Sales Management

Be Selective When Choosing Car Insurance

2012-02-02T10:12:00.000-08:00

Much automobile insurance required by all licensed drivers but many of them do not know how to find the best insurance rates. Car insurance without paying careful is the same as you paying too much for your auto insurance. www.comparecarinsuranceonline.com is an online insurance comparison site and ensures that you receive all the discounts you the appropriate terms and can save you money on car insurance.
Online car insurance comparison cannot be underestimated, even after your car is insured. It's important that you investigate all options before choosing an insurance provider for your car, make sure that you are getting the best rate on your car insurance. There are so many factors considered in car insurance policies such as where you live, driving record, age and type of car you drive just for some brands. With all factors to consider, then it is very likely that you will find a car insurance provider that will offer much lower rates than other insurance companies.

Once you have selected insurance for your car, it is wise to check the rates given by other insurance companies. Car insurance as well as your circumstances is constantly changing and you may find that insurance companies are willing to offer the best car insurance varies periodically. Many car insurance providers offer various discounts to their clients who qualify for discounts. These discounts can relate to your driving record, safety features your car, age or other factors.

What Actuator That We Need?

2011-12-31T10:17:00.000-08:00

Actuator is a tool capable of converting electrical energy into mechanical energy (motion). Choosing the right actuator requires a little knowledge of mathematics and physics. Most of the actuators in the market produce rotation or linear motion, however there is also an actuator which is a combination that produces rotational motion and linear motion which will lead to fairly complex. So we must be diligent, industrious internet access for up to date with new actuators because many new products are marketed online actuators. Linear actuators are used to move things like the amp rack. They generally consist of a DC motor connected to drive the screw through a set of gears. Drive the screws arranged in a tube that also has a screw thread along the inside of the tube. Linear motion is when an object moves in a straight line. This is the basic concept that drives the linear actuator. We have to consider when choosing a type of linear actuator in accordance with our goals and needs. Some things to remember is the speed, stroke length and load rating of the Actuator. Programmability actuator is also a major factor when it is used and became one of the ones that also must be considered. A linear actuator such as 12 volt actuator can be used in almost every forum. You should really consider when choosing the right actuator for your project such as a particular security mechanism is required.

Five Key Challenges Organizations Must Overcome to Be Successful With CRM

2011-09-08T10:19:00.000-07:00

Since it first swept onto the scene over two decades ago, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software has become increasingly more mainstream. More and more companies are using it as a means to track key data, log conversations with prospects and clients, share knowledge across their organization and execute sales and marketing strategies.

It has become a tool that is a critical part of the overall sales infrastructure of successful organizations. Done well, CRM can be the best asset a small to mid-sized business has. Done poorly, it is a very frustrating time waster. It only works if you use it - and use it right.

As Darrell K. Rigby, Frederick F. Reichheld and Phil Schefter wrote in their Harvard Business Review article, Avoid the Four Perils of CRM, "many executives stumble into one or more of four pitfalls while trying to implement CRM. Each of these pitfalls is a consequence of a single flawed assumption - that CRM is a software tool that will manage customer relationships for you. It isn't. CRM is the bundling of customer strategy and processes, supported by the relevant software, for the purpose of improving customer loyalty and, eventually, corporate profitability."1

Outlined below are five key challenges organizations must overcome in order to be successful with CRM.

Lack of strategy

One challenge businesses face when they implement CRM software is that they have never had a good sound sales strategy to begin with. It's hard to automate what isn't there.

Failure to match the system to the strategy

Assuming that there is a strategy in place, further difficulties arise when organizations try to mold their customer relationship management and selling strategies to match an "out of the box" CRM solution instead of customizing the software to align with their overall sales strategy, territory management plan, goals and objectives. The software needs to fit the process, not the other way around.

Lack of user adoption and buy-in

Yet another challenge is user adoption - getting your team to not only use the system but use it as more than a glorified rolodex. Although this challenge is lessened if the CRM software supports strategies and processes that are already in place, it's still not alleviated.

Part of this is because it is basic human instinct to resist change. Change means that you have to think instead of run on autopilot and although, in the long run, proper utilization of the system will streamline the sales process, initially it's perceived as more work, more training and more headaches.

