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Sales Tip #7:
 
 
Goal:
Follow an easy 4-step objection-handling process to help you to more effectively handle objections, control the sales process and position for the close.
 

Message to Sales Managers: Many sales people like to play ping-pong. Not the game – it’s the way inexperienced sales people handle objections. The prospect asks a question or voices and concern (ping!), and the sales person immediately reacts with a response (pong!). And the game continues. Who is controlling the process here? The prospect is. This Sales Tip will help your sales people better control the sales process by qualifying and responding more effectively to the “real” objections.

Best Practice:
Follow a simple 4-step process before immediately reacting and losing control of the conversation. Probe for the real objections, and prioritize the prospect’s list of issues before reactively responding. If you are doing more listening than talking, then you are likely succeeding. By following the process and asking good questions, you will be in a position to respond effectively to priority issues, and you have avoided getting caught in the trap of playing “ping-pong” with your prospect.

Tip: There are only 4 real types of objections. They are:

  • No Time
  • No Money
  • No Need
  • No Trust (Not You!)

If you ask the right questions, and uncover all the potential issues and objections before responding, you can classify every objection into one of the 4 categories above, and decide how you want to respond – instead of reacting with the first response that comes to mind.

Here are 4 steps that we recommend you follow in order to effectively uncover and respond to objections in a way that will help you to control the conversation, and position to close on the next step of your sales process:

1) Clarify
2) Empathize
3) Qualify/Isolate
4) Respond and Close
 

Using the example of gaining access to the CEO let’s drill down a bit on the 4 steps of objection handling. In this case – your prospect is objecting to giving you access to the CEO. Your goal is to get access to the CEO before your primary point of contact makes a formal recommendation.

1) Clarify
a) Goal: Gain concurrence that you have an accurate understanding of the issue.
b) Method: Repeat the objection in your own words, and ask if your understanding of it is correct.
      i) Note: You can begin to lead the prospect by re-stating the issue in a certain way and gaining concurrence.
c) Example:
      i) You ask your primary contact for access to the CEO.
     ii) Prospect says: “I'm the decision maker. So once I complete my evaluation of the vendor proposals, I’ll make my
         recommendation to the CEO to get funding approved.”
    iii) You say: “I see - so are you saying that the CEO doesn't want to meet with any vendors until you make your formal
         recommendation, or do you feel that CEO will not want to meet with us at all?”
2) Empathize
a) Goal: Build rapport by showing empathy.
b) Method:
        i) Use phrases like “I understand…”, and “That makes sense…”
       ii) Dale Carnegie “Feel, Felt, Found” technique
c) Example:
       i) “I understand completely that you FEEL that you need to be the point person in dealing with the vendors. Since the CEO made you responsible for the selection process, I don’t blame you.
      ii) I've worked with many other people in your position who FELT the same way.
     iii) It is our experience though that the people who have brought us in early to jointly meet with the CEO have FOUND that a discussion around the CEO’s expectations of the solution and the vendor requirements helps with the selection process, and will help you to make the right recommendation based upon your CEO’s expectations.”
 

***CHECKPOINT***

a) Still didn’t get agreement to meet the CEO? Move onto Step 3
b) Editorial Note: If you get concurrence – close for the appointment with the CEO! Don’t get so stuck on the “objection handling process” that you miss a “buying sign” and forget to close when you have the opportunity!

3) Qualify and Isolate

a) Goal: Position for the close
       i) Uncover hidden or additional objections.
      ii) Avoid playing “ping-pong”. Control the discussion in a very subtle way – by asking questions!
     iii) Batch and prioritize the issues – identify and isolate the “real” objection.
b) Method:
       i) Ask more open-ended questions to qualify and identify additional or hidden objections
       ii) Trial close for acceptance to gain commitment to move forward before responding to the issues (position for the close).
      iii) Tips on Asking Questions:
                (1) Ask Questions to uncover and prioritize hidden objections.
                           (a) Start with Open Ended Questions to uncover hidden objections.
                           (b) Follow up with Closed Ended Questions if needed.
                (2) Asking qualifying and probing questions will help you to:
                           (a) Understand the true objection
                           (b) Arm yourself with the information you need to respond appropriately
                           (c) Discover new requirements and further develop needs and business issues to help you define the right    solution and prove value
       iv) Bottom line:
               (1) The more objections you uncover up front, and
               (2) The more you can develop needs and identify wants and desires prior to closing,
               (3) The more successful your closing effort will be, resulting in more and bigger sales!
 
