Blog
Are you a Sales Road Warrior who is realizing that COVID is changing the way you can sell?
Even though some customers don’t want to turn on their cameras, buyers are telling us that virtual selling is more efficient and effective than the F2F meetings of the past.
The first change to virtual selling that needs to happen is with Sales Professionals. In a recent webinar, 42% of sales professionals stated that they realize they need to embrace virtual selling as it is here to stay. Additionally, 35% stated that human disconnection from their customers & team is widening their sales performance gap, making it more difficult to achieve their 2020 sales goals. 43% stated getting really good & confident to apply the PURPOSE Consultative Framework in a virtual platform would help them to accelerate their sales recovery.
Self Talk – What is the self-talk that needs to change the most to confidently sell virtually?
- I can learn different virtual platforms 10%
- Customers/buyers will buy from me virtually – 7%
- I can sell as well virtually as F2F – 27%
- I can do an interactive Lunch n’ Learn or demo using different platform features with polls & chat box – 9%
- I must embrace virtual selling, as F2F Customers Meetings will be the exception this fall – 47%
Which Factor is Widening your Sales Performance GAP?
- Human Dis-Connection – 35%
- Commitment – 11%
- Prospecting – 22%
- PURPOSE Consultative Conversations – 16%
- Presenting Solutions to Solve a Problem – 15%
Which Strategy will Accelerate your Recovery? Choose Top 2
- Changing your Mindset – 42%
- Goals – to get you excited & committed – 30%
- Prospecting Virtually – with a 90-Day Prospect Blitz – 39%
- Get REALLY good & confident to apply PURPOSE in a virtual platform – 43%
- Presenting Proposals to Solve Problems with Next Step Follow-up – 22%
Sale Professional Advice:
To build rapport and trust during a virtual call, it begins with your mindset, turning on your camera and asking your customer to turn on your camera (all you have to do is ask and they will – it works be for me about 98% of the time) and the apply the PURPOSE Consultative framework. Download PURPOSE template here.
Sales Leaders Advice:
What is your Sales Leader Mindset – do you want to turn your Sales Road Warriors into Tech Titans? Your team needs a strong leader and coach to help them embrace the new way of selling and it begins with you, your mindset and the tools you can provide to them to confidently sell virtually.
Lisa is driven by the mantra – Be Strategic. Be Pro-active. Be Brave. – and has been successfully training and coaching sales leaders and their teams to do the same for over 15 years. As the President of Teneo Results since 2003, she has trained thousands of sales professionals at more than 250 companies across North America. She transitions salespeople away from the standard “product & price” approach to having purposeful business conversations with their customers that drive results.
Blog
What are you doing to challenge yourself other than work?
This summer, I chose to do something different and push my self out of my typical comfort zone of half-marathon running. With great summer weather and warm lake temperatures – I was challenged to test my abilities to conquer a triathlon to work through the mental challenges of COVID. At first, I didn’t even know what their qualifications were, other than it was a combination of a swim, bike, and run. After some research, I discovered there are several different levels. The “sprint” level of 20km biking, 5km running, and a 750 metre swim was exactly the mental and physical challenge that I needed to help me conquer the challenges of COVID, and we could create our own social triathlon with no official races offered.
Here was the mental and physical challenge for us; my challenge-partner Monika has not been on a bike for several years, and I had not swam for almost 40 years. Even though we love boating – I rarely get off the boat and into the water to actually swim – so this was the biggest challenge for me.
For as much as I procrastinated swimming, I actually enjoyed it and found it invigorating to get fully immersed in the water and just swim. Its very similar to prospecting – most people hate it and procrastinate, but once you get in the water and start swimming – you actually like it – just like making those calls! You can’t just dip your toe into the water – the best strategy is to just jump in and do it!
Here’s what I learned about training and completing this triathlon, that is similar to sales during COVID.
