Help for Loooonnngg Sales Cycles

Too much information running through my brain
Too much information driving me insane
Too much information running through my brain
Too much information driving me insane

– The Police “Too Much Information” (Ghosts in the Machine 1981)

The Police (Sting’s old group for you youngin’s-) had it right way back in the 80’s with this song. Too much information is indeed a problem.

But 30 years later, insane would be better result than some of the other stuff that happens today because of information overload.

For us business folks, the sales cycles are getting longer. It feels like it is taking longer than ever for prospects to close or move to the next step or to just say “no” and allow us to move on. That hurts. That also makes us crazy. (Fortunately crazy is a tamer version of insane).

One of the biggest reason sales cycles are getting so long is that there is just so much information out there.

Today a prospect has a quadrillion options on line to learn about your industry, your company, your product or even you. And what’s worse is that this prospect given the tough economy and the corporate trust issues, feels obligated to do that research. He or she feels that due righteous diligence means a lot of research and study that years ago just wasn’t available.

You do it too. Used to be you threw the Sony Walkman on the beanbag, slipped on the Members Only jacket, jumped in the Taurus and trundled to the local department store to get a new fridge cuz’ the Kenmore up and died.

Now you analyze product reviews, consumer reports, price shopper sites, debate whether to buy online or offline, wait for Twitter and Facebook replies from friends before you trundle anywhere and have a look. Businesses do the same. Your competitors are all over the world and they all have a website. There’s a never ending supply of helpful online groups and associations to solicit feedback from. Testimonials aren’t requested any more, they are already there and must be read through.

So much to look at. So many options to study.

That takes time. And that lengthens Sales Cycles. That’s some of the pain of too much information.

So what do you do? Here are two strategies to help.

Set A Table of Urgency:

Some of the ownership of “over analysis” by clients lies with us sales and marketing folks. Our meetings or our phone calls or our emails don’t always set the best expectations (often none at all) around time. If they did, they might speed up the information review.

Set Up “Tentative” Meetings: Trying to set up a meeting for real can be difficult when the prospect has all this information they want to review. Set it up at least tentatively as you end the call or leave the meeting. Use the word “tentatively” (it keeps that buyer tension low) and get it on an Outlook Calendar. A recent study I saw said prospects are 70% more likely to keep a tentative meeting on a calendar than just an open ended invitation.

Build Checkpoints up front into the sales process. (Always position as a benefit to the prospect of course). “At the end of this meeting you should be in a position to say you want to review more materials or not. Your time is not something I want to waste.” Or “If you are interested in going to the next step after this meeting, the next 3 days are fully staffed for us to run numbers with your data groups”.

Prescribe The Research:

Part of the problem with too much information is the prospect wondering where to begin to look- further stalling the sales cycle.

Share What To Do. Give your prospect the competitor names, the associations to solicit feedback from and the sites where they can see objective product or company reviews. Send them the links to the videos or the white papers and encourage them to dig in. You’ll be surprised how this cuts the time and builds your credibility simultaneously.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Think Wider

It’s good that some car dealerships realize that it’s not just the car that is in need of getting fixed, but the driver too. That’s why the newer establishments that understand this have valet service drop offs, uniformed check in managers and wait rooms with Wifi and cafeterias that make a service wait almost bearable.

It’s good that some Hospitals realize it’s not just the patient that is in need of getting fixed, but the loved ones of that patient. That’s why the ones that understand this have nurses and staff that seemingly “check in” as often about the visiting families comfort as with the patient who is ill. They have comfortable chairs in patient rooms and yes, even offer to have food and drinks brought up for you; the healthy relative of the patient.

It’s good that we realize that it’s not just a customer’s product or delivery or bill that needs fixing, but it’s that person or business too. That’s why those of us who understand this need no prodding or training to apologize sincerely, to work feverishly far beyond that one call or connection to rebuild the broken trust and to find ways to mitigate that customer’s loss of time, reputation or even revenue.