c) Examples: Sample Questions
        i) Are there any other reasons why you might feel uncomfortable introducing us to the CEO at this point?
               (1) Have you been burned by vendors in the past?
       ii) Are there any issues that might cause the CEO to NOT want to meet with us? (No Time?, No Money?)
      iii) What is the CEO’s expectation with regard to his/her involvement in the process?
               (1) What are the business issues driving the CEO’s interest an willingness to fund this project?
      iv) Why did the CEO charter the creation of the committee (or ask you to research potential solutions)?
               (1) Was there a “straw the broke the camels back” that caused the CEO to ask you to take action now? If yes, what was it?
       v) Always ask: “Anything else?” to uncover additional issues or objections.
 
d) Note: Batch the Issues before you respond!
        i) Build a list of issues and objections prior to responding to subtly control the conversation.
        ii) Prioritize the issues. Ask questions like:
               (1) Of the issues that we discussed, which one is the most critical?
               (2) Is this a deal breaker?
        iii) This prevents you from having to respond immediately in a reactive mode!
          e) Example: Some sample Trial Closes:
                   i) “If we can prove to you that our solution can address the business issues that the CEO is most concerned with, then would you allow us to meet jointly with you and the CEO?”
                   ii) “If we were to dedicate resources to help you define and document the system and vendor requirements necessary to meet your business needs, or help you to develop a TCO analysis of the potential solutions, then, would you help introduce us to the CEO?”
 
4) Respond & Close
         a) Goal:
                    i) Respond to the high priority objections and issues
                   ii) Close for the Next Step of the Sales Process
         b) Method: Respond directly to the objection(s)
                   i) Explain specifically how we would address the issue
                  ii) Make your prospect comfortable – relieve the pressure. Smile and be relaxed.
                 iii) Tell a Story. Provide proof of your value or your ability to overcome the issue by telling a story!
           c) Example:
                   i) Lead In: “One of our challenges is that we have a unique approach that helps our clients meet their strategic business goals and objectives – We’re not just another technology vendor. Although we are an established vendor, many people are still not aware of our capabilities or our approach, so often we find that we need to present our case directly to the CEO to be considered more as a business partner than as just another technology vendor.
                  ii) Tell a Story: “In fact, just recently we met with the CEO of <customer name> and as we shared our capabilities and asked questions, we found that his expectations and business requirements were much broader than the solution our primary point of contact was evaluating. We were able to help more completely define the requirements so that our primary contact could make a more informed decision based upon the CEO’s direct input and feedback. So in the end, he would be the first to admit that we helped prevent him from making a decision that would likely have resulted in a failed project.”
                 iii) Sample Closes:
                              (1) “We’re committed and looking forward to working with you and providing you with whatever information and referrals that you need to provide the CEO with a meaningful analysis of all of your options. How would you feel about informally introducing us to the CEO before you submit your vendor/TCO analysis so we can help you to prepare an analysis that addresses all of the CEO’s business issues, as well as the technical issues?” OR 
                             (2) “Would it be fair at this point to ask you for help by informally introducing us to the CEO so we can help you to prepare an analysis that addresses all of the CEO’s business requirements as well as the technical issues?”
                 iv) Some More Sample Closing Techniques:
                              (1) Assumptive Close: “When would you like to schedule a meeting with your CEO?”
                              (2) Alternatives Close: “Would you rather have us meet with the CEO before or after your visit to our office? (The CEO may also want to come.)”
                              (3) Suggestive Close: “Based upon our conversations so far, I’d like to suggest that we schedule a meeting with the CEO to get a full understanding of how he expects technology will enhance your business capabilities in areas that will impact your ability to accomplish your strategic goals and objectives.”
                             (4) Impending Event Close: “You need to have the new system up and running by <date>. Working backwards, we need to have our meeting with the CEO by <date> to get his approval so we get started on the project.” I hope these Objection Handling tips help. Remember – don’t allow the prospect to control the situation. As professional sales people, its our job to control and manage the sales process, and the best way to do that is to ask questions and qualify the situation BEFORE reacting and responding.
 

Good selling everyone!

Steve

 
Sales Tip #6: 
 
Goal: 
Collaborate with others and work effectively as a team to improve sales effectiveness.
Message to Sales Managers:  Everyone likes to be in charge.  In a team selling environment, this is a challenge.  By defining roles and establishing some simple rules of engagement, everyone can “be in charge” of their own areas of responsibility, and you can still manage an effective sales process – even at the meeting level.
 
