I was out in Singapore recently, speaking at the largest conference for speakers in Asia – the Asia Professional Speakers Convention.

It was a great chance to catch up with my clients and friends in the region, plus a chance to help my fellow Speakers improve their sales!

Like a lot of people, Speakers generally wouldn’t consider themselves ‘natural’ salespeople. Like photographers, designers, consultants, lawyers, engineers, and many of my other ‘non-salespeople’ clients, they aren’t naturals at selling, yet as they own their own businesses, they somehow have to bring in sales!

So I thought I would share some of the tips I gave them, to help them generate more sales!

Andy’s Sales Lesson Number 1 – Make Sure You Have Your ‘Sales Fundamentals’ In Place

No matter whether you consider yourself a ‘salesperson’ or not (and I would argue that we’re all salespeople!), if you run your own business, you need to get the fundamentals in place.

That means having a process for handling incoming enquiries, for prospecting, for discussing prices, and objection handling etc where needed. There is no excuse for not knowing the sales fundamentals, and not knowing them will cost you money.

If you’re the owner of the business, you have the sales ‘responsibility’, like it or not. Don’t let opportunities pass you by because you’ve not got your sales fundamentals in place!

Andy’s Sales Lesson Number 2 – When The Opportunity Comes, Be Ready!

This is something else that people that aren’t ‘natural salespeople’ often struggle with (and some ‘natural;’ salespeople too!).

It’s really important that you’re ready for when an opportunity comes your way. That means having things in place, ready for it.

For example, if you know that a prospect is going to ask you about work you’ve done before for companies similar to them, what evidence have you got that you can send to them, quickly?

If you’ve got to sit down and put something new together each time, that’s unlikely to be effective, and also not efficient! If you’ve just got one ‘standard’ document you send out, that’s unlikely to be successful for you either!

Be ready to send what they are likely to ask for. Be ready to have the conversation around price (particularly if your price is flexible, or negotiable!). Most of all, be ready!

Andy’s Sales Lesson Number 3 – Change How You Feel About Sales!

Most small business owners tell me they’re not ‘comfortable’ with sales. Yet they also realise that sales is a vital part of their business! So much so that if they can’t bring in sales, they won’t have a business!

Yet most still avoid it, mainly because of how it makes them feel doing it, or they’re worried about the response from the prospect, or because it makes them ‘feel like a salesperson!’

I say that sales is one of the best professions in the world! And I still like Malcolm Gladwell’s definition of a salesperson in his book, ‘The Tipping Point’

Gladwell’s definition of a salesperson was a ‘Persuader’ – someone that got other people to take action. I really liked that definition when I first heard it, and I still like it today. And I think that’s what true salespeople do – get others to take action!

And if we believe we have the best product. The best service. The best thing for the prospect. Isn’t it our job to persuade them to take action on it and gain the benefits from it?….

 

Oh, and if you’re a speaker and in (or near) the Singapore region, I highly recommend going along to a meeting of, and joining APSS.

One of the best associations in the world!

I look forward to hearing about your future sales!

I was over in Warsaw, Poland once again this weekend seeing a couple of my Recruitment clients and catching up with friends. I’ve been to Warsaw more than 20 times now, and enjoy it each time.

It was definitely a little colder than being in Dublin and London earlier in the week, but warmer than it had been a week or so earlier, when it got down to -20!

It’s always interesting to see how the market is performing in Warsaw.  I find it’s a ‘busy’ city, where there is plenty of focus on business activity, and some good energy about the city in general.

The recruitment clients I met with on this trip, I first was introduced to (and re-introduced to) in Warsaw when I was speaking at the Association of Employment Agencies (SAZ) conference a couple of years ago.

I was the keynote speaker on my specialist recruitment keynote ‘The New Rules of Recruitment Selling’ (the standard version is ‘Nowe Zasady Sprzedazy’) back in 2015, where I talk about how Recruiters need to adapt to close more business in the future.

From that speech, I had a number of companies approach me and ask if I could speak at their company conference, or train their teams in ‘The New Rules of Recruitment Selling‘.

I realised then that the problem that Polish Recruiters were having, weren’t that different to my other recruitment clients in other countries around the globe.

So What Is – My ‘New Rules of Recruitment Selling’ Work?

I do a large amount of work in Recruitment, and have specific versions of my ‘Stand Out Selling’ System and other programmes.

To find out more about my Sales Training For Recruiters – go here

So, Back To The Recruitment Company Conversations!…..

So what did I talk to these Warsaw Recruitment Companies about?

1. You can’t STAND OUT from your competition, when you make your business development calls EXACTLY the same way as they do!