1. A thrilling goal and challenge will help you get out of the mundane and push yourself out of your comfort zone.
2. Swimming is like prospecting, its hard to get started – but once you start, its invigorating and worth the effort!
3. When you transition from the bike to the run – your legs feel heavy and its hard to get going. You just need to persevere, and your determination will get you through the run and this fall selling season.
4. A great coach can provide you with strategies and tips to improve your endurance!
5. It’s more fun to do with others! My cottage-buddy and fellow female business owner were needing the extra challenge and reason to meet every Saturday morning to train for the disciplines.
6. Add in the fun! We enjoyed a coffee after each bike ride and did the same during the triathlon. We don’t take enough time for coffee breaks in between our sales calls during the day.
7. Celebrate! We high-fived after each discipline as well as when we finished the triathlon. We later enjoyed an incredible Celebration Dinner at the cottage by toasting with prosecco and my favourite Okanagan wine. Make sure to celebrate your sales achievements!
What’s next? We both agreed, we will definitely do this again next summer with even more training to improve our times. We also realized the importance of having a physical personal goal – especially during COVID to re-fuel and strengthen our mental and physical well being.
What will you do this fall to create your own personal COVID challenge?
Lisa is driven by the mantra – Be Strategic. Be Pro-active. Be Brave. – and has been successfully training and coaching sales leaders and their teams to do the same for over 15 years. As the President of Teneo Results since 2003, she has trained thousands of sales professionals at more than 250 companies across North America. She transitions salespeople away from the standard “product & price” approach to having purposeful business conversations with their customers that drive results.
Blog
The summer is winding down…and the kids are actually going back to school.
Our current reality – most people are not going back to their workplaces. That doesn’t mean we don’t have to get back to business!
As much as the kids want to see their friends, you want to see your clients – many of whom may be your friends too at this point!
Once Labour Day is over, there is a Back to School and Back to Business vibe – many salespeople kick it into high gear to secure sales as they enter the fall selling season and the 4th quarter – the sprint to the finish line.
You have the next 10 days before Back to School and Back to Business to do this…
Start a sales blitz to schedule virtual Business Review Meetings – before every other salesperson and your competitors start their calls after Labour Day.
Turn your Check-in and Drop-in Meetings into a more PURPOSEful and/or Business Review Meeting with a Purpose and an agenda (that’s what buyers/customers are telling they want from sales professionals!).
Proposed agenda items:
- Your business year to-date results
- Impact of COVID on your business
- What have you changed?
- What is positively impacting your business?
- What is negatively impacting your business?
- Your Fall Strategies
- 2021 Goals & Strategies
Other possible discussion items:
- Inventory Update
- Team Update
- New/Updated COVID policy & procedures
- New Product/Services Launches
This is your opportunity to change your relationship or drop-in meeting into a more PURPOSEful, business focused meeting. Use our PURPOSE Conversation template to better prepare, and create your list of questions in order to have a more successful, consultative conversation. Click here to download the PURPOSE Business Conversation template.
Let us know how many virtual meetings you were able to secure by Labour Day! We need stronger sales professionals confidently selling virtually to stimulate sales this fall, and make for a fantastic 2021.
Lisa is driven by the mantra – Be Strategic. Be Pro-active. Be Brave. – and has been successfully training and coaching sales leaders and their teams to do the same for over 15 years. As the President of Teneo Results since 2003, she has trained thousands of sales professionals at more than 250 companies across North America. She transitions salespeople away from the standard “product & price” approach to having purposeful business conversations with their customers that drive results.
Blog
Referrals are one of the most powerful tools you can utilize to demonstrate exactly what you bring to the table and why someone should do business with you. You know you’re good at your job, take care of your clients, and provide value – but how do you convey this to future clients or prospects?! Referrals! So why don’t more salespeople utilize these powerful tools? Many don’t know how to ask for them! I’ve made a list of 4 easy steps to secure these impactful client referrals…
Step 1: Create a list of people to ask for referrals
Take a look at your top 5 clients or customers. They may be repeat or long-time customers, have a great success story involving your product, or have raved about your service in the past. These are the clients you should add to this list! If you think they’re a satisfied customer, confirm it by reaching out for a referral or testimonial – you may even end up uncovering areas where you can improve!
