I take it all back… CRM is the future of sales… the amount of value that CRM has contributed to sales efficiency and sales results is unimaginable. I was working with one of my clients last week when the moment arrived. How I have been so blind to the obvious over the years goodness only knows. I am now a convert and have taken the mature management approach to CRM and concluded that there are at least six good reasons why every sales rep should adopt CRM…

1. Keeps you busy. In this current climate, when real opportunities are as rare as a happy CRM user, sales reps need something else to occupy their time. Think about it, use CRM and you are going to be busy filling in all the data. Meetings, tasks, activities, notes, emails, recording phone conversations, etc. It’s a great way to be sales productive.

2. Allows you to focus on something else rather than selling. Let’s face it, times are tough and what better way to take your mind off selling then focusing your activity on updating the CRM system. If you spend a couple of hours a day you will find it so rewarding.

3. Keeps management happy. There is no better way to keep your management happy. The amount of time they spend on policing the CRM system to make sure sales reps are using it must mean this is their priority. In the old days it was about making your number, but no longer; CRM has changed the priorities.

4. Return on investment. The amount of money that organisations spend on CRM is enormous and they need to make sure there is a return. It seems the ROI is measured by usage, which is probably why the focus is on getting people to update the system. Therefore the more you use it the greater the return on investment figure.

5. Allows you to be creative. For me this is the best bit. Update your notes with anything you like. The chances that anyone would read them is minimal… so have fun and update your sales notes to read like a fairy story. Remember, the more you put in, the busier you look, the busier you look the happier your management!

6. You keep your job. Ahhh… perhaps this is the best reason for updating the system.

There we have it, the six best reasons why CRM is so good for sales… and if you make your number then it just goes to show what could have been achieved if you had taken the irresponsible approach of focusing on just selling.

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It seems blogging is no longer good enough and Podcasting is the way to go. Although it has been around for a few years the popularity of podcasting is increasing. Now, having just written these last two sentences I can’t but notice a number of words (Blogging, Podcasting, Podcasts) I’ve chosen to use are underlined in red – meaning spelling mistakes. My friend Tibor was recently accused of misspelling in one of his posts (Burn Out Is An Avoidable Ritual In Sales!) and so conscious not to upset the reading public podcasting might be the way to go! Of course Tibor’s spelling was correct; he just used a few well placed ‘u’ that our American cousins omit.

So when talking of podcasting where better to start than Tibor’s podcast – What’s in Your Pipeline – he declares that the pipeline is core to sales success, as in sports, a strong core allows you to excel in all other areas of your sport. As with sports, keeping a strong core or a healthy pipeline is more about discipline and proper execution.  In this podcast he discusses key elements every sales person can put into practice to ensure a consistently healthy and vibrant pipeline. Well said Tibor!

Having a strong pipeline will help deliver success and with success you become one of the top performers – but is money enough to motivate them – not according to Will Fultz. Listen to his dulcet tones on the Sales Management 2.0 website – Rewarding Your Top Producers.

And talking of dulcet tones, then you would be hard pushed to listen to anyone better then Skip Anderson talking about getting your prospects to make a decision and get off the buying decision fence. Listen to his latest in The Essence of Selling series.

I’m not sure how many dulcet tones one can handle at any one time, but Ian Brodie’s from the North of England has a good podcast up about lead nurturing. He tends to specialise toward professional service firms but the advice is relevant for all those looking to build a sustainable pipeline. Sales Excellence Podcast - Episode 4 - Lead Nurturing.

Having earlier mentioned a series… then you can find a number of excellent podcasts by visiting - The SymVolli Sales Performance Management Podcast.

And finally for something different and I always find that I can rely on Karl the sales evangelist Goldfield to do something different. Karl has taken the next step and moved into TV and the next episode of Sales Evangelist TV in the Taking your Message to the Street Series will be “Thinking About Thought Leadership?” The focus will be on what it means to become a thought leader. Learn more about the benefits of building a reputation as an expert in your industry. Visit Sales Evangelist TV on Wednesday, May 6, 2009 at 7:30pm PST.

