February, 2013 “Cookbook”
Sales Meeting Agenda; Are Your Sales Growing? | Tips For A Great Sales Meeting | Sales Meeting Agenda Template
Top 10 Reasons to Hire a Sales Coach
1 Goals ~ SMART Goals: You are able to set challenging goals, get buy-in, make plans and follow those plans to achieve your goals. You’ll accomplish goals, and tasks, and projects much more quickly.
2 A coach helps you identify and eliminate unproductive time drains, like burying yourself in administrative tasks, making dreaded cold calls or waiting for the phone to ring so that you can focus on activities that bring revenue in the door. Who’s got your back?
3 Keep it Positive; you’ll be a lot happier and this happiness will last. A coach can help celebrate your successes and be a source of strength when you fail. Your motivation will come from within… You will have fun. You will become more confident. Once you start taking action, you get results and your confidence grows.
4 A coach offers new perspective; a source of creative ideas; Social Media and other marketing tactics. Some sales coaches have two degrees in Marketing and a passion for sales.
5 Coach will identify Action Steps and help maintain a disciplined process; they will ensure you focus on those Eight High Payoff Selling Activities.
6 Accountability: report weekly on your accomplishments and initiatives. Keep track of your prospects, clients, competition and successes.
7 Coach is experienced with most categories of business. The value a sales coach brings is applying the sales process to each business category: goal setting, planning and action steps to your business and obtaining results.
8 Development plan: coaches assess and improve your sales and marketing skills, as well as personal productivity and leadership skills. Coaching reveals your strengths, and provides tools for working around obstacles, so they won’t keep you stuck. Take some risks and go for the plunge.
9 You’ll get superior results: Three types of results… Increased Profits, Increased Productivity, Increased Sales… the coach will help you sell better… sell faster… sell more than last year…
10 You will put yourself in a position to ensure 2013 is not just a good year, but a great year. Does that sound good?
Two questions to ask yourself: What does a coach cost? And, what will it cost if you don’t get a coach?
Answer: Pick up the phone and give a coach a call… there are programs for as little as $250/month.
From the internet:
“The best coaches offer encouragement, observation and ideas, and let their clients make their own decisions.”
“Coaches don’t tell you what you should do (that’s your mother’s job) or how to solve your problems (that’s consulting).”
“A coach helps you get clear on specific goals, create an effective action plan, and keep taking steps to get the results you want.”
6.5 Tips for a Great Sales Meeting:
1. Agenda Publish an agenda a couple days before the meeting. Request each participant to forward any problems or issues they are experiencing.
2. Preparation Have everyone be prepared to share a success. Respond to each problem before the meeting.
3. Punctual Part 1 The meeting must start on time. Remember, this is a sales meeting not a gripe session. Table all problems or complaints and say you or someone else will follow uptoday or tomorrow. Remember: praise in public; criticize in private.
4. Positivity The meeting must never be anything but positive and enthusiastic. This should help the team increase creativity, customer focus, successes, and sales skills to ensure sales are smokin’.
5. Multi-Media Use some kind of visual aid during each session. The most common and easy to use is a PowerPoint presentation; closely followed by the flip chart which allows you to capture all good ideas and suggestions. Remember, don’t read every word on each PowerPoint page; those aspiring rock stars you hired can actually read. A decent stereo playing rock star music should be blasting as the team leaves and heads out to their appointments.
6. Punctual Part 2 Meeting must end on time or early as the sales team needs to get to their next appointment. “That meeting was educational, informative and entertaining.”
6.5. The 3 B’s of selling also apply to sales meetings: be bright, be brief & be gone.
Good Luck.
Click here for a Weekly Sales Team Meeting Template
January, 2013 “Cookbook”
13 Ways to Have a Great ’13; Planning | Develop Initiatives | Get Social | Continuous Improvement | More…
Overused and Annoying Phrases to Avoid
It is what it is. Well, of course it is what it is. People say this when they have no way of offering something new. Or, they just want to end the conversation. It is what it is.
Think outside the box. When a fast food chain is speaking your language, it’s time to shelve it. How about, think outside the Tupperware?
At the end of the day. it’s night. Say that again and when I wake up, I discontinue all your items.
Granular. Shut up. When you are comparing your work to sand, you need to find a new line of work.
Hard Stop. We’ve got a hard stop December 21st, at 11:00 am. Well played, Mayans.
Customer-focused. As opposed to what? If you really are customer-focused, then talk about their actual needs, not how you’re so in tune with them.
Best in class. Don’t say it. Prove it!
Low-hanging fruit. As far as we’ve seen, this is the most overused phrase, and the one to stop using immediately. Use this and your future client will always be a prospect; wondering if you have any of your own creative juices.
