Ok, when the sales person started with your firm, you thought that he or she was a prodigy. You then invested the time and money to get the sales rookie up to speed. You eventually established difficult, yet achievable goals and quotas.

A Big Deal
Finally, the sales person began to hit the mark. The first few times that happened, you where ecstatic! You clearly demonstrated appreciation for the hard work and dedication of the sales person with congratulatory statements, awards and spiffs. When the sales person began to achieve the numbers, it was indeed a big deal, as you know the work it requires.

The Uncommon, Common Place
Then, after the sales person begins to hit the mark over and over, week in and week out, and even with you constantly raising the bar, you know you have a winner; a superstar.

When that understanding sets in, you must be aware that often you now begin to EXPECT RESULTS that are above the norm from this person. You begin to lose the excitement and appreciation you once felt. The sales person’s uncommon sales results, now become a common occurrence.

The Thrill Is Gone
At this point, usually in sales meetings, the admiration and congratulatory recognition dissipates and it is simply the same sales star doing what he or she is expected to do. It becomes very easy to begin to take this person for granted.

Same Effort
You have to remember, that while the reaching that high-standard of achievement has become common place for the sales person, the effort and hard work remains. It is true that many parts of the sales process may have become easier and more routine for the sales star, continuing to deliver exceptional results, still requires exceptional effort.

Appreciate Every Drop
You have to take precaution about beginning to become lethargic in your appreciation of the achievements of those who constantly achieve. Usually management spends so much time working with and pushing those who fall short, that those sales team members that are exceeding, get little attention.

You must continue to pay attention to, recognise and truly appreciate the achievements of the superstar sales person just as if he or she achieved such success for the very first time.

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
MTD Sales Training

Have you downloaded my latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

Click on the image below to find out why your very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

Every sales manager, supervisor, director or otherwise frontline sales team leader, wants to have and develop a great sales force. Everyone wants eventually to have a sales team made up of superstar sales people. We all want that sales crew in where every sales person is a high-level, top performing, consultative, executive-level super sales person.

However, I am continually surprised at how many of those same sales managers are not willing to treat their sales crew like that which they want them to become. The fact is that if you treat sales people as if they are low-level, slipshod, unprofessional slackers, what you will get is the same.

At some point, you have to “Act as if.” You have to treat people as you want them to perform. If you want responsible, successful, multi-million pound producers, don’t treat them like irresponsible, £5 an hour, children.

Here are a few tips to help you plant good seed to reap great harvest.

TRUST
Start by trusting your sales people to do what they say they will do and believe that they will. On one hand, you say you believe in the sales person. You say you have confidence that he or she can achieve the agreed upon goals. Then, you stand watch like a mother hen, or establish rules and regulations that clearly demonstrate that you do NOT trust or believe in the sales person. When you do this, you can easily stifle their potential. If you say you believe, then act accordingly.

Pressure and Time
If you tell the sales person, you truly believe that he or she can achieve a particular goal before the end of the month, then don’t start jumping on his or her back after the first week. You may think you are helping to “remind” the sales person of their goal and commitment.

However, what you are really saying is, “I really don’t believe you can do this, and I must therefore keep reminding you of your commitment every 15 minutes.”

Such micromanagement of good sales people will cause animosity and an anti-productive atmosphere.

To Manage or Not To Manage
Some successful sales people become such due to their sales management. However, some sales people become successful in spite of their sales management. Do not be the latter manager.

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
MTD Sales Training

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Have you downloaded my latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

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It is easy to spend a small fortune on sales contests and incentive programs designed to motivate, stimulate and reinvigorate the sales team. However, you may have found that such programs meant to motive, can end up having the reverse affect and deflate, berate and de-motivate instead.

Sometimes the problem is not the structure of the contest in itself, but the manner in which you set up the playing ground.

The Starting Line
When designing a competitive sales contest, you have to take into consideration the starting point of each individual sales person. By that, I mean that you have to consider the experience, skills, closing averages and client-base of each sales person to design a contest that is equitable.