Another key reason that getting user buy-in can be challenging is that team members often object to the idea of additional administrative work. Salespeople feel like they are wasting their time if they are not in front of customers and moreover, they don't see the value of sharing their critical client information with the whole team. There is a tendency to keep information close to the chest - whether it be for job security or otherwise. Some even consider the "seen by one, seen by all" aspect of CRM to be daunting - especially if they are not hitting quotas.

Disengaged management

Furthermore, if they don't feel that the information they are being asked to enter into the system is valuable, they probably won't do it. If they don't see that management is actually using or paying attention to that data, they are even less likely to do it.

To get things moving in the right direction with the discipline needed for a sustainable effort, management needs to be on top of things at the outset and remain involved in the process.

Lack of resources - failure to plan for long-term execution and support

Another challenge organizations (particularly small to mid-sized businesses) face with CRM implementation and execution is they often lack the resources and IT expertise to engage a core CRM team who will take ownership of the system and ensure it is being used to its highest capacity.

The biggest issue most companies face when implementing a CRM system is that they don't have a dedicated resource to ensure all parties are trained and that the tools are optimized. In the absence of that resource, the tool becomes less of the strategic information reservoir it is intended to be and more of a glorified rolodex file.

In addition, organizations who don't fully understand the scope and costs involved with implementation, customization, data transfer, testing, maintenance and support of their new CRM software, can get derailed by unexpected and unbudgeted expenditures.

In summary, unless you frame your expectations, have a sales strategy in place prior to implementing the new system, get your entire team to buy into its value and use it, dedicate the resources you need for implementation and long term execution, properly budget for all the expenses involved and support your team through the implementation period and beyond, the system will not live up to expectations. In short, the software is only as good as what you put into it.

Territory Management: A Roadmap for Consistent Sales Growth, Repeatability and Scalability

2011-08-20T10:18:00.000-07:00

When it comes to getting to from point A to point B, the navigational process has evolved considerably over the years. While early settlers looked to the sun and the moon for guidance, nowadays we just turn on our GPS, plug in the address of our destination and mindlessly follow directions. The only hitch? You have to know how to use it and you have to know where you want to go. Without those key bits of information, the GPS is virtually useless.

It would be stretching it to say that with a plan and the right technology in place, navigating a sales cycle is as easy as plugging an address into a GPS and driving to your next appointment or making your next phone call. It is not a stretch to say, however, that without a territory management plan, an understanding of the buying process, a CRM system, a defined end goal and an understanding of how to maximize the effectiveness of the technology available, your organization will struggle to reach its sales objectives.

A good territory management plan is an absolute necessity for organizations looking for repeatability and scalability in their sales efforts. Essentially a roadmap of where you want to spend your time and why, it is a wide scale plan that pulls together multiple facets of your organization in a unified effort to:

    * Drive new business growth
    * Enhance the productivity of your sales reps
    * Improve sales coverage
    * Streamline your organizational selling procedures
    * Create a structure for performance measurement

It will not only force you to define and communicate your destination, when executed properly it will also help you get there in the most efficient manner.

A Unified Effort Involved leadership is integral to the success of any comprehensive selling strategy. It is no different with territory management. A territory plan needs to be a function of the entire selling organization, not just the individual reps. Think sports. Letting sales representatives come up with their own individual plans for managing their territories could be compared to throwing five guys out on a basketball court with no playbook, no coach and no defined roles. Sure they might score some points, but the likelihood that they are working to their potential is slim.

A great coach or a great leader always has a set structure in place and remains involved in the process on a day to day basis. Instead of a rep operating as a lone duck, he or she needs to have a framework to operate in and a resource to turn to comfortably for advice and mentoring.

Great leaders set targets, help carry out the plan, lead by example, grow the people/talent in the organization and make it a place worth caring about. They are committed to delivering on the company promise to the market and as a result they are rewarded by hitting their financial targets.

Getting The Pieces In Place In addition to a defined end-goal and involved leadership an organization needs to have the right infrastructure (CRM systems, rewards, training and feedback) in place so that all activities are aligned and measured with the overall goal of the organization. Not only does this streamline the process so your entire team is working towards the same goal in the same manner, it also enables the methodic cadence needed to manage daily sales activities. As the market changes, so must your systems. It is important to realize that these elements are not static but dynamic and have to evolve as things change quarter to quarter and year to year.

