2010 June « Dave Stelzl's Blog

Archive for June, 2010

Jun

Sound Principles Of Business

Categories: Sales Strategy
Tags: business growth, channel partner, entrepreneur, managed services sales training, reseller, security sales training, var

Meeting today with a group of entrepreneurs – some key points from this discussion group:

1. Most people charge too little…that’s right! Your client gives you the sob story about how they can’t afford it. In fact there’s a value disconnect and a natural tendency to want a discount. Hold your ground, you can’t afford not to.

2. Wrong metrics. People tend to watch the wrong metrics or none at all. What are you watching? If you’re in sales, forget about trying to equate number of calls leading to number of meetings etc. Improve you ability to communicate value, reduce the number of calls, and increase close ratios. The number you really need to watch is GP per deal, profit per project, and close ratios with an eye toward improvement.

3. Not every client is worth having. Some clients suck the life out of you. They will take up tons of time, nickel and dime you, and only buy on their terms. They don’t value your expertise and are wasting your time. Tell your story, look for synergy, and conduct business. If not, move on.

4. Make sure you are working on your mission. Deals outside of your focus waste your time. Move on with a focus on what matters and what contributes to your business long term.

5. Deliver quality. You can’t afford a bad reputation.

Jun

Social Networking

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Categories: Channel Management and Marketing
Tags: BMC, BMC Channel partners, business service management sales training, channel, partners, social media marketing, social networking, training

Some key points from today’s training on Social Media Marketing with and Business Service Management Sales Training with BMC Partners;

Sales and marketing must come together – sales people build their own brand
Buyers want expert advisers in business service management, ITIL, change management etc. The sales person can no longer say, “I’m in sales”, but must rather be positioned as a consultant in one of more of these areas.
Every sales person should be commenting on blogs in their industry, using phrases that are searchable through Google, and considering building their own blog with links back to their corporate websites.
Publish,post, and tweet unique, edgy, controversial, and pointed information. People want opinions not more bits and bytes.
Don’t advertise in social media. No one wants to read another product special.
Build out your linkedIn profile – it’s your billboard so use it. Use first person to create you summary, list searchable areas of expertise, and make is readable and interesting.
Connect with people – don’t be shy. You’re in sales…
Join groups, create groups, and get involved in delivering unique content that will brand you as the expert.
Don’t underestimate the power of twitter.
Build a following.

Jun

Increasing your income 700%

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Categories: Channel Management and Sales Strategy
Tags: character development, information technology sales training, pay increase, personal coaching, sales training, selling skills, technology sales management

Friday’s teleseminar on Success with Character started with a story worth restating here. In 1907 Frank Bettger was fired from the team (he played baseball for a living) for his laziness. His coach’s parting words were, “Get some enthusiasm.” Frank, after determining that from now on, he would be the most enthusiastic player ever took a position with a no-name team for $25/month. Within three days he was making 700% more! How? He demonstrated such enthusiasm, his entire team was positively impacted and the media even reported on the energy this guy exhibited on the field. Just two years later he went to play for the Cardinals making thirty times his current income! What changed? Just his character. Skills are important, but attitude and character far outweigh any method you may be using to close business.

Jun

Sound Bites to Rock Your World, and Your Client’s

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Categories: Sales Strategy and Sound Bites
Tags: Cybercrime, information security sales training, Security Resellers, Security solution provider, wall street journal

Remember the sound bites….bits of information that come from credible sources like the Wall Street Journal or other mainline news sources. I prefer ones that IT does not frequent – it widens the gap between what you know and their ability to hijack an executive level meeting. A few pointers on sound bites:

I mostly post these on twitter now – make sure you are following http://twitter.com/dstelzl
You don’t need hundreds, you need a few hardcore, recent, security sound bites
They must be on the tip of your tongue – memorize them and practice them
Use them to grab your audience – make sure they are attention grabbing
Sales are emotional, sound bites are not. Use the sound bites early on, then move to emotional sales stories.
Save them for management – not the technical people. They don’t really care.
If you spend 15 minutes on this each morning, it will pay back a hundred fold!