If you base the contest purely on bottom-line closed sales, then sales people who have more experience and clients, from whom they can get referrals, have an unfair advantage over newer, less experienced team members.

Over Before It Starts
For many of those less experienced sales people, such a disadvantage can seem insurmountable. When this happens, it creates a situation where some sales team members do not attempt to win or even compete in the contest. In fact, they feel shunned which causes an anti-productive mentality. Simultaneously, due to the lax competition, the top sales people also operate at less than peek performance.

A Handicapping System
Come up with a method to make all sales people equal, for the purposes of the contest. Perhaps you consider the closing averages of each sales person and design the contest so that those with a lower closing percentage can compete.

As an example, for the sales person who has a 20% closing average, perhaps to win or place high in the contest, they have to close 4 sales.

Then, for the sales rep with a higher closing average, like 25%; perhaps he or she must close 5 sales to place in the same bracket.

A Win Win
With such a method, both levels of sales people compete hard, and get better. The sales person with the 20% closing average would have to complete 20 sales presentations or closing attempt to get the 4 sales.

However, the sales person with the higher closing rate of 25% would also have to complete 20 closing attempts!

This creates an incentive for all sales people to put forth a greater effort regardless of their skill level. In addition, it gives the newer sales people an equal opportunity if they work hard enough.

One Step Further
If you decide to use such a system for the long term, then also create a bonus system, award or incentive to give to the sales people who maintain the lowest handicap.

Level the playing field with a handicap system and watch more sales people come in under par!

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
MTD Sales Training

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Have you downloaded my latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

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I will make this short and sweet. Add these four golden rules to your daily management style and you will be a more effective sales coach. Depending on what you do, and your business structure, some of these may not apply exactly to your situation. However, you will get the idea.

#1 – Lead By Example
The old commanding, “Do as I say, not as I do…” style of management does not work well with today’s modern sales people. Anyone in an immediate, hands-on, supervisory position should have some hands-on, tangible and successful experience selling the product or service as those on the sales team.

You are far more credible when you have personally done and accomplished those things you tell the sales team they can do and accomplish. Simply put; if you can’t walk the walk, you don’t talk the talk.

#2 – Care About Your Team
I mean this literally. You should have personal care and concern for the welfare and success of everyone you supervise. Yes, a lot of it is about money, but you have to care and believe in your people. People perform at peak levels when they believe that the company truly cares about them.

#3 – Praise in Public
Have something good to say about a team member? Make is known! You want to praise a lot in public. Recognition is a critical ingredient to a successful sales mentality. There are times you want to keep some praise private and of course, always keep any negative communication personal. However, you want to shout the positive congratulations from the rooftops.

#4 – Never Let Them Go Home on a Negative
You have may have heard the martial advice that a couple should never go to sleep on an unresolved argument. As a sales coach, you also should never end the day on an unresolved or negative issue. A bad day or month, lost sales, mistakes made, whatever the case may be, make sure you give the sales person something positive to take away at the end.

In summary, lead, care, praise, positive!

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
MTD Sales Training

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Have you downloaded my latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

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In a recent post, “4 Powerful Reasons To Walk Away From The Price ONLY Prospect,” I detailed how and why you need to walk away from that POP (Price Only Prospect). That is the prospect who cares nothing about service, value, or even reputation and is only concerned with, “How much?”

Even if you give away your shirt to close such prospects, usually they turn out to be nightmare clients, constantly demanding more for less and ready to dump you for a lower price at moment’s notice.

The Question
Recently, a few readers have asked if it is possible to close that POP, and then, in time, turn the customer into a profitable and loyal account. So, here is my take on trying to turn a lump of goal into a diamond.

Turning the Frog into a Prince
While it may be possible to turn the POP around into a customer that is able to see value in things other than the price, I don’t believe it will ever be worth the time and risk to try.