Best Practice:
Defining roles and responsibilities of Sales Team members is the key to working well together.  The most critical component of the team selling approach is meeting management.  This is because your interactions with each other are visible to the prospect during the meeting.  The impression you leave the prospect with can either create a positive competitive advantage for you, or create concern about your ability to work together as a team to help them solve their problems.
Here are some steps that we recommend you follow in order to properly execute a successful sales meeting in a team-selling environment:
1. Define meeting goals and objectives
    a. What do you hope to accomplish?
    b. Goals should contribute to moving forward to the next stage in the sales process
    c. What actions / information are needed to move to the next stage of the sales process?
    d. Who needs to attend (on both sides) in order to accomplish your meeting goal(s)?
2. Create and communicate a meeting agenda (in advance of the meeting)
    a. Confirm agenda meeting goals
    b. Confirm list of attendees (will the required attendees be present in order to accomplish you meeting goals?)
    c. See sample meeting request message provided below in the Tips and Tools section
3. Hold a pre-call planning meeting
    a. Can be as brief as 15 minutes
    b. Define sales team roles and responsibilities
    c. Role-matching:  Map your team member roles to the roles of the prospect attendees. 
        The idea here is to create peer-to-peer relationships between your sales team, and the prospect’s decision-making team.
    d. Review agenda and rules of engagement.  Who will take the lead on each topic?
4. Debrief after the call
    a. How did we perform as a team?
    b. What did we do well?
    c. What can we do better or differently next time?
Tips and Tools:  Here are some tips and tools that you can use for a successful team-selling effort:
1. Use a worksheet to define the roles and responsibilities of your team members.  Here’s an example a simple tool that you
    can implement to help with role-matching and in defining meeting rules of engagement:

2. Stay in your own lane.  Address issues that you are responsible for covering based upon your role.
3. Stay focused and on point.
4. Don’t oversell or over-respond.  Keep your responses brief.  If the prospect wants to hear more, they’ll ask.
5. Never contradict a team member.  If necessary, call for a break to discuss a sensitive issue.
6. Ask – don’t tell.  Generally speaking, it’s better to listen than to talk.
7. Show basic professional courtesy.
    a. Don’t interrupt
    b. Manage time well.  Be on time, and don’t run late (without permission)
    c. Stay focused on the meeting.  No cell phones, emailing, or texting!
8. Develop a debriefing tool.  Here is an example that you can modify for your own use:

How Salesforce.com can help:
1. Use Sales Team and Contact Role features on the Opportunity Record
        – Sales Team:  Internal team members
        – Contact Roles:  People outside of your Sales Team involved in or impacting the decision-making process
        – Benefits:
      • Formalizes role definitions – everyone is on the same page
      • Assists in planning
      • Automated communications – workflow rules can be established to automatically update Sales Team members of opportunity updates and changes
2. Build email templates for your meeting requests with draft agendas.  Here is an example:
        – Benefits
  • Fast and easy to communicate
  • Supports communication standards and quality
  • You can tell when the agenda email has been opened

Having an Account Plan and proactively managing the relationships with your most important customer will pay huge dividends over time, and enhance your personal relationships at an executive level.

If you would like to see a sample Account Planning template, please log onto the Resources section of the HarvestGold web site – and help yourself!
 
Good Selling everyone!
Steve                                                                                                                                                         (Back to top)
 
Sales Tip #5 
Increasing Relationship Value through Account Planning and Management
(Click here for printable PDF)
 
Goal:
Build an Account Plan to proactively grow your relationships with your most important customers.
 
Message to Sales Managers:
Everyone likes to work big accounts. But developing an Account Plan that can help sales people identify and prioritize opportunities, navigate through the company hierarchy, and proactively manage the relationship (instead of reactively taking orders or bidding on new projects) isn’t something that salespeople typically enjoy doing. Sales people like the act of selling, but it is often difficult to get a busy salesperson to spend time building a plan. Defining the planning process, providing planning tools and templates, and creating a venue for planning to occur is an important management responsibility. If we are to expect our sales people to develop strong Account Plans, and take a more proactive approach to growing relationships with large accounts, then we should first schedule an Account Planning workshop and provide the tools to facilitate the Account Planning process. We would also recommend making Account Plan reviews part of your regular one-on-one meetings with your sales team members.

