Sales Strategy « Dave Stelzl's Blog

Archive for the 'Sales Strategy' Category

Jan

Where’s the Plan

Categories: Leadership, Sales Strategy, Solution Strategy and Wise Counsel
Tags: annual budget, business plan, business strategy, hiring plan, kick off meeting, partner summit

I’ve written before, no plan is a plan to fail. It’s January – the start of the year for many. And even if your company isn’t on the calendar year, chances are you think about your income that way. Do you have a plan to grow this year?

Most of the people I ask, don’t really have a plan. Instead, they have put together a budget (which is not a bad start), which details what will be spent to keep the business running, and calls for a certain quota on sales. If the sales numbers are not met, the budget will not produce the expected profit. Half way through the year, managers will be sitting around wondering why they are not hitting their numbers, and hoping to make it up in the second half. This is not a plan. This is not a strategy.

Some companies will have an annual kick off meeting. Many companies are doing that this month. What will they accomplish? If they focus on product training, sales number reviews, and parties, I will be a waste of time. No one will remember these things as the year begins.

This week I am headed out to my company planning meeting. It’s a time to look back at what was accomplished, what went well, and an honest assessment of what did not go well. It’s a time to review who performed and who didn’t. In my case, the number of employees I have makes that easy, but for most, it’s an important and difficult step. It’s a time to consider what must change in the vision of the company, the mission you carry out, and how you are approaching the market – it’s strategic, not tactical. This should be taking place on a business level as well as on a personal level. It involves setting the high level goals with a plan to meet them. It means going beyond the dream of hitting a certain number and figuring out how it will be met. It also means getting rid of dead weight – things (or people) that don’t produce fruit. This year I will spend four days on this process – why? Because it’s likely the most important thing I do all year to make sure I am headed in the right direction.

Jan

Anonymous – Expect Security Issues to Dominate Headlines

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Categories: Opportunities, Sales Strategy and Sound Bites
Tags: anonymous, hacker, Marketing, roi, sales, selling security, Technology, Value Proposition

Anonymous strikes again (read the Article)…if you look through news articles on technology in 2012, most likely you will find Apple, Google, and Anonymous dominating headlines…at least on the business side news (e.g. Wall Street Journal). Of the three, most of us stand to capitalize on security news more than Apple or Google, unless you work for the latter. Do you have a plan for 2012 that leverages security trends? You should. Of all my clients, those specializing in security experienced the greatest bottom line growth. Areas to consider:

1. Companies that offered managed services with a security slant (Messaging), grew the most. When I say “Grew”, I mean, profit. Who cares about top line growth? Manufacturers and very large resellers who are publicly traded, perhaps, but for the traditional reseller and even small, privately held manufacturer, gross and net are more important. Managed services, is always a “security” sale (but often not treated as one), and is the key to developing financial stability.

2. Assessments where also a hot topic. In my latest book, From Vendor to Adviser (which is doing very well since it’s release in late December – buy it here), I discuss the need to move into a more consultative approach using discovery and assessment strategies. Clients who have made this a core part of their business development strategy are building business faster and more profitably than any other group of clients I serve.

3. Marketing events continue to produce strong results! Lunch & Learn marketing has been around as long as I can remember, yet few can tell me how they are benefiting from these expensive and time consuming events – with the exception of those engaged in security. We continue to get large audiences, executive level attendees, and a very strong sign up (Conversion) rate – averaging 75%! Still, companies continue to try other things, looking for diversity and point product selling.

Today we kick off the first 2012 Making Money with Security workshop! (You can still sign up – starts at 1:00 PM). I am looking forward to exploring all three in detail. Those that master security sales, will win in 2012.

Nov

From Vendor to Adviser Webinar Follow Up

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Categories: Sales Strategy
Tags: assessment, consulting, David Stelzl, discovery, study, technology speaker

Preorder Now!