This is typical in Recruitment (as well as many other industries), where most of the ‘salespeople’ (in this case, consultants) get their training from similar sources (managers, leaders, standard recruitment industry trainers etc), that all the business development calls made by everyone sound the same!

This is obviously a major problem, if you’re trying to persuade the prospect that you are different! You can say ‘we are different!’ all you like, but if your BEHAVIOUR isn’t different, it’s highly likely the prospect won’t believe you – not a great start to a prospective business relationship!

2. In a commoditised market, the ‘difference’ is the individual salesperson. That’s one of my favourite sayings, and it’s even true in recruitment, where traditionally the focus has been on the candidate(/s) submitted.

If you can get the prospect to choose to work with you. To select you over other firms and other recruiters EVEN when you don’t have the best candidate? That’s a sign of a good salesperson.

3. Prioritising phone calls. There is a definite ‘trend’ right now of salespeople ‘defaulting’ to contact via email rather than using the phone.

That causes it’s own problems, as naturally it affects the ‘persuasiveness’ of the salesperson and their ability to turn the situation to their advantage. Their influence on the situation is also negatively affected.

So I’m looking forward to going back to Warsaw in a couple of months and helping these companies with those (and some other) sales challenges!

So Was It All Work, Andy?

Of course not! I had time to walk around the park in the snow, and see the Palace of Culture and Science (Pałac Kultury i Nauki) as well as spend a bit of time in the old town. I’ve done plenty of trips to Warsaw now, and I look forward to coming back again in a couple of months time!

Here are a few pictures – enjoy!

 

 

 

So after the warmth of South Africa, the next stop was Dublin, after an overnight stop at Heathrow to pick up the video crew who would be with me for the rest of the week.

Dublin was pretty warm considering, a balmy 11 degrees that was pretty much T-shirt weather compared to London! And it was a short taxi ride from Dublin Airport, to the Croke Park Hotel, across the road from Croke Park itself, where the event was being held for the next couple of days.

It was the first event with a new concept, an 80/20 event, where most of the time, there would be a number of workshops running concurrently, with just an ‘opening’ and ‘closing’ piece each day with everyone together.

My workshop was 5 hours of ‘How To Sell More Sponsorship, Advertising and Exhibition Stands’. This is something I’ve delivered a number of times, for Event Organisers and their membership body in South Africa. Plus my experience helping leading sports clubs sell more sponsorship, advertising and hospitality deals.

Here Are 3 Quick Sales Tips From My Workshop

Now, these tips will work whatever you are selling, not just for sponsorship, advertising and exhibition stands, so you can apply them to any country, any industry, and any situation – with a little ‘tweaking’ if necessary.

Andy’s Tip No 1 – Create Urgency

There HAS to be urgency present in every single buying situation. If urgency isn’t there on the side of the buyer, the salesperson HAS to create it. Without it, there is no impetus or momentum in the process, and that often results in the buyer ‘thinking about it’ – which usually means no sale!

Andy’s Tip No 2 – Understand Their Reasons For Interest

For anyone to be interested in buying space at your exhibition, sponsoring your event (or part of it) or buying advertising in your magazine, show guide or digital package, there has to be a reason behind their interest.

It might be something personal to them (self interest), it might be something that their business can take advantage of (a PR opportunity, or associating themselves with your venue or show for example), or it could be they are desperate for sales leads!

Either way, if you find out what their specific interest is FIRST (instead of just ‘pitching’ your product or service at them without asking questions), you’ve got a far better chance of securing the business afterwards – often at higher rates!

Andy’s Tip No 3 – Control The Process

One of my favourite sayings is ‘The Salesperson Should ALWAYS Be In Control Of The Sales Process’. Yet often they are not. Often they let the buyer take control of the situation, dictate what will happen next, and then find themselves chasing with endless follow ups that never seem to go anywhere!

The Stand-Out-Salesperson makes sure they are controlling and leading the sales process, and therefore they get the outcome that they want more often, and secure the sale. That’s what we all want to be aiming for!

Good luck with your future sales!

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Are you interested in me speaking at your event, kickoff, roadshow or Sales Conference?

Or alternatively working with you or your team to overcome some of their problems with sales pipeline, managing their sales opportunities, cold calling and prospecting, or converting incoming leads?

Then please contact me here, or call +44 161 401 0142 to see how I can help you!

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It was great to start 2017 in South Africa (and certainly warmer than the UK at the beginning of January!) and after a few days in Cape Town, it was back to work in Durban and Johannesburg before a few days back in Cape Town to finish.

It was my pleasure to participate in the UNLOCK 2017 speaker showcase at Montecasino in Johannesburg, where 35 of the top speakers from Africa and the UK were speaking in front of a corporate audience, demonstrating their skills and specialist areas, and how they may be able to help those companies in 2017!