Best Practice:

Account Panning is defined by many people in many different ways. A strong Account Planning process looks like this:

Account
    1. Profile the Company
          • Background
          • Organization

    2. Identify the Known Opportunities

Opportunities

    1. Describe the Need and Approach

    2. Map Out the Customer Roles

    3. Create the Account Penetration Strategies

    4. Build the Competitive Positioning

    5. Rank the Opportunities

Relationship Management

1. Define an agenda for regular “Relationship Management Meetings” with your customer to maintain executive level visibility

    Here are some tips to building a good Account Plan:
  1. Profile the Company:
         a. Know the business your customer is in:  Capture historical revenue trends, and future revenue objectives.
             Read the financials (if they are a public company), know their target markets and their product lines. 
                 Research their market so that you have an understanding of the market dynamics, opportunities and
             challenges.  Capturing this information in your Account Plan enables you to play more a “Trusted Advisor”
             role, rather than a “Vendor” role.  As a Trusted Advisor, ask about their strategic initiatives and how they
             plan to address their business challenges. This will open the door to more opportunities, and expanded
             relationships at the executive level.
               b. Build An Organizational Chart:  Know who the decision makers, influencers, evaluators and purchasers are
                   in each division of the company.  If you don’t know how the organization is structured or the names of the
                   key contacts across departments, ask your existing contacts.  Draw an org chart right in front of them and
                   ask them to fill in the blanks.  This is also a great time to ask for referrals by simply asking “Who on the 
                   org chart would you suggest I should meet?  Can you introduce me?”
2.  Identify and Rank Opportunities:  
    1. Make a List:  Record the existing known “qualified” opportunities, and targeted areas of the business where you think opportunities might exist.
    2. Define Contact Roles:  Define the roles of each contact (Decision Maker, Sponsor, Evaluator, Influencer) and their position relative to the your relationship with the company (supportive, neutral, negative).
    3. Identify the competition:  Is this a cross-sell opportunity where there is a competitive relationship that needs to be displaced, or is this an up-sell opportunity where you are the incumbent?
    4. Strategic Value:  How important is your solution to the customer?  How important is this opportunity to you?  Consider the impact your solution will have for the customer.  From your perspective, consider the potential size of the deal, forecasted margin/profitability, and whether this is a lead-in to other, more significant opportunities.
    5. Rank and Prioritize Opportunities:  Based upon this information (and perhaps other factors as well), rank your opportunities.  You can’t pursue everything at once.  So pick your battles, and focus your effort on the opportunities that will have the most impact on the long-term value of your relationship with your customer.
3.  Schedule Quarterly Relationship Management Meetings  
    1. The idea here is to meet with your customer without a specific sales agenda.  If the only times you talk with your client when you want to sell them something, you are positioning yourself to be no different than every other sales person.  Schedule a more high-level Business Discussion with your executive contacts to stay out in front of potential relationship-impacting issues, and to proactively identify new opportunities to expand your relationship with your customer.
    2. Here is a sample RMM agenda:
                   1. Prior Period Performance
          • Your Performance: Review of prior quarter performance (Did we meet your expectations last quarter?)
          • Customer Performance: Is your customer meeting or exceeding their purchasing projections? Will this impact pricing moving forward?
                  2. Finances (review of invoices, A/R, etc.)
          • Note that this may be a short discussion, but having it on the agenda it creates a forum for you as the relationship manager to stay on top of receivables without having to schedule a “special” discussion after the accounting department let’s you know that there is an “issue” that needs to be resolved.

                  3. What’s New

          • With you – let your customer know what’s coming. New products / services, new partnerships, etc. Let the customer hear it from you first!
          • With them – ask your customer to share with you any new strategic projects or initiatives that will be top on their priority list.

                  4. Brainstorming Session

          • What can we do differently or better?
          • What new things can we do to help improve sales or reduce costs?

                  5. Goal Setting

          • If relevant, set relationship goals for the upcoming quarter

                  6. Next Steps and Action Items

          • Define and assign action items. Follow up on them throughout the quarter between this and your next meeting.
          • Schedule your next Relationship Management Meeting.