Step 2: Develop your referral strategy
Create the habit of asking for referrals on a regular basis, or even rewarding for referrals! Depending on the product or service you provide, a yearly check-in with your customers for referrals may be suitable. If you do receive one, be sure to reward show your gratitude! A handwritten thank-you card, or small personalized gift can go a long way in advancing client relations and showing your client that their referral is appreciated.
Step 3: Identify your target client(s) – sharing with your customers
When asking for a referral, be sure to specify who your ideal or target customers or industries are – you don’t just want to be referred to anyone! You want these leads to be viable, so identify who the ideal client is before asking your customers for an introduction.
Step 4: Pick up the phone or email and reach out to your referred prospect
This step is much easier than a cold-call! When you call or email the new prospect, you have to reference your referral’s name early in the conversation or 1st line of the email. It’s not just name dropping, it’s a necessity to get the attention and credibility of your prospect!
Clearly, a good referral lends you credibility by association.
Be brave in asking your clients for referrals! In the past, over 80% of my new yearly business came as a result of them! They are powerful, and often lead to meetings (even if simply out of respect for the referenced third-party). Statistics even show that people are 4-times more likely to buy when referred by a friend or colleague!
Start developing your list of satisfied customers to ask for referrals, and create your referral strategy in order to supplement your prospecting efforts this fall!
Lisa is driven by the mantra – Be Strategic. Be Pro-active. Be Brave. – and has been successfully training and coaching sales leaders and their teams to do the same for over 15 years. As the President of Teneo Results since 2003, she has trained thousands of sales professionals at more than 250 companies across North America. She transitions salespeople away from the standard “product & price” approach to having purposeful business conversations with their customers that drive results.
Blog
How do you adapt your prospecting approach to your prospects?
You’ve got the basic contact information of a prospect…now what? Sure, you could shoot them off an email that you’ve sent to dozens of other prospects that week, or maybe you could give them a quick phone call to see if they’ve got time to chat. Both are great ways to check off the ‘initial contact’ box in your sales process, but neither option is likely to lead to a purposeful conversation or better yet, a sale.
What should you do, you ask? Make your contact count by using the Trifecta Factor – 3 factors to take into consideration when adapting to your prospect!
1. Their Decision Making & Influencing Role
The first thing to consider when communicating with a prospect is their role. Are they the Final Authority, in a position to make purchasing decisions? Perhaps they’re the Advisor and give input and advice to the Final Authority, influencing the decision. If their role is a Coach, they’ll want you to succeed, put you in touch with the right people, and give you any relevant information that may help you along in the sales process. Finally, Users – as the name suggests, they’re the people who use your product or service.
It’s important to consider which of the four roles your prospect falls into before reaching out! Be Strategic, Be Proactive and Be Brave to reach out to prospects that are the Final Authority, whenever possible – as that is the person who will be able to say “yes” sooner to you! Their job title or LinkedIn profile can often help to figure this out.
2. Their Personality Style
The next thing to do is determine your prospect’s personality style.
Drivers are people who cut to the chase and don’t like chit-chat. They want to know the most important facts, and ultimately how your solution will benefit them.
Analytical people are statistic and fact hungry! The more information, proof, charts and graphs you can provide, the better!
Expressives are the type of people who are looking to build a relationship and have great rapport. They’ll want to learn more about you, your weekend plans, and new or exciting things before jumping into business conversations.
Amiable people are likely to make decisions based on emotions. They often consider the feelings of others prior to making a decision.
3. Their Generation
The generation of your prospect is the final factor of the Trifecta to consider.
If you are a Baby Boomer selling to a Millennial – what do you think the Millennial is thinking when they meet with you? Vice Versa – if you are a Millennial selling to a Baby Boomer what do you think their initial assumption would be? These varying viewpoints are exactly why you have to adapt to the preferences of your prospect.