Being Introduced By Top African MC Cyrus Rogers

Cyrus is a really great emcee if you’re looking for one for your event! Definitely the top emcee in Africa in my opinion. I’m always very impressed watching him work.

My New Keynote Speech – Stand Out Selling – The New Rules For Salespeople

It was great to debut my new keynote speech for 2017 ‘Stand Out Selling – The New Rules For Salespeople’ at this event. Some great feedback from the attendees as well, and looking forward to delivering it for some South African clients in 2017, as well as other places in the world of course!

 

And Then…. A Few Days In Cape Town

 
Finished off with a Sales Training session with one of my Global clients on improving the sales of a new digital product for them, and a couple of days off in Cape Town – my favourite city in the world!  Next stop, Dublin (via London!)

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Are you interested in me speaking at your event, kickoff, roadshow or Sales Conference?

Or alternatively working with you or your team to overcome some of their problems with sales pipeline, managing their sales opportunities, cold calling and prospecting, or converting incoming leads?

Then please contact me here, or call +44 161 401 0142 to see how I can help you!

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In this article, leading Sales Expert Andy Preston explains what the successful sales leaders and salespeople are implementing right now to make sure they have a great 2017….

The New Year is a great opportunity to set some new sales goals, and some ‘Sales Resolutions’
Here are my suggestions for the Top Five New Years’ Resolutions for your sales team……

Sales Resolution Number 1 – Increase Your Prospecting Activity

If your ‘goal’ or ‘outcome’ for 2017 is to increase your sales, or that of your team, one of the things to look at is to increase your prospecting activities.
Most salespeople tend not to have enough prospects, and therefore rely on most of their sales opportunities coming off, in order to hit their targets. In most cases, that’s a recipe for failure.

Take a look at whatever prospecting activities you’ve been doing (that have been working for you, of course) and look at how you can increase them. You might also want to increase the ‘range’ of activities as well.

Whether your prospecting activities include networking, cold calling, referrals, cold canvassing or anything else, simply upping the activity will generate better results. Once you’ve done this, it’s now time for the second step…..

Sales Resolution Number 2 – Stop Being Bullied By Prospects

This is starting to happen more and more, as buyers take control of the sales process. By ‘bullying’ I meant things like…….

• Playing you off against competitors
• Using you as ‘price fodder’ in the process (with no intention of buying from you and wasting your time)
• ‘Commoditising’ the sales process
• Ignoring your suggestions and advice and insisting on ‘their’ spec
• Forcing you to lower your prices and eroding your margin/profit

Far too many buyers now are taking control of the process and forcing salespeople to dance to THEIR tune – usually resulting in the salesperson having control over the process, no influence on the process, and no sale at the end of the process!

Make sure you don’t fall into this trap!

Sales Resolution Number 3 – Filter Your Sales Opportunities Better

You can only do this step when you have a lot of Sales opportunities (hence my recommendation in No 1 above), so if you haven’t got enough opportunities yet, go back to that step until you have!

Once you have enough opportunities, the next step is to ‘filter’ them. What I mean by that is to look at which opportunities are better for you. So how on earth do you judge which are better than others?

If you’ve already ‘profiled’ your opportunities, then you’ll already know what I mean. If you haven’t, here are some quick tips. From experience either you or your manager will have an idea which of your opportunities are most likely to convert, which will do so faster than others, and which will be worth the most money.

This might be based on their industry, the level of decision maker you’re talking to, their buying motivation (you have found that out, haven’t you?) size of project, approval process and impending deadlines etc.

Based on the results of your ‘filtering’, you can now work out which opportunities you need to focus on, and which ones require you to qualify them a little harder. Please note, if the thought of doing this makes you hesitant or concerned that you might ‘lose’ an opportunity or two, then you probably haven’t got enough opportunities in the first place – go back to the first resolution above!

Sales Resolution Number 4 – Improve Your Pipeline Control

Pretty much EVERY sales leader I speak to, wishes their salespeople were better at controlling their sales pipeline!

Most salespeople have deals in their pipeline that actually have no hope of coming off, yet they often don’t realise it! Also, when I ask salespeople to talk me though their pipeline, it quickly becomes apparent that they’re not ‘on top’ of it, they don’t know where they stand in relation to others in their deals, and often don’t have a concrete plan for bringing that piece of business in, rather than losing it to a competitor.

That needs addressing, right now! Every salesperson should be on top of their sales pipeline. They should know where they stand in relation to their competitors in every deal. They should know the buying motivation of the client, who they need to influence, and what timescales are at work as a minimum. They should also know what actions they need to take (and by when) in order to win the business, rather than lose it to a competitor.

