Jeff Garrison

Popcorn Prospeting

Image via Wikipedia

Imagine watching someone making popcorn on the stove.  They put oil in a skillet and put it on the hot stove.  Once it gets hot, they throw into the skillet a single kernel of popcorn.  When it pops, they gently pick it up, dip it in melted butter, sprinkle a pinch of salt on it, and finally they eat is slowly.  When they are done, they throw another kernel of popcorn into the skillet and wait for it to pop.

As you continue to watch, you notice that some of the kernels don't pop.  After watching and waiting (and occasionally shaking the skillet) this person gives up on the kernel and throws another one in.

How long will it take for this person to get full?  Forever?

This is the way many business owners and sales people try to develop business.  They find a few prospects that appear promising and they completely focus on them waiting for them to pop.  As a few of them pop, they are well cared for by the business owner and sales professional.  Once the deal is done, they look to throw in another prospect into the skillet to see what happens.

Obviously, the lesson here is to throw in a lot more kernels.  How much?  Well, how big is your skillet?  Throw in as many as you can manage without having "popped" kernels spill out of the skillet onto the floor.

How do you know if you are one trying to develop business just "a few kernels at a time?" 

Use a sheet of paper, a spreadsheet, or some sales/CRM software to track what you are doing.  The low tech version is to list all of your prospects on a piece of paper and record the date they became a prospect. 

Wait one week and review the list.  Did you add a prospect?  Wait another week.  Did you add a prospect?  If your list tends to stay the same, then you are waiting for just a few kernels to pop.

This week, set a realistic goal to add some new kernels.  Over time, test the capacity of your skillet and you will find yourself getting closer to "full."

Of course, there is a whole lot more that one can track to help them manage their pipeline.  What advice to you have?  What has worked for you in the past?

 

Related articles by Zemanta

• Poor Quality Sales Activity Is a Management Failure (thejfblogit.co.uk)
• The Prospecting Dilemma (thejfblogit.co.uk)

Sales and Prospect Stalking

As a business owner or sales person, do you ever feel like a stalker?  Do you ever feel stalked by another sales person?

Look at your prospect list in your notebook, on your white board, Excel spreadsheet, or the "opportunities" tab on Salesforce.  How long have the same prospects been on that list?  Has there been any movement?  Are they moving thought your sales process? 

If you are constantly chasing and putting your hopes into a short prospect list, then you may be Prospect Stalking.

Danger!  Danger!  Danger! A short prospect list will send you on a downward spiral and eventually out of business.

This is an obvious sign that a company and its' sales people do not have an adequate system for generating new leads.  Without a systematic way to consistently fill the pipeline, an inordinate amount of hope is put into the aging leads that are on the list. 

Of course, nobody wants an empty prospect list and many companies and sales professionals don't know what to do with the "maybe's," so they just stay on the list with the hope that something "will get things moving." 

This is a sign of a second problem.  The company and its' sales people do not have an adequate system for nurturing leads.  A lead nurturing system allows a company to recognize and do something with the "maybe's" and "not now's" while they also concentrate separately on generating new prospects and those already engaged in the sales process.

To avoid becoming a Prospect Stalker and to maximize sales, take the time to develop a quality system for lead generation and lead nurturing.

Keeping the Pipeline Full--A Sales Habitudes Overview

For a limited time, this Sales Habitudes Overview video will be available on this blog.  Hopefully it will provoke some deep thinking about your business development and sales practices.

Your feedback regarding the content and presentation would be greatly appreciated.

(Note that it may take a few seconds for the movie to start.)

Sales Support Habits

I just met with a client who is a Regional Sales Vice President.  One of the issues that we discussed was a "performance issue" with sales support at the corporate headquarters.  Specifically, they need to adjust their internal processes to meet the unique needs of a few new clients and it is hard "to get everyone rowing in the same direction."

Even after they have been told what to do and why, many of the staff people have difficulty making the adjustments.  This is not a "performance" issue as we generally think.  The people on staff have good character.  They are motivated.  They are intelligent.  And they care.

This is a Habits issue!

The expected quality and speed of their work has become habitual.  In other words, when they need to do a task that they are very familiar with, the basal ganglia is engaged.  This is the area of the brain where habits are stored.  It basically tells the pre-frontal cortex (where conscious thinking occurs),

"Hey, I got this.  You can occupy yourself with something else.  I will let you know if I need anything."

Ironically, the very thing that makes the supporting staff reliable also makes it difficult for them to incorporate change.  Furthermore, the typical management response is to appeal to reason to fix the problem by making speeches and sending memos explaining why the changes are important.

However, the habitual mind does not learn through reason.  It learns through experience and reinforcement.

The habitual mind does not think about what it is doing.  In other words, it does not reason, evaluate, or judge.  Like a computer program, when it is engaged, it just does what it is programmed to do.  To make changes that stick, new processes need to be "experienced" and reinforced through repetition.

When making change in processes that have become habitual, it is more effective to ...

1. walk through the new changes with the staff (show rather than tell)
2. practice the process with the new changes a few times (experience)
3. closely monitor the new process for compliance for an appropriate period of time (reinforce)

Finally, be sure to show your appreciation along the way by individually thanking everyone for their effort.

