of the customer, the competition will.”
Manage to Win!
Develop the customer
The Relationship Ladder
Developmental
The advocate customer:
They used to be customers, but now they are friends too. They
believe in your valued proposition. (i.e. that which you offer that sets
you apart from the competition) They sell for you. They know your
wife's name and you, theirs. Will invite you and your family to their
company picnic. Always gives you the last look. Shares competitive
information with you freely. Happy to recommend you to a friend.
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Manage to Win!
Develop the customer
The Relationship Ladder
Maintenance
The loyal customer:
They used to be advocates, but now they are almost family too.
They know most of your family and you, theirs. On occasion, you
socialize together. They promote your products, sell and defend you as
well. They realize you are as interested in the success of their
business as you are your own. They buy all their precast products from
you. They are convinced you have the best quality and service and are
willing to pay for it. They trust you will give them fair competitive pricing
at all times. You have built up equity with this account. Small lapses in
service or quality are easily tolerated.
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Manage to Win!
Develop the customer
“A sale without a relationship is not a sale, it’s an order… orders come and go.” APG
1. Make a short list of customers you don’t sell to.
2. Make a list of customers you do sell to.
3. Categorize each one on the Relationship Ladder.
4. Make lists of the top 20%, in the prospect, customer, and advocate
categories. Remember, not every customer is a candidate for an
advance.
5. Develop a strategy to move each to the next level.
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Manage to Win!
Develop the customer
Advance the relationship - Gain customer insight
Understand the customer’s business
What are his critical success factors?
What service issues create problems?
What time / financial constraints apply?
What are your customer’s competitors doing? Who are the two biggest?
How much precast does he buy?
What products does the customer demand?
What’s your share?
Who is his receptionist / assistant?
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Manage to Win!
Develop the customer
Advance the relationship - Gain customer insight
Understand the customer
When is your customer’s birthday?
Where is he / she from?
Where did he / she attend school?
What are his / her two favorite interests?
What is the name of his / her spouse?
What are the ages of his / her children?
What are their sports / hobbies?
What is their personality / behavior?
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Manage to Win!
Develop the customer
Advance the customer up the relationship ladder
Relationships move the business from a transaction to a partnership.”
Consistently bring fresh ideas to your customer
Generate sales leads for your customer
Train you customer regularly
on product / service usage
technical capabilities
how to use industry resources for further learning
Highlight business benefits of products / service
Create loyalty and a steady demand for products
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Manage to Win!
Develop the customer
Summary
1. Always advance the customer up the relationship ladder
2. Deliver value with each interaction
3. Be consistent and professional
4. Be on time – early is better
5. Ask questions – learn to listen
6. Gain customer insight
7. SPIN the customersituation – problem – implication – needs (specific needs)
8. Provide solutions that provide the customer value, i.e. reduced costs, reduced risk, improved schedule, and improved performance. Remember, safety and environmental always.
9. Tailor the offering to the customer
“If people like you they will listen to you, and if they trust you they will do business with you. People buy from people they like and people they trust.”
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Manage to Win!
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Conducting effective sales meetings
Four Types:
1. Informative:
Announce progress, discuss ideas
2. Training:
Improve skills
3. Decision-Making:
Problem-solving, brainstorming
4. Individual meetings:
Strategic planning and reporting
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Conducting effective sales meetings
1. Information sales meetings
When: Weekly, early Tuesday or at a time most convenient to the sales team. If Monday, mid-afternoon. Why?
What: Review what is relevant to everyone: pricing, product availability, wins, programming and promotional activity. Team discussion for landing hottest proposals. Recognize individuals for meeting/exceeding expectations. Discuss only things that are applicable to everyone.
Length: One hour maximum - salespeople want to be motivated by meetings. They want to be out on the street with new info that will help them sell! They want to feel positive and enthusiastic.
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Conducting effective sales meetings
2. Training Meetings
When: As often as needed, never less than once a month –
give plenty of lead time. Send out agenda and purpose.
What: Problem solving, advertising, inventory levels, unique
training tools, skill training. Role playing exercises on how to
overcome objections, how to negotiate, how to SPIN, customer
satisfaction, etc. Get input from sales staff on training topics.
Conduct fun quizzes at the end.
Length: Not more than one hour – don’t go over allotted time.
Sales people, C.S.P.C.P.S.I.A.M. What does this mean?
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Conducting effective sales meetings
3. Decision-Making meetings
When: Once per quarter – give plenty of lead time.
What: Brainstorm ideas for added value opportunities, promotional ideas, sales promotion, new products, and sales/bookings objectives for the next period, etc. If sales people get to participate in sales decisions, they become empowered, committed to their success. Brainstorm with customers as well as vendors and agencies on ways to improve what you do for them. Encourage sales people to create agendas and chair these sessions.
Length: One hour – if longer, take a break.
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Conducting effective sales meetings
4. Individual Meetings
When: Formally, every week, at the beginning of the week
What: The weekly sales plan – calls, objectives, and tactics…The planners become weekly-monthly-quarterly sales goals for the sales person…Last week’s calls and results…Reporting on the progress of individual targets…Collection issues…Goal shortfalls…Anything specific to the sales person…Bad news…This is when the sales manager earns his stripes, he’s the coach.
