Your target markets are dead. Look behind the horizon.

Here is a short story. In November 2019, I took part in a sales strategy meeting. We understood buyer personas, had fabulous sales pitches, a long list of prospects and a well-prepared sales team with outstanding marketing support. We agreed a comprehensive and robust plan to sell into professionally researched verticals. Confidence and motivation was the highest ever. Just like the sales targets.

Today, the pipeline of new sales is down, and the team is off target. Yet, ecommerce sales (our market) are in the lift since March 2020 as a result of COVID-19 according to Statista.

This suggests that the sales opportunity is there, we just need to change our market focus and adapt our sales practice. This short article aims to show how.

The pandemic has changed consumer behaviours dramatically. People and businesses have different priorities and spend their hard-earned cash on other things and in different ways.

Whilst many leisure and travel activities have come to a stop, unsurprisingly, supermarket shopping is up 23.4% but spend on non-essentials is down by almost 13%. In addition the UK population has started to support local businesses more resulting in a 50% increase in spend according to Barclaycard.

Our customers’ customers behaviours have changed and so has theirs. The plans made in November appear irrelevant and new sales are not materialising. If we keep on doing the same things, we will be getting the same results (or worse).

The time has come to re-think who our customers are and how to sell to them. Here is a blueprint to do so.

Re-design your customer profile.

When we did our last customer profiling, the world was a quite different place. The changed priorities means we must abandon some of our previously selected markets and seek opportunities where consumers are now spending.

Change your sales pitch to suit your new market

Every top seller knows the need to have laser sharp precision for their target market. If you are used to sell to higher risk category merchants such as airlines or gaming, your sales story will have been developed to suit those markets. That is where your success came from.

That same narrative will not work with your new prospects in new markets. You must change your pitch fast. That may mean new marketing collateral, different pricing or service levels. The time to work together between Sales, Marketing, Ops, Finance and Pricing is here, right now.

Make a new prospect list

Build a new list of companies and new contacts based on the new customer profile. Keep your list of current prospects for later. For success, we need a new list based on new people. Key sources will be your own contacts, LinkedIn and other (virtual) places your ideal merchants will be visible. Aim to have a minimum of 50 names and contact details that meet merchant’s profile(s) from both a company and contact perspective. This list will not only secure your pipeline, it will also help secure your future position with a profitable organisation.

Outreach

Tell your market you are open for business for them. Forget you are a well-known name in other markets. Be inspiring, motivational and persuasive. Let your prospects know about your services and find out if have a requirement now or in the future.

Work as a team to build the sales pitch, rehearse it and translate it into email approaches, LinkedIn messages, LinkedIn content marketing, phone/video calls and any suitable media. This is what selling was always about. Be a pioneer, a trailblazer and magnet for new business.

Sales process

We all know that not every company or individual that shows an interest in your services will be a client straight away. They need to be convinced by great salespeople who:

  • promote relentlessly how your organisation helps the merchant meet their business objectives better than the competition
  • price your services at competitive rates reflecting market conditions
  • position the right acquiring products for the merchant based on their requirements
  • placing products and solutions in front of potential merchants when their need is highest

We need to qualify each prospective merchant using well-proven sales process methods such as fact-finding decision makers, applying advanced question techniques, agreeing priorities and time frames.

Winning opportunities

We know that sales are made and do not ‘just happen’ in business. So, dust off and rehearse those closing techniques you were taught all those years ago. They worked then and will work now.

Bringing it all together

When markets change, salespeople need to change their knowledge, skills and attitude too.

If they do, they and their companies will flourish.

The opposite is also true. If they do not change, they will miss out on opportunities and will possibly jeopardise their personal future and their company’s.

I work with sales people and their leadership finding new target markets and selling to them.

Feel free to get in touch and find out more

Isolate and win more deals

‘too expensive’ ‘too complicated’, ‘the timing is not right’, ‘we have not got the resource’, ‘I want to involve another colleague’

If you want to win more business and recognise some of the sales objections above, here is a short story how isolating objections can help overcome them. By identifying the objections with the prospect, a simple straight path can be found to win the deal.