More Blogs Posts About Habits

Make Marketing a Data-Driven Habit at Duct Tape Marketing

Nine Sales Habits to Work On in Q2 at IowaBiz

Sales and Going Through the Motions

I hate to say it, but sometimes I need a reminder to follow my own advice and Sales Habitudes.  Today it was about preparation. 

I have a 2010 business plan.  This is broken down into a ninety day plan that I update at the end of each month.  Every Sunday I review the plan and set my top priorities for the week.  At the end of each day, I review my plan for the next day and schedule all of my tasks giving myself deadlines throughout the day.  In short, I execute.

When it comes to making phone calls, I prepare for each call to maximize the opportunity.  If it is the first time I am going to call you, I will have reviewed your website and your Linked In profile.  I will look to see if you Tweet and I will Google your name.  Finally, I will determine the outcome that I would like to achieve on the phone call and the questions I would like to ask you.

This does not take too long and because I do it, I don't have to make as many calls as someone who does not do it.

Well today, I was in the groove and called someone without preparing.  I got their voice mail.  No big deal, right?

Two hours later this person whom I had not spoken to before called back.  I was totally clumsy on this call trying to figure out what to ask next.  You know ... there were those uncomfortable silences.

In a nutshell, I behaved like an amateur.

Well, like every other endeavor, your performance is only as good as your preparation.  Going through the motions on the phone, at a networking event, in a sales meeting, daily planning, and even the informal coffee meetings is amateurish.  Amateurs by definition, do not get paid for their work.

If you want to get paid like a pro, prepare like a pro.  If you want to get paid like a world class pro, prepare like you are world class.

How do you prepare to perform at your best?

Photo on flickr by stephen le

What is the Number One Mistake Sales People Make?

This was a question asked by Tracy Johnson, a member or the Linked In group Sales Gravy.  Close to 100 sales professionals have posted their thoughts on this question in the last month.  Most of those listed one of the following as the number one mistake.

•    Poor listening skills
•    Poor follow-up
•    Not qualifying prospects
•    Failing to keep the pipeline full
•    Failing to ask good questions
•    Failing to ask for the business
•    Poor planning
•    Poor handling (or no handling) of objections
•    No passion

With the exception of the last one, all of these things fall into one big category.

Failure to Execute a Good Business Development Process!

A good sales process should document what to do, how to do it, and when as it regards lead generation, lead nurturing, and the sales process.  It should also include a way to track results and make adjustments along the way.

Since I love sports analogies and the NFL, here is one way to look at it.

The lead generation and lead nurturing process is like the preparation and practice that an NFL team will go through each week before a game.  Their entire week is scripted.  Team meetings are the same time on the same day each week.  The same "on the field" practice and game preparation methods are done at the same time on the same day each week.  (Of course the actual activity may vary based upon the game plan for the week.)

Whether you are in a large business or a sole proprietor, you need to have a consistent schedule wherein you execute the same lead nurturing and lead generation activities every week.  This consistency and professionalism is what keeps the pipeline full.

Game time is like the sales call.  The NFL team goes in with a game plan that they intend to execute.  However, within that game plan there are all kinds of contingencies that they have planned for and practiced.  In other words, they know how to instantly respond to each situation as it is occurring.

The sales process is the same.  The sales person is prepared to ask the right questions.  They are prepared to listen to the answers.  They are prepared to respond to the different issues a prospect may bring up.  They are prepared to ask for the next appointment or the sale.  They know how to follow up when it is over.

Does this sound like a lot of work?  It is a lot of work to build the process and to establish the habit of execution.  But like the NFL, business and sales is not a recreational sport. 

Play to win or don't play at all!

If you have questions about how to establish executable Sales Habitudes for your business, please contact me.

Sales Goal Setting

My approach to goal setting may be a bit different than most and I am sure to get emails and comments.

Start by Setting Low Goals!

This is especially effective if you are a business owner trying to fit business development in to your everyday chaos.

Follow This Plan

First of all, you can only control activity, not outcomes.  So don't plan outcomes.  For example, don't plan to "schedule a meeting" with a client, plan to "call them for an appointment".

Identify the daily sales activities that you must do on a daily basis to succeed.  (Email me for a free list if your are not sure where to start.)  For tomorrow, make a plan that includes these activities, but make the level of activity so low you can't fail to complete the plan.  When you execute your plan, give yourself an appropriate reward.  (I crack open a Guinness.)

After a few days, increase the amount of activity that you plan by a little bit.  Get it done and reward yourself. 

Over time, keep increasing the amount of activity until you discover a your daily maximum.

Here are the reasons I suggest this plan of action.

You Need to Build Planning Muscles.

If the failure to plan is not the number one reason that sales people fail, it is at least in the top two or three.  If you don't plan and schedule your sales activity each day, then eventually you will fail.  On the flip side, if you plan too much and don't execute them, you also fail. Either way, planning is not working for you!

