Most salespeople would be engaging with Josh and concentrating on how to get to Sarah.

They may just call around Josh or even ask Josh to include Sarah in the meeting. Basically, their emphasis and focus is on connecting with Sarah.

This way of thinking will lose sales.

Essentially, the person your salespeople are actively engaging with is the first decision maker. This is the juncture where most salespeople fall short. They don’t accept this first contact person as a decision maker at all. In fact, ‘ole school’ will tell you to get around this person, go above this person – do all to get to the ‘real’ decision maker.

Josh is aware of their intent by their body language and tone, and probably earlier in the relationship they may even have asked ‘who is the decision maker’ (implying ‘it doesn’t sound like it’s you’). And therein lies their error. The salesperson doesn’t get the business. Even their boss says ‘it’s because you didn’t get to the decision maker’ reinforcing that was the sole person to focus on.

By accepting that Josh has been assigned to find a supplier, we need to recognise Josh as the decision maker, because, he actually is. We refer to him as a KPI – Key Person of Influence – and at this point we respect that he is making the decision, realising that it is his judgement that will determine what final proposals will be put forward.

Sales Proficiency: All done in conjunction with being the absolute professional which means doing the following:

Due Diligence

Combing the client website and Li for all that the company is posting about: what’s their philosophy and mission, what interests Sarah (noting her profile, her posts).  We might see she values ‘integrity’, as it’s scattered across much of her posts and profile. As our company holds and is renowned for the same values – it’s a core mission statement –  you may decide to run a campaign to demonstrate that point. It needs to be genuine, honest and authentic. Not forced or fake.  That means you will post about it and repost your company’s related articles. If you post about something that’s of relevance, you may decide to message and highlight this to Sarah– assuming you are at a relationship point where that’s acceptable.  ‘Hi Sarah, today I posted about the top 3 things to look out for when training your team on xyz, I hope it brings you value (happy to share the link or email you the fuller article)’,

Reach out to shared contacts, is there anyone else respectful that we know who works in the same company. Could we engage with them? They may be able to relay a good word (to both Josh and Sarah).

Authority

Being the authority in your field, the subject matter expert – this is a mindset thing – are you standing tall and confident and have certainty (not feeling ‘lesser’ or subservient)?

Preparation

As part of our meeting prep, research and due diligence, being mindful of:

Intent is there to help (not ‘sell at’).

How you turn up: are you early, looking prepared, using the right language?

Listening: great salespeople do less talking and more listening to truly understand.

Questions

Asking the right questions, questions that no other supplier has asked – thereby understanding the client and their situation better than anyone else. Great questions loop onto further insightful, intelligent questions no one has yet asked which leads to a heightened understanding, such that at one point the energy shifts and Josh will lean in and say ‘yes, good point – can you help with that’.

Trusted Advisor

Having earnt that right you can be in a position to guide and educate them on what they need to consider, what other options there are etc.

Transfer

This is when Josh realises you know your onions and he willingly, and because it feels natural now to do so, will introduce you to Sarah

Behind the scenes

Josh will be deciding who is the right supplier, based on many key factors, of which price is rarely one of them. In fact, it often holds the lowest rating. Typically, it’s about looking for someone who is an expert, who will be reliable, that can be trusted, who does what they say they are going to do. It’s important to realise this, as many reps promise something (say, an email or first draft proposal) then are late – which would be giving Josh the impression that they are already falling short in their commitment, and if unable to follow through at this vital point, a time when they should be all over it, creating doubt that things are hardly going to improve once the business is on board.

Summary

The focus of your efforts is about being the authority, being prepared and being professional the whole way through – not just pushing to meet with the ‘person behind’.

Read more about Business Development in our 6 Steps Business Development check list.

The post Are You Selling To The Decision Maker? appeared first on Head Of Sales.

1. Be a market expert

A successful Business Development person knows the playing field of their industry. They understand the ebbs and flows of the market. They know the key players and their respective unique selling points.

Most salespeople know information on their own business, but not necessarily that of the competitors whom they are up against. These are the alternatives that your prospect may be weighing up and comparing you to. When you know the fuller picture, you know what questions you need to ask, you know the types of problems the client may be encountering. You know how those problems can be fixed and which businesses (including yours) can resolve them.