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If you look back through my posts you will see that I warned about this recession, depression or whatever it is called some 18 months or so ago… it did not take a rocket scientist, which is just as well because I’m not one,  to realise some things were going badly wrong with the money supply… debt was going to come back and bite us on the bum… if you know what I mean.

So, having predicted that things were going to get nasty, I also predicted that sales forecasting… accurate sales forecasting was going to be an imperative for all sales people… and although I believe I’m right, I don’t believe the pay masters in the many companies want to admit that their forecasting is not accurate.  If they admit it, then there is some admission of failure and who wants to admit failure… the governments don’t, the banks don’t, so why should the top dogs in sales organisations?

However, if we don’t want to own up to lack of forecasting ability, then perhaps we can admit that we need some help with persuading customers that they have a need. Persuading them that they need to do the project we are so desperate for them to sign. Unfortunately having a need is no longer good enough, having a business imperative is the minimum requirement.  And do you know what?… I’ve been giving away the very tool that will help create the business imperative… and I’ve called it the Business Imperative Analysis and as they say in the UK advertising parlance… “it does exactly what it says on the tin”

Now unfortunately for many… not only have they missed the main requirement of selling… accurate forcasting they also prefer to understand qualification before business imperatives. I know this because there has been more than double the download for the Qualification Analysis then there has been for the Business Imperative Analysis.

The Business Imperative Analysis has helped progress more deals to closure than anything else we do… for what is just reported to me it runs in to several hundred million. So the top tip for this day and everyday… without a business imperative your deal is unlikely to get funded. Unfunded deals create havoc with forecasting!

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Not so long ago… there was a VIP. He was a VIP over the vast kingdom of the Corporation and he was known far and wide within that Corporation for his desire in wanting as much information as he could get. He never really took interest in his army of sales executives, nor did he care to provide them with the weapons to fight… he just wanted information.

Times were good at the Corporation. Sales reps from other corporations were always coming and going and the VIP often spent the Corporation’s profits on new system for extracting information out of the citizens. Everyone new about the VIP’s passion for information… the VIP believed information was power! Now one fine day a couple of swindlers, calling themselves Business Development Managers arrived to pay a visit to the VIP. They knew of his ego satisfying need for information. These enterprising individuals offered to develop him a corporate computer system that would be “fit for only the most enlightened VIP” They explained that their product was so extraordinary, so user friendly and so sales focused that it was useful only to the elite and knowledgeable, and unusable by those who “did not have the intellect to see the value it would bring to the corporation and the corporation’s customers.” They called their new system… Customer Relationship Management… and “it will not only double your revenues but you will also be able to see everything that is going on in sales” The opportunity was just too good to miss… “Take my order,” begged the VIP. “Money is no object!”

The VIP’s assistants in charge of Sales Effectiveness did not want to appear ignorant, unenlightened or negative, so they went along with the desire for the system. They enthused with praise for the time consuming… limited value… data system… that they witnessed being deployed within the Corporation. “Beneficial!” “Inspiring!” “Insightful!” were the words spread around the Corporation to explain what was to come. Knowing the VIP’s temperament, the citizens of the Corporation determined that it was in their best interest to spread the word and play along with the enthusiasm. So, they too, extolled the features and benefits of the fanciful and farcical CRM system.

Towards the start of the roll out of the system there was a glimmer of hope as the VIP began to wonder what he had indeed ordered. However, pompous pride outweighed practicality and sensibility prompting the VIP to organize awareness sessions followed by product training sessions throughout the Corporation. All the subjects were cowed by fear into saying nothing about the absence of value to the sales team. They felt they had no choice but to repeat, as platitudes, the benefits the VIP had already uttered as fact if they wanted to maintain their position within the Corporation.

