Deep sea fishing… not my sport, if fishing is a sport, but I have now been out a couple of times by the persuasion of a good friend of mine… and enjoyed it… doing nothing… but I did catch a nice Sea Bass for my tea the last time I went out.

However, one thing, other than the Sea Bass, that I took away from the experience was that deep sea fishing is a good way of explaining what territory management is all about… which is very helpful to me right now because I’m currently in the middle of training a group of pre-sales consultants in the art and science of territory management… these guys have individual sales targets and their management want them more involved in managing their business… helps keep the regular sales guys focused…

…so how to explain territory management?

Deep sea fishing is about knowing where to fish… knowing what fish will be about… knowing what bait to use… and using a little bit of skill to hook the fish. Just going out on the water and dropping your line over the side with any old bait in the hope that you will catch something will not produce the best results.

Within territory management we complete the territory analysis… which is just like knowing where to fish. Understanding the vertical market and current issues is like knowing what fish are likely to be about. Developing your solution discussion points is like knowing what bait to use and the skill required to hook the fish is like developing the entry strategy into the account.

Having hooked the fish requires more skill to land it. The bigger the fish the tougher it’s going to be to land… but that’s an analogy for deal management!

If you want to mange your business… know where to fish… know what to fish for… know the best bait to use… and develop the skill to hook the fish… simple!

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I was with one of my major customers last week starting another programme with a new team to our company when as part of the introductions the sales manager of the team read out 7 emails the company had received, unsolicited, from different customers.

They Were Compelled to Write
It seems these customers felt compelled to write in to express their delight and thanks for the way the company had handled the sales process. Apparently each sales rep had managed to involve their prospect like no other competitor. The customer found the process so rewarding that they just had to write in and say what a pleasure it had been, what a difference it had made to understanding their needs and to say the process was a great differentiator… in what is a very competitive market.

The sales manager told his team that each and every sales rep mentioned had been through our training and had taken to heart the process of involving the customer… each had taken them through the Business Imperative… and each were rewarded with the order.

The Difference that makes the Difference
I don’t think it can get better than that… when your customer’s customers praise the result of your work… everyone feels good! I have said it before… the Business Imperative can be the difference that makes the difference… and you can download a free copy from here… but only for a limited time.

I have had up our site for the last year three eBooks for free download. Qualification Analysis, Business Imperative Analysis and the Buying Process. Interestingly the Qualification has had twice as many downloads as the Business Imperative, yet the Business Imperative has been the greatest differentiator in the way people sell. This example is the typical response… other customers of ours have had similar experiences. Some of our customers’ customers have been to our site and downloaded the Business Imperative because they want to use the process for their own internal projects.

Limited Availability
If you wanted to have a free copy of the tool then please feel free to download it. As mentioned we have had the three tools up for free for the last 12 months but we will be stopping this free access soon. We will be updating the tools and posting new ones, but we will be making a small charge for each download… it seems our kids want presents for birthdays and Christmas!

However, if you have already registered or register now… “Get an email when the next eBook is available”… then you will continue to receive our eBooks for free as they are released. This registration will be taken down when we revamp this part of the site… so register now… otherwise feel free to contribute to the kids’ present fund!

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This was a question posted in the answers section on LinkedIn a few months back by Bob Apollo.

Here’s my reply…

First, let me first express my interest… I run a sales development company that specialises in sales methodology… your question hits right at the heart of our existence!

I agree with your sentiments and others that sales methodologies are similar, but that should be no surprise because the buyers, whoever and wherever they are follow the same basic process – they have a need, put together some requirements, find a solution and negotiate a deal. This sameness can be said about other products… a car is a car, there are hundreds of different models, but they are all based on the exactly the same principles. It is consumer preference that allows the complexity of choice.

If you are looking at the methodology market then contact ES Research as they have produced some excellent work on analysing the major sales training providers and their Sales Training Vendor Guide covers most of the names you mention. However, you will not find us in any of their research… yet!