A couple of key points from today’s webinar:

1. The discovery process deserves some re-engineering. It is by far the greatest accelerator you have once in the account, and is the thing that will take your team from being a vendor, to being seen as a strategic adviser. Don’t miss this point – don’t assume your consultants are fine doing what they do. Make this part of your company great, and you will beat the competition.

2. Every executive relies on advisers – in areas of legal advice, health, financial, and perhaps marriage, spiritual, and who knows. Who is advising them on the the proper use of technology? It could be you…but do you command the same respect they give to their investment advisers? You should…

3. The discovery deliverable is your ticket to “really big” business! Make sure it is great…spend some time on this. Don’t just write it, get advice on it, hire a writer if you have to – but pull together a sample that clients can’t refuse – then equip every sales person with a copy and teach them what to do with it!

If you missed this session, let me know and I will tell you how you can get a copy of the recording…

Nov

I Just Received an Exciting Offer By Phone!

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Categories: Sales Strategy
Tags: call blitz, call script, cold calling, outbound marketing calls, selling by phone

I just received an exciting phone call from a computer, letting me know about an amazing healthcare offer that I don’t want to miss! Should I buy it? I have received several offers from outbound marketing companies in the past who provide these computerized calling services…I don’t know what their success rate is, or what market this approach does well in, but given the number of times I get routed to vmail when calling on a client, I can’t imagine taking a call from someone’s vmail (at least that’s what these calls remind me of.)

If you have an opportunity to buy into a subscription that does this type of marketing, pass on it. This is not the kind of marketing that typically does well for high-involvement sellers. On the other hand, if you have received measurable success using this approach, I want to hear from you! It could be that I am wrong about this – if I am, I want to know it!

Oct

Important Point From My Session In Las Vegas

By Dave Stelzl's Blog 1 Comment

Categories: Sales Strategy
Tags: assessment, David Stelzl, document, ingram micro, las vegas, speaker, technology motivational speaker, VTN

Day 2 - Las Vegas

In both sessions I conducted this week, speaking on the power of the discovery process and how to leverage it to expand deal size, I polled the audience on a very important question; “How many of you believe the decision makers are reading your assessment reports?” Almost every attendee responded yes to the question – “Are you conducting assessments?” Only 1 or 2 out of nearly 100 believed decision makers where reading them.

Sadly, a handful of attendees didn’t see this as a problem! I asked them to relate this deliverable to a prospectus that might be used for investments. The purpose of conducting an assessment, in most cases, is to find the issues and persuade the company you are working with to take action. If they don’t take action – you’ve failed. In other words, if there are indeed, urgent issues discovered, and there almost always are, then when the company fails to take action, they are missing something big. You, being the one who really understands the issue, must see it as your responsibility to show them why it is so important, and how it should be addressed. If IT people see it, but those responsible for budget don’t, what good is it?

So why do so many of these documents go unread? Simply because they are assembled without decision maker involvement, and written without decision makers in mind. Take a look at the documents you are writing (or which are written by your team) and ask yourself, “Would my business level clients be interested in this, or would they even understand it?” If the answer is, “No,” some re-engineering is needed. For those who still don’t see this as important, perhaps a wake up call is needed.

Aug

Back to School

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Categories: Demand Generation, Sales Strategy and Wise Counsel
Tags: David Stelzl, demand generation events, prospecting, quota, selling, speaker, time management, training

Back to School!

It’s time to get back to school…that means our kids are back on a busy, productive schedule, with goals and timelines. But before that can happen, my wife and I sit down to evaluate where we are and figure out where we are going. Soon activities, holidays, and school work will crowd our days, and if we’re not careful, we’ll find ourselves busy, but not necessarily headed toward anything important. The end of summer signals a time for strategic planning for all of use! Don’t miss this moment!

Review the Plan

If you’re on the calendar year, you have one quarter left to make the year worthwhile. Hopefully you have a plan your working through to build your business – prospects you’re working on, a pipeline your closing, quotas you plan to meet, and career goals to take your business to the next level. If you don’t, you might want to get something in place for Q4.