POPs do often change into value driven prospects. However, it is usually the result of an extremely negative situation. Something happens that hurts the prospect and becomes the motivating factor for change.

As an example, the POP haggles until he gets the rock bottom price for a particular product, passing up the higher priced models. Then, the lower priced brand proves to end up costing the POP far more money than the cost of the higher value products. In short, the POP eventually experiences the age-old adage that you get what you pay for. However, the motivating factor for change is usually something bad.

Added Value Increases the Problem
Second, you may be thinking that if you close that POP and then begin to demonstrate the true value to him or her, then it would open their eyes. Actually, it is the reverse.

The POP dragged you down to the lowest possible price. You caved in, took the bait and closed the sale. You now deliver service and value that is far above what the prospect paid for. Your hope is the prospect will realise that product was indeed worth a lot more. Therefore, the next time you make an offer, the prospect will understand that your pricing is fair.

That sounds good. But it does not work.

This prospect will instead think, “Wow, I got a great deal…I wonder how much lower I could have gotten the price?” I bargained for the lowest price and it paid off…I got a great deal…I’ll do even better this time!”

By you adding more value to the low price, the POPs understanding and appreciation will actually diminish, not grow.

Stand firm. Stand for value and you cannot loose.

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Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
MTD Sales Training

Have you downloaded my latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

Click on the image below to find out why your very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

Some people do not accept change very easily, especially when it means more work and effort. However, change is inevitable, and under good, forward-looking management, it is usually a good thing. Below are three tips to help you take some of the sting out of introducing positive change to the sales team.

#1 – More Money
Informing the team that the coming changes will result in them making more money, seems a given. However, it takes a bit more than just talk. You need to have some tangible ways to demonstrate exactly HOW this change will result in the sales crew increasing their incomes.

Being able to point out other sales teams or even other organisations that have made this change, and show how they made more money, is best. In short, you need to do your homework on the exact affects of the change, and present facts not just assumptions.

Example:
You are initiating a new e-prospecting campaign via LinkedIn. The sales team is unfamiliar with the concepts and it will require them to invest a little time in getting more leads through the social media. Point out a division or company that began using LinkedIn to get leads and show how much their business increased.

#2 – It’s Part of the Plan; a Compliment to S.O.P.
Help the team realize that the changes coming are actually part of the original plan, goal set and direction. Most any change you initiate should be in effort to make things better, even if the change is the result of negative influences. Therefore, this change fits into part of doing what is necessary to make things better, more efficient and profitable for all.

Also, help sales people see that the change is to compliment the Standard Operating Procedure, not to completely dismiss it.

Example:
Using the same example above with LinkedIn prospecting, help the team understand that it is only a portion of their prospecting methods; it is to COMPLIMENT current prospecting activities, not replace them.

#3 – It was YOUR Idea!
Often, change is the result of perceptive sales management listening and responding to the needs and desires of the sales team. Let the sales team know that the changes are the result of what they have actually asked for.

Example:
You are installing new CRM (Customer Relationships Management) software that will help the teams maximise relationships and dramatically increase conversion rates. Learning the new system will take some time and effort.

Remind the sales people that they voiced complaints about the current CRM software. They asked for something that was simpler and easier to use, but was more robust and automated.

Ready for Change?
Change is inevitable, but when you can use one or all three of the concepts above to present the change, it will make transition much smoother.

Also, please note that if you cannot figure out how to use any of the above three tips in presenting the change, then perhaps you need to exercise a little more due diligence before you execute the change.

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
MTD Sales Training

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Have you downloaded my latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

Click on the image below to find out why your very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

“I’m in a slump right now…” “Our sales are in a slump…”

We hear this terminology all the time in the world of professional selling. However, just what is a sales slump anyway?

Most sales people refer to a sales slump as that time when sales slow down, and business slips into a quagmire. The main thing is that most sales people relate a sales slump and its cause to unfortunate circumstances, usually beyond the sales person’s control. It’s not their fault. I mean, no one gets into a slump deliberately, right?