Exceed expectations. If you use this you probably tell your peeps they should always under-promise and over-deliver. Two great ways to Heat Up Your Competitor’s Sales.
Under promise and over deliver. Is this something “Best in Class” would say?
Unique. Listen, you special snowflake, we’re all unique. But to convince your customer of that you need to tell them why.
Value-added. And his twin sister, Added-Value. You should provide value before you even have the appointment.
Expert/seasoned. Again, prove it. One doesn’t necessarily mean the other, and neither automatically equals the best option for the customer.
Can you sharpen your pencil? Sure I can; and take my daughter too.
Circle the wagons. You’ll be next on the gallows; meet the hangman, used to be your client.
Noodle it over-night. And the answer… is still no.
Missed opportunity. Your lack of follow up cost us the business
Full service organization. Perfect; can you wash the windshield and change the oil.
Hit the ground running: I’ve said this a couple times on interviews… Only one running is the hiring manager; away from me.
In sales… Only one running is the buyer; away from you.
Take it to the next level. You should already be there. How many of you have ever said, “I give 110%?” Help me understand how you can give 110%? There is only 100%. That is the best you’ve got.
“Set your objectives, hustle, and give your professional best.” ~ Mike Cooper, CSO, Sales Kitchen
Calling to touch base | Just checking in. Perfect; would you like two doubles or a king size? Where are three places you can ‘check in?” …hotels, airport gates and Four Square. The buyer probably wants you to check in to a long, one-way flight.
How should we handle this type of opportunity? For these two, we prefer using a form of, “following up….” Hi, this is Danielle, we talked last Thursday and I’m following up to remind you our meeting is next Tuesday, 10am, at Starbucks.
I was in the neighborhood. …and had some time to kill… blah, blah, blah. Never waste someone’s time just because you didn’t plan your day correctly. How should we handle this opportunity?
Again: just following up to see if you needed help building that bunker display of smoked sausage you authorized for the upcoming holiday weekend.
Clients like it when we follow up. Relentless follow up reminds them we are concerned with their success. Part of the superior customer service we provide.
How are you doing today? Are they going to tell us they feel like crap and want to go home? Your only response to that better be, “Sorry you feel like crap. I’ll come back later.”
You’re wrong. The customer is always right. We prefer to say the information we have contradicts your facts; let’s try to determine the real truth.
Here’s what I’m gonna’ do. “Let’s Make a Deal” was cancelled for a reason.
To be honest. I’ve been lying to you up ‘til now. Your prospect will wonder what is the real truth; no sale.
Calm down. Shut up. This is not a Bruce Willis movie. This is the customer.
I can’t. (fail… you did)
It won’t work. Negative vibes will kill a sale faster than a blink of an eye.
Can I get your signature? NEVER ask a yes/no question.
Trust me!
Stay away from these phrases and focus on making the presentation so compelling, the customer is buying long before you get to the close. Trust me.
Sales Kitchen’s 13 Ways To Have A Great ’13
A baker’s dozen from the Kitchen: 13 ways to Heat Up Your Sales in ’13.
1) 2012 Review (closed, lost, opportunities, highlights)
2) 2013 Plan (SMART Goals)
- Mandate monthly results meetings
- Establish goals for all employees
3. Develop three initiatives for Q1
- Cause Marketing
- Monthly newsletter (step it up to twice a month)
- Update your sell sheets
- Keep your website fresh; explore or upgrade e-commerce
4) Post your quarterly and annual goals in a high traffic location
- Review them every week
- Ensure everyone on your team knows all your goals
- They really do want to help you succeed!
5) Revisit your value proposition (do you have a value proposition?)
6) Get More Customers (Improve lead generation)
- Cold calling, warm calling, social media, referrals, internet, networking, power partner
7) Get your current customers to buy more stuff (upsell)
- Do your customers know about all your products and services?
- Expand your offerings
8) Get social: what do your on-line properties say about your firm and how you keep up with the changes in how we do business? Check out these links, if I can do it, anybody can:
- Google +
9) Understand your competition
- Identify their strengths and weaknesses
- Understand their pricing
- Advertise your benefits
10) Focus on Customer Loyalty
- Develop your ”Customer Service Rules” (these are not guidelines)
- Put yourself in your customer’s desk
- Understand their goals
- What keeps them up at night?
- Understand why customers leave
11) Be the master of your time
- There are 168 hours in the week
- Manage your business; don’t let it manage you
- Running late is inexcusable
12) Continuous Improvement
- Get smarter
- Become a better speaker
- Become a better coach
- Become a better friend
- How’s that exercise program working out?
13) Exude Contagious Enthusiasm