If you’re not on top of your pipeline, it might be time to look at your qualification of prospects, or your ability to get the ‘deeper needs’ from the client earlier in the sales process. Or it could be down to your failure to ‘stand out’ from the competition right at the start of the process. Find out which one it is and do something about it, now!

Sales Resolution Number 5 – Work On Your Sales Skills

Right now we’re in a competitive market. With competitors’ after our clients more than ever before. With prospects comparing us to others more than ever before. With meetings with Senior Decision Makers being harder to get than ever before.

So it often comes down to your salesperson versus your competitors’ salesperson. Their sales skills, versus their competitors’ sales skills. Who is going to win in that scenario? Who would you put your money on?

Now is the time to work on your own sales skills, and those of your team. To look at areas in which you could perform better. And to regularly invest time (and money where appropriate) in getting your team to where they need to be, in order to make sure YOU are winning the business, rather than your competitors!

Follow the tips above and watch your sales soar! I look forward to hearing how you get on…….

This article is copyright Andy Preston 2004-2017. To copy or syndicate this or any part of this article contact Andy Preston for guidelines.

In this article, leading sales expert Andy Preston explains the problems that ’status quo’ can have, and what to do to make sure your team don’t fall into that common trap…..

It’s always interesting when I’m working with salespeople and sales teams all over the world when I start talking about ‘status quo’ and complacency.  They can be the biggest reasons for lost potential sales in experienced salespeople, yet are often overlooked by sales management.

So why do so many experienced salespeople fall into this trap?  Here are 4 of the main reasons….

Reason Number 1 – No Pressure From ‘Management’

Now you might find it a bit strange as some salespeople will say their sales manager never gets off their back, yet most sales managers tend to focus on the underperformers, and spend less and less of their time on the top performers.

I’ve even heard some sales managers say ‘I don’t care what they’re doing if they’re hitting target’.  Whilst that attitude might be fine for them, I dread to think how many more sales their team could be getting in with proper management!

Reason Number 2 – No Personal Goals

If you’ve been to one of my events, or heard me speak at a conference somewhere in the world, you’ll know that I’m a big fan of salespeople having personal goals.

Often in my experience however, salespeople tend not to set personal goals, or even if they do, they tend to have them as a ‘wish list’ or a ‘hope list’ rather than a ‘must have’ list.

Reason Number 3 – No Challenge From Colleagues

Another reason salespeople get complacent is if they’ve been top performer for a while, and there are no colleagues close to challenging them!  This happened to me in my sales career when at one point I was actually selling twice as much as my nearest ‘challenger’.

That’s a dangerous situation to be in.  Experience tells me that for some salespeople, without the challenge of colleagues for ‘top spot’, they often end up just doing what they need to do to retain their position, and not focusing on how they can sell even more than they currently are.  Which means they’ll limit themselves from selling more until they get a close challenge from another colleague – and they’ll suddenly find that ‘extra gear’ – that they had all along, but didn’t need to use it.

Reason Number 4 – They’re ‘Tired And Jaded’

This is often found in salespeople that have been in a company for a while, or in an industry for a while – particularly if their role hasn’t progressed much in that time.

Because they’ve been seeing the same customers and prospects for a while, talking about the same products and services to the same people, the monotony of that activity shows up in their attitude towards pushing themselves to the next level.

Unless these salespeople find a way to get more energy and interest back into their job role, they’ll just ‘amble’ along until something shakes them out of that state – usually losing a customer or the threat of losing their job.  My preference is to get them out of this state before either of those 2 happen.

7 Signs To Look Out For…..  

So what are the signs you need to look out for, to see if you’ve got any salespeople with any of these challenges?

1. You have one ‘top performer’ that brings in a lot of business, without a ‘close challenger’
2. You’ve had a number of salespeople that have been in a similar role for a while now
3. The same prospect names appear during the ‘pipeline’ discussions at your sales team meetings
4. You pay a high basic salary and your sales team don’t seem hugely motivated to win new business
5. Some of your sales team don’t respond well to your questions and have an ‘I know what I’m doing’ mentality
6. Your sales team have more experience in the company (or the industry) than you have
7. Your salespeople try to divert the conversation from ‘prospects’ and ‘new business’ to how busy they are with existing clients or paperwork

If any of the 7 signs above give you cause for concern, drop me a line and I’ll see how I can help you get your sales team back on track!

Follow the tips above and watch the performance of your sales team soar!  I look forward to hearing about your future success…. 

This article is copyright Andy Preston 2004-2016. To copy or syndicate this or any part of this article contact Andy Preston for guidelines.