As you ask better questions (and knowledgeable of the pain points and solutions) your value increases and the client see you as an industry expert.

Be and act as thought leader of your field – be seen as the authority

2. Mindset

Success, your opinion of the world and how you operate, all starts in your own head. It starts with how you decide to view the world.

Empowered are those that have decided to adopt the stance of:

‘I choose how I view my situation’,

‘I’m in charge of my thoughts’

‘I don’t let what is happening outside of me affect my mindset’.

Seeing each interaction as a lesson of how you could have made better choices – being able to rise above and think ‘what can I learn from this, what can I improve next time’.

Planning and practising what you could say next time to hard wiring the circuits of your brain and reprogram your mind to choosing a better future response.

Take time to breathe, to slow the mind down. Ditch what may not be serving you, be it alcohol, caffeine, bad choice of foods, recognising and managing any other negative influences. Reframe yourself positively on what you do have and look at the situation through new eyes. Take care of your number one asset – you.

Adopt a position of gratitude, put things into perspective.

3. Be aware of your value

Often, we get caught up in our own product that we don’t see what the implications are for the buyer. To know this, you need to know innately what pain your prospect is experiencing, for how long, what solutions they have tried, what they liked and didn’t like. Be informed about the different solutions available to them and the uniqueness of each.

What do you personally bring to the table? Are you professional, reliable, consistent, helpful? People ‘buy into’ people. They are buying into you to trust what you are selling them. Ensure you are always operating at your best, so they (and indeed your colleagues) see the best version of you.

4. Work smart

Working smart starts with planning days, weeks and months ahead.

“He who fails to plans is planning to fail”. Winston Churchill

Know who to target, when, how much time it will take. Know which prospects and clients will have the biggest positive impact on your bottom line. Prioritise the most profitable clients and focus on how you can engage with and bring them value.

The best Business Development people remove distractions. They know what approach to take and have practiced and refined what questions to ask and what compelling solution(s) they can put forward.

5. Get more business

Do what others will not do.

The client says ‘no’. So what? Learn, be resilient and move on. The world will not stop spinning. Lessons are everywhere. Opportunities are far and wide.

When you are with a potential client, abandon all assumptions and baggage of what they will or will not buy. Be present and focused on them and their situation. The more you understand them, the more you can help them.

Unfortunately, most salespeople are too preoccupied with getting their own message across, without first fully understanding the client. This mistake means the client doesn’t feel heard, isn’t fully understood and all opportunities to serve them are missed.

If you are regimented in your engagement you will be running the meeting your way, missing signals and not putting the client first. Your job is to run every engagement in a meaningful, relevant way – make it about them.

The person with the most behavioural flexibility gets the sale.

6. Take action consistently

Most salespeople are stuck in a reactive mode and not in a proactive mode.
Knowing that when you engage with more people, you will get more business. This means you have to carve off time to focus on giving the more profitable potentials more of your time and energy.

Conclusions

Sales is a profession. To demonstrate to the client that you are professional, trustworthy and a leader in your field, you need to act likewise.

Sales is an intelligent interaction where you are using sophisticated interpersonal skills and communication methods to help a client solve a problem.

The post 6 Steps For Business Development Success appeared first on Head Of Sales.

No matter who they speak with in your business – in their eyes they are all ‘the company’.

In a pre-digital world, there were salespeople and everyone else. Now a prospect can understand a business across a myriad of social media channels before they speak to anyone in your business. They read comments posted online, they judge the quality of your content, the reviews of your products and how the company responds. This is all before they speak to a ‘salesperson’.

No matter who they speak with in your business – the receptionist, customer service, someone in the delivery dock, an engineer – in their eyes they are all ‘the company’.

The client doesn’t care about the job titles of the people they come into contact with. What they will notice is whether everybody in the organisation is in synch with the ‘brand’ or not. Being consistent across every touchpoint builds trust.

So everyone in your organisation has a shared accountability for how the business is represented and how attractive the company is for people to want to buy from them.

When it is understood that every person in your business is in sales, it becomes obvious how customer experience and customer service is the new sales.

To be in synch means everyone in the business understands:

• Exactly what the business does,
• How it delivers value to its customers,
• The commitment the business has made to service its customers,
• How imperative it is to HELP a customer or prospect,
• What it means to BE the brand.