But one young sales rep, not long out of college and could still be considered a child when it came to politics within the Corporation – wet behind the ears you could say - soon made his mark. When the training had been finished the young sales rep exclaimed, “But it doesn’t add any value to the sales team and they have to spend so much time inputting data!”… maybe wet behind the ears in terms of politics, but he was insightful when it came to having to use the CRM system.

The VIP’s assistants attempted to dismiss his fears, but the unspeakable had been spoken and everyone knew that the CRM system was unlikely to deliver. Despite the exposure of his exposure, the VIP continued to play out the charade, declaring, “The roll out must continue.”

However, where in the past the Corporation could overcome, due the buoyant market, the numb defying lack of value delivered by their CRM system to the field sales team… unfortunately the markets have changed dramatically. Computer systems that not only do not add value, but impeded the sales effort would soon help bring down many Corporations… the Emperor truly had no clothes on… and the VIP responsible had to RIP.

If you are doing CRM… make sure it adds value to the field sales team… don’t just believe the hype and say it adds value… ask the field sales team how it adds value to them… involve them. In my experience if the tools add value the field sales team will use them.

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Research… just one word… just one action… just a little bit of time… and it may well be the difference that makes the difference between winning and losing. For all that know my views on sales management and pipeline management in particular… will know there are only two outcomes in sales… win or lose. If you don’t win then you’ve lost. It’s that simple.

The last thing you need to do and it’s the very last thing you need to do in this current economic climate… is to kid yourself that you are better placed with your deals then you really are… and percentage forecasting… factored pipelines… and blindly following the sales process… are all designed to kid you… to fool you… to lull you into a false sense of security. Percentage forecasting is like building your house on a foundation of sand… it can come down collapsing all around you at any point in time.

And speaking of foundations… the foundation of a solid deal is the research you put in at the very beginning and the continued research you do during the whole sales process. I am always amazed at how little research many so called sales professionals put in… they turn up and do a product pitch hoping they strike lucky. Well, there’s not much luck around at the moment and so all your deals need a solid foundation.

So where do you start? The prospect’s web site is always a good place. The larger the company, the larger the organisation, the more information you will find on the web site. If it is a listed company then you will find lots of information. If it’s a private company then there will still be information around. Public Sector organisations… particularly public facing ones will also publish lots of information on their webs sites. I have even found complete board minutes for some of the hospitals that I have researched… these minutes tell everything you need to know.

Another useful place to look is services such as LinkedIn. Not only will you be able to find people on LinkedIn who currently work for the organisation, but they now also have information about the company as well. You are selling to people, not organisations, so getting some background on who you are dealing with is very useful. Some people almost put their full CV up on LinkedIn!

Google Alerts… how many of you use this free service. Set it up and anything that is in the news, on a blog, press release, etc for your chosen subject could be sent to your email… which means it does the research for you and delivers it on plate! All you have to do is read, take note and if necessary act!

So what do you want to do with your new found hoard of information? Well, you need to use it to find ways of getting hold of the one thing every single CEO in the world is trying to keep hold of at this moment in time… cash. Cash is the one thing hard to come by at the moment. Companies used to be able to go to the banks and borrow some to fund their capital expenditure and working capital requirements, but no longer… it seems the banks also want to hold on to their own cash and are not lending… and it has just come to light, in the UK at least, why they are doing it… to pay themselves massive bonuses… which they truly deserve for doing such a fine job in killing the economy.

Meanwhile, Mr or Mrs CEO has to conserve their cash and therefore if you want some you need to link it to something on the CEO’s agenda and most notably that will be to do with some business issue or other… and that’s where the research comes in.

When doing your research there are 3 little words to that are most important to remember and apply… behaviour follows intention… and I may well post about exactly what I mean and how to apply it another day… meanwhile start the research.

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Today, Tuesday 20th January 2009 has, I suppose, to belong to our cousins across the ocean in the ‘land of free and the home of the brave’ as the line in their national anthem The Star-Spangled Banner refers, but obviously the shorten version (just The Land of The Free) can be confused with the national anthem of Belize… and Belize, like its bigger sister in the north was once subjected to British interest.

