Laser like focus or should you take more shots?

To survive as a sales professional in a tough economy you have to decide which way to go?

On the one hand you can argue a case that you should chase down more opportunities because the economy is slower. Widen the top of your sales funnel to ensure you end up with at least the same results as last year. Make more calls, do more meetings, ask for more referrals. Less will be converted, so more shots will help you hit your numbers.

On the other hand it can be argued that you should sharpen your focus. Spend more time working on the opportunities that are most likely to be converted. Be like Bruce Lee. Have laser like focus. Hone in on your very best opportunities and don't waste your valuable time chasing low probability deals.

I guess it depends on what your selling and to whom.

Whatever you do , don't waste your selling time on opportunities you are unlikely to convert. Use your radar and intuition to be in the right place at the right time.

Neil Rackham, author of the famous book SPIN selling favours laser like focus.

Hear and see him in action here

Structuring your presentations

When you listen to the news they use a standard formula.

Start: Headlines that capture your interest
Middle: Meat on the bones of the headlines
End: Recapping the main points again

When you are structuring a presentation you can apply a similar formula.

Hook

Grab your audience at the start by letting them know what's in it for them. Remember it's not about you, it's all about them. You have to know your audience to be successful as a presenter.Let them know who you are and find a way of building rapport with them. People tend to be more easily influenced by people who are like them. Build common ground. Reduce difference. Get them enthusiastic about what you will be covering.

Structure

Let them know how long you will be presenting for and what you will be covering. You might suggest they hold their questions until the end as well. Suggest people turn off their phones. Let them know you will email through a copy of your slides to anyone who may want them.

Then tell them a great story that is relevant and linked to your content.

Present your content in the best order for your audience. 3 key messages is normally enough. Go with your best piece of content first. You decide the best way to structure your messages. Use examples, quotes, simple graphs, great images. Tell real stories.

Summarise and draw it all together. Handle the questions beautifully.

Finally recommend the next steps. When, how, who. Show of hands? Who's in? Who needs a bit more time?

Thank them for their time and their feedback.

So just recapping the main points again.

When you present, have a strong beginning that engages your audience, a clear middle that outlines your points and arguments and a great ending leading to actions.

Doing business with people of influence in your community?

I was having lunch with an old friend yesterday. He has recently commenced business as a mortgage broker. It's a tough market to get started in.

We got talking about how he could grow his network and referral base. We started discussing all the people in his local community he is doing business with on a regular basis.

This list quickly grew to include:

• The bottle shop
• The service (petrol) station
• His mechanic
• His wife's mechanic (the cheaper one)
• The corner store
• The local cafe
• The local bank
• His Hairdresser
• His Accountant

Most of these people don't know what he does for a living.

A few things crossed my mind.

1. You can't sell a secret

2. Most people like to do business with people they like and trust

3. Start developing relationships with these people / local suppliers

4. Most people working within a community like recommending other people within a community to do business with.

Community is king in tough economic times. Focus on your local community. Support your suppliers.

Don't forget to let them know what you do for a living. You might also inform them that most of your business comes from referrals from within your community.

Developing relationships takes time. Start off by spending time with the people you want to develop relationships with.

Sales pipelines - Plugging your leaks

I was doing some work last week with a team who are not very good at following up on opportunities that are in their sales pipeline. This is costing them thousands of $'s every month in missed commissions

Sales Managers love looking at pipelines. They think this helps them to predict what may be coming up in future business.

Of equal importance to what is going in to your pipeline is how are you plugging your pipe for leaks?

Stop the pipe from leaking

If you want to plug your leaks you need discipline and strong follow up systems. In Business to Business selling today's sale is based on your activity levels over the past 3-6 months.

The best sales people I work with have high activity levels, but more importantly they are great at plugging leaks. They know:

• Who to follow up with
• How to ensure they dont forget to follow up at the right time
• How to position their follow up meeting, call, SMS, twitter or email
• When to follow up

If you want to more successful in sales I suggest double your follow up efforts. It doesn't matter what system you use, as long as it works.