In this article, leading Sales Expert Andy Preston explains that if you want more sales, here are 7 things you can do ….right now…. to increase your sales – fast!…..Continue reading

In this article, leading Sales Expert Andy Preston explains the sales lessons that we as salespeople can learn from Steve Jobs……and how we can implement them to benefit both our own sales, and those of our team..…

Note: This article was originally written a few weeks after Steve Jobs death. It’s now been updated and all of the distinctions below are still relevant – hope you enjoy it!

Steve Jobs was inspirational to me personally, as he was to many people.  The difficulties he overcame, the things he was able to accomplish, and the devices he was able to bring into people’s everyday lives had a profound impact on me personally, as I’m sure they did on you too.

From a ‘sales’ point of view, I especially admired his ability to release new products that people don’t even realise they needed… until he released them!  At which point they became ‘must’ purchases for a lot of people.  And that’s said by someone who’s bought iPods, iPhones, Macbook Pros and iPads and iMacs!

While Steve may no longer be with us, his legacy will continue to be.  So what ‘sales lessons’ can we learn from it?……

Andy’s Sales Lesson No 1 – Don’t Be Afraid Of Being ‘Different’

Steve Jobs was never afraid to be different.  To ‘stand out’ from the crowd.  To pursue things ways of doing things that other people thought were stupid.  Until he did them and people stood back and applauded.

In a sales context, what aren’t you doing right now because other people think it’s stupid?  If other people say ‘cold calling is dead’ that’s great!  It means less people are doing it, so less competition to your calls – so long as you’re still making them that is!

If colleagues or competitors are saying ‘prospecting is ‘hard work’ or ‘difficult’ – that’s great!  It means they’re doing less than they should – so a great opportunity for you to win business from the people they’re not calling on, and retain your best accounts as they’re not bothering calling them either!

If people are saying ‘sales is tough right now’ or ‘business is tough out there at the moment’ you can bet they’re not picking up the phone (or walking into their sales appointments) with the right mindset – meaning they’re less likely to win the deal!  That means there’s more deals for the people like us that are prepared to go out there and get them!

Being different and doing things other people don’t want to do, (and even tell you not to do) takes a certain mindset.  The mindset that you’re not going to worry about what others tell you.  That you’re prepared to work harder than they are.  That you’re prepared to win the business that they would have given up on ages ago.

Steve Jobs wasn’t afraid to be different.  Are you?

Andy’s Sales Lesson No 2 – Love What You Do

One of Steve’s favourite sayings was ‘Love what you do’.  My question to you is ‘do YOU love what you do?’.

The answer for most salespeople (and most people in general) is ‘yes, when things are going well!’.  I’ve always said that in my opinion, sales can be the best job in the word… when things are going well…. And the worst job in the world when things are going badly!

So for those of you that don’t currently love what you do,  you need a more ‘compelling reason’ or ‘outcome’ for doing what you do.  That can be a compelling reason for your customers, for example – we want everyone to have access to better quality IT support at a more competitive price’.

It can also be a more compelling reason for yourself ‘I want to have my family be able to have 2 foreign holidays per year and be able to afford the things they want’.  I could also be an even bigger compelling reason…

Mine for example?  I want to be able to change the quality of life (for the better) of everyone I come into contact with.  How do I do that you ask?  By increasing their sales… thereby increasing their income…. thereby helping them to increase the quality of their own lives… and those of their families.

Do you think that ‘compelling reason’ drives me to be better at what I do?  Do you think it drives me to give as much value as possible in my speaking and training engagements?  Do you think it drives me to do whatever it takes to get the best possible results for my delegates and people that train with me?  Of course it does!  Do you think I love what I do by any chance? 😉

Andy’s Sales Lesson No 3 – Turn Your TV Off!

I remember Steve saying ‘We think you watch television to switch your brain OFF, and work on your computer when you want to turn your brain ON’

I’ve always loved that saying.  When I ask most salespeople ‘How much time do you spend on trying to improve your sales (or your sales career) against how much time do you spend watching TV?’ guess which one is normally most popular?!!

Now I’m not saying that you shouldn’t watch TV.  I’m not saying that you shouldn’t use it relax, or watch it with your kids.  After all, it’s your personal choice what you do.  I AM saying however, think about how much time you spend watching it, as opposed to working your sales career.

Most salespeople I meet rarely work on their sales career outside of work.  And even ‘inside’ of work they rarely work on improving it, more that they just end up ‘doing’ it.  When I ask most salespeople ‘when was the last time you listened to a CD to improve your sales?’, what do you think their answer is?  The same answer I usually get when I ask them when they last read a sales book or had some external sales training or coaching!  That answer is usually ‘never’ or ‘not for a while’.