Although I don’t think there is going to be that much interest in Britain toady. We have just seen our largest bank… RBS… post the largest corporate loss in British history and our government bail it out again… which I think now puts our national debt up to around £2,000bn whereas 6 months ago it was a mere £500bn… not bad going. The problem is the loans need financing and we have no savings… unlike our German friends who also have large debts, but they are backed up by savings… we don’t have any… our government likes spending and doesn’t believe it is ever going to rain… so no point saving. Therefore we have to rely on other nations buying our debt, but is Britain a good investment?… apparently not and that’s where our problems are really going to bite.

However, our American cousins also have debts and not that much saved, but the world likes the dollar and people will buy their debt… our bankers did… and that’s why we are in trouble… sub prime and all that. Just as a little aside, it is so tempting to sometimes substitute the letter B for a W when referencing a certain profession… anyhow, rather meekly I digress. However, those Bankers can certainly not be considered as ‘meek’ as they once looked for global domination through greed and arrogance and look where it got them… or more importantly look where it has got us… it seems Matthew (5:5) may be right now there’s not much left… maybe the meek shall inherit the earth… those greedy bankers certainly wont… anyhow more digression… because as I said earlier, today belongs to the United States of America.

Today as we all know will be known for the inauguration of America’s first African-American president of a nation once torn apart by slavery and racially segregation… and to say that the nation has high expectations of their 44th president would be an understatement. There are many people who see him as a symbol of the changing face of America… just as I believe two former presidents were also seen as the new face of America in their time and the two I’m thinking of had some pearls of wisdom that we would do well to heed in our own troubled times.

“You have nothing to fear but fear itself” so said FDR in his Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933 at the height of the depression. The second president to mention is JFK and in his Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961 he said the famous … “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country”.

So, if we are to get ourselves out of this current mess then let us heed the words of FDR and not be afraid… we got ourselves into this mess and we can get ourselves out… sure the bankers have been greedy, sure the governments have failed to regulate, sure the governments have not saved for a rainy day and sure as individuals we have borrowed too much and haven’t saved for a rainy day either… so we are in this mess together and we need to get ourselves out together… and we can’t be stifled by fear. This leads me to heed the words of JFK… what can we do for our country?

If there is one profession out there that can make a difference, can make a real difference, then that has to be the sales profession. The thing that is going to get us out of this recession is selling. The governments have to keep the banking system going and kick the greedy bankers into touch by getting them to lend again. We must not be afraid to borrow… we need to borrow and spend to stimulate the economy… however, this time we need to be sensible. So rather than selling we need the sales professionals in the B2B space to step up and help their customers to buy… help their customers to be more efficient and thereby help them ride the recession and then in turn the B2Bs will sell to the B2Cs so that they can stimulate the consumer market. Consumers must not be afraid and when they ask what they can do for the nation… the answer has to be… to buy.

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You have been eyeing up this girl called Anne for a long time… opps…  I mean you have been targeting this prospective client - Associated News NEtwork (ANNE) - for a long time.

No matter what you have done, up until now she really has not noticed you… um… no matter how many times you have called you have not been put through to the head of all corporate buying decisions.

Then one day you find out that the sister of your best friend is really good friends with this girl of your dreams… actually… you find out that your best customer is a strategic partner of ANNE and knows the head of all corporate buying decisions very well.

With a little hesitation you approach the sister of your best friend and she agrees to talk to Anne to see if she can set up a date… kindly… your best customer agreed to talk to the head of all corporate buying at ANNE and put in a good word for you.

After a little deliberation Anne agreed to a blind date and will meet you in this new swanky restaurant in town… incredibly… the head of all corporate buying has decided to meet with you as the recommendation from your best customer was very compelling.

With a lot of excitement you make your way to the swanky restaurant and during the journey you try and figure out a way to impress the girl of your dreams… thoughtfully… you plan for the meeting with the head of all corporate buying knowing that you only have one chance to make a first impression.