If you are looking purely at the methodology you can take any of the ones you mention and they will produce good results. However, it is not the methodology per say that produces the results but the way it is implemented within the organisation. Most organisations can not and do not implement methodology correctly. However, for those organisations that can do it correctly they get the results, but it is the sustaining of the results that is also a major challenge. In my experience very few organisations have the desire and skill to sustain a methodology through the various personnel changes that are inevitable in all organisations. Therefore, if you want to differentiate companies that offer methodology, first look at the way they implement before you look at their methodology.

This is how we distinguish what we do…

A sales methodology has to cover the three basic sales tasks – filling the pipeline, managing the pipeline and closing the pipeline. Most methodologies cover closing – deal management, some cover filling – territory management and account management, but none (that I know of) cover pipeline management. The pipeline has to be at the heart of the methodology because it has to be used to show how you are going to make your number. The primary requirement of anyone in sales is to hit target and therefore this has to be the prime requirement of a sales methodology. This is our first area of differentiation – we provide sales pipeline methodology that works.

The second area of differentiation is that our methodology is simple, visual and easy to use. It has to be or sales reps won’t use it. The methodology must not take up much of the sales reps time. Less is more. A rep can use as little or as much as they need – it is not a one size fits all.

The third area of differentiation is methodology embedded in software. We provide our methodology as personal productivity tools that deliver benefit to the sales rep. For example, we get the sales rep to forecast their commission as part of the pipeline – just a small incentive to help with forecast accuracy.

Lastly and most importantly we don’t like training, we prefer coaching. Training sessions are minimal; coaching is carried out over many sessions using real deals, real pipelines and real accounts. We also look to encourage sustainability making sure the methodology is embedded in the organisation’s DNA.

In summary, to a certain extent we are a variation on a theme – but then every business is. We can and do differentiate ourselves and our customers will testify to the great results.

There is a start of a new trend that will challenge CRM – sales methodology embedded in software. We are not the only company beginning to do this, but we are the only one to produce personal tools – a differentiator!

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In my experience good sales people are always keen to develop their skills… no matter how much training they have attended, there is always something new to learn. However, unfortunately not all those that attend sales training have the same attitude as I’ve just described.

A number of seasoned sales professionals who attend sales workshops will be coming along with the attitude of been there, done that, got the tee shirt… what’s new. At the beginning of a program we give out questionnaires for them to review and answer. Most of the stuff they don’t have a clue what we are asking and therefore we have their interest. They want to know more. One of the great questions we have is… “How would you use Psychological Sliding in objection handling?” The name of this technique, psychological sliding, is designed to grab the attention of the audience!

Although the technique is simple, it is considered to be advanced because you need to be skilled at tuning in to your customer’s language patterns. You also need to be aware that behaviour follows intention. Whatever a person’s intent, it will come out in their behaviour. It can’t be stopped, it’s a human thing. If you want a different behaviour, you need a different intent. Humans pick the intent up subconsciously, but may not always know the message; however, often you get enough that will make you feel either comfortable or uncomfortable. Have you ever met someone for the first time and you feel you could trust them with your life? Equally, you would have met others, who say the right things, but you would not trust them any further than you could throw them!… it’s your subconscious looking after you.

However, once you have learnt and developed the skill to listen to the emotion behind the words then life becomes very interesting. A part of this skill is listening to the language patterns which help determine a person’s sensory preference. Sensory preference is about how we prefer to receive information. The preferences are visual, auditory and kinesthetic (touch, taste, feeling). My preference is visual and I find myself using visual words in my language such as… see, look, clear, vision, etc. People with an auditory sensory preference will use words like… hear, ring, sound, etc. The kinesthetics would use words like… feel, taste, hard, etc. We will all use a mixture of words from across the sensory spectrum, but the predominance of words will align to our sensory preference.