It’s not good enough or actually, different enough to just fix the traditional problem be it the car, the patient or the customer’s product. Think wider.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

You Had Me At Hello (and then, you just let me go)

Dear Sales or Service Rep,

What the heck happened when you had your chance?

I had to speak with you today. I needed to talk to a human because as a small business owner, I’m super busy and sometimes it’s just faster. So you got me and I got you.

And I know it’s a big deal to talk to me, given how much I and my fellow small business owners are in demand. I’m all over TV. Seems like every company wants to help me, or guide me, or build a special site for me to visit. That’s nice.

So there I was, live and on the phone with you.

You blew it.

You totally had me when you said “Hello”. I was waiting. I was shockingly semi focused on you and what you were doing. I had a need when I called and you had a real voice. But in the end, the stuff you did and didn’t do, just let me go.

I’ve been a customer for 4 years but I don’t know if you knew that- you didn’t say. With my customers, it’s pretty much the first thing I notice. Sticking with me means something to me, but to you? I guess not.

You called me “Steve” but frankly only my friends; my doctor and my family call me “Steve”; at least not without asking permission first. Heck I’ve never called any of my customers by first name unless I knew them well or they insisted. You folks don’t realize how that rubs us business owners who are also customers the wrong way.

You tried to up sell me and cross sell me stuff like you were afraid. Huge turnoff. Have some confidence! People forget I am in sales too or else my kids don’t get fed. And while I may not be a pro at selling, I darn well don’t do it meekly. I have to up sell and cross sell too to make my business grow. So if you’re going to sell me, do it with pride and strength, not like your praying I won’t notice. When I sell, I’m proud of what my products can do. You should be too.

You had me at “Hello”, maybe next time you can keep me to “Goodbye”.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

But You’re In Sales

You took that call, not knowing the client was sent an email offer by marketing or what it said but you’re in Sales, so you recognized that what’s important was that there’s interest so you fueled that fire and said “Yes, we’ve had a lot of calls about this! Let me make sure I know which one you are talking about…tell me what it reads…”

You personally didn’t screw up the client’s proof or was the one who didn’t call to arrange that installation but you’re in Sales, so you knew that owning the problem was critical and called that unhappy customer back and said “I am so sorry. I own this, let me fix this problem right now…”

You knew there was a sales shortfall this month and you saw the silly contest poster to “Close the most sales over the next 24 hours!” but you’re in Sales, so you focused on solving customer problems and didn’t pitch and dump and spew and pound out phone calls just to hit that low hanging unloyal fruit opportunity and close the deal because heck, you’re not gonna leave a trail of garbage like that.

Stuff happens. And most of us; be we actual sales people, marketers, trainers, leaders or even business owners sell all day long and know nothing ever, ever goes to plan. But we’re in Sales, so we take our noble profession seriously and apply accordingly.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

A Salesperson’s Valentine’s Day

Beautiful poetry can move the soul. But when I write about my beloved salespeople….not so much.

Oh sweet Valentine , Oh love of mine,
Today is finally the day for you.
It’s the day this year I pledge to make
A start that’s all brand new.

For I have heard your pleas to leave work
At work, and to please be more attentive.
That I must “let it go” when I get home
And stop obsessing over my incentive.

So now I promise I’ll shut it off
And stop saying those salesy things at night.
Like “What’s your preferred method of contact?”
For I guess unlike at work, at home it’s impolite.

I’ll stop waking asking “Are you the decision maker?”
Disturbing you from your slumber.
I already know who’s boss, I really do
But it’s a darn helpful question to hit my number.

So today’s the day it all begins
Where I’ll stop trying to “overcome your objections”.
Where I’ll stop believing every “no” gets me closer to a “yes”
And where finally my love makes course corrections.

Today’s special, or so I’d like to think
For it’s the first day of a brand new me.
Though I just noticed the difference between today’s special
And Todays’ Special is, the slight move of an apostrophe.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Crushed

I stared at it every day.