When everyone is ‘singing from the same hymn sheet’ it supports:

• Customer satisfaction and retention,
• Staff alignment,
• Stronger teamwork and
• Business growth!

Imagine if every person in your business had the same training as a salesperson. How valuable would it be if everyone understood the power of?

• Active listening
• Insightful, open ended questions
• Adaptability
• Accountability
• Negotiation
• Presentation
• Language
• Confidence
• Helping

Next time anyone says ‘but I’m not in sales’ – ask them what they think a salesperson actually does. Because salespeople don’t just sell, they build relationships, they build trust, they listen and solve problems. They help people. Isn’t that the philosophy that everyone should be adopting so customers want to buy from you and stay with you?

Sales training for the entire business. Now that is evolutionary!

The post Everyone In Your Organisation Is In Sales appeared first on Head Of Sales.

Some salespeople when they feel they are not going to get the sale can get into the habit of offering discounts.

The client was sold. You gave a price. They asked for a discount. You gave it. No reason given.

Why? Why would we discount our solution?

It comes down to the value you hold – not your client – on your solution. And whether you think it should be cheaper.

The first time price and discounts come up is before you have even spoken with a client. That’s right, you have made the decision to discount or not discount based on your value of your offering.

You have made this decision in your office. It may have been impacted by:

• A colleague saying ‘This is a bit pricy, people often want it discounted’.(The price is too high, we need to bring it down to what it should be) .
• Your boss saying ‘Offer a discount, just get in the business’. (Discount is a word that’s important. Value of our offer isn’t).
• A client saying ‘I can buy it cheaper elsewhere.’ (You believe that, and don’t question whether the solution is apples for apples).
• Marketing/Brand saying ‘This is expensive but …’ (‘Expensive’ is never a word you want used in your business)
• Colleagues always discounting to get in the business. (This normalises discounts).

The reality is the subtle message you picked up is  ‘the value of what we have isn’t as high as the price we are charging’, or, simply ‘we are charging too much’.

And … you believe it.

You are not sold on that price. And next thing you know, you too are thinking the price is too high, you too have taken your eye from value and onto price.

You are driving the price down. If you sold it at full rate, you might occasionally feel guilty as you know you would have given a discount.

What can you do to counter this as a sales person and as a leader?

 Solution/product training on the value of your offer—what the client is getting, and what the value is to the client.

 Internal language—always about value, rather than about discounts.

 Success stories—share case studies about what the client gains through this solution.

 Reward success based on keeping the price at a premium not on getting the business in.

When you are sold on the value, you won’t be discounting. Instead you will be investigating the clients’ issues and educating them on the value of your solution.

As the trusted provider, when you have such certainty than they are sold on it too. They will trust you and believe your offer is worth the price.

The post Discounting Erodes Trust appeared first on Head Of Sales.

In a situation like this, many a salesperson starts to feel pressure and loses faith in their pricing. They take their eye from the value of their offering and get consumed by price. Sometimes they become demoralised and demotivated. The kneejerk reaction is to discount the price to get the sale.

The issue for the salesperson is they are focused on closing the sale instead of helping the prospect.

Because the real issue with ‘I don’t have the money’ has little to do with the price. It’s because the client with the money doesn’t have trust in the salesperson.

When the client does have trust in the salesperson, the relationship shifts to something like a doctor/patient scenario where the client is waiting to be advised what solution will fix their problem.

They are expecting the ‘expert’ to give them the most suitable solution. In turn, the salesperson feels an obligation to provide a solution that aligns best.

Often this solution is substantially more money than what that client was originally going to spend … and (insert drum roll) the client buys (cue crescendo) because it’s the right solution for them (release the doves!).

When we are engaging with a prospect, they are looking for someone to understand them. Someone who gets what they need. The client wants to feel confident the seller is 100% aligned with them and will only present a solution that fits what they are actually looking for.

As a salesperson – ask yourself these two questions:

1. Are you 100% sold on your solution? If you are not 100% sold you can’t expect your client to be. 

• Do you know your solution, inside and out?
• Do you know the alternatives the client could buy instead from competitors?
• Do you know the value of your solution to the client?