Almost exactly two years ago we were on the way to see a potential new client. I was coaching a very competent salesperson and, as always, we were discussing the deal history as part of our preparation.

After an initial approach by the telemarketing team, calls, email exchanges and meetings had taken place with the decision maker, pricing had been ok d and it was agreed that our capability was an excellent match for the prospect’s business requirements and plans.

Despite a good fit, the moment of real commitment had not taken place. For whatever reason the salesperson had not been able to tap into the prospect’s sense of urgency to decide either way. He was a straight-talking guy as was the prospect. He said he had tried everything, but it had not worked yet.

Today we would use ‘objection isolation’ as our meeting strategy.

We agreed on the following plan for the meeting:

  • After the pleasantries we would aim to agree a joint agenda
  • We would suggest 2 agenda points:

1) listing all the prospect’s issues stopping future cooperation

2) see how we could address these

  • Ask for the business

We believed that addressing the obstacles would either clear the road to winning the deal or at least present a next action moving forward.

And so, it happened. We listed all (5) obstacles and discussed them at length finding solutions for them. In the end we asked for the business. The prospect became a key client and remains so today.

Isolating and addressing objections is an excellent technique to overcome them. You acknowledge the prospect’s concerns and show willingness to fix them. It may take a bit of confidence and practice, yet once mastered will help to achieve high sales growth.

If you like more high sales growth ideas, feel free to get in touch.

Keep the flow in your sales funnel and fuel high sales growth

My lawn needs cutting every two days at the moment. I filled up the mower this morning using a funnel. It fuels the engine so I can keep up with spring growth. It reminded me of a question.

How can a sales person generate revenues faster from their funnel?

There are plenty of opportunities in the sales funnel, yet it seems to be a stagnant affair. There is no high sales growth.

Here are three simple tips to avoid a stagnant sales funnel:

1) Agree a time frame to purchase as early as possible.

One seller I coached started every enquiry with ‘when would you need the items by?‘ Brilliantly simple and effective method. It reminds the buyer of the urgency and reason for purchasing. The additional opportunity to drive competitive advantage also presents itself. Perhaps your company can deliver faster than anyone else even if your are not lowest price.

The sales person is now a top performer and has the highest conversion rate in the company.

2) Understand why the customer needs your product or services.

An SDR in Payments I work with, now starts a new sales conversation asking what triggered the prospect’s interest. This open the conversation up and reinforces needs and urgency.

She is fast becoming a top new business seller.

3) Re-confirm the customer’s key needs and time frames to purchase at the start of every interaction. T

The start-up CEO I work with, is very much into sales. He frames the prospect’s needs in the email header. This reminds the prospect every time he gets an email. The hit rate of this tactic is very high.

Enjoy these tips and try them. They will help you make more sales and kick start high sales growth.

If you are your team would like more support feel free to get in touch.

Volunteer for today, Train for High Sales Growth tomorrow

This sales ideas is aimed at sales and account management people who are unable to work due to COVID-19 furlough measures, and want to be ready when business returns.

Being furloughed is no fun. Not being able to temporarily reach sales targets or look after customers is alien to sales people who seek high sales growth. They are natural achievers and target orientated. Not being able to perform in the usual way is frustrating for them.

Yet, every cloud has a silver lining when you look for it. Most sales people are also optimists by nature.

The UK government is encouraging furloughed people to train or volunteer where possible.

Volunteering benefits those who need help today. Sales Training is an investment for a high sales growth tomorrow.

Stephen Covey, author of ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ describes the 7th habit as Sharpen The Saw.

It is the habit of renewal and continuous improvement. I support sales people learning new skills, knowledge and attitudes now for a better tomorrow. Consider it, there will probably never be a better time.

#furloughed #highsalesgrowth #sales #salestraining #training #sharpenthesaw

Manage your manager

‘When will you close that deal?’ is one of the questions sales managers ask their team members frequently.

It is a logical, outcome focused question. They want to know when the deal is coming in and when revenues will start. Targets have to be achieved.

Yet, as a salesperson you probably do not know yet when the deal is coming in. Perhaps you were too optimistic talking about the deal as a real opportunity. The pressure is on…….

Many CRM applications add success percentages depending on stage, yet these are arbitrary and often set by CRM experts rather than sales people.

