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Name of author Rick Baker, P.Eng.

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How you can improve your sales performance

by Rick Baker
On Sep 15, 2010
According to Huthwaite research, you can improve your sales performance or the performance of your sales team if you:
  1. Choose Behaviour: Identify specific actions you believe might tie in with sales success.
  2. Watch for that Behaviour during Sales Calls: how often does the behaviour happen? Keep track of the statistics.
  3. Divide Sales Calls into 2 groups: successes and failures. (Obviously, this is subjective, depending on how you define success.) Then, you will have two groups: one with the behaviour and sales success and the other with the behaviour and sales failure.
  4. Analyse Frequency Differences: if the successes outnumber the failures then the Behaviour likely is a factor of sales success.
 
In theory, that's a simple way to go about analysing and improving sales process.
 
In practice it isn't.
 
For example, Huthwaite uncovered some surprising things:
  • Most of the closing techniques taught do not work.
  • Closing techniques which work for small accounts will actually lose you business as the sale grows larger.
  • Open and closed probing questions may work for small sales but they won't work for bigger sales.
  • In major sales, objection-handling skills will contribute little to your sales effectiveness.
  • The benefit-from-feature approach to selling can be very successful for small sales but it will fail entirely with larger sales.
At Spirited, we recommend a TARMARVALPRODA process, summarized as follows:
  • Identify your company's Target Markets (typically 2 to 4 TARMARs)
  • Identify the specific Value Propositions linked to your Target Markets (1 VALPRO for each TARMAR)
  • Confirm your company's Unique Selling Proposition, also known as Differential Advantage (DA)...and sometimes called Distinct Advantage
  • Set Marketing Programs for each of your Target Markets
  • Set Sales Programs for each of your Target Markets (to maximize success these must be perfectly aligned with your Marketing Programs)
  • Set roles for and assign your Sales people in a manner that ensures their individual skills align with the requirements of selling to the different Target Markets
  • Set SMART sales goals for each sales person
  • Establish clear sales process, using multi-media communication [writing, audio-visual, etc]
  • Train your sales people regularly: help them understand how sales activity meshes with marketing activity and your company's goals. Repeat your sales training messages using different perspectives and communication media.
  • Establish sales-performance reporting process (Daily, Weekly, and Monthly Vital Sign reporting)
  • Do that sales-performance reporting in groups and one-on-one: as you do it celebrate lessons learned (whether they were learned through failure or success). Be specific. Don’t accept ambiguity.
  • Ensure your sales department has a Can-Do Culture

Tags:

Marketing | Sales

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Sales Tweet #43

by Rick Baker
On Sep 15, 2010
Sales Tweet #43 What's the best compliment a Client has paid to you during the last year? What, exactly, caused it?
 
The Thinking Behind the Sales Tweet
Take the time to re-live your successes and your brightest-light moments. Work to understand the exact things you did to cause others to compliment you. Don't assume you know. Ask enough questions to make sure you know.

Tags:

Questions?: The Art of Asking Good Questions | Sales | Thought Tweets

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You probably suffer from Knowledge Overconfidence

by Rick Baker
On Sep 14, 2010
According to experts most people suffer from Knowledge Overconfidence.
 
That is, most people think they are more knowledgeable than they really are.
 
As individuals we think we are smarter than we really are.
 
As members of groups we think we are smarter than we really are.
 
Put another way – in general, when it comes to knowledge most people have an inflated self-image.
 
One often-cited example of proof goes like this:
  • Experts [psychologists etc.] pick a random group of people
  • A problem is presented to the group of people and they are asked to come up with solutions
  • The people are split into groups and the groups brainstorm to come up with as many viable solutions as possible
  • The solutions from all the groups are compiled
  • All the people get to see all the solutions and they select the best solutions
  • Then the group of people are asked to assess how well it did creating viable solutions to the problem…for example, rating its solutions on a scale of 1-to-10
  • Typically, the group of people scores its solutions high, say 8-out-of-10
In a separate process people who are considered to be experts in the problem area are asked to create solutions to the same problem.
 
Then the experts’ solutions are compared against the solutions created by the random group.
 
And, it is confirmed the experts’ solutions are much better than the solutions created by the random group. The experts have a broader range of solutions and the experts have better quality solutions.
 
These sorts of experiments are interpreted as proof people have knowledge overconfidence.
 
I don’t believe everything I read. However, when things I read catch my attention as this knowledge overconfidence concept did I find myself thinking…
 
So, I have been thinking about knowledge overconfidence.
 
How might knowledge overconfidence show up in day-to-day life?
 
To the extent people suffer from knowledge overconfidence, they probably tend to:
  • Be intolerant toward other people’s ideas
  • Listen poorly
  • Stop seeking solutions too early
  • Bulldoze over other people
  • Have a win-lose attitude in competitive situations
  • Under-estimate the value of expert advice
Now, I don’t think I suffer from any of these things. On the other hand, isn’t that exactly what we would expect a person with knowledge overconfidence to believe?

Tags:

Attitude: Creating Positive Attitude | Put Your Best Brain Forward | Solutions & Opportunities

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Sales Tweet #42

by Rick Baker
On Sep 14, 2010
Sales Tweet #42 Ernest Seller asked a Client what it would take to close the sale. His Client said, "A new sales rep".
 
The Thinking Behind the Sales Tweet
Ernest is always asking questions like that. He thinks the Client ought to make his sales life a whole lot easier. Just tell me what you want and I will get it done. Just tell me how to close this sale and I will wrap it up quickly and get on to my next call. The problem is: Ernest's Clients, in general, do not react well to these sorts of questions.

Tags:

Thought Tweets | Ernest Seller

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Sales Tweet #41

by Rick Baker
On Sep 13, 2010
Sales Tweet #41 Your Top 10 Clients: what are their proudest achievements? If you don't know then start asking today.
 
The Thinking Behind the Sales Tweet
If you understand the things that cause your Clients to feel positive emotions like personal pride then you will probably find some common ground for building a relationship. Often, the Client's office provides signals: pictures of family, pictures of pets, pictures of boats or cars, diplomas and awards, etc. Some Clients are not so 'public' and do not display things. They still may enjoy the opportunity to share stories of proudest moments with you.

Tags:

Questions?: The Art of Asking Good Questions | Sales | Thought Tweets

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Sales Tweet #40

by Rick Baker
On Sep 10, 2010
Sales Tweet #40 Ernest Seller tied a string around his ear. When asked - Why? - he said, "It reminds me to listen".
 
The Thinking Behind the Sales Tweet
You guessed it. The string around the ear didn’t work. Ernest was so thrilled with his innovative idea for better-listening he spent 80% of every sales call explaining how clever he was.

Tags:

Thought Tweets | Ernest Seller

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