To that common definition of a sales slump, I say…

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A SALES SLUMP.

Are there times when your sales may drop off? Yes. However, it is not due to unfortunate or even unforeseen circumstances.

#1 – You Reap What You Sow
The primary reason you see sales fall off in what sales people commonly call a slump, is due to an inconsistency in work ethic and a lack of understanding the science of selling.

As an example, a sales person sets a goal to earn £1,000 in commissions for the week. He has a 20% closing average. However, since he earns an average of £200 per sale; he sets a goal to close 5 sales, and here is a sample of what happens that coming week:

Monday – Sales person does three presentations and closes two. Earns a total £500
Tuesday – With referrals from Monday, he does two presentations and closes both! Earns £350
Wednesday – He does four presentations and closes two of those! Makes £450
Thursday – He does two closes and sells none, but having already reached his goal, he takes off early and hits the local pub.
Friday – He runs another strong referral: one presentation, one sale. £250. He then takes the rest of the day off for a well-deserved early weekend.

Our sales hero closed 7 sales instead of 5 and earned £1,550 instead of £1,000. He is ecstatic and feels he has a great month and career ahead.

What’s the Problem?
The problem is that this sales person performed only 10 sales presentations and he closed 7 sales. The problem with that is that 7 out of 10 is a 70% closing average. His average is only 20% or 1 out of 5. With a 20% closing average, he should have done 25 presentations in order to make 5 sales. He should have done 25, but he only did 10. He owes the “street” 15 sales presentations. What do you think is going to happen next week?

I Fought The Law and The Law Won
The “law of averages,” is a LAW, it will come true. If you flip a coin 100 times, it may land on heads 15 times in a row, but when it is all over, it will come out very near to 50 heads and 50 tails. Our sales person’s 20% closing average is going to come back with a vengeance!

The Following Week…
Still riding on the high of last week, our hero sets a goal to make £1,500 again this week with 7 sales.

Monday – Does 4 presentations, sells one. £185
Tuesday – Does 3 presentations, no sale.
Wednesday – Works very hard and gets in 5 presentations and sells one. £200.
Thursday – Getting desperate, he gets out and does 5 more and sells one. £225.
Friday – He begins to feel that he is doing something wrong, different from the previous week. So he alters his sales presentation on the next 4 calls, and sells none!

This sales person now begins to say, “I’m in a sales slump!”

The fact is that he is exactly where he put himself.  He is in the exact situation he created.  This is not a slump.  For this sales person to earn £1,000 per week, he needs to do 25 sales presentations every week, week in and week out, regardless of how many sales he closes. Instead, he is experiencing the results of the sales process for which he invested.    

#2 – You Reap What You Sow – Again
Just as the lack of work ethic will come back to haunt you, so will a consistent input of positive sales activity. When you consistently do the proper number of sales closes, phone calls and other sales actions, you will still occasionally have a period of a few “no-sales” in a row. However, that too is part of the process and not a slump, as you can count on closing several sales in row to even up the law.

Be consistent with the number of sales calls, sales interactions and other foundational sales activities and erase the word slump from your vocabulary. Watch your averages and do not allow your work ethic to lag when you have a good selling week.

My associate John Landrine in the U.S. has a saying…

“If the street owes you, it will pay you back with bonuses and rewards. However, if you owe the street, it will collect with interest and penalties!”

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
MTD Sales Training

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The sales team works hard. Most put in long hours, study diligently and follow the plan. However, are all doing as well as they can? Are all of your sales people actually working as hard, trying has much and giving it all they have? In short, are they doing their very best?

Below are some effective ways to help you motivate your sales people to do their very best and try their hardest. After all, often the only missing ingredient between success and failure is that last little push.

Money is Not the Prime Motivating Factor
First, find out what it is that truly motivates each sales person. Understand that on the surface, and even to the sales person, that motivator may appear to be the money, but it is not. The sales person who is motivated by money, is really inspired by the things that the money will do for him or her. The person’s desire is the results, lifestyle, power, influence, fun or any number of a thousand things that the money will provide.