You arrive at the restaurant to find Ann already there and she gives you a nice warm smile that makes your heart flutter with joy… excitedly… you arrive to see the head of all corporate buying knowing the time to impress is near and you are immediately shown to her office where she welcomes you with a warm smile.

Soon, you are both shown to the best table in the swanky restaurant and you take the time to introduce yourself while starting to sum up the courage to impress… apprehensively… you walk to the meeting table in this large imposing office and you introduce yourself knowing the time is nigh.

You compliment Anne on the dress she is wearing that fits so well with her warm smile… unassumingly… you compliment the head of all corporate buying on the tastefulness of the office decor.

Anne gives you another warm smile and you ask her how her day has been… unimpassioned… the head of all corporate buying thanks you for the compliment and sits back waiting for you to impress.

Having found out that Anne works with disadvantaged children you ask her what she would do if she found a magic lamp and was the recipient of the incumbent genie’s three wishes… enthusiastically… you begin to tell the head of all corporate buying about the company for whom you work and how they are the market leader for widgets.

Taking the time to actively listen to the heartfelt emotions behind the three wishes allows you to ask many thoughtful and intelligent questions about Anne’s values, beliefs and experiences… oblivious… to the signs emanating from the non verbal behaviour of the head of all corporate buying you continue to talk enthusiastically about the achievements of your company and what you could do for Associated News NEtwork.

Anne is impressed with the interest you have shown, enchanted with the thoughtfulness of your questions and altogether has had a delightful evening, which is why she gives you her number so you can arrange the next date… devastated… you fail to understand why the head of all corporate buying is showing little interest and you seem to be completely perplexed when after having shown her your client list she likens it to a list of sexual conquests that you are asking her to join!

The morale of the story… If you want to impress your prospective client… what are you going to talk about… you or them?

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The current economic climate is going… to coin a phrase… sort out the men from the boys… or the women from the girls.

Those sales reps that, in a buoyant market, have a poor sales record will be down and out in this current climate. Those with a mediocre sales record will look rather poor in this current environment and will equally be down and out if the economy gets significantly worse. However, the good will look even better.

So what’s the evidence?

Let me see… we are in an economic melt down that has seen the flow of money in the economy reduce to a trickle… the banks are wary of lending to each other… consumer spending is being reined back and the profile of the spending is changing… consumers are dumbing down and even stopping the more frivolous purchases. The housing market has stagnated and the values have plummeted… lower house prices have removed the piggy banks from many households… many used to borrow against the increase in house prices to fund their lifestyles.

When consumer spending stops every business will eventually feel it. Look at the drop in the price of oil… consumer demand is down… leading to a reduction in manufacturing output… therefore demand for energy is down… oil price falls… oil company revenues fall.

So, without writing an economic paper the upshot of all this is that companies are going to conserve their cash. Many will still spend, they will spend less and they are going to be a lot more careful. The business case is going to have to be bullet proof. The risk of buying has to be reduced to marginal levels. Trust in the supplier will have to rise to unprecedented levels. The ‘walking talking brochures’ are not going to be able to cope. The good guys will know what to do and will up their game.

If you are a sales rep… there has never been a more important time in your career to differentiate yourself… and you do that by the way that you sell… in fact stop selling rather help the customer to buy… this is the first step to differentiation.

If you are a walking talking brochure – start changing now, or head for the hills… you are on a rough ride to nowhere.

I’ll write more another day about the second step to differentiation.

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I’ve been coaxed out of my self imposed hibernation from updating my blog… although self imposed due to many customer commitments I have never the less not enjoyed the period of neglect. I’m not a natural born writer and the time it takes to write comes at a price to other commitments. Therefore, if I wanted to quickly update my blog I could have employed the ‘Bob Beck Strategy’.

My fellow blogger and friend - Skip Anderson - has brought to my attention dear Bob’s strategy… it appears it is founded on plagiarism… now, using other people’s work for a quick blog is one thing, but claiming it as your own is something else… and what’s worse is employing plagiarism to produce work and then selling it as your own work… now that is not nice.