So Where Do You Get Started? Leveraging existing customer relationships as a reference anchor, create a plan based on what you know about the marketplace.

    * Determine whether the main territory driver will be geography, vertical market or both.
    * Develop a lead segmentation strategy (active, dormant, etc.) so that messaging can be more targeted based upon what you know about the account.
    * Establish a distinct methodology (outbound calls, targeted emails, broad-based thought leadership emails, etc.) for reaching out to each segment with a dedicated, consistent cadence.
    * Establish parameters for how long a lead will stay active before being moved out of the active sales cycle into the LeadGen program

Structure your contact relationship management system to give you a birds-eye view of what you have in the pipeline at all times. Ensure your CRM aligns with the buying process so it accurately reflects the reality of the actual opportunities.

Pull in your marketing team to build and consistently execute effective lead generation marketing and targeted email campaigns to support the sales efforts, build the brand and communicate a consistent story about what makes the product compelling.

Establish a system of review and measurement and report weekly on success of outbound calling, targeted mailing, impression mailings, opportunities created and deals closed.

    * How many calls made/ emails sent?
    * How many responses / opens?
    * How many move from target to dormant/active each week?
    * How many move from response to opportunity to close?
    * What is the messaging?
    * What is the age of the list / last refresh?
    * How fast is follow up taking place?

In summary, to execute a successful territory management plan, make sure your sales managers are integrally involved in the process, create a plan based on what you know about the marketplace, structure your contact relationship management system accordingly so that it will provide you insight into how you are moving leads to opportunities to clients, consistently review progress and adjust strategy as necessary.

Points to remember:

    * Make sure your sales managers are integrally involved in the creation and implementation of your territory plan.
    * Ensure you have the CRM and management systems in place to guarantee all activities are aligned with, and measured against, your organizational goals.
    * Remember that a territory plan is not static, but instead something that needs to be refined and nurtured to adjust to fluctuations in the marketplace.

... Or Partner Effectively

If you have a passion for product development and the operational expertise to run your business, but are constrained by current sales efforts, look to NuGrowth Solutions, a team of innovative, seasoned business development professionals passionately committed to helping grow your business through outsourced marketing and sales services.

We leverage your company DNA, product expertise and industry insight and take it from there, developing an executable territory management and sales plan. As an outsourced sales services provider, we do the hiring, we do the training; we invest in the state-of-the-art technology and framework for success. We become accountable for new client sales. You reap the rewards.

How to Boost Your Ticket Sales in the Last Minute

2011-08-18T10:17:00.000-07:00

Holiday season is approaching fast and all of us are turning to loads of ways to enjoy the festive fun. If any rocking event is coming up this holiday and you have tickets still left to sell, this article can help you fill the seats in the last minute. Here we are talking about all those important aspects, which can help you boost your last-minute ticket sales.

Telemarketing

Although telemarketing has lost its market with the advent of the online marketing tools, it works wonder when it comes to last minute ticket sales. When the social media promotion and email marketing is not enough for selling tickets, you can access the benefits of telemarketing for the same. You can speak to people directly and encourage them for buying tickets. Keep in mind that it's always easy to encourage people if spoken personally.

Video Marketing

A video helps you grab people's attention instantly without incurring a huge cost for promotion. With it, you can promote your event to larger audience, which is likely to impact your ticket sales positively. You must know that how fast a video can go viral. If you can do something effective and can create a buzz, it will boost your tickets sales in no time.

Ask Attendees to Refer to a Friend

This is one of the mostly used traditional methods, when it comes to last minute ticket sales. Attendees can help you boost ticket sales rapidly. You must have a potential base of attendees who came to your previous events. In that case, you can ask them to refer your events to their friends and acquaintances. In this way, you can gain a good number of people who will be interested about buying your tickets.

Send Reminders and RSVPs

Sending reminders and RSVPs to your guests help you stay connected with them. It also helps building your credibility and increase attendance rate significantly. You might have sent an invitation to your guests earlier, but what if they have missed it? Well, sending reminder is always a best option. You must consider sending a reminder email and RSVPs to them. It is likely to encourage those who have not yet bought the tickets to come forward. Apart from this, you have to follow up on every email sent with a phone call.