Double your follow up and I predict you'll half the number of leaks in your pipe.

Each day I suggest you should aim for 10 people you can be following up with. These should be in your CRM, diary , notebook, blackberry or whatever you use to track your movements.

Jeffrey Gitomer knows a bit about all of this. Check him out here: http://www.gitomer.com/

Presentation Skills - Answering questions

Watch how skilled presenters answer questions

"I can't really comment on that , but what I can say is this.... "

Have you ever noticed how experienced presenters can effortlessly glide from the question to the answer?

It's like watching a bird land on a skinny branch. Something appearing complicated and threatening made to look effortless.

What experienced presenters do is utilise a variety of techniques to make the complex seem simple. You can try them.

These include:

Be clear on what you want to say prior to be asked questions. Use transitions to get you out of any tight spot. "I'd love to comment on that, but in fact what I really want to stress is this..."

or

"I can't totally agree with that comment but what I can say is this....."

Allow time to let the question land (say 2 seconds) . Accept the question non verbally (head nodding, smiling) and then verbally.

"Thanks for that question Julie, it's something that often comes up when I present on this topic"

Repeat or rephrase the question if need be to allow you time to gather your thoughts.

Answer the question, use someone else in the room to answer it or defer the answer depending on the circumstances.

Above all else , stay calm and relaxed. You only have to look at a presenter to tell if they know their stuff.

Keep your answers relatively brief and prepare for the types of questions you could receive and some potential answers prior to any presentation you give.

Oh, one final thought. If you don't know the answer, mention that you need to look into that and will come back to them. It isn't a crime not to know everything about a topic.

Check out this article for some more tips on presenting and how to persuade an audience.

http://www.nrgsolutions.com.au/index.php/steve-herzberg/steve-herzberg-articles/

Does sales training work?

How do you know if sales training will work?

Why do companies invest so much money in something that can be so difficult to measure?

What proof really exists that it will work?

The above 3 questions are not easy to answer. I often say to my clients if you were a racehorse trainer and had 10 horses to train how would you decide to invest your time and money? Would you allocate 10% of your time to each horse or would it be better to allocate the majority of your time to the top 2 or 3? Maybe get rid of the non performers or send them off to the fair ground to give pony rides to little children.

What to consider when developing sales people

• Positive Attitude
• History of embracing new ideas
• Willingness to learn
• Can handle rejection
• Strong desire to succeed for a variety of reasons (cash flow / debt / status / ego )
• Proof that they are adopting the changes you are working on
• Results - How long do you give them before you let them go?

For more on high performing sales people and the importance of handling rejection click here

What do you think about sales training? Do you think it can make a difference?

The problem with vested interest

If a person who provides financial advice for a living is telling you it would be a good idea for you to meet with them to discuss your financial situation, should you meet with them?

What about a Real Estate agent mentioning that now is a good time to be looking at selling your home?

Or how about the stock broker who is happy to inform us the market has bottomed out and there are great bargains to be had?

The issue of vested interest always puzzles me. The question is, are you really interested in me and my needs or are you more interested in what you have to sell me?

At NRG Solutions we sell Corporate Training Solutions to our clients. I could tell everyone now is the best time to be investing in their staff because:

1. To have the edge on your competitors it's critical to develop and motivate your people in a slowing economy.
2. Morale may be low and the best way to get people focused is to show them they matter by investing in them.
3. There are great opportunities in this market to win new business as so many companies look to trim costs. Your people need to capitalise on these opportunities and need the skills and the hunger to go out and be effective .

You probably wouldn't believe me because I have a vested interest in the outcome.

So what, I hear you say and how do I get around this?

Get people who don't have a vested interest to make the recommendations and watch what happens to your business.

How do you get that to happen? Try hard work, great results and a focus on fulfilling other peoples needs.