To make it clear… this is not my story; I’m just reporting it… I am not claiming it as my own work… the original comments can be found at…

Charles H Green’s Trusted Matters - Plagiarism, Concealment or Coincidence? The Case of Bob Beck

Skip Anderson’s Selling to Consumers - Bob Beck: An Apparent Case of Plagiarization

Dave Stein’s Commentary on Sales leadership - An Open Message to Sales Trainers, Authors and Experts

Dave’s post offers some advice on how to check if your work is being plagiarised and one of the comments on the post from Ian Brodie also offers some good advice.

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There has never been a better time to up your game… up your selling skills. Working harder is not going to be good enough… working smarter is your only chance. Relying on just taking orders is no longer going to cut the mustard… the walking talking brochures are going to find life difficult… and companies are going to be looking to cut costs… with the wage bill being one of the largest, if not the largest bill they have to pay.

If the commission plan is being fiddled with it means the company is looking at the wage bill… after the fiddling comes the direct action… the sales reps at the bottom of the pile will be the first to go… then the ones in the middle will be the next. The reps at the top may also be under scrutiny if the company begins to lose its nerve… they get the feeling they are paying too much for the top performers and so get rid of them and the middle performers can take up the mantel… which they often don’t, unless they can up their game.

Upping your Game

1. First thing to do in upping your game is to be rigorous about the pipeline. You need to show how you are going to make your number. Get rid of any notion of factoring your pipeline and go straight for the binary option – you are going to either win or lose the deal… focus on the ones that you believe you can win. See the Buying Process and download a copy of Focus… understand it, apply it and you may find it is the best decision you have ever made in your selling career. Managing you number is a personal thing… as personal as earning commission.

2. Second thing you need to do is apply rigorous qualification. Selling is not a game, it’s a serious business and unless the customer can show commitment… unless the customer will give you access to the right people… unless the customer will be open with you… move on, don’t waste your time. You have to take religion out of selling… that is holding your hands together and looking up to the sky and praying the customer will buy… it don’t work no more. See our Qualification Analysis.

3. All buying decisions have to be linked to a good business case… if the business doesn’t see the value… if the business is not going to get a massive return… then it’s not going to be funded – simple. You can’t leave it to the customer to create their own business case… you have to work with them to make sure it is rigorous.

4. Having the business case on its own may not be enough… you have to create the sense of urgency for them to buy… discounting won’t do this… the imperative has to be linked to the business case. See our Business Imperative Analysis.

5. You have to sell on value. If you don’t understand you value how do you expect your customer to understand it? In my experience most companies totally under whelm their customer with their value. If you can’t take the time to fully understand your value and then articulate it to your customer with passion, excitement and belief you won’t be around for much longer. Whatever you are going to say to your customer about your value write it down on a piece of paper first… look at your statement and then ask ‘so what’. So why should your customer get excited? If your statement does not pass the so what test then you have not fully articulated the value.

6. You have to sell high and wide. You have to create sales momentum within your customer. If you cant’ get to see all the people you need to see then are you in control. If you talk about the customer’s business rather than your solution then will have a better chance of getting to the right people. The people you need to see will be the Commercial, the Business and the Technical people. You need all three groups to sign off before you can get the deal… working with just the technical people will not get you the deal.

Something that will help

Last but not least… if you have read this post and get to this point then I will be prepared to help out by giving a free copy of Focus to the first 50 people that send me a request to talktous@firstborder.com. Download Focus from our site and sen me the email… I’ll send you a full activation key. Focus is a personal pipeline tool that is very quick to update and very visual. I will also arrange a free web training session to all those that are interested in participating… and you should also download a copy of The 15 Second Sales Review.

So in summary… focus on how you are going to make your number… binary forecasting, make sure your qualification is rigorous and therefore take religion out of selling, link what you are doing to the business case and create the imperative to buy, develop your value proposition and deliver it with passion and excitement and last, but not least make sure you are talking to all the people that are in the process.

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