Therefore, when listening to an objection, listen to the language used… they will probably be objecting using a preference of words that fit into visual, auditory, or kinesthetic. For example, “I can’t see how this solution is going to fix the problem; you’ve not made it clear” is visual… or “What you are telling me does not sound right to me” is auditory and… “I don’t have a good feeling about this solution” is kinesthetic.

Now, when building rapport the convention is to be the same. Subconsciously or consciously we all build rapport being the same as the other person. I expect you will have come across matching body position as an important element of rapport building, which it is, and also language is an important part. People who build really good rapport match language patterns and will automatically answer an objection using the customer’s preferred sensory language pattern. All this is good, unless the customer is not convinced by your reply to the objection, they may be so steeped in the objection they just don’t get what you are saying. Therefore, try using psychological sliding. Simply answer the objection using a different sensory language pattern to the customer’s preferred. Using the customer’s preferred language is just too comfortable for them and therefore when you change patterns they have to slow down their ability to digest what you are saying… you are using a language pattern that they are not comfortable with… you are breaking rapport and it’s like giving them a slap in the face and so you break the comfortable state that they are in… and they start to listen to your response… it’s like putting a different view across.

Now, not many seasoned sales professionals will have this technique up their sleeve to use or indeed as they have not been there they can’t have the tee shirt. Although most of them, if not all of them, will never end up using this technique, it does grab their attention and most want to know more. The questionnaire we use has many more examples like this and it works wonders at opening those previously closed minds that there is more to learn … objective achieved!

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Great sales people hit (and exceed) their target.

Great sales people maximise their commission.

Great sales people stay great by constantly looking to expand their knowledge.

Focus - our opportunity management software, has always helped sales people achieve the first two points. Now we have developed a series of videos and slide shows to help you better understand how to maximise the value of Focus, and achieve the third point!

Our Learn more about Focus area shows you how to get started with, and the most from, Focus, as well as teaching how to apply our sales-methodology. The training videos are free to view, and we have more advanced subjects planned for the near future.

Check out all the focus & sales methodology videos here

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All great salespeople begin as great question askers. Small companies that ask great questions can beat big companies that don’t

Your value to your customer is not measured by what you know, but by the questions that you ask. You add value by making your customer think. The way that you ask questions will differentiate you in the way that you sell. In the ever competitive environment that we are in, when products and services are becoming commodities, the way that we sell can be our biggest differentiator. Add value during the sales process. Ask the right questions and your prospect will be only too pleased to give the time that you need to make the sale.

Knowledge is power and the more you know about your prospect’s company, business needs, decision matrix, personal needs / wants, problems / opportunities and your competition then the more likely you are to get the sale. Effective questioning, probing and listening will enable you to get the critical information you need to qualify the prospect, plan your sales calls, produce presentations and close the deal.

Asking questions of the prospect also puts them at the centre of attention and show that you care enough about them. You are looking to learn more about them, more about their problems, more about their opportunities and most importantly, you are getting the prospect to think. By asking questions, you move forward.

Generally, you should aim to speak no more than 30% of the time in a meeting, unless of course you are giving a formal presentation.

Effective questioning can:-

1. Provide you with the opportunity to help crystallise the prospect’s thinking.

2. Help you build rapport and trust by showing that you understand and show that you value the prospect’s opinion. Questioning also allows you to use their language, which in turn helps build rapport.

3. Allow you to gather vital information about the sale.

4. Enable you to control the meeting effectively.

5. Help minimise harmful misunderstandings that can occur.

6. Help reduce the resistance to the sale.

Here is an example of the power of questioning. This is an exercise we use in our workshops to demonstrate process and the power of questioning. Opening and closing a deal in 4 easy questions!

You will need a volunteer to work on….

a) Ask your volunteer what they would like to own that they do not already have. (use the word own, not buy)

b) Ask them what owning this product would do for them. How their life would be improved by owning this product. (they are telling you the benefits to them)

c) Ask them how much they would be prepared to pay for this product – name their own price (they set the price point)

d) Ask them – that if you had this product and you could sell it to them for the price mentioned would you have a deal (the close – and they should say yes)

The power of this simple set of questions is that you have conducted a successful sell. You have achieved it by only asking questions. The customer has done most of the talking. You have sold the product and not mentioned anything about it… you just asked questions - it’s what good selling is all about.