This method helps you to establish the habit of planning.  You also learn the skill of making a realistic plan based upon the amount of time that you have.  Some days you will know going in that you have less time than other days for sales activity and you can plan appropriately.

Note that it should be the rare exception that you don't plan at least a bit of business development activity every day.  Just like going to the gym once every week or two won't get you in great shape, inconsistent sales activity barely gets any results.

You Need to Build Execution Muscles

Lots of business owners and sales people tell me they plan, but when I look at their plans, I see a lot of activity on today's plan carried over from yesterday.  They have no idea what is realistic because their plan is really just a giant to do list.

Finish your daily plan daily!  By the way, the last activity on the daily plan ought to be to plan for tomorrow. 

You Need to Build Positive Associations with Planning and Execution

I don't care how easy your plan is to accomplish. If you plan five days in a row and execute the plan every day, you will have done something that only a small percentage of business owners and sales people have ever done. 

You should feel great about yourself!

You Need to Build Your Confidence in Planning and Execution

Keep planning and executing every day and you will quickly start to see consistent results in terms of business development and sales.  After three months to six months, planning will be as habitual as brushing your teeth.  If you realize you forgot to plan, you may feel compelled to get out of bed to make your plan.

Finally, You Will Have Build a Pattern of Successful Planning and Execution

You may be thinking you don't have time to set low goals.  "Low" is subjective.  Just don't set daily activity goals that you will fail to execute more than 10% of the time.

You may be thinking that you can't afford to wait for your sales people to build their muscles.  Wrong, you can't afford to have them setting themselves up for failure most days.  Following this plan will foster the development of sales people that are far more effective, reliable, and happier than those of your competitors.

Tell me your thoughts.  Is this crazy or might it just work?

Do you have a daily sales plan?

Managing Sales Activity for Success

Discover how to Explode Sales for the Small Business and Sales Professionals with Sales Habitudes! 

Follow Up Failure

There are many opportunities for follow up failure.  For example ...

• Do you have business cards from people you recently met sitting in a pile waiting for you to take some action? 
• Do you have a list of people that you considered good prospects at one time but after the first couple of follow ups, you moved on? 
• Do you have customers who bought from you once, but you have not touched base with in some time?

Me too. 

But I have had prospects that for whatever reason I maintained good follow up practices.  Many of them have been converted to clients. So what have I learned?

Prospects and customers buy when they are ready to buy, not when we are ready to sell!

In fact, many prospects need to be followed up with anywhere from seven to twelve times to be converted to customers.  So, this begs the question ...

How many times do you follow up with a prospect (or a past customer) before giving up?

The average is probably between two and three times if we were honest.

Why?

We focus on making sales now!  We have to meet monthly or quarterly quotas and nurturing a sale that may or may not happen several months from now is irrelevant if we can't produce now.  Additionally, even if we wanted to maintain disciplined follow up and lead nurturing practices, there is just too much to stay on top of.

I get it.  But what if you could increase your sales by 25%, 50%, or 100% over the next twelve months?  Would you make changes?

This is what inbound marketing and sales 2.0 are all about and these things should be implemented into every business.  If you don't have the resources to hire a sales coach or consultant who has expertise in these things, start small.

For example, schedule an hour per week just to make follow-up calls or send e-mails to past prospects.  Find ways to provide information to them over time so that when they are ready to buy, they will buy from you. 

To learn more about fixing your follow up, click on the link to receive the free ebook called The Edge of Success.

Encourage others to follow up.  Share your follow up stories in the comments section below.

Sales Compensation Systems

A question we get all the time is "how should we compensate our sales people."  Those asking fit into one of two categories.

1. They are hiring their first sales people and have no experience with incentive based sales compensation systems
2. They are frustrated with the production in general of their sales staff and they want to see if a tweak in their sales compensation system will make the difference.

There are a ton of ways to go about it and no one way is best.  However, there are some things to keep in mind when creating an incentive compensation system. 

For this post, I consulted with my father Ed Garrison.  He has been consulting for three decades with senior leaders in the financial services industry and has seen more convoluted sales compensation systems than most people alive today.

Here are a few of the things he would tell you.

1. Keep it simple.  If the salesperson has a difficult time understanding what they have to do to reach their personal goals, it can be demotivating.
2. Make sure that you understand what you want your sales people to do before you create incentives.  If not done carefully, people may behave in ways that you did not foresee.
3. You can't motivate lazy or undisciplined sales people by offering higher commission.  It only increases your cost of carrying a poor performer.
4. You can't increase performance of a poorly trained sales person by offering higher commission.  Spend the money on training instead.
5. You can't get a sustained increase in sales of a poor product or service by increasing commission.  Spend the money to improve the product or service value.
6. Sales people are not purely motivated by the commission.  They are also motivated by things like serving their clients and recognition for their accomplishments.
7. When hiring, it is generally better to decide upon your compensation structure before beginning to interview.  If you get very excited about a prospective job candidate, you may be too generous with compensation.
8. Don't cut commissions unless you can afford to lose your best salespeople.

What is your experience with good and bad systems?  What pieces of advice would you add to the list?

Photo on flickr by mysavingtips