Business Skeptic

Prospecting is simple, it’s just not easy. I have heard from a couple of you (thank you) that you are having trouble getting through to the target executive. In some cases you just can’t get past the admin and in others, you get a call into the executive but they just hang up on you or won’t engage.

Before we discuss strategies for dealing with this situation, we must first talk about time management. Sales is the greatest occupation in the world. Basically you are the CEO of your own company. Your success is the direct result of your efforts, effectiveness and efficiency. A great way to keep this foremost in your mind is to take your desired compensation, divide that by your commission rate (to get your personal sales quota) and then divide that by 2010 hours in a year. This will give your sales per hour metric. You shouldn’t engage in activities that don’t pay back on this effort. Now prospecting tends to have the highest return because it finds lucrative opportunities for very little investment. However, not all prospects are worth the time and hassle. There are a lot of prospects out there (you should be continuously prospecting in your current accounts with new executives in addition to pure cold calling) so given that there are a lot of fish in the sales opportunity sea, you need to determine for yourself whether it is worth pursing a difficult to reach prospect. Assuming the prospect is worth the trouble, here are some things to help you get “in front” of the executive.

First, refine, hone and fine tune your value proposition. Are you specifically addressing a pain the person has that you have verified from your research of their website, annual report and other sources? Annual and analyst reports are great sources to find the specific pain. Create your value proposition accordingly. A generic value proposition will not open the door. It has to be a rifle shot aimed directly at the heart of their issues. The generic “Hello my name is ABC from XYZ Company and I would like to discuss how XYZ can help your improve your operating efficiency and reduce costs”. Might sound find to you, but if you are a food processing operations executive, does it really hit a bull’s eye? How about “ Hello my name is ABC and I am a Food Processing Profit Risk Management Specialist. I work with Food Processing Operations Vice Presidents like you to help them protect their bottom line from increasing raw material and energy costs.” While the solution might be the same with both value propositions, the second one is more targeted towards his or her specific pain. Food Processors are getting their margins squeezed by increasing food and energy prices and are measured on their conversion costs and efficiency.

Work on your value proposition. Really think about it and the value your company brings to this specific prospect. Do not put the responsibility on the customer to figure out how your company can help. Do your research first and then speak directly to the issue.

Assuming you’ve got a killer value proposition and still can’t get through to the executive, try the following. Purchase a recent business book specifically relevant to the prospect’s business and industry.

It should be a very recent release and hardbound. A book the prospect is unlikely to have already read. Avoid general business topics, such as management or leadership. The book should be specific to the industry. This shows your interest, knowledge of the market and the issues faced by the prospect.

Send or hand deliver the book (giving the book to the admin is fine, because they won’t through it away). Include a note: “Dear Mr. Smith, I found this book interesting and insightful. Some of the ideas and concepts appear especially relevant to “Company Name”. I hope you enjoy it. Thank you.”

Autograph the inside front cover. “To : Name: From Your Name and Company. Attach your business card to the title page with a paper clip. If you are really trying to impress, highlight a couple of specifically insightful passages with small sticky notes on the outside edge, so the sticky notes just stick-out from the book. Do not highlight with a marker.

Call the prospect a week or so after delivery of the book.

It is important to realize that a phone call is an interruption and that many people are not listening to what you are saying because they are trying to do email etc at the same time. Do not use this as an excuse not to make calls, because phone calls are still the most effective. Occasionally if you can’t get through, try an email or good old-fashion paper letter. Understand that people are more polite with other people on the phone than they will be with an inanimate object like a letter. So your letter has to be even better targeted, powerful and to the point in order to get it read. Also, do not expect they will just pick up the phone and call you. Plan on calling them and following up on the letter. Good luck and good selling. Let us hear from you. How can we help?

I like to think of sales as having 2 improvement dimensions: Effectiveness and Efficiency. Effectiveness is how good you are at winning deals. Efficiency relates to how you spend your time and how much you invest in an opportunity. For most companies their win ratio indicate they are quite effective, but when you look at funnel constipation (length of time opportunities don’t close etc) means they have an efficiency challenge. To become more efficient you need more robust, ruthless and objective qualification. When thinking about opportunity qualification think N.A.M.E.

Need: Does the account truly have a need for our solution?
Authority: Am I dealing with someone that can actually make the decision?
Money: Does the account have the money available for purchase now?
Emergency: There must be urgency to drive it. What bad thing will happen if
they delay the purchase. If nothing bad happens, it won’t happen?

Remember to qualify every opportunity and person. I use a simple trick to remind me. Every time I meet someone at an account, I say, “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch you NAME.” This prompts me to then ask the necessary qualifying questions.

The definition of a genius is a person that can hold 2 disparate thoughts in their minds at the same time and believe both. Sales is all about being a genius. You need to be infinitely optimistic since much of the day is rejection, but at the same time you need to be ruthlessly objective, and completely qualify opportunities so you don’t waste your time. I have a little mnemonic I use to help me be ruthless, its called DIGAS. Which stands for D0 I Give A Sh*t.

What I do is try to understand my target executive. How they are measured and what is really important to them. What is on their radar screen. Then I put myself in their shoes. Looking at my offering from their perspective, I ask myself DIGAS? If I don’t, I’m not going to make the sale so I move on.

Don’t blink when a prospect asks for a better price. It’s cheap to ask. It doesn’t cost them anything to ask. So they ask. It’s ok to say no.

Being asked for a better price is a perfect opportunity to qualify and possibly close the sale.

For example, if you are asked for a better price, make a presumptive close and move the customer to a negotiation. Say, “I am glad you have chosen ABC Company and I am happy to discuss price and all aspects of our terms and conditions to finalize a contract. Do you have time now or should we schedule time at a later date for this negotiation.” If they are not ready, they will quickly back-off and say they aren’t ready to purchase they just wanted a price. Now you can re-qualify and move the buyer forward. “Glad to discuss price with you, but first let’s make sure that “ABC” is your first choice. What issues are outstanding that I can resolve so you will choose “ABC ?” Have them choose “ABC” before discussing price.

Try and avoid price discussions with people who do not have the authority to negotiate the contract. Rough orders of magnitude etc are fine for people who do not have the authority to do the deal. You want to avoid serial negotiation. This is when you negotiate price with one person, only to find that there is now someone else who wants to negotiate, and then it goes to purchasing who wants to negotiate. Get them to decide on your company and then negotiate once with the people who have the authority to do the deal.

I was closing a deal and the buyer said, “you’ll need to do better on the price”. I said, “I sorry, I didn’t realize you couldn’t afford my services. Let’s discsuss what we can remove from the scope of delivery to meet your financial constraints.” The buyer then said, “No I can certainly afford your services, I just want a better price”. I said that my service was a great value and priced appropriately and I was not going to discount the price.” He said, “gee everytime I ask for a price discount I get one. Well ok, I figured I just had to ask, I had nothing to lose.” He then signed the PO.