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For some time now our sales methodology has achieved outstanding results within the sales teams that have implemented it.

For some time we have passionately believed that our methodology could continue delivering outstanding results, if sales teams (or those entrepreneurial sales individuals) were to invest a little time on their personal development.

Why such outstanding results? We believe it is because our methodology is closely linked to the process that everybody goes through when buying - the Buying Process. Our methodology allows you to improve your sales results by mirroring your customers buying process. After all, if the customer isn’t ready to buy, you’re not going to make the sale. Understanding the way your customer buys is imperative to being successful in sales.

So, we have sales methodology that delivers great results in workshop format, sales tools available as software to download and implement our methodology and eBooks to learn more about our methodology and getting the most from our tools.

Well, we decided it’s about time we expand our outstanding sales results further - and so have been busy converting our workshop courses into e-learning based modules, available for the time being for FREE!

The first module we have developed is based on our Buying Process methodology. Our aim is to reguarly release these workshop modules so you can benefit from our sales methodologies in your own time and at your own pace. We believe that these modules will improve your sales results, and by giving them away for free, we hope you encourage your sales peers and managers to give them a try too.

We’ll post here when we have new modules available, or you may like to contact us and we’ll email you when they’re ready.

You can view our Pipeline Process module here.

(we’d love to hear your comments - good or bad - and any success you have using our methodology)

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I thought I would have a follow-on type of post today. If you read my last post then you would know of the pain and suffering I have been recently going through, but I’m pleased to say that I’m on the mend. A visit to my dentist, without queuing, has identified the problem and some lotions and potions and no extractions will apparently cure the problem.

As I found the whole dentist episode easy, which by the way I go privately, have done for years, and it actually costs me less then going NHS. He gave me a private prescription for penicillin and it cost me £4.75 to get the drugs… if I had an NHS prescription it would have cost me something like £6.85! Anyhow, I digress; it was the easy bit that made me think of an earlier post in which I outlined the 10 Steps for an Easy Life in Sales I thought I would follow up on that popular post with the best 5 things you could do to get your customer to buy.

I have to admit that the 5 steps I outline below do not come naturally to me. I would have to work very hard to apply them. However, over the years I have seen some natural ability out there and some people I’ve seen have these skills in abundance. However, I have also seen many other people, who like me would struggle. So where do you fit in with my top 5 behaviours?

The Top 5 Sales Behaviours…

1. Be subservient and non challenging. It is important to realise that the customer is always right. Do not challenge them as this may make them feel uneasy and they may have to think about an answer. It is consultants that need to challenge their customers, it’s expected of them. The customer pays a lot of money to have their ideas challenged and if you start doing it for free, then they may get concerned and confused about your role. You will begin to stand out from your competitors, you will look different and we don’t want that, so best keep your challenges to yourself and stick to product pitching and subservience.

2. Provide a service. Although as mentioned in point 1 that you should not be providing free consulting in terms of challenging your customer’s thinking, you should however provide an unlimited amount of time in helping your customer look at your products. Demos, product pitches, reference visits, more demos, more pitches and more free lunches are good. Think of it as spending quality time with your customer. If you get this bit right you may well be able to show most of the users everything they need to know about your product and this may take several months, but what you are doing is building relationships with the people who will be using your product. If you find your competitors spending time with your customer’s top management, do not let this concern you as I can assure you they will not be talking about the details and intricacies of their products – you will have this space with the people that matter – the users.

