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Consolidate to Accelerate: Shorten Sales Cycles, Close Deals Faster

Sunday, May 2nd, 2010

Sales cycles have typical steps. Customer like to take certain steps to make a decision and salespeople take certain steps to make a sale or help their customers make good decisions. Salespeople can accelerate the decision process by strategically examining the sales cycles for opportunities to add efficiencies. The benefits of doing this exist for both salesperson and customer. Customers need solutions and making efficient decisions on which solutions to purchase must be in their best interest. Salespeople benefit from getting to a go/no-go decision sooner, also. They either get to start helping a customer or, at least, realize they aren’t the right solution and can move on to the next one sooner. I am not suggesting that anyone rushes through an important decision process, I am simply suggesting a regular examination of the sales cycles to look for ways to improve the decision process and begin solving problems faster.

To do so, first list out all the steps a salesperson and a customer make to get to go/no-go on your solutions. Jot down the timeline and if there are pre-requisite steps for any of the steps.

Now, carefully examine if there is an opportunity to:

Consolidate any two steps into one step.
Eliminate an unnecessary step altogether.
Simutaneously conduct two or more steps.

List out the benefits to the customer for making the decision with this new sales cycle. Then, make sure that you and the customer are clear on the steps both would like to take to help the customer make an informed yet timely decision. Stay two steps ahead with both understanding what the steps are, who should be involved and what decisions they should be able to make along the way.

The sales cycle is an important process where important decisions are made. Running it as effectively and efficiently as possible is in everyone’s best interest and a salesperson’s responsibility. Enjoy accelerated sales cycles with this simple exercise.

This week’s Meeting to Win sales team meeting agenda is Consolidate to Accelerate. Sales Manager who subscribe to the sales team meeting agenda service will receive a 60-Minute agenda that will lead their teams through an examination of their own sales cycles. Each participant will leave with a new plan for one live deal in their pipeline. Join our subscribers by signing up to get your weekly sales team meeting agendas from Meeting to Win.

Tags: consolidate sales cycles, CRM, customer meetings, existing customer, sales team meeting agenda, sales team meeting agendas, winning in sales
Posted in Account Management, CRM, agendas, customer meeting, efficient, opportunity, sales activity | No Comments »

Brilliant!

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

I’ve had the privilege as you probably have, too, to meet some very successful salespeople and business owners. Those people that seem to have a magic touch and deliver consistently strong performance and value to their customers. A key to their success was getting to the table in the first place to have the conversations that lead to these strong relationships with customers. They somehow earn their way into the hearts and minds of these customers. How do they do it?

As I have examined and interviewed these people, here are two things that I have found.

First, if you ask them how they do it, they think they know and often they don’t. They very often say “I just build strong relationships” or “I’m not afraid to tell it like it is” or “I kept after them for years”, etc. All things that certainly could contribute.

Now, when I observe these people over years what I really find is that they do something brilliant. They often don’t even realize it’s brilliant and yet it seems to be the trigger for great relationships.

Three examples:

I know one business owner who shares his Decision Grid with his customers and they fill it out together. This one action makes his process transparent to the customer and in one meeting helps this business owner determine if there actually is a decision process and, therefore, a real opportunity. This one 30 minute conversation with a customer early in the sales cycle helps him build trust and pursue real opportunities. Brilliant!

Another sales leader I observe was winning the big contracts left and right in his company. What did he do differently? He had the fastest turnaround time vs. his competitors. Brilliant! He left the customer meeting with his action items and they were done that day. He was a master at coordinating internal resources to meet the needs of the customer. He made everyone work at his pact. Brilliant! He didn’t let time kill any of his deals. His deals flew through the pipeline all because he set the pace for his team and the customer team.

One last example. I know a sales leader whose team has consistently led the company in sales, innovation, top customers and many other categories for over 20 years. What does he do? No matter what the company is doing, he picks one solution to sell. Brilliant! They offer about 40 programs and he and his team put all their focus and efforts around one solution they feel is the most relevant and useful to their customer and they spend all their resources there. Risky? Maybe, but it’s been working.