How Salesforce.com can help:

  1. Use the “Reports To” feature to define organizational hierarchy (a virtual org chart) for all contacts within your top accounts.
  2. Customize the Account record as needed to capture important company information.
  3. Create a method for ranking opportunities on the Opportunity Record. Use a combination of factors including Stage, Potential Value, Competitive Positioning, Access to a Decision Maker, etc.
  4. Track Relationship Management Meetings (RMM) as a separate meeting type. Use custom views, reports or workflows to remind you when it is time to schedule your next RMM with the C-Level contact in the account. Perhaps even create a custom RMM Event Record to capture relationship management topics.
  5. Create an Account Planning section on the Account Page Layout. In that section, create a Revenue Goal field that you will populate from your Account Plan. Create another “Actual Revenue” field that you will populate and update from your production reports (perhaps from billing or shipping information). Then create a rollup formula field called “Forecasted Revenue” to sum the value of related opportunities. From these 3 data points (Revenue Goal, Actual Revenue, Forecasted Revenue), you can easily monitor and report on Account Performance on the account record.
  6. Browse the AppExchange. There are several Account Planning apps out there. One in particular is Adventace’s AAPT application. Check it out!

Having an Account Plan and proactively managing the relationships with your most important customer will pay huge dividends over time, and enhance your personal relationships at an executive level.

If you would like to see a sample Account Planning template, please log onto the Resources section of the HarvestGold web site – and help yourself!

Good Selling everyone!

 
Sales Tip #4 
Setting Activity and Productivity Goals – Creating A Sales Success Scenario
(Click here for printable PDF)

 

Goal: 
Use a mathematical process for setting activity and productivity goals based upon your personal income objectives that results in a Sales Success Scenario custom built for you.

 

Message to Sales Managers:

Getting sales people to buy into sales goals is often challenging.  Starting with a sales person’s income objective, and working backwards to establish supporting activity and productivity goals using a data-driven process achieves real results and buy-in from everyone involved.

 

Best Practice:

Follow these steps to establish activity goals that both sales people and their managers will buy into:

  1. Target your annual income objective
  2. Based upon your compensation plan, estimate the sales you will need to close in order to meet your income objective.  Note that this sales goal should be at least equal to, if not greater than, your assigned quota.
  3. Analyze your current customer base.  How much of your sales goal do you anticipate will be met by repeat business with existing customers?  The remainder is you New Business Sales Goal.
  4. Answer the following questions:
    1. What percentage of qualified prospects who you meet with will end up buying?  Try to use historical activity data to figure this out.  If the data is not available, make you best educated guess.
    2. How many times on average do you meet with new prospects before they buy?
    3. Based upon historical data, what is the Average Sale Price for new deals?
  5. Do the math to calculate your New Business Goals:
    1. New Business Sales Goal = Total Sales Goal – Expected Sales from Existing Customers
    2. Number of New Deals Needed = New Business Sales Goal / Average Sale Price
    3. Number of First Meetings with New Qualified Prospects = Number of New Deals Needed / Percentage of New Qualified Prospects who will end up buying
    4. Monthly Activity Goal with New Prospects = (Number of New Deals Needed x Average Number of Meetings with New Prospects) / 12 months
  6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 (with the obvious modifications) to set goals for repeat business from Existing Customers

If your resulting activity goals seem unattainable, consider modifying the following variables to create a Success Scenario that you are comfortable with:

  1. Increase your average order size.  If you can sell bigger deals, you will need less activity to meet your income objectives.  Ask yourself:
    1. What kinds of products or services should I focus on selling to accomplish this?
    2. What target markets or industries lend themselves to larger sales?
  2. Increase your effectiveness.  Ask yourself:
    1. How can I shorten my sales cycle?
    2. How can I increase my closing ratios?  What sales skills or what areas of the sales process represent my greatest opportunities for improvement?

By selling faster or with fewer meetings, you can sell more with the same amount of effort.  Likewise, if you can close a higher percentage of your prospects, you can meet your income objects with less effort, or significantly exceed your income objectives with the same amount of effort.

 

How Salesforce.com can help:

  1. Create a personal dashboard with Gauge dashboard object to track you progress against your goals.
  2. Install HarvestGold’s Personal Sales Goals from AppExchange.  It is a free application that gives you a starting point that you can customize to automate the goal-setting process outlined above.

I hope that this approach helps you to think in a more data-driven way about goal-setting.  As sales people, we are in control.  Use the numbers to your advantage, and create a Success Scenario for yourself that ensures that you will meet or exceed you personal income objectives.

 

Good Selling everyone!
 