Andy’s Sales Lesson No 4 – Create A ‘Buying Experience’

Steve Jobs and Apple were fantastic at creating a ‘buying experience’ every time you bought one of their products.  Pretty much anyone who’s bought from Apple will confirm this!  Whether it’s been an iPod, iPhone, iPad, iMac or anything else in their product line, if you’ve bought one you’ll know that it’s a bit different to the usual buying experience for example.

If you’ve also experienced the Apple Store in person, you’ll have an even higher opinion.  Forget trawling around a ‘usual’ computer store trying in vain to find someone that knows ANYTHING about what you’re trying to purchase, and isn’t just the ‘Saturday boy’ (who now seems to work every day of the week by the way!).

An Apple store experience is just that – an experience!  The majority of people on the shop floor know exactly how to answer your query, or find someone who does in a minute!  Does that have any impact on how many people buy more products from Apple?  Of course it does!  Apple is one of those manufacturers that once you have one Apple product, most people go on to buy more!

The sales lesson in this is therefore – how do you currently go about making buying from YOUR COMPANY an experience like the Apple one?  Or maybe if you’re a salesperson, how do you go about making buying from YOU an experience like the Apple one?

Because if you can create that kind of ‘buying experience’, then perhaps you can create the kind of customer loyalty and ‘raving fans’ that Steve Jobs and Apple have managed to create around their company and their products and services.  Don’t try to tell me that wouldn’t be useful for your sales figures?!!

Andy’s Sales Lesson No 5 – Don’t Fear Failure

The majority of people I speak to, at some point, have to deal with failure.  So therefore most people also have to deal with a fear of failure.  Something that happens in advance of an ‘event’ that they think will mean failure for them.

So one of the things that I do when I work with an individual or sales team is to look at what ‘failures’ they’re afraid of.  Number one on this list is usually cold calling, or in some cases, any kind of sales call at all!

Now the second will seem strange to those professional salespeople out there, but for some ‘non-traditional salespeople’ – i.e marketing staff trying to make appointments for field sales reps, business owners who’ve never been in sales, professional service people for example – getting over the ‘fear’ of making a sales call or cold call is probably the biggest barrier that’s getting in the way of increasing their sales!

You might not even be thinking of it as ‘fear of failure’ because you might not be physically ‘afraid’ of it, but what if I changed the question into ‘what are you putting off right now that you know you need to do?’ that would bring up some interesting answers!

How many of you (or your team) are putting off calling a prospect that could be a really good source of income for you, because you feel like you’re ‘not ready’?

How many of you are putting off calling a customer back that’s called in with a complaint?  Even why you know it’s better to deal with it swiftly and smooth things over?

How many of you aren’t calling a prospect right now that you’ve sent a proposal to, and are just allowing them to ‘decide’ without you trying to influence it to come to you?   Might that be because you’re ‘afraid’ of messing it up?

If ‘fear of failure’ is affecting you or your team right now, if you send me a message through my website here, I’ll happily give you some ideas how I can help….

Andy’s Sales Lesson No 6 – You Can’t Join The Dots Forward…..

I remember watching a recording of Steve’s speech to Stamford University in 2005, where he said ‘You can’t join the dots forward, only backward….’

It was a great speech and I remember the impact the above phrase had on me.  For me, it meant that sometimes you only realise what actions got you to an outcome – once you’ve got there!  And whilst we can plan and prepare and go for our goals, we never know what action helped us get there, until we get there!

In sales, as in life, there are no guarantees.  Just because you make 10/30/100 prospecting calls today/this/week/this month, doesn’t necessarily GUARANTEE you hitting your target.

Just because you decide to pick up the phone or get out of your car and speak to that prospect you’ve been thinking about contacting for ages (but done nothing about it) doesn’t GUARANTEE that you’ll get their business.

And just because you write a great proposal, make a great presentation and do your best sales meeting ever, doesn’t GUARANTEE that you’ll win that account.

There’s one thing i can guarantee you however – if you don’t make the effort in the first place, you’re definitely not going to win enough deals!

Far too many people dismiss someone else winning a big deal as ‘luck’ – when in fact that salesperson has probably put in lots of effort in the past, in order that they can look back with satisfaction now!  Winning business on a consistent basis usually leaves behind a trail of good sales activity and behaviour – can you be proud of your behaviour and current activity levels?

And don’t worry if things seem tough ‘in the moment’ – put the effort in now and you’ll see the results happen for you going forward.  Then you can look back once you’ve achieved the results you want… and join the dots going backwards…. realising you have success because of that activity and behaviour that everyone else gave up on… apart from you 😉

Follow the tips above and watch your sales soar! I look forward to hearing how you get on……..