Your job is to find out exactly what it is that money provides that powers the sales person, and use it as the proverbial “carrot.”

Uncover Past Feats of Great Inspiration
In attempting to discover what a sales person’s motivating triggers may be, look to a time in his or her past, for a demonstration of great inspiration. Everyone has a story when they persevered through enormous adversity to succeed. Everyone has a story about when they would not stop, would not give up and won against all odds.

Such an experience could have been in a business setting, or something personal like overcoming a health problem, passing a difficult test, getting a degree, pursuing a member of the opposite sex, quitting smoking or learning to swim. Everyone has a situation where they pushed their hardest and succeeded.

You should get to know your sales team on a level more personal than just business. Take an interest in their lives and get to know them. In doing so, uncover one of those great challenges, and see what was the underlying motivation.

Perhaps it was love, or the feeling of power, or being in control. Often, it is recognition and pride. The point is that you want to take those past underlying motivational triggers, and use them today.

The Marathon
As an example, you ask a sales team member to explain the greatest challenge he has ever faced and overcome. The reply is that he trained for years, tried and failed many times, but finally he completed a full marathon race.

You next ask him to explain why he went through so much effort. Why was it so important and what drove him to keep trying? He tells you that it was simply to be able to know that he was capable of doing it.

Obviously, self-satisfaction and inner pride are driving issues for this sales person. You then use such ideas during your personal motivating meetings with this sales person.

“You know Steve, it is extremely tough and may take a lot of tries to do it, but if you can hit 45 sales in one month, you can take pride in knowing that you are the first person to ever reach that goal in the first year with the firm.”

Perhaps the marathon runner’s answer was that she wanted to prove all of those people wrong who said that she could never do it.

“Sarah, if you could close 45 sales this month, you will prove me and other managers wrong…”

Do It Again
Please understand, I am not talking about trying to manipulate people nor am I suggesting some psychological mind games. I am simply suggesting that you find what motivating factors led someone to overcome great obstacles in the past, and use those same factors in the present. In fact, do this to and for yourself!

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
MTD Sales Training

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Due to circumstances well beyond your control, the new software version upgrade will not ship as promised. The sales team has anxious clients waiting for the upgrade, in addition to many prospects who are interested in seeing the new version. Moreover, the delay means that regular monthly maintenance fees are suspended and the sales team will not receive their monthly residual commissions!

Now it is your job to deliver this uplifting news to the sales team. Arrrgh!

In business, things do not always go as planned and there are times when your firm may have to endure negative, costly and painful information. How you deliver such information to your sales team is critical.

The Positive Sandwich
You may have heard of the concept of the positive sandwich, in when delivering disconcerting information, you simply position the bad material in between two positive discussions. Lead off with something good, quickly disseminate the bad, and then close with something good. While there is nothing wrong with this concept as it makes sense and works quite well in many situations such as public speaking; today’s modern sales people may need a bit more.

Start at the Bottom and Go Up
Eliminate the emotional rollercoaster. Begin with the worse news possible, and then deliver good news. Follow that by even better news and then the best news. Finally, show some example of this good news in action.

As an example, using our hypothetical software upgrade above, you would deliver the bad news that the upgrade is late as are residual commissions. Then, share the good news that the upgrade has additional features and benefits. Better news; that clients who upgrade will get a reduction in their monthly service fees. Follow that by best news that sales people will get a raise in their residual percentage. Finally, share an example of the good news with the fact that the new features will open up new markets and more sales opportunities for the sales team.

Expectations Shape Perception
The most powerful way to deliver bad news to your sales team is to shape their expectations of that news.

Have you ever felt a movie would be the best movie of its genre you have ever seen, only to find that the movie was not as good as you thought? Alternatively, the movie you thought would be a flop, was not as bad as you thought it would be.