Length: Fifteen to twenty minutes
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Conducting effective sales meetings
Meeting Do’s and Don'ts
Do start on time, and close the door
…. finish the meeting on time
…. develop and stick to an agenda
…. single out people for compliments
…. come to the meeting thoroughly prepared
…. have closure for every meeting – sum up
…. follow up in writing to emphasize results
…. allow drinks, no food
…. ask sales people to chair meetings
Don’t tell salespeople they are not meeting budgets
……. schedule meetings on Monday
……. run longer than one hour
……. call unscheduled meetings
……. discuss anything that is relevant to only one person
……. single out a person and criticize
……. schedule meetings without a purpose
Manage to Win!
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Conducting effective sales meetings
Meetings Summary
Sales people want to be on the road by 9:00 a.m. Let them! Keep idle chit chat and irrelevant topics to a minimum, stick to the business agenda. Remember, a good sales staff is being kept off the road, so something really important should be covered every minute of every meeting.
Salespeople are motivated by informative, positive, concise, and well organized meetings, both departmental and individual. They are turned off and unmotivated by sales managers who are disorganized, late to meetings, long-winded ( disrespectful of a sales person’s time), negative, pessimistic, critical and non-supportive.
“Salespeople want to be motivated by meetings. They want to be sent out on the road with new information that will help them sell and feel positive and enthusiastic.” (Warner and Spencer)
Manage to Win!
The Big Kahuna
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Manage to Win!
Exceed your expectations
The Big Kahuna says:
Sell More Stuff !And do it!
Better
Faster
Cheaper
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Manage to Win!
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Sell More Stuff: better, faster, cheaper
“Nothing happens until a sale takes place.”
A. The key to a salesman’s success is to “sell more stuff”.
B. Organize and reorganize your business so there is a total focus on selling and generating revenues.
C. Train your salespeople. About 95% of them could dramatically increase their sales if they were better trained in the elements of the sales process.
D. This explains why the most profitable companies invest the most in sales training, and the least profitable don’t.
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Sell More Stuff: better, faster, cheaper
Always be prepared to answer the customer’s primary question:
“Give me reasons why I should buy from you rather than from someone else.”
Your answer to that question is a major key to your business success.
Do it Better – Faster - Cheaper
“The man who comes up with a means for doing or producing almost anything, better, faster, or more economically has his future and his fortune at his fingertips.”
(J. Paul Getty)
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Sell More Stuff: better, faster, cheaper
Your future and your fortune
1. Better - A product or service that is “better” does, for the same price, what the customer purchases it to do in a way that is superior to the product of any competitor. “Better” could mean quality, superior service, or additional benefits. Does your customer view your products and services as “better” than anything else that is available to them?
2. Faster - The quality of being “faster” means that your product satisfies the customer's need for speed. It achieves the result promised by you faster than your competitor does. It is sold, designed, produced, and delivered “faster.”
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Sell More Stuff: better, faster, cheaper
Your Future and your Fortune
Cheaper - If your product is “cheaper” it means you offer the same value at a lower price. It may also be that your product is “cheaper” to use. It may be “cheaper” because it has greater value at the same price and increases your customer’s financial performance.
Convenience - If you offer to make it easier for the customer to buy (no hassles) this means your customer can acquire it with greater “convenience.” This may be a value worth paying for and yes, “cheaper” may not just be about lowering the price.
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Sell More Stuff: better, faster, cheaper
At the end of the day
Customers usually have four primary questions that must be answered if you expect the order -
1. What does it cost?
2. What do I get for the money?
3. How fast do I get the benefits you promise?
4. How sure can I be that you will truly deliver on those promises?
Whichever company or salesperson answers these questions most convincingly wins the sale.
Manage to Win!
The Big Kahuna says:“Work hard on your strategic planning. Meaningful conclusions will
provide an open road for success.”
1. Develop your customers. Make customer development part of every
sales person’s job, include reporting and meeting expectations. Coach
and train your sales people, teach them to “listen” and to bring value to a
customer.
2. Make sure your “system” has structure, a defined framework, with
freedom to work. Empowerment is great, but measure properly, and
manage to win. Always try to make improvements to overcome
shortcomings.
3. Set targets - team and individual. Create an atmosphere of urgency
and passion with a purpose. Everyone likes to know what they need to
achieve to be successful. “You can’t hit a target you can’t see.” Track your
targets. “You can’t manage what you don’t measure, and you don’t
measure unless you track along the way.” 29
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The Big Kahuna says:
4. Work on improving the effectiveness of your sales meetings. Take on a no-nonsense approach, be prepared and don’t waste time. Discuss positive (good news) topics. Keep the meeting on schedule.
5. Sell more stuff-better-faster-cheaper. Challenge yourself, your sales, production and engineering staffs to beat the competition in these three areas.
6. Many of your customers are awake at 5:00 a.m. Many go to work at 6:00 a.m. Most of their jobs are in full gear by 7:00 a.m. When do you have a real person answering the phone at your plant? Remember, make it convenient for the customer to buy from you. Have someone who understands the sales value proposition answering the phone, and preferably from 6:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Manage to Win!
The Big Kahuna says:
Thank You
Greg Chase
Chase Consulting
Venice, FL
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