So, observe the top performers you come in contact with and don’t simply ask them what they do differently, watch them. Figure out what they are doing differently. It is often one brilliant thing that you could repeat in your territory. Go be BRILLIANT!

Meeting to Win recently sent out the Best Practices of Top Performers sales team meeting agenda. Sales teams around the world worked through an exercise to list the brilliant things top performers in their own companies are doing. Right now, those brilliant actions are being replicated across organizations. To experience similar momentum, subscribe to Meeting to Win sales team meeting agendas and elevate your teams to top performer status.

Tags: brilliant, CRM, customer meeting success, motivate sales team, sales team agenda., winning in sales
Posted in Account Management, CRM, best practice, customer meeting, down economy, maximize tools, performance, sales managers, sales team meeting agenda, sales team meeting agenda topics | No Comments »

We Interrupt This Summer to Bring You…Sales

Sunday, April 18th, 2010

2011 Summer Sales Team Meeting Agenda Series = Summer of Experts.

Join us by becoming a subscriber and open your team’s minds by studying expert sales advice and applying it to your own business. Subscribe HERE.

Summer is right around the corner and the time to start executing your summer selling plan is now. You may have just experienced this on a smaller scale during Spring Break season. Decision makers are out of the office on vacations or entertaining clients at golf tournaments. Spring and Summer can mark tough times for sales professionals who are still trying to move deals forward. The odds of getting all the decision makers involved at the necessary stage are not good during the summer. Each activity gets pushed off until “next week” when someone is “back in the office” and, before you know it, your sales cycles have stretched out. And, salespeople and their teammates are trying to schedule in much needed breaks, also.

It is in everyone’s best interest to keep deals moving through the summer. Customers need solutions, salespeople need sales. The season does not change those truths. So, how can sales professionals enjoy their summer and a few successes at the same time? Here are some actions to take now to close some summer deals.

Look at your pipeline and determine which deals should be closing during the summer.
At your next opportunity with your prospective customers, walk through all the steps they will most likely need to take to make a decision on your solution. Together, build a timeline for when these steps should occur based on when they need a solution in place. This will give you both a timeline to work toward heading into the summer.
With your timeline in hand, acknowledge the challenges of meeting deadlines in the summer months with your customer. Build a calendar that includes everyone’s (salesperson’s team and customer’s team) planned vacations or absences. This way you can stay a few steps ahead on planning.
Make sure that everyone who will be involved in the decision process understands the timeline and the steps in the process.
Consider scheduling a regular update call with your key contacts. Think of yourself as a project manager keeping the team on track to make a decision. Each week should move the deal forward.
Keep your momentum during the summer by working a business development plan. Salespeople have a tendency to take a little break during the summer months. Those that keep up the hard work will gain momentum throughout the summer and into the next selling season. Very often prospects are more receptive during holiday and summer seasons. Take advantage of the lighter mood and begin some great relationships.
Set clear activity and performance goals for the summer months. It is too easy to go with the flow of traffic if you don’t have a better plan. If those around you have slowed down, it is easy to follow their lead. Build a plan to follow and avoid this slow down.
Take your own vacation. You’ll enjoy it more if you’ve been proactive to continue adding to your pipeline and moving your deals throughout the summer. Now, go get that break!

Enjoy a summer filled with sales by building and executing your summer sales plan now.

Post brought to you by Jill Myrick of Meeting to Win, LLC. Become a Meeting to Win subscriber to receive a new sales team meeting agenda every week. This week’s agenda is We Interrupt This Summer to Bring You…Solutions. As a team, you’ll leave this meeting with a solid plan to succeed throughout the summer. You’ll win and your customers will win. What a great summer this could be!