So how can you assess an opportunity objectively and predict (when) it is going to come in?

Here are the 4 high sales growth questions to apply for every opportunity
  1. Am I talking to the person who has the power to make the purchase decision?
  2. Have the customer and I agreed that my product fixes the customer’s issue?
  3. Has the customer indicated that the price is acceptable?
  4. Is there a clear time frame for a purchase decision?

Every “YES” catapults you 25% towards a deal.

So, two “YES” answers takes you to 50% , three to 75% and four to the top 100% certainty.

Here is a simple example:

Salesperson meets operations manager in a white goods factory. The operations manager is under pressure to reduce logistics costs.

The salesperson identifies an opportunity to sell a new packaging solution saving the customer £50,000 over two years.

The operations manager agrees to a demonstration of the solution and is very positive about the demonstration afterwards.

Sales Manager asks salesperson when the deal is coming in………….

Let’s ask the 4 high sales growth questions:

  1. Is the Operation Manager the decision maker? Don t know. Therefore 0%
  2. Does the solution fix the customer’s issues? Yes. Therefore 25%
  3. Is the price acceptable to the customer? Don t know Therefore 0%
  4. Is there a clear time frame Don’t know Therefore 0%

This deal is still early stage and has only reached prospect stage as we know there is a potential need for the product.

Now check this concept on 2 current opportunities and see how close you are to winning them. If not on the 100% yet, just home in on the missing elements. The deals will follow!

I love this concept. Its easy and gives total focus on any missing elements. Besides that I have seen companies growing their sales output by more than 100% by using this pipeline management method.

If you like high sales growth strategies like this and want to make more sales feel free to get in touch

#closingdeals #CRM #salestraining #thebestsalescoach #winningdeals #salestechniques #pipeline #pipelinemanagement #highsalesgrowth

How to make more sales using less effort

This short High Sales Growth idea is aimed at sales people who want to make more sales but have too many opportunities in their sales funnel. They are just too busy to be effective.

We’ll cover why opportunities should be dealt with swiftly, what needs to be done to move them forward and dropping non-opportunities.

Focused sales people make more sales. However, too many sales opportunities diffuse focus and result in lower sales. It is likely that many of these opportunities are locked and not moving forward. We just hoard them in hope that one day they magically will come in.

My experience with many clients is that these locked opportunities lose their conversion probability very fast as time passes (see below as illustration).

The steep slope soon after the opportunity is discovered suggests strongly that early decisive sales engagement is key to higher conversions.

For some businesses the time frame to win an opportunity is just a matter of seconds. For other businesses it is days, months or even years. What is yours?

The longer these opportunities stay in the pipeline, the lower the chances of conversion. It is imperative to unlock sales opportunities and keep them moving forward if we want to be rewarded for the considerable efforts and Sales and Marketing costs made to identify a sales opportunity. Just as important is to identify the non-opportunities and drop those with vigour. A simple example is when it appears impossible to have a meaningful conversation with a senior person. These are not opportunities, they are prospects.

Below is a simple tool (no CRM needed, just a simple spreadsheet) to capture sales opportunities, analyse them quickly, identify what the blockage is and what needs to be done to unblock them. A short discussion with your manager or other seller will also help to identify the non-opportunities so these can be dropped.

By listing each current sales opportunity, its estimated value, the ultimate decision maker, any agreed time frames towards a purchase decision, the issues the prospect wants to resolve and how they perceive your pricing proposal, you will see why the opportunity is locked.

  • In the E Stack example, it clearly shows that more work needs to be done on pain points (needs).
  • In the Coaster example the next step is to close the deal!

This read covers the knowledge bit only, you still need all your sales skills to actually move the opportunities forward. This means getting attention from the decision makers, developing interest and desire in your product and gaining commitment.

In the event you simply do not have enough quality opportunities in your pipeline, it is a matter of increasing your pro-activity and search for them

Feel free to get in touch via mail in the top right button or gert.scholts@thebestsalescoach.co.uk how this tool can benefit your sales and unblock your opportunity pipeline. My complimentary sales surgeries have a reputation to uphold!