3. No pressure. We all hate the thought of the old cliché of the pressure salesman so best not put your customer under any pressure at all. They will make up their mind in their own time. Keep it friendly, keep it relaxed, and work to your customer’s timescales. When speaking to your customer do not take the responsibility for making the return calls, leave this to your customer – they will call you when they are ready. You may find that your customer does not appear to be making much progress with their decision, but behind the scenes all sorts of things could be happening. You need to keep your nerve on this one and have faith that the customer will thank you for the non pressured environment. Your competitor could be getting into deep trouble while you sit back and wait. They could be all over the account, talking to the people at the top about business benefits, looking to gain commitment from important decision makers and generally looking to help the customer make the right decision. This will be seen as too much interference and the customer will not like having to make commitments, after all you are there to service their needs and to be subservient and non challenging. Sit back and wait, the order will come.

4. Minimal contacts. Far too much time is wasted in sales by overeager sales professionals looking to develop high and wide relationships in their accounts. This time of behaviour is overrated. Let’s look at the facts. First of all you are talking to the decision maker – you know this because they have told you. They will take control of the deal and bring you in when needed. This saves you time. They will also tell you everything that they want you to know. You are not overburdened with unnecessary information, which again saves you time. They will not introduce you to people higher up the organisation, because you don’t need to talk to them as your contact holds the budget – again you know this because they told you. This again saves unnecessary meetings and let’s face it, it also saves you a considerable amount of time preparing for the meeting. Now if you, for some strange reason, feel you need to see some top officers and try and go around your contact they will not be happy with you as you will be seen as undermining their authority and not believing what they say. Why would you question their motives? Best stay back in the safe knowledge that you have all the contacts you need to get this deal.

5. Sell on price. Your customer is going to have to pay something, so you may as well use this to your competitive advantage and acknowledge up front that you are willing to negotiate. You will have the advantage at this point because your competitors will not be doing this. The very best way to show your intentions is to give an early discount and the customer will know that you are open to negotiate further. The brilliance behind the ‘drop your pants’ selling strategy is that the lower they drop the easier it is to show your value. Your competitors will be doing their very best to show value and they have to do this at a much higher price, making it more difficult for them.

Now, if you are going to adopt the five behaviours above then you need to have some strong beliefs and therefore those that have religion will be best positioned to adopt this method – because if you follow the above, praying the deal will come in is going to be your only real hope!

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Let’s face it; we would all like an easy life, no stress and enough money to match the lifestyle to which we would like to become accustomed. It’s why we joined the sales profession. So, if you’ve not worked out how to have an easy life here are some tips.

1. Learn to become a ‘walking talking brochure’ - This is the easy route to selling. You don’t have to learn business speak, you don’t have to understand your customer’s need and you don’t even have to really listen to your customer – all you have to do is learn your product inside out. Therefore, when you are in front of a prospect, let rip with everything you know – they will undoubtedly be impressed. They will also have an easy time as you won’t be asking any of those taxing questions that get them to think about, and remind them of, their issues and problems – easy life all around.

2. Avoid qualifying your deals - Qualifying takes time and energy and may mean that you find out too early that a deal is going nowhere. If this happens you will have to take it out of the pipeline and then you may not have enough deals showing. Best bet is to leave the qualification and at least live the quarter in blissful ignorance that you will not be making your number. While the unqualified deals are there, then at least there is hope and it is only at the end of the quarter you need to worry. This approach takes away a lot of unnecessary stress.

3. Only use the corporate pipeline - You are going to have to use a pipeline, so at least use the corporate one. It’s probably been designed for the easy life. First of all it will have probability of success built in. It will then use this to factor the pipeline. Once the pipeline is factored you don’t have to worry which deal closes – factoring takes care of this for you. If it says you are making your number then obviously it can’t be wrong. If your factored number is less then your targets then put some more deals in and / or change the percentages – this will easily get you where you need to be.

4. Don’t put all your deals in the corporate pipeline - If you do, you only get asked questions and if you can’t answer them you look a bit stupid. Putting deals in the pipeline means more work as you will have to qualify them… and as per tip 2, you should avoid qualifying in the first place.