This article is copyright Andy Preston 2004-2016. To copy or syndicate this or any part of this article contact Andy Preston for guidelines.

In this article, leading Sales Expert Andy Preston explains why most people struggle with ‘selling by email’ – they don’t understand it, they don’t know when to use it (and when not to) and they don’t know how to use it for best results…….……

After reading this article you’ll be able to utilise email to add value to your sales efforts – instead of hampering them – and get your sales figures back where they belong!……..

When I working with sales teams all over the world, Sales Managers and Directors often tell me that they believe all salespeople are inherently lazy. I’m not sure I agree with that hugely sweeping statement, but I do think salespeople often look for the quickest way to do something!

I think this is partly down to the fact that a lot of salespeople only start earning real money when their commission kicks in, so any task that isn’t directly related to bringing in new customers, orders or money, they tend to try and find the quickest way to do! Hence why the managers think they’re lazy.

As salespeople though, this ‘quickest route’ habit can often cause us problems! Particularly as technology has advanced and email is a popular communication method for many. However, this often results in salespeople resorting to email communication – at the expense of their own sales figures! Have a look at the examples of common email sales mistakes below, and see if any ring true for you……

Email Sales Mistake Number 1 – Using It To ‘Follow Up‘ Your Pipeline

Let’s look at this from a ‘new business’ perspective. You’ve spoken with (or met with) a client previously, you’ve started to develop rapport, but they’ve probably got an existing supplier, or existing way of doing things. So you didn’t pick up their business from your initial call or appointment.

Your boss has probably been putting pressure on you about your sales figures or your sales pipeline. So you decide you need to ‘follow up’ with a few people, this particular prospect included. So what do you do next? Pick up the phone and call them, establish their current situation and needs and potentially see how you may be able to add value to what they’re trying to achieve over the next few months? Close for another appointment, attempt to dislodge the existing supplier (or existing process) and pick up their business? Or send an email?

If you’re in the ’email’ category, stop it! Right now!

Email Sales Mistake Number 2 – Just ‘Adding‘ People To A Mailing List

Another great idea from the marketing department. Sending an email newsletter or similar to keep people ‘informed’ of your products and services. The funny thing is, how many newsletters do you get that you don’t read, or you don’t read in full? I bet it’s quite a few. If you don’t know the sender well, you probably don’t read it at all. Sometimes even when you know the sender well you still don’t read it!

Don’t sit back and think that just because someone is on your generic email list that that’s helping you ‘sell’ to that person. In most cases it isn’t. That’s more of a ‘nurture’ campaign for the Marketing department to worry about!

The responsibility to move that person through your sales pipeline is still yours!

Email Sales Mistake Number 3 – Sending Mainly ‘Flyers’ By Email

Please tell me you’re not still doing this? Even worse if the email is titled ‘offer of the month’ or similar! If the person hasn’t used you before, you’re relying on ‘luck’ for the person to buy from you. And the more competitive your marketplace and the higher the price of what you sell, the less likely people are to buy!

Plus as mentioned in my last point above, it’s hardly ‘personal’ communication to that prospect, is it? Is this really the professional sales job you were employed to do? If this is the best you can do in terms of ‘sales persuasion’, you’re in trouble!

Email Sales Mistake Number 4 – Responding To New Sales Enquiries Via Email

Let’s think about this one. You or your company has expended time, money and effort in producing the incoming sales lead. Whether it’s come from a previous phone call by you or a colleague, networking, advertising or over the internet, you’ve managed to get a precious incoming sales lead.

The next question is, what are you going to do about it? Pick up the phone and find an excuse to start a dialogue to understand their needs in more detail, positition a ‘next step’ in the sales process and look for some committment from that person. Or just send a quick email giving some information and leaving them to ‘wander’ on their own, with no idea how motivated they are to purchase, their timescales, or what other options they’re considering?

Looks like you’ve missed your chance again, doesn’t it? In most cases if they come back to you, it’s because when they enquired with your competition, they did a worse job than you did (hard to believe I know, but it could be true). Is this really the best way of dealing with that precious incoming sales lead do you think?!!

Email Sales Mistake Number 5 – Sending Proposals Or Quotes By Email

Now it’s time for my personal favourite! Sending proposals or quotes by email. This has become an interesting area over the last few years, with many prospects asking you to send your quotes/proposals etc via email.

Now, most of the ‘old school’ trainers will tell you that you HAVE to go in and present the proposal face-to-face. That that’s the ONLY thing you can do.

I don’t agree.

I agree it’s BETTER to be able to present the proposal face-to-face and talk it through. I agree that the more expensive the product (and the more value you have to build before presenting the price) the more important it is to try and get in face-to-face to present it.