2. Do you seek to understand? Your intent is to be a partner, the solution provider, the trusted advisor

• When you are with a potential client, are you mentally and physically beside them and seeking to understand?
• Are you 100% present and focused on them?
• Do you ask relevant, meaningful questions to really assess the situation?
• Are you are listening and absorbing everything the client is saying and how they are saying it?

Often a salesperson is selling at the buyer. We call this ‘spray and pray’—spraying all the features and benefits of their solution with repetitive banter without adapting to this client. They are not making it clear what’s in it for them. They are not linking the benefit and value to how it will help that person’s situation. And they can’t know as they haven’t asked enough insightful questions. ­­­­­

The post “I don’t have budget” – what to do next appeared first on Head Of Sales.

Without knowing the questions – it is difficult to know how you are going to help them.

Before you do any of these steps, you must have this foundation to start:

1. You need to be sold on what you are selling. You need to know the value to the client.
2. You are practiced in each step so that its natural. You are being your authentic self.

There are two different stages of questions.

Stage 1: Qualifying Questions

The time for qualifying questions is when you are calling out/prospecting and you are determining if they are in the market for your offer.

1. You’ve done enough homework to identify this client may well need your solution.
2. Your intention is to show 1) you are out to help them and 2) when they are ready to be helped, you are the ‘go to’ person – the trusted advisor.
3. You understand you will need to frame why you are calling. They were not expecting you, they don’t know you, the problem must not be on their mind right now.
4. You have a clear, precise elevator pitch which explains what your solution does.
5. You are calm, reasonable and rational. You are speaking clearly and at the right pace.
6. Your question pool is large. You will draw in the most relevant questions at the time along the lines of these types of ‘other clients have found/statement & solution’ questions:

• Many of our clients are reporting problems with areas A, B, and C. How are these areas affecting you? What do you think about them?
• Some people are doing … as that’s the easiest or the way they know best. Have you considered another solution?
• Sometimes we find other people in your industry may be having problems with [insert a couple of pain points]. Is this the case with you or your company?
• How is your current solution working out, on a scale of 1-10? (10 being perfect, 1 being ‘it’s not working out’.) Ensure you are having two-way conversations by this point.
• What concerns do you have about switching/implementing a new solution?
• If you would like other ideas, solutions on how to improve – reduce costs, create time, make money, be efficient – I’m here and happy to assist. I’ve been working in this area for X years and know all the different options available to you to make your life easier.
• What are your thoughts on what needs to happen to improve/make progress/change?

1. You realise they may not be ready with the answers, have patience. Don’t answer your own questions or give multiply choice!
2. You are 100% present – you’re able to listen carefully to everything they are saying.
3. You take detailed notes.
4. The flow naturally moves to the next stage (channel two) which may progress then or further down the line – this is the exploration stage.
5. You are not quick to take a no. If they do actually need what you have but the timing is out – then the timing is out. Ensure you leave the conversation positive with something like: ‘If it’s not right for you right now, I’m happy to send over my email and a top line of how we can help. And then when you are ready to tackle that we can reconnect.’
6. Don’t take things personally. 99% of outbound prospecting is all about timing. Smile, breathe, be grateful for the opportunity to serve more people and get on the phone to the next person you might be able to help.

Stage 2: Exploration Questions

This is when you are certain they are in the market for what you have. You may have had some previous engagement and they are aware of you and know that they want a solution to a problem.

1. You’ve identified they appear to fit your ideal client profile.
2. Your intention is to a) help them and b) be seen as the trusted advisor and solution provider.
3. You are calm, reasonable and rational. Speaking clearly and going at the pace of the client.
4. Ask open ended, investigating, specific and clarify questions. These questions allow you to delve deeper with that prospect, ascertaining everything about their needs, wants, desires, beliefs etc so you can see how your solution can serve them. The questions will likely include:

• Walk me through: how you are currently doing xyz, or explain how this works…
• How: How long have you had the problem? How have you gone about fixing it? How does your team feel about …? How does X feel about the issue? …
• What: What do you think the solution is? What do you know about the different solutions available? What is your timing? What happened when you tried X? What are you looking for? What does success look like?
• When: When did it start? When did that happen? When did X do that? When this took place what was the result? When are you looking to get it solved or started?
• If: If this was to be a solution what would that mean? If you were to allow yourself to run a ‘best case’ scenario (regardless of any restrictions like money, time, effort etc) what would that be? Why would you say that? How close are you to that now? If you were to fast-forward to 18 months from now, what will you be doing differently?
• Closed questions:
  • Have: Have you tried anything before/Have you considered…?
  • Which: do you prefer X or Y, and ‘why’
  • Did: you enjoy zyx
  • Do: you prefer x or z

5. You are 100% present – you’re totally engrossed in what they are talking about. You are aware of what they are saying, doing, getting excited or concerned about. You are noting their language, their beliefs, their knowledge on the problem and its fixes, the urgency, timing, key decision makers, what they think will fix it.

6. You understand they will be doing most of the talking.

7. You take detailed notes.

8. The flow naturally moves to the next stage which is further exploration, meeting further individuals in that business and the sale.

Questions are the key. If there is one area we ask leaders to train their team on its all about seek to understand.  This means have a pool of many questions so you can keep that client discussing the situation—so you know how you can best serve them.

The post Questions To Qualify A Prospect appeared first on Head Of Sales.

If you have decided you are in charge of your outcomes then this is the article for you.

A success mindset means you are:

• accountable
• always enhancing your performance
• driving for improvement.

You seek, and create, great results. You have created a set of habits.

Substantial, continuous business growth stems from the right habits repeated so consistently they become unconscious. The same way as one healthy meal eaten a week ago won’t get us thinner- (damn) one great day doing calls won’t get us to smash our targets every month.

What we are after is creating a habit of repeated, consistent excellent behaviour.

7 steps for creating the right habits

1) RECOGNITION

So before we ‘create a habit’ we need to recognise that one needs to be created!

Sounds simple right? I just think of it, write it down and do it.

Well if it was that easy everyone would be doing it!

First you need to recognise that things can be done better, that in the case of sales (which usually means the ‘habit’ is connected to business growth) then more business is out there waiting for you.

There is always more to understand, to learn, to process, to adopt. Never think you have reached ‘the top’ as then you are closed to learning. So, the first step is the recognition that there is more to learn, we can always evolve. That growth comes from stretching your skill set. (Good news is that once stretched it never shrinks back).

If you are a sales manager you may have fallen into the habit of telling your team what to do, tell them their new habit- i.e. how many calls to make etc.

What is often missing in this attempt to drum up business and new behaviours/ habits is the team just isn’t sold on it!

You need them to recognise there is a fantastic habit to adopt.

2) DESIRE

Now you’ve recognised there’s more out there to learn, you need to create the desire to want to do something about it!

Recognition without desire is, well, pointless for sales!

Sales is about taking action whatever the weather.

Desire comes from knowing how it will affect your life. And therefore having an inner need that’s so burning, you would move mountains to make it happen. If you are doing something out of your ‘norm’ the behaviour you want to create needs to be an inner need so strong that you are prepared to do things you don’t normally do.

If it’s border line desire, it won’t get past go. You won’t even start. The first obstacle will stall you.

If you are a manager don’t bang on about your desire to increase sales: you are not your team! Sarah’s desire to get results isn’t the same as Marco’s.

Work out what fires their desire. When do their eyes light up? What does each person care about? What motivates that person?

3) FOCUS ON THE OUTCOME

Make sure you are crystal clear on your outcome.

“More money” won’t cut the mustard. (would you be happy with a dollar more)? Be specific.

• Write it up so it’s in your visual cortex.
• See that goal/number.
• Believe that goal.
• Run the feeling you will feel when you get there, when you have it.
• What do you see – how will you feel?
• Start to ‘step into the shoes’ of that person who has achieved their outcome.

Now, look back… what did it take to get there?

4) ACTION

Break down what needs to happen to achieve that outcome.

What do you need to do daily, weekly, monthly to make that happen? Bullet point it.

For around 80% of us that are highly visual, it would help to put that list up somewhere where we see it daily. How many calls do I need to do daily with XYZ conversion to get this amount over the line. Be crystal clear on the journey needed.

5) CREATE A ‘TRIGGER’

If your action is to call prospects every morning then create an ‘anchor’ around a routine you do each morning.

For example, each time I have my coffee I will call up my first prospect.