5. No large deals - Never put your large deals in the pipeline until you are certain they will close. Showing management too much only complicates things. They start offering help and making suggestions. Resources may be diverted to the deal your are running with as it will be deemed to be important to the company – all this creates more work, so best avoid it.

6. No research – avoid it at all costs. This produces work. It means you have to understand your customer. If you show your customer that you understand their business then you are raising their expectations that you might know what you are doing and that you might be helpful. It’s best not to get their hopes up, stick to what you know – your products – at least you will be on safe ground.

7. Killer (kill the) presentations – make sure that your presentations have lots of words on them. This will make it easier for you to present. You don’t have to learn anything and all you need to do is read the words to your audience. Make sure you have plenty of slides as this will fill all the time available and there won’t be any time for questions. The other advantage of reading the slides is that you can look at the screen, while you do it, this means you don’t need to look at your audience and make eye contact – this really does help as you don’t know the audience is there at all.

8. Talk about your company - Always open with talking about how great your company is and what fantastic work you have done with your other clients. This save you time as you don’t have to plan any questions, you don’t have to listen and therefore you don’t have to counter with questions that show interest. Just talk about your own company… it’s easy to do and sure to impress. This tactic also works for men when going on a first date. If you want to impress the women of your dreams then talk about yourself. Tell her how great you are, tell her what you could do for her and if you really want to impress her, tell her of all the people you have slept with (akin to showing your client list) and ask her if she want’s to join the list. You must have tried this approach with your customers, so why not try it with a new date; you will find it works wonders.

9. Do all the internal paperwork - This is a bit of a job saver if the quarter is not going to plan. Show management why you have not been able to get out there talking to prospects… it’s because of the paperwork you have to fill out, all those forms, all those internal meetings. Best of all, call a number of meetings yourself… your colleagues are not going to turn up to them anyway, so you won’t have to plan for them, but your diary will be full. Also, if you need to show a full diary, make sure you plan your meetings in widely dispersed geographies – at least you will have a lot of travelling time, which can be shown as the reason for poor sales. While you are travelling you don’t have to think much – which after all, too much thinking does hurt the brain.

10. Don’t close deals - This means they will be in your pipeline for next quarter. You can plan various meetings at the customer’s site. Don’t try and meet too many people as the few people you do meet probably don’t want the deal to close too early anyway. They probably want to be in control and will be running their own agenda – this should suit you as it means you need to spend time with people who enjoy your company, but don’t ask you to do too much strenuous work. If you find the right prospect, they will want to see more and more of your products. They will want to know all the detail, which is great because you can show them what you know about the product. Neither of you need to worry about what business benefits you need to deliver and this will prolong the sales cycle because they are going to have a hard job getting budget. The deal won’t go away because they will convince you they are in control. You will not know any better because you don’t know anyone else in the account who can confirm the real status of the deal – you can continue with the piece of mind that you are working on deal that will close – one day.

There we go… my top ten tips for an easy sales life. If you follow them you will find your sales life becomes even easier – you probably will soon find you won’t even have to turn up to work – you will have been fired for poor performance – well what do you expect for wanting an easy life!

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I often come across companies where the management truly believe that they have hired the best sales people and therefore they don’t need training or development - “I hire people who know how to sell… if they don’t I’ll just find new people.”

Surely I’m not the only one who thinks this is really quite dumb!

Let’s move away from the sales profession for a moment and look at some other professions. Let’s take athletes. Do the top athletes train? Do they get coached? Do they look to improve? Now how about other sports professionals, for example tennis players. How many of the top players train and get coached? What about Doctors? How many of them keep their skills up to date? How much training do they receive per year? What about other professions such as lawyers, accountants and engineers – how much training do they receive? Well, everyone I mentioned so far receive a lot of training and coaching to maintain and improve their skills.

So what is special about salespeople? It really is a poor indictment of the sales profession when management does not believe their team needs developing and honing.

Equally as bad is the sales professional who believes developing and honing their own skills is not necessary.

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