But what happens if you’re not in Field Sales/Outside Sales? What if you don’t have the opportunity to visit the prospect? And how about the prospects that ask you to send through your proposals and quotes via email?

Andy’s Tips On Sending Proposals Or Quotes Via Email

The main thing you need to be aware of is that the minute you send through your proposal or quote via email, you lose most of your control over the sales process. You allow the prospect to go into ‘hiding’ – not returning your calls or emails, and basically going quiet on you!

Therefore you need to have asked ALL your ‘sales questions’ BEFORE sending through the proposal, otherwise your chance of winning the business is dramatically reduced!

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If you are interested in me working with you or your team to overcome some of their problems with proposals, pipeline management and closing, then contact me here, or call +44 161 401 0142 to see how I can help you!

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Follow the tips above and watch your sales soar! I look forward to hearing how you get on…..

(This article is copyright Andy Preston 2004-2019. To copy or syndicate this or any part of this article contact Andy Preston for guidelines).

In this article, Leading Sales Expert Andy Preston talks about why most companies don’t win customers, they win transactions – and what you can do differently in your business to make sure that doesn’t happen to you!…………

This has been a regular topic of conversation while I’ve been on my speaking tour of the Middle East and Africa over the past few weeks.

If you’re in a business where you want regular business from people, not just one-off ‘transactions’, then making sure people buy from you more than once is critical!

However, most businesses and most salespeople aren’t aware this actually starts at the first transaction.

The best opportunity to generate repeat business is in the first transaction. How you deal with that can massively affect your chance of getting ANY repeat business, let alone lots of it!

Here are 3 tips to help you gain more Customers, rather than just Transactions….

Andy’s Sales Tip No 1 – Make The Process More ‘Human’…..

There has been a big trend over the last few years to ‘dehumanise’ the sales process, and rely on people buying from you mainly via the internet. Now that’s fine if you have a huge brand like Tesco. Or Walmart. Or Pick and Pay. But not so good if you’re a smaller business.

As a smaller business, the ‘human’ part of the transaction is (or at least, should be!) your competitive advantage! The reason WHY people buy from you and not your competition (even if they are cheaper). They are buying from YOU, just as much as they are buying from your company, if not more!

So why on earth would you seek to ‘dehumanise’ the process? Trying to get people to be ‘loyal’ to a web page, rather than a person? How is that a recipe for driving customer loyalty and long-term business? Here’s a clue. It isn’t!

Andy’s Sales Tip No 2 – Think ‘Customer’, Not ‘Order’

This is something else we need to do. Once we have put more ‘human’ back into the process, we need to start thinking more ‘customer’ than ‘order’.

That means rather than just taking or processing their order, we need to think about what potential future needs they may have for our products or services. Ask questions about the sort of products they buy, and how often. And particular times of year they order (for regular exhibitions, trade shows, promotions for example).

We should be using this opportunity to work out our future contact strategy with this customer. When we should be speaking to them next. What we should be speaking to them about. How we can advise and serve them best, with long-term solutions in mind, not just taking their order.

Without any of that being done, we run the risk of the customer completing the order, and then not speaking to us again, irrespective of whether we try and reach them afterwards – it’s too late!

Andy’s Sales Tip No 3 – Focus On The Customer Experience

What is it really like to buy from you, and your company? Is it easy? Pleasurable? Or do your processes and procedures make it difficult and frustrating?

In my experience, it’s usually the latter. And the less ‘human’ the process is, the more frustrating it can get! Have you ever called a company, only to get an ‘automatic message?’ (press 1 for…..). That’s a great example of what I’m talking about. The ones where you end up screaming ‘just let me speak to a human being!!!’, while bashing the 0 button, in the hope it will shortcut the process!

Most companies have something like that in their order process, that makes customers (and potential customers) frustrated. So what is it in your company? Your accounts process? Your ordering process? Your delivery process?

This is your opportunity to ‘wow’ your customer, To turn this from a ‘transaction’ into a ‘customer’. Maybe even a loyal customer! IF you do this part well enough!

Remember – your delivery/implementation/client visit to your premises is the last link in the process of this particular order. That’s the last thing they will remember. Are they remembering something positive about you, that will make them want to become not just a customer of yours, but a ‘raving fan’ – that tells other people are great you are to deal with and gets you great referrals?

Or is the experience something else, that just encourages them to go somewhere else for their next ‘transaction?’. Think about it.

Follow the tips above and watch your sales soar! I look forward to hearing how you get on…..

(This article is copyright Andy Preston 2004-2016. To copy or syndicate this or any part of this article contact Andy Preston for guidelines).