Plan to Fill Your Pipeline Now

Once the holidays hit, people are hard to reach. Sure, there may be budgets at year end that must be spent, but setting up a strong pipeline early in the quarter makes year-end a whole lot easier. Get a call plan in place and start setting up meetings through September. Make a strong push to get as many meetings lined up as possible right now, so that you are working toward closing in October, or early November. Most projects can’t be invoiced until they are completed, so give yourself time to close and implement before year end.

Event Planning

Demand generation events are one of the best ways to build your business if you are looking for new clients. There is still time if you start now. It takes about 60 days to plan a worthy event, so that puts you into mid-October. Plenty of time to do the event and execute the follow-up plan. Follow-up could take anywhere from two to four weeks, so start thinking now. Otherwise you’ll be into January before you know it. You don’t want that.

Review Time Usage

The biggest issue in sales is managing time wisely. Where do you spend it, who do you focus on, and where is time being wasted? Sales is a busy business. Review your last three quarters – where are you wasting time? It’s like your family budget – if you don’t review it monthly, you may find yourself floating along, working hard, but not actually accomplishing your primary goals. Soon, you’ll look back and see that your time is spent, people are on holiday, and you’re hoping to make a come back next year. Too late…do it now.

Aug

No More Cold Calling!

By Dave Stelzl's Blog 2 Comments

Categories: Sales Strategy
Tags: blog content, brainstorming, social media marketing, Technology, twitter marketing, white paper

People don’t call you back? That’s because there are too many telemarketers with bad scripts beating you to the punch. Instead, try creating great content…when people receive great content, or see it on a blog, they subscribe. Rather than pounding phones, I’d rather be sifting through new subscribers. Start writing, speaking, tweeting, etc. But before you do, consider what content will really appeal to your audience. People want ideas – they want solutions to today’s problems. Rather than ranting about technology issues – think about the struggles your clients face every day. People would rather follow innovators than frustrated sales people.

Aug

Some of My Favorite Salesforce.com Comments

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Categories: Sales Strategy and Wise Counsel
Tags: Dave stelzl, discovery process, note taking, rapport building, sales meeting, salesforce

Taking copious notes has always been a discipline I’ve embraced. Whether in school, a seminar, or even Church, I like taking notes – not everything that’s been said, but the ideas that come as a result of the speakers insights. My CRM database, Salesforce.com is no exception! I use the history section to keep notes on meetings, but the description field is where I keep the important insights! Here are some favorites I come across as I call on people:

DON’T CALL

Requested free copy of The House & the Cloud

THIS PERSON IS NOT A DECISION MAKER

NOTHING EVER CLOSES WITH THIS ACCOUNT

Referred by ***** on ******

Gave exceptional feedback on my keynote at *******

Kids names are….

Spouses name….

Birthday….

Take notes, put them somewhere you’ll see them, and make them meaningful. Remembering key details, whether they say “This person never buys anything,” or “Birthday on ….” provide important direction on how to engage when opportunities come up. (Might be a perfect fit for carrying an iPad into your next sales meeting!)

Aug

Closing the Million Dollar Deal

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Categories: Demand Generation, Proposals and Sales Strategy
Tags: assessment, David Stelzl, discovery, executive coach, million dollar deal, proposal

How did one of my clients close a million dollar deal?

1. It started with an event – a prospect, someone she had not done business with in the past, came to an event geared toward educating our audience on the trends and risks associated with today’s cyber criminals.

2. An assessment was done – it was complementary, but led to a greater discovery process that was fee based. Not a million dollar assessment by any means, but capable of introducing my client to just about anyone in the company. This took a change in the solution provider’s approach – normally they would send the engineers in to gather some data, put together some plans, and pitch it to IT. All of this had to be changed – the sales person had to get involve with senior management; she had to put her consultant’s hat on.

3. Gathering business related information, brainstorming over the right questions along the way, and building a strategy to create justification along the way – this required figuring out exactly who would be involved in the approval process, and what politics might get in the way. Most of this was outside my client’s normal process – but she was willing to take the steps – take on the risk of failing in order to reach her objective.