Looking back at the information security sales training programs I’ve run, this has been one of the highlights for those who have attended!

Jun

Comments from yesterday’s Making Money with Security Workshop

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Categories: Sales Strategy
Tags: channel partner, information security training, reseller, Risk Assessment, security var, selling, selling security, technology reseller, Value Proposition

Notes, comments, and reminders from our partner security workshop in New York City…keep these things in mind.

Most deals are lost when you fail to communicate value before providing price
Budgets are lost part way through the deal when the focus is on product, or even data value. There must be a measurement of likelihood, applied to high-value data, in order to justify a security sale.
Managed services deals dry up or get unseated when the deal is not based on maintaining an acceptable level of risk. ROI may work short term, but will be replaced at some point by a cheaper alternative. After all, if there is no perceived risk, the client can choose a cheaper solution and get the same perceived value. Perception is reality.
Waiting on security disasters is a risky way to make quota.
Use assessments to drive sales – download my “Creating Sales” booklet, now available on my LinkedIn Profile. If you are not linked to me – please do…
Use sound bites to sell – I will be sending out more sound bites through twitter, so make sure you subscribe to dstelzl… these should come from sources such as the Wall Street Journal. This strategy works. IT will not be able to challenge you.
Refuse to propose to influencers. Instead, connect them with your technical people, provide them with the things they really need to be successful (technical wisdom and direction), and make your move to the asset owners.

Jun

Free AV Software? Nothing is free…

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Categories: Sales Strategy and Sound Bites
Tags: av software, free av software, information security training, messagelabs, reseller, security consulting, software solution provider

Just returning from MessageLabs in NYC…I was catching up on some reading and came across this alarming figure in USAToday: $163,167,539.95 in revenue brought in by fake AV software sales! I get this with clients all the time – my customers are using free AV software, but this isn’t even free. Check out how companies where duped into downloading and paying for fake AV software. Then use this in future sales to combat the objections to working with specialists like yourself to bring in proven security products.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2010-06-07-scareware07_ST_N.htm

Also, make sure you are getting sound bite updates on my twitter feed: dstelzl or visit my blog and click on the blue bird. www.davidstelzl.com

Jun

Raising Entrepreneurs…quotes from the week

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Categories: Wise Counsel
Tags: business plan, channel manager, conference, consulting, gross margin, million dollars, partner program, partnerships, profit, reseller, seminar, speaker, technology reseller, var

We’re back from a week of home school training – but along with great ideas for schooling comes some great thought provoking business concepts from the sessions I attended:

We need to be writers – writing forces you to think precisely. This in turn enables you to speak persuasively. Whether selling or running a business we all need this. One speaker said, “What book are you writing?” We should all be writing a book on the lessons we’ve learned and how to succeed.
Clutter creates confusion, slows down learning, leads to irritability and stress. Take a look at your desk. Perhaps post it on You Tube!
4% of new businesses make the first 10 years. What are you doing to be on the list of successful companies? Not all of them will be profitable – this requires extra thinking. So what are you doing to stay alive that the other 96% just won’t do?
Everyone needs a coach, wise counselors, and great books to read. Success doesn’t just happen.
Whether in sales or running a company, you need a clear vision – one that makes sense. If your vision is to make a certain amount of money, it probably won’t happen. Making money is the result of a well constructed plan and vision, not the core of it. It’s just one of the gauges of success.
Fire your team every year – mentally. Picture everyone gone, then figure out who you will rehire for the coming year. Those that don’t make the cut have been on staff too long.
Hire the right people. Things you don’t like in the interview will be even more annoying once they start. Once hired – invest in them. Everyone needs training in order to keep growing. This is expensive, yet if costs less than having untrained people, or people who over time, lose their edge.
Stay out of debt. Companies that take on big debt to grow are making a mistake. Interest will eat at your profits for years to come. Remember, top line revenue is a poor measure of success.
Avoid 50/50 partnerships – they rarely work.
Charge the right amount. Companies tend to charge too little for their consulting services. This requires a solid value proposition, but is necessary to grow.
If you want to make a million dollars, then you had better have million dollar people, million dollar coaching, million dollar training, and million dollar abilities.