To create ‘space’ to do your new behaviour you need to break an old one. What do you normally do when you have your coffee? If what you currently do is more appealing than your new ‘action’ you will struggle to find the will to drop it. Create a new space for your habit.

6) HABITS ARE MUSCLES

Use it or loose it. (Or in this case ‘do it or loose it’).

Do it every day. Habits are actions repeated so often you are unaware. So, do it when you say you will. Commit to it.

If it’s daily that’s an easier habit for most then making it weekly or monthly.

Daily for 30 days…then cha-ching you now have a new behaviour/ habit!

7) MEASURE

Have check in points to measure how you are tracking. Review every 3 months or so, this way you can tweak and evolve your habit.

My question to you: what anchors have you created for yourself to stick to your habits?

The post Mindset determines your success appeared first on Head Of Sales.

Success starts and ends with your thinking, change your thinking and you change your results.

Would you like:

• to make more profit faster, easier and with integrity?
• more happy clients who pay the rate your solution is worth and refer you?
• to embrace selling and feeling confident each time you are with a client?

Here are our five secrets to immediate business growth.

 Secret 1: Sales = helping

Think of it like this – here are people that need something solved. These people may need what you have. If you don’t let them know you can help them you are doing them a disservice!

 Be positive about your solution

 Start each day and interaction with ‘I’m here to help’

 I need to let more people know how my solution can assist them in their lives/work by making them happier, saving or making money, saving or creating time.

 Secret 2. Understand your customer

Stop trying to sell! Stop trying to ‘persuade’.

Move your attention and your focus onto ‘understanding’ your client and how your solution can help them.

 Ask questions

Build an arsenal of open ended questions to keep your client talking about their situation. Have hundreds of questions practiced.

Be inquisitive, be curious

Your questions should be a natural expansion of what they are saying, It shouldn’t feel like an interview. There should be flow. It needs to be obvious why you are asking the question and tailored to that client. 84% of customers say being treated like a person/an individual, not a number, is very important to winning their business*

Secret 3. Stop talking and start listening

 The only talking you should be doing is asking fantastic questions. 90% of the time the client should be talking. You need to be listening.

Be present – By being prepared for the meeting and clearing all distractions in your mind you can focus 100% on what your client is saying

Listen and beware

We have a propensity to hear what we want to hear and jump to assumptions.

Aligning

The client has told you everything they want – NOW forward your solution that aligns with their values, motivation, desires, likes and dislikes.

 Secret 4. Do what others will not do

While I was blueberry picking with my 6-year-old he said ‘Mum let’s go through the middle  of the row’ which looked difficult. When I asked him why his response was ‘If you do what everyone else has done you will get what everyone else has got’. That’s what business development is about – finding other ways to seek opportunities.

Plan

The answer to your dreams is having continuous growth. Business Development professionals know how much time needs to be dedicated to growing the business. They know how many calls and meetings they need to do to exceed target.

Take action consistently

You don’t get thin by eating one healthy meal – and you don’t grow the business doing business development once. Put times in your diary. Stick to it. Be disciplined.

 Follow Up

 The average follow up needed is 12. Most sales people give up after three. The hard work has already taken place and then you lose it to a competitor simply because they happen to follow up more times than you. Learn about adding value with your follow ups so it’s  not a ‘I’m just follow up’ conversation.

#Secret 5. Be in charge of your own mindset (your state of mind)

Success begins and ends with your mindset. If you think that client won’t buy you are right. If you think you need to negotiate, you are right. If you think the market is tough, you are right. Conversely, if you think you can make 20 calls a day and the market is buoyant, you are right. If you think it’s easy, you are right. You really are acting out the sum of your thoughts.

 Re frame

One of the easiest ways to flip any negative mindset is to do a reframe. Quickly think of something worst. I read once that if we all wrote our problems on a piece of paper and threw them in a hat, once we saw what others have wrote we would soon grab our own out again. Good reframe hey? You can have that one on me.

Positive anchor

The client who said thank you, this solution really helped. An email you kept from a happy client. Feel the feelings and hear the words of happy, contented clients.

Gratitude

Start your day with gratitude. It’s no surprise that if your standard of living has increased ten fold from when you were young then you probably start each day with knowing  how lucky you are. Always be grateful for what you have and acknowledge your skills that got you where you are today.