A prospect’s generation often links to their preferred form of communication. For example, a Millennial or Gen Z often prefers a LinkedIn message or text, and may rarely check voicemails. For Baby Boomers, the preference is typically a phone call or email, and they are much more likely to listen to their voicemail messages. Some Traditionalists still even prefer the good old pen and paper letters.
Conforming to your prospect’s preference is a key to securing their business
For additional tools to help you with your prospecting, check out our Tools & Templates page and download the 90-Day Prospecting Blitz Activity or our Great Questions Template to help you make the most of your meetings.
Got a challenge you’d like some help with? Schedule a complimentary meeting with me to see how I can help!
Lisa is driven by the mantra – Be Strategic. Be Pro-active. Be Brave. – and has been successfully training and coaching sales leaders and their teams to do the same for over 15 years. As the President of Teneo Results since 2003, she has trained thousands of sales professionals at more than 250 companies across North America. She transitions salespeople away from the standard “product & price” approach to having purposeful business conversations with their customers that drive results.
Blog
No matter what type of industry, there exists many types of prospecting to find qualified leads. Salespeople need to prospect continually-the real question is how? Here’s a list of several common types of prospecting:
Warm Calling
Warm calling remains the most effective way to set up appointments with the right decision makers in your target accounts. If you want to get your prospects attention you need to have something compelling to say, so dig deep to understand them when your gathering sales insights. So much great information can be found on your prospect’s social media profiles and website – be sure to look through them before reaching out. Find the common connections, such as a person, a group, an interest, or anything you and your prospect have in common.
A great way to increase your response rate when making warm calls is to implement the Double Whammy method. This refers to following up a call with another touch-point to the same prospect – whether that be an email, LinkedIn message, text message, or video. The Double Whammy shows persistence and tenacity, which buyers say will get their attention!
Referrals
Referral prospecting simply means prospecting through people that you know, your existing contacts, clients or business partners. Start with a list of people that may know the people you want to talk with (example: business associates, strategic partners or clients, etc.) and ask for an introduction.
Content Marketing
Content marketing is the art of communicating with your customers and prospects without selling. Instead of pitching your products or services, you are delivering information that makes your buyer more intelligent. By providing valuable and educational information to your customers you create a level of trust.
Networking
Networking, like sales prospecting, is a process and not an event. It takes time to develop a network, especially if you’re new to the working world or still trying to establish yourself in your industry. Identify your reasons to network. Is it to find new business, contacts or introducers, or is it to retain and build existing relationships? Identify the people you should network with. Do you know the names of the people you need to develop better relationships with? If you haven’t already met them, can you arrange to meet them?
Email Marketing
Email is free, fast, and available to most anyone. By sharing information about your business through emails, you help customers see how valuable your product or service is. Email marketing will help your product or business remain top of mind to your consumers. You can use emails to establish and nurture a relationship with your customers by providing informative pieces.
It is important for your email to stand out in a prospect’s inbox in order to earn an ‘open’. To do just that, consider the first ten words of your email. These words are often visible in an inbox, without clicking the email open. Craft a strong, intriguing first sentence that will make your prospect want to read more.
Another great way to stand out of your prospect’s inbox clutter; video emailing! Platforms like BombBomb, Vidyard, and CoVideo are fantastic tools for recording and sending short, personalized video emails. Self-recorded videos help to put a face to the name and peak a prospect’s curiosity.
To further assist with your prospecting efforts, download our complimentary 90-Day Prospecting Blitz Activity or schedule a purposeful business conversation with Lisa Leitch – Teneo’s President, Sales Strategist & Coach.
Lisa is driven by the mantra – Be Strategic. Be Pro-active. Be Brave. – and has been successfully training and coaching sales leaders and their teams to do the same for over 15 years. As the President of Teneo Results since 2003, she has trained thousands of sales professionals at more than 250 companies across North America. She transitions salespeople away from the standard “product & price” approach to having purposeful business conversations with their customers that drive results.
Page 3 of 25«12345...1020...»Last »