(Back to top)
  
Sales Tip #3
Increase Close Rates with DRAFT Proposals
(Click here for printable PDF)
 
Goal:
Use DRAFT Proposal Review Meetings to gain competitive advantages over other sales people significantly increase your closing ratios.
 
Message to Managers:
I had a sales manager once who coached me never to "Quote and Hope".  He believed that once the prospect receives what they perceive to be the final proposal (in whatever form), the door closes and the sales person's opportunity to impact the decision is over.  I believe he was correct. The best sales practice defined below prevents the proposal from entering the "black hole" of decision-making, and will give your sales people a competitive advantage.
 
Best Practice:
Positioning an initial response as a "Draft" proposal allows the salespeson an opportunity to schedule a meeting to:
  • discuss options related to pricing, terms & timing,
  • be “LAST IN” to have the final impact on your prospect’s decision-making criteria, and
  • collaborate with the prospect to tweak and modify the DRAFT proposal to the prospect’s complete satisfaction
Properly positioning and scheduling a DRAFT Proposal Review Meeting prior to submitting a formal proposal will create a formal venue
for this discussion that is sure to increase your closing ratios.  Your prospect should feel that he/she has contributed significantly to the
resulting deliverable.  Here are some more tips:
  • Recommend the meeting - don't request it.
  • Clearly stating the goal of the meeting and providing a simple agenda will add to the credibility of the meeting.
  • If at all possible, do NOT deliver the proposal prior to the meeting. Deliver it AT the meeting, and review it in detail with your prospect (either in person, or via web meeting if the presentation must be done remotely).

How Salesforce.com can help:

  • Use Salesforce.com’s Word Merge feature to prepare a DRAFT Proposal Review Meeting agenda template.  If you want an example, email me and I’ll send you one!
  • Use Salesforce.com’s HTML Email Templates to formally position a Draft Proposal Review Meeting.  Suggest two to three possible times to meet.
  • Here is a sample email template that you can use to properly position your DRAFT Proposal Review Meetings:
Dear {!Contact.FirstName},
 
Based upon our conversations to date, I have prepared a draft proposal that is ready for your review.  As I prepared the proposal, it became clear that we have several options to consider that may impact the pricing, terms and timing of the project.  So I'd like to schedule a meeting to review the draft proposal with you in person.
 
The purpose of the meeting is for us to work together real-time to modify the draft proposal so that by the end of the discussion, we agree upon a scope of work and pricing model that exactly meets your needs and expectations.
 
My goal is to be in a position after the meeting to deliver a final proposal to you that you are 100% comfortable moving forward with.
 
Here are some dates and times that would work at my end:
      • Option 1
      • Option 2
      • Option 3
      {!Contact.FirstName}, if none of these options work for you, please feel free to suggest a couple of alternatives.

I'm looking forward to working with you and the rest of the {!Account.Name} team!
 
Best regards,
 
{!User.FirstName} {!User.LastName}
{!User.Title}
{!User.CompanyName}
 
      I hope that this approach helps you to secure one last meeting with an important prospect that your competitors will likely not get (or even think to ask for!).  I’m confident that if you get the chance to review a draft proposal and get your prospect’s feedback prior to delivering a final quote, you will significantly increase your likelihood of success!
 
Good Selling everyone!                                                                                                                              (Back to top)
  
Sales Tip #2
Getting to the Decision Maker
(Click here for printable PDF)
 
Goal: Implement a 4 step process to get referred to a targeted decision maker from the office of a senior executive.
 
Message to Sales Managers:
One of the most challenging training topics is teaching sales people how to becdome comfortable calling directly on c-level executives, and successfully securing that first meeting with a decision-maker. Taking a top-down approach to prospecting is a no-brainer, but it's easier said than done. The following approach systematizes a process that all salespeople can easily execute against.
 
Best Practice:
Like any other aspect of sales, gaining access to executives involves both art and science. The “art” component is how well you execute – you personal selling style and the confidence with which you deliver your message. The “science” component is the system you use, or the combination of the process and the tools that are at your disposal.
 