Tags: CRM, cusotmer meeting success, customer meetings, energize sales team, move deals, pre-call planning, prepare for sales call, sales team agenda., winning in sales
Posted in Account Management, CRM, Summer Selling Season, communication, customer meeting, efficient, performance | No Comments »

Playing to Win or Playing to NOT Lose? (Includes Sales Team Meeting Idea)

Sunday, March 28th, 2010

I am getting ready to play my first tennis match in over a year and a half. As I look forward to the match, I am reminded of something my father said to me during one of our matches years ago. Something that I have thought about during every match since when I feel like I am on defense more than I’d like to be. He looked frustrated and said “You’re not playing to win. You’re playing to NOT lose.” He described exactly what I was doing. I was back running down shots, going right where he wanted me to go, just getting the ball in play to live for another point. He was in charge, setting the pace and … having more fun than me. During that match and countless others since then, I have had to change my mindset mid-match and play to win instead of play to NOT lose. For me that means, charge the net, put some shots away, get on the offense, control the pace of the game and, in many of those cases (still not against my Dad…), win. Even when I didn’t win, I walked away knowing I did everything I could and was proud of my game, effort and attitude. There was no risk I hadn’t taken and, therefore, no “what ifs”.

I took my Dad’s insightful observation into my sales life, too, and, man, did life get more fun. Instead of sitting back following the process, chasing the RFP, settling for meeting with non-decision makers, wondering what the competitors were doing, giving discounts and sounding like 80% of other reps out there, I made a clear effort to “charge the net”.

How do you know if you are playing to win or playing to not lose?

Are you:

Following the buying process blindly without challenging steps that don’t help your cusotmers make good decisions?
Meeting with people who can’t make decisions?
More worried about your activity report volume than the quality of your activities?
Spending time on RFPs that restrict your ability to sell by limiting your ability to diagnose and share solutions?
Constantly running off to fetch the next thing your prospective customer needs with no commitments from them (”send me a proposal”, “do an assessment”, “send me a brochure”, “come do a demo”, etc)?
Coming in second or third place?
Getting surprised late in sales cycles?

Or are you:

Creating opportunities by shining light on problems prospective customers didn’t know they had?
Challenging dysfunctional buying processes that hinder your customer from getting the best possible solution?
Sharing solutions your clients didn’t know existed to problems they didn’t know they had?
Bringing new ideas, industry expertise and innovative solutions to the table?
Getting full price for the value of service you provide?
Getting creative on negotiations?
Risking offending non-decision makers to get to the actual decision makers?
Addressing sales cycle slow downs head-on and honestly?
Not afraid to walk away?
Not afraid to say and do the right thing no matter the outcome?

It is so much more exciting to play to win. It takes more energy and guts, but it is so worth it. Charge the net this week!

Sales team meeting idea:

At your next sales team meeting, ask each team member to bring their current pipeline.
Ask each person to examine their pipeline for opportunities to “charge the net”.
Each rep should pick one deal and take a well-planned risk. Get to decision makers, challenge a bad decision, ask about the competition, exit an RFP opportunity, etc. As long as the risk will ultimately help you help your customer make a better decision (even if it’s not you), then take the risk.
Each rep should walk away with one risk to take within the next week.
Plan to report back on the outcomes of the team’s risk-taking. Not all will go well – that’s why we call it a “risk”. So be it…

Play to win. Charge the net. Have more fun.

(Post brought to you by Jill Myrick of Meeting to Win. Meeting to Win provides sales team meeting agendas for Sales Managers who want to take their team to the next level. Play to Win, Not to NOT Lose is the April 2, 2010 Agenda Topic. To get a new sales team meeting topic each week, visit us at http://www.meetingtowin.com/ to subscribe.)

Tags: CRM, cusotmer meeting success, leadership, losing in sales, sales leadership, sales performance, sales team agenda., sales team meeting agenda, sales teams, winning in sales
Posted in CRM, agenda ideas, agendas, customer meeting, free sales team meeting topics, how to have productive sales team meetings, management tips, maximize tools, performance, sales activity, sales meeting agenda, sales team agenda., sales team meeting agenda, sales team meeting agenda topics, sales team meeting ideas, team meeting | No Comments »

Posts Tagged ‘winning in sales’

Consolidate to Accelerate: Shorten Sales Cycles, Close Deals Faster

Brilliant!

We Interrupt This Summer to Bring You…Sales

Playing to Win or Playing to NOT Lose? (Includes Sales Team Meeting Idea)

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