A lot of snow on it for sure.

Lots of snow everywhere. 75 inches of snow so far this year where I live. I know, I keep track.

I’d take the dog out and yes, I’d stare at it. Gee, that’s a lot of snow on that. It was pretty in the snow.

I’d put the dishes in the sink, make the coffee, rinse a plate or two and I’d stare at it more out the window.

There’s a lot of snow on that roof. Boy, it’s snowed a lot this year. It’s a big old shed the previous owner built. He was a contractor. It was strong. I don’t have a garage, so that shed is very helpful. I put the lawn mower, the bikes, the paint, the old furniture and a dozen other important things in there- you know how it works.

On Sunday I stared at it more.

The snow on the roof was gone. Wow. Where did it go?

I stared at it more and realized the snow was gone because the roof was gone.

Collapsed. Crushed.

The shed exploded actually. The sheer weight of what had to be 4 feet of snow crushed it in the center crumpling out all 4 sides. Truth is, the shed looks like it might have been stepped on by a brontosaurus. Drive on by my house and you’ll see it; it’s quite the sight.

Ugh.

I soooo realized Sunday that sometimes problems are right in front of us but we simply don’t see them.

Literally.

I had heard the warnings on radio about roofs and buildings collapsing under the weight of snow but I did not really hear. I saw the neighbors taking snow of roofs of sheds and homes and schools for fear of collapse but did not really see. I stared at the bloody shed for weeks and really did not act.

Wow. A lesson right there in my own back yard.

What will you notice now? What can you learn from my now crushed shed I just stared at for way too long?

What is right in front of you and gnaws at you? What doesn’t look right? What just “bothers” you that you stare at every day. What do you “hope” does not happen so much that you just avoid it? What are people telling you that you uncomfortably just “brush off” or ignore?

Be wary. Whatever it is if you do not act, it could collapse. And you’d be crushed.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

SMILE Goals

I think I’m done with S.M.A.R.T. Goals.

It’s the time of year now when so many of us are in a frenzy over setting and writing annual goals for ourselves or our staffs.

You remember those SMART goals don’t you? Goals that you set, according to the formula, should be;

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely

Yeah OK; got it.

It’s not that there is something terribly wrong with SMART goals; the tenets are solid. It’s more that I’m not sure SMART goals go far enough in reflecting what drives real people and real business anymore. It’s more that SMART goals may not be so..um…smart anymore.

For 30 years (yep, in 1981 this formula first appeared) SMART Goals have served us well. But it’s time for a needed upgrade. The world is in a different place. And people are in a different place.

So before you put those final touches on the SMART goal setting sheets you have proliferating your desks and email boxes, have a look at what I think is a better way.

S.M.I.L.E Goals

Strength Focused: No one person will ever be perfect. And no one person typically has as many weaknesses as strengths, yet much of our goal setting is often focused on goals that “fix” a problem or weak area. But what if all of your annual goals were focused on taking your greatest strengths and either applying them more or making them stronger? Where would we be? Let’s say you are great at networking. Set a SMILE goal to build a seminar on that topic where you are required to teach others. What if you are great at floor coaching? Set a Smart goal that has you delegate many of your other tasks to staff or colleagues so you can do significantly more floor coaching. Strength Focused goals get you to do more of what you do well. That’s smart.

Modifiable: This tenet is the acknowledgement of the age old “elephant in the room” in that many goals written at the beginning of the year are often by the end of the year, ridiculously irrelevant. Every December from my staff, I usually get two lists; one list that is all the evidence and data to support the SMART goals we set on paper a year before and the other list is called “Accomplishments”. Rarely do the two match. Sad. You could say that that reflects on poor goal setting on my part but often you would be very wrong. Stuff happens. Stuff changes. Business happens. Business changes. In the space of a week or a month, your initiatives and priorities could be yesterday’s news. Often your SMART goals set in February are meaningless by June because you are working on things completely different, more needed or more important. Modifiable allows you to edit, amplify or delete. That’s smart.