#highsalesgrowth #sales #salescoaching #sdr #pipelinemanagement

Do the maths for high sales growth

My very first boss, Azim Isa, taught me a high sales growth technique I still use and promote today.

It looks as simple as 1+1=2, yet applying it well is where the real skills and knowledge are needed.

He told me that prospects will buy by qualifying the potential sales opportunity in just 5 areas:

1. Agreed budget/cost/investment

2. Agreed and prioritised needs related to the prospect/product/service proposition

3. Agreed time frames to proceed

4. The decision making process, people and criteria

5. A comparison with a competitor proposal

“Focus your sales interview on these 5 qualifiers, Gert” he said.

” But don’t be fooled by the simplicity of this list. Understanding your customers 100% is what is needed. This is the most rewarding and the most difficult skill to master in sales”

After 25 years in sales I share this simple high sales growth model with everyone who wants to hear about it. I have done well out of using it with customers small and large, short and long sales cycles.

And if you want to learn more and use this technique to boost your sales immediately contact me today

Azim, thank you for this constant truth in selling!

#salescoach #salespitch #sales #SDRS

My story

I am passionate about high sales growth and help sales people and their companies achieve this.

After 25 years in the sales profession, leading sales teams in SMEs, start-ups and corporates, I am on a mission to get the best out of sales people by sharing my experience in a personal way.

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​​The companies and sales people I work with typically see a lasting sales improvement of 25% conversion across the board and often much more.

My journey in the sales profession

I began my sales career shortly after graduating as a linguist, starting out from the start up beginnings of cold-calling and selling insurance. I learned about cold calling techniques as well as customer relationships and how recommendations were the simpliest way to grow a customer base.

After encountering endless rejection, I learned how to use this increasing my determination and activity to succeed.

I learned to listen and understand what customers wanted, rather than listen to answer with endless features and benefits.

Through hard work and perseverance, a strong sales career followed, highlights of which have been transforming large sales and account management teams at BUPA, Bank of Scotland, Autoglass and Travelex.

I have been fortunate to meet many people at the top of their game in sports, performing arts and business. Their success rubbed off on me by understanding why they reached their successes.

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Background

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  • Linguistics degree from Windesheim University of Applied Science, The Netherlands
  • Multi award winning sales achievements in the UK Financial Services industry
  • 10 years as a professional sales trainer at Manulife Financial and BUPA
  • Top Salesman selling first prepaid MasterCard in the UK
  • Corporate Leadership programme INSEAD, France
  • Transformed sales teams at Autoglass, Thomas Cook and First Data Corporation

Sales is an exciting, interesting and fast-paced role – and effective selling can be learned and excelled at. My skills lie in getting the best from sales people using motivation, people management skills, sales process development, sales enablement technology and account management tools.

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Companies and individuals hire me because, together, we get results. I support businesses step up to their sales challenges with unique video coaching, on-the-job sales coaching, sales team development and Interim Sales Management, all with a sharp focus on delivering continuous high sales growth.

In high sales growth your background counts.

Creating a professional background when sharing content/selling via video will help you make more sales. It is part of a high sales growth approach.

First impressions last. As soon as a customer sees your image they will form an opinion about you, your company and your proposition.

Making that image look good is easier than you might think.

All you need is:

  • PC or laptop with decent webcam and mic.
  • Free video software like Zoom.
  • Broadcasting software to enable virtual backgrounds. I use OBS which is free.
  • An OBS plugin called VirtualCam.
  • A high resolution company logo.
  • A dark background to project your company logo on.
  • 20 minutes to get it all going.

OBS looks like this when open and right clicked the ‘sources’ section. This is where you select your mic, webcam and your company logo

  • Once you have downloaded virtual cam, select tools in OBS and go to VirtualCam. Select autostart and you are done.
  • Start Zoom and in ‘settings’ select your ‘VirtualCam’ option. Just make sure OBS is running.
  • Now you have that professional edge you were looking for.

Now all you need is to convey your passion into a great pitch.

Soon you’ll be a real pro!

If you want a bit of help with the above and be the best sales person you can be, follow me on LinkedIn or get in touch.

#videoconference #sales #marketing #thebestsalescoach #zoom #OBS #videoselling #sdr #passion