Here is a process for gaining access to decision-makers that you can apply your artistic talents to:
  1. Step 1: Pre-approach the targeted senior executive with a letter: Write a letter to introduce yourself, talk about how you have helped other businesses improve or overcome challenges in critical areas, and commit to calling at a specific time to schedule a meeting. If you have ever read “Selling to VITO”, there are some good letter templates and approaches in that book. We called these our “VITO Letters”.
  2. Step 2: Pre-approach the executive assistant with a phone call: The goal here is to begin building a relationship with the senior executive’s gate-keeper and pre-condition the executive administrator (EA) to help you. Let the EA know that the executive will receive a letter from you, and that you wanted him/her to be aware that it was being sent so that it “makes it to the executive’s inbox” and doesn’t get “filed”. You will mention that you expect the executive may defer the meeting request to someone else on the management team who handles the business issues that you address, and that when you follow up with a phone call, you would be happy to be referred to the appropriate person if that’s what makes the most sense. You are now conditioning the EA to help you get referred to your “real” targeted decision maker by the senior executive.
  3. Step 3: Follow-up phone call to the senior executive. The executive assistant will likely answer the phone. At this point, this is your third “touch” to the executive assistant (1st phone call, letter, and now a follow-up call). You are beginning to build a relationship. Ask the EA if the executive is interested in meeting with you. If not, ask the EA to help “point you in the right direction”. Ask to be transferred to the most senior member of the management team who handles the issues you address. Now you are being transferred internally to your “real” target from the office of the senior executive. This is an internal call transfer that your true target is likely to pick up!
  4. Step 4: Secure the meeting: Have the conversation with your targeted decision maker and secure the meeting!

How Salesforce.com can help:

  • Use Salesforce.com’s Mail Merge feature to create a VITO Letter template to make generating your pre-approach letters fast and easy.
  • Also, salesforce.com has an Extended Mail Merge option. It is available by request at no cost and can be enabled by salesforce.com. Your System Administrator can activate/deactivate Extended Mail Merge by using: Setup | Customize | User Interface: "Activate Extended Mail Merge" check box (This check box is only displayed if the XMM feature has been enabled by salesforce.com.
  • Create tasks for yourself to schedule a regimen of pre-approach letters. Decide how many you want to send each week, then research the target companies and create the senior executive contact records that you will need to generate the Mail Merge pre-approach letters.
  • Log your calls, and create follow up tasks so that nothing slips through the cracks. Remember – timing is everything!
  • Use the call scripts provided in the Resourcessection of the HarvestGold web site for steps 2, 3 and 4. You can even use Salesforce.com’s Advanced Call Scripting application to help with the phone call if you like!
Good Selling everyone!                                                                                                                           (Back to top)
 
  
Sales Tip #1
 
Goal:  Maximize Territory Coverage and Prioritize Relationship Management Activities by developing a Call Cycle Plan.
 
Message to Sales Managers: 
In today's economy, many of our clients are finding themselves in a position where they have to maintain customer relationships and territory coverage with fewer sales resources. A Call Cycle Management approach can help ensure that your sales organization can maintain high levels of productivity and market coverage at the lowest possible cost of sales.
 
Best Practice:
  • It is critical to stay in touch with the customers, prospects and centers of influence who can help drive transactions in your territory.  Yet it’s hard if not impossible to stay in touch with everybody all of the time.   So you need a plan.  Here is a simple exercise to help sales people develop a call cycle plan that they can execute against effectively.
  • Rate your contacts “A”, “B” and “C” (or use some other rating system that you are accustomed to at your company).  Then decide how often you would like to stay in touch with each group of accounts or contacts.  For example, you may decide to call on your “A” accounts once a month, your “B” accounts once a quarter, and your “C” accounts twice a year.  Make separate A, B and C account lists, and mark off when you have contacted each account.  Re-run your lists from scratch based upon your call cycles (re-run your A Account list once a month, your B Account list once a quarter, etc.) 
How Salesforce.com can Help:
  • Create custom list views based upon last activity date. Filter first on the rating field to create different list views for each group of Accounts or Contacts (based upon their rating). Filter next on last activity date to show only the records where the last activity date is less than the call cycle time, or where there is no recorded activitiy at all.
  • Sample Filter Criteria:

1.  [Rating] equals [A Account]

2.  [Last Activity] less or equal [LAST 30 DAYS]

3.  [Last Activity] equals [       ]

Advanced Filter:  1 AND (2 OR 3)
 
  • Note:  Ask HarvestGold about our Call Cycle Management (CCM) product.  With CCM, users can create their own custom Call Cycle Plan records in Salesforce.com.  CCM automates the process defined above by monitoring Last Activity Dates and automatically scheduling and updating activity tasks based upon the user’s specific Call Cycle Plan.
 
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