Inspectable: There’s a difference between measurable and inspect-able. Measurable is measurable. Inspect-able is measurable but transparent. You have stakeholders be they your customers, your boss, your team or your shareholders and inspect-able brings a higher level of trust when it comes to measuring. Trust I contend, is far more important today in business, than it was in 1981. Post your goal metrics on the shop wall, in your cubicle or at your desk. SMILE goals should be ones that don’t require 4 hours of data collection each quarter and a 1 our meeting with your boss to see how you are progressing “so far”. Inspectable makes it easy to see how you are doing. Inspectable goals show you have nothing to hide. That’s smart.

Learning Focused: If you are not learning you are dying. Goals to achieve are fine. Goals to achieve that don’t reflect learning or growth are not. You can do both. You must do both. More than ever, landscapes in business change at speeds that make even the hardest working the brightest folks cringe. It’s hard to keep up, but we must. In fact, keeping up is just table stakes now and keeping ahead is what is truly needed. Achieve those numbers yes, but SMILE goals must have an aspect that force you to continuously and consciously learn from that achievement and position you for more success in an ever more complex business world. Learning focused gives goal setting a leading edge. That’s smart.

Enduring: If I had a dollar for every time I forgot what my SMART goals were for the year I’d be rich. If I had a dollar for every time I and my staff forgot what their individual SMART goals were I’d be filthy rich. You know it’s true. Goals are often either “the same every year” (hit forecasted quota plan of….), or “breathtakingly boring” (manage expenses within a budget of….). Take the expected stuff out of the goal setting and do it the SMILE way. Create goals that endure, that people remember and that will stick: “Land face to face meetings with 2 fortune 500 companies by the end of Q2…”, “Create a video campaign that generates viral buzz with 5 digit visits and link backs from 2 of these 15 influential bloggers..” or “Make the pain of the customers from brand ABC as they transition to brand XYZ go away by the end of Q1…”. You get the idea. Enduring makes it easier to remember, easier to focus and easier to succeed. That’s smart.

S.M.I.L.E goals reflect a truer reality of the human and business condition; i.e. what drives people and what really happens (and is needed) in the business world. SMART goals aren’t something I’d necessarily throw away. They are a decent formula but my advice is you should use them only if you start with a SMILE.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

What Gets Your Attention?

Everyone’s a little smarter now about sales I suspect.

In the old days it used to be all about pounding out phone calls, or having a killer discount or overcoming tough objections. But we know especially now, what the real challenge is;

It’s about getting attention. It’s about standing out a wee bit against a worldwide online bevy of competition. It’s about getting that customer to even notice you’ve changed or have something that might help them. It’s about grabbing “eye time” with an email or a first page Google ranking or getting one real minute (or maybe two if you are lucky), of a prospect’s face time or phone time.

That’s the real challenge. It’s not the “selling” that’s tough once you get attention necessarily; it’s getting the attention (however brief) that you need to even start the sales process.

So how do you do it? How do you grab attention?

You don’t have to go far or deep to figure that out. Look around; your attention is piqued all day.

You looked at that hot pastrami sandwich and fries for lunch because yes, you saw the line of people and everyone else was getting it.
You noticed the safety poster outside the restroom because it had changed.
You made a mental note to dig up that old sales training because you saw someone just like you, using it successfully.
You listened and moved closer to that group talking because they were laughing and having a good time.
You scribbled a note about getting that book on personal finance cuz heck, the guest on the radio was an expert.

So attention getting isn’t so much about features and benefits and special offers. It’s talking about, structuring and extending your sales and marketing approaches around simple things that get your attention every day.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

4 New Words for 2011

I heard yesterday that the word “App” was voted as the “Word of the Year” in 2010. Makes sense. It’s a nice word. Not a new word (it’s short for “application”), but it gets the job done.