4. Delivering the results – normally this would be emailed over to the client. We had to change this. Instead, she insisted on meeting with both managers and technicians. The presentation would have been given by her engineer, but not this time. Instead it had to be done by her. Something she wasn’t sure she could do. But she did.

5. In the end, they said they would take a look at it. No immediate close, but momentum in the right direction…two weeks later, a decision was made in favor of moving forward. What made this successful?

There is no guarantee – these are people, subject to every kind of inconsistency. My client’s job was executing the plan and hoping her clients would see her value. They did.
The discovery process had to change – it had to be re-engineered for executives, using impact related questions. The end result had to demonstrate impact vs. likelihood.
The report had to be written by non-technical people, in business language, and the presentation had to be delivered to business people by business people.

None of these things were in the sales person’s normal comfort zone – she had to step out, take a risk, and do something she had never really done. It could have failed, but it didn’t.

Jul

Wrapping up In Buffalo; David Stelzl – Keynote Speaker at the Ingram Micro Technology Solutions Event

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Categories: Sales Strategy
Tags: David Stelzl, hiring sales peole, marketing plan, roi, technology keynote speaker

At the Buffalo US Airways Club

This morning I had the honor of presenting to a group of business owners and sales professionals at Ingram Micro’s Technology Solutions Conference in Buffalo. I covered material from my, soon to be released book, From Vendor to Adviser…how do sales people move from point product selling to high-involvement selling; how do they reposition themselves as an adviser. People have been talking and writing about this for decades, yet it still seems to be a hurdle companies have yet to overcome. In a sidebar conversation I was asked, how long should it take a rep to ramp up? This business owner was asking, “If I hire someone to sell, how long should I give them to start producing?” This is a great question, and one more people need to be asking. Whether you yourself are that new rep, or you oversea a team or company, hiring and getting started with a new company in sales is no easy task. Some thoughts are worth considering:

1. Watch out for Retreads. I use this term when referring to sales people who were, at one time, big hitters. They may have managed large accounts, worked for global companies, and earned significant commissions and awards; but for some reason they failed to keep pace with the industry. For the past decade (perhaps) they have been hopping from one company to the next, or maybe the company they work for continues to employ them, but they can’t seem to close. Don’t become one, and don’t hire one. The technology industry moves fast, and old experience is just that; old. I doesn’t matter how old you are, it matters that you are a learner – innovative, creative, hard working, and a student of this industry.

2. Forget the Rolodex. If you’ve worked in sales long enough you may have actually used a Rolodex. Does anyone know what this is anymore? The point here is, don’t expect to find a rep that has numerous contacts who are ready to buy as soon as you hire. It happens occasionally, but don’t count on it. Instead, your company must be prepared to help with lead generation at some level.

3. Lead generation requires marketing. If you run or work for a smaller reseller, like many in today’s session, you can’t expect to hire someone who will go out and generate new leads, with enough GP to make it big in the first few months. I recommend companies hire with a marketing program in force. Paying base salaries, benefits, and guarantees to someone who is going to start from scratch using the Yellow Pages, is a slow way to start in this business. Plan events, webinars, and other marketing campaigns, and hire people while in process. Having a list of qualified leads is the best way to help someone ramp up their territory.

4. The Mentoring Process is important. Michael Gerber in his book, EMyth Revisited, does a great job of explaining what happens when managers hire in new people without any formal ramp up process. While it may seem expensive to ride around with your new rep, send them to some training, or hire a sales coach to work with them (one who understands your business already), the cost of not doing this is higher. Hiring people who take a year to ramp up is far more expensive, and if they don’t make it, you’ve spent a lot of time and money on nothing.

5. Careful who you hire. Learning to interview is one of those things few have gone to school on. It seems like hiring is supposed to just come naturally to those who manage, but this is far from the truth. Years ago, when I was running a large consulting and sales team, I spent a significant amount of time training people to hire great people. This was one of the best investments I have every made.