A company earns $200 million in profits. However, the company failed to meet the Wall Street expectations of $206 million, and therefore did not perform very well. Expectations greatly influence perception.

When you need to deliver bad news to the sales teams, start by shaping their expectations of the upcoming news. Let the team know that in the next meeting, you have some very bad news to share. You do not want to exaggerate or lie, and you don’t have to. Individual human imagination will run rampant as sales people envision their own worst possible nightmarish fears.

Now, by the time you deliver the actual news, you can rest assured that it will be nowhere near half as horrible as they thought. Now use a nonchalant, light-hearted tone of voice when delivering the news and the sales team’s perception will be that the news was really not that bad at all!

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
MTD Sales Training

Stop scratching around for sales and learn how to sell the modern way with my FREE 40 minute online training session. Click on the image below to find out why you’ve got to be changing the way that you prospect and sell…

Practice, practice, practice because practice makes perfect! While that age-old sentiment is nice, it is not true. Practice does not make perfect. Only Perfect practice makes perfect. I ask sales people if they routinely practice their presentation and often I get the response, “Oh, I have been doing this for years. I got it.” Or, “I’ve done this presentation so many times, I can do it in my sleep.”

Well, I have been “practicing” my golf swing for over 20 years, and it’s still not perfect. While you need to invest a significant amount of time in practicing your craft, you must make certain you are practicing the right stuff! Furthermore, you must routinely “check in” on yourself to ensure that you have not deviated in the wrong direction or got into bad habits.

Below are a few tips on practicing your sales presentation to get it perfect and to keep it that way! Depending on how long you have been selling some tips may not apply.

The Mirror
One of the best places to practice your sales presentation is alone, in front of the mirror. It is imperative that you first become very comfortable and natural with your sales presentation. No matter what you say, if you are uncomfortable saying it, you will have problems in the field. Practice adapting the presentation to fit your personality and style. Of course, assume the prospect responds as your presentation predicts.

Better still would be to video your presentation and then play it back.

Friend, Loved One
Now practice in front of a friendly, non-threatening, non-judgemental audience. Once again, this will help you to become comfortable in front of people.

Management or Trainer
Now get in front of your sales management or someone in your firm who is a confirmed expert in delivering the same sales presentation. It is important that this person or group are “qualified” to offer criticism and to help you correct your mistakes. Understand that this may not include your fellow sales associates.

A major mistake is to practice in front of and look for advice from an associate. Unless this person is qualified as a sales trainer who is authorised by your company to teach the sales presentation, do not choose such an audience.

Because a sales person has a higher closing average than you have, or is even a top sales person, it does not make him an expert to teach the sales presentation. That sales rep may do or say things that are grossly incorrect, but due to his personality, experience or any of a dozen other reasons, he is able to close successfully. However, it is possible that those same mistakes that cause one sales person no harm, can destroy another.

Practice with a qualified trainer, making adjustments until you know that you are practicing perfectly and then record your perfect presentation. If possible make a full video recording of your presentation.

On-the-Job
Now get out there and practice in front of people who can write a purchase order!

Review
Periodically, record yourself again, and compare it to the last recording of your sales presentation. While there may be some deliberate changes and enhancements, you will see when you begin to deviate too much. Keep practicing with the perfect presentation as the guide.

Tip For Sales Managers
Here is a way to help ensure that sales people practice perfectly and that the more experienced sales people do not get too far off track:

Have the more senior, experienced sales people perform the sales presentation in front of the sales team. You can do this as a sales training session or at a sales meeting. Give the sales person a few days advance notice that he or she is to perform the sales presentation for the team to help train the newer members. Inform him or her that your goal is for the new sales people to see the presentation done exactly the way it is supposed to be done, by a pro!

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
MTD Sales Training

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Stop scratching around for sales and learn how to sell the modern way with my FREE 40 minute online training session. Click on the image below to find out why you’ve got to be changing the way that you prospect and sell…