Ho Hum.

If you’re going to have a Word of the Year you’d think it should be at least new. What’s going to win next year, “ping?” or “tablet?” Please. And I’m thinking we could really use some new words round here. New words are important when the world just keeps on changing.

Here are 4. We need these. They are in alphabetical order (for my friends at the Oxford English Dictionary), have phonetic spellings (for my linguistic phonology friends) and have a bit about what they mean for the rest of us.

Authorical ( aw-thor-i-cal): This is what you want to be. Way better for sales people and marketers than just being an expert or an “authority” yet has the cool factor of being “historical” too. When you are so credible for so long as a person (or a business) that people lean forward pen in hand, ready to write down your every wisdom or advice; you are Authorical. Given the wild untrusting marketplace today that’s a great way to be.

Cryoritize (cry-or-ri-tize): “Prioritize” the word, has become weak. Today “Prioritize” unfortunately has come to mean more about “What you should do first” rather than what you should do instead of something else. Lists get reshuffled but rarely get shorter. What we need is to cryoritize. It takes courage to cryoritize; people can get upset and people might even cry as their project, their idea, or their need gets cut. But business is tough. And it’s tougher when you only prioritize.

ICrutch: (eye-cruch) It is a terrible affliction. It’s when one uses the Smartphone, the blackberry or the IPad to keep those eyes low and thus avoid talking to someone and stay tuned out. It’s when one posts a blog instead of having a needed meeting. It’s weak and it’s selfish. It’s when someone Texts when they should have picked up the phone or looked you in the eye. Sufferers of ICrutch here see technology as a way to collapse their scary world instead of confidently expanding it.

Intervaluepropositionalistically ( in-ter-val-you-propp-pohs-zish-shon-nal-liss-tick-al-lee ) Ah yes, finally a word that reflects when you are speaking about a product or service’s complete set of value propositions! You can use the word in just about any ol’ meeting using phrases like “Intervaluepropositionalistically speaking, I’d say we have a real advantage here!” or “What a game changer, intervaluepropositionalistically speaking that is!” AND the best part is, it gives the current longest word in common use (i.e. non-medical) “interdenominationalistically” (meaning across all faiths) a beat down as our new word is 32 letters long versus a measly 28!

Here’s to hoping these words help you in a changing world and here’s to rooting for one of these guys to win Word of the Year in 2011. Love it when a Rookie wins.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

3 To Listen For In 2011

Yep. Listen closely Sellers. They’re gonna happen.

Best be ready.

1) Clickety clack clickety clack. “What’s your name again?” you are asked by the prospect and then you hear the sound repeated: clickety clack, clickety clack. Yep, she’s typing away and Googling you Mr. Sales Rep checking to see if you are worthy to meet with or even just to listen to anymore. You best have a very compelling web presence.

2) “When can we see each other?” It won’t be those 20 lbs you lose creating your sudden irresistibility or even your liberal spraying of Axe that will make this phrase be heard in 2011 but rather, your clients will really just want to see you before they move forward. What do you look like Ms. Account Manager? Do you have a professional YouTube video I can see? Can we Skype our next meeting? Where can I see your face; on LinkedIn?, Twitter?, Facebook? Ironically (yet fittingly), faces will mean more than ever in this increasingly digital but less trusting world.

3) Sploouurgshhthwwppt! Yes, you guessed it! That is the sound of a self inflicted needle plunging into the eye of your customer. Gross yes, but it is often metaphorically a choice people make versus listening or considering us and we just can’t hear it over the sound of the customer sigh. The stakes are higher now with each and every client impression. Information is free. Reviews about you or your company are free. Products & advice are often free so when we interrupt a customer via marketing or sales in 2011 we had better bring our A game. . When you waste client’s time by not bringing value in every contact you just might hear that sound as that crazy busy customer yearns to suffer a different pain.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

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