The post 5 Sales Tactics To Know appeared first on Head Of Sales.

So, choose which of the people below that most describes you.

Person A. Things run through your head: they won’t want to talk to me, they are too busy, I’m not quite right for them, I don’t want to disturb them, I don’t want to pester them, now isn’t the right time to approach them.

Person B. See all that person A does plus thinks – I’ll be brave, when the friend is nearby and if I feel its right I’ll casually give the friend my number to give to her.

Person C. There’s the hot person, I’m going to hang around where the hot person is. I’m going to be accessible and available. If there’s then an opportunity that arises naturally I can grab it. If not, I’m making an opportunity to strike up a meaningful conversation.

Person D. There’s the hot person, I’m going in!

Sound familiar to sales? Let’s set the scene. You are at an event and the ‘target’ client is over there.

Sales person A. Things run through your head: they won’t want to talk to me, they are too busy, I’m not quite right for them, I don’t want to disturb them, I don’t want to pester them, now isn’t the right time to approach them. No one likes to be approached.

(CK input: limited belief that everyone else is the same as you).

Sales person B. See all that person A does plus thinks – I’ll be brave, If I feel it’s right  I will leave my card. (CK input: the intention of ‘I’ll just leave a card’ will give a high probability in ‘just leaving a card’)

Sales person C. There’s the hot target prospect, I’m right or them, they are right for me. I’m going to hang around where the hot prospect is. I’m going to be accessible and available. If there’s then an opportunity that arises naturally I can grab it. If not, I’m making an opportunity to strike up a meaningful conversation.

Person D. There’s the hot prospect, I’m going in!

So, a few observations here.

1.    Your limited belief is what will make you or crush you. If you know your solution will benefit them then your ‘state’ will be in one of 100% congruency, positive, ‘can do’, and what follows your thinking is your behaviour – so your body language and what you say and how you say it.

2.    Know your target clients, know their names and have an opener ready. It’s better to be prepared and not have an opportunity then have an opportunity and not be prepared.

The post Why Sales Is Like Dating appeared first on Head Of Sales.

How do you want to reach your sales goals? How do you need to adapt your plan for 2020 and beyond?

To create real and lasting business growth you need a solid sales plan.

To be on the front foot for 2020 we are planning NOW – are you?

A sales plan is the roadmap of the ‘who, where, why and how’ you will meet – even exceed – your goals for next year.

8 questions to help you develop your plan

1.     What are your goals for next year? Think big!

• What do you want to achieve?

2. What did and didn’t work in 2019?

• What insights do you have that will inform next year’s plans

3.     Do you have a month to month forecast based on insights and results from the previous year?

• What are your month by month actions to make this happen?
• What needs to happen to ‘farm’ these opportunities?
• What are the key milestones and deadlines?

4.     What are your specific niches to gain traction?

•  Target the main ones that you can help the most and grow your business the fastest?
• Are they already your top clients?

5.     Who are your top clients?

• How do you plan to add more value to them in 2020?
• What offers in your product suite are the natural next step for them to meet their goals?
• What’s going on in their business? They too are looking for new opportunities so what can you do to help them meet their goals?

6.     Who are your prospects?

• How do you plan to find more just like them and why?
• Who is sitting in your CRM just waiting for some help to plan their 2020?

7.     What partnerships or joint ventures can you develop to add mutual value to each other’s client base?

8.     Are there events or tradeshows where you should have a presence?

• If so, how will you leverage this activities?

2 tactics to be in the strongest mindset to develop your plans

1.     Remove all distractions

• Turn email notifications off
• Or even better – close your email down.
• Turn your phone to silent

2.     Change your environment

• Change your thinking by moving away from your desk
• Sit in a quiet meeting room where no one can interrupt you
• Take yourself out of the office

3.     An attitude of success

• Remind yourself of the successes/wins of the previous year
• Anchor those feelings to elevate a sense of optimism and possibility

How do and your sales team create your plan and how often do you review it once it is done? We like to have a ‘sales plan on a page’ and it’s up on the wall and it keeps us motivated and on track.

The post A Bullet Proof Sales Plan For The Year appeared first on Head Of Sales.