How the CIA Intelligence Process Can Impact Your Organizations Revenue Growth

2011-08-13T10:16:00.000-07:00

Introduction

Intel is the valuable collateral residing within a firm that drives Business Development and strategic revenue growth. One of the significant drivers of a successful BD process and decision-making is the ability to develop client "intelligence".

While there is an abundance of information available on how to develop intelligence around a technical opportunity, business opportunity, or financial opportunity, little data exists on how to gather Intel regarding the actual individuals involved in a relationship, outside of some government entities. It is important to understand that a good BD system or process continuously develops and validates personal Intel. An effective professional in Business Development focuses on individual relationships, making every effort to understand the prospect and their problems from the prospect's perspective, not their own. The BD professional understands the importance of gathering specific information relating to the individual and how that Intel affects the purchase.

From over three decades of experience, we've learned that departments, agencies and companies don't buy. People buy. It stands to reason then, that Business Development relationships are built around people and the resulting "human" relationships. In order for successful BD to take place, it isn't how much the prospect or customer knows about you. It's how much you know about them.

The following discussion outlines the process the Central Intelligence Agency uses to gather Intelligence, and it's a good one. Implementing these steps into your Business Development organization's processes can positively impact your decision-making on opportunities and validate your revenue growth efforts.

The Intelligence Cycle

Intelligence is so crucial to the U.S. government that it established the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), world-renowned for its capacity to collect, separate data and analyze intelligence to give the United States a strategic advantage. This advantage might be in providing security or information to pro-actively pursue high-priority targets of interest, i.e., the "bad guys."

Within corporate America you will be hard pressed to find many companies with a group called "The Intelligence Department." Generally, the Business Development organization is entrusted to gather "Intelligence," which may or may not be utilized by other areas within the company. However, much of what BD gathers is flawed and is usually more data than real intelligence. This flawed data is often utilized in "Competitive Assessments" or "Color Team reviews" and does not assist with making good business decisions but rather supports what is appropriately described as "drinking the company Kool-Aid" or "drinking our own bath water." The difference between companies that make good "Pursuit/No Pursuit" decisions is generally the ability of their business development personnel to gather real intelligence vs. just data early on. The ability to access and understand the real needs of a prospective client earlier on in the process has many benefits, it allows for better solutions to be developed, it allows for shaping of requirements and it allows you to drop the opportunity should it not be the right match, before you becoming emotionally and financially dependent on it. Gathering intelligence is an art and a science; some individuals are born with it, but just about everyone can develop the skills necessary to be as good as some CIA agents.

So what can the CIA teach us about real "Intelligence and how to gather it?" Actually, a lot.

It follows a five-step process called the Intelligence Cycle, a system of checks and balances that ensures things are done correctly which should equate to better intelligence. This cycle is easily transferable into a corporate environment and serves as a template that could be utilized by companies to ensure that the decisions to pursuit opportunities are valid and based on information that is real and vetted. Valid Intel is particularly critical in the early stages of the Business acquisition or Capture processes.

The five stages of the Intelligence Cycle are: 1. Planning 2. Collection 3. Processing 4. Analysis 5. Dissemination

Planning

The CIA spends a proportionally large amount of time on this stage. Plans are utilized to document what needs to be done, which individual will do it, what is known, what information is unknown, needs to be gathered and where it can be found. Discussions are held about who can provide the needed information, who might be best to gather it and other issues that may impact the ability to procure it. Various scenarios are also discussed on what contingency plans might be developed should the initial plan not deliver the needed intelligence results.

The CIA then develops a tactical plan to achieve the specified objective. This is then broken down to a call-plan level, where it documents who they are engaging and what questions need to be asked to procure the needed information. On occasion, this can be rather complex as the CIA may be required to contact a number of individuals in order to find somebody who can answer its questions. Sound familiar? This is very similar to the tactical planning that occurs within a Business Development organization; who do we need to call? What do we need to ask, know and find out?

More time is invested in this planning stage than any other because critical resources can be better harnessed when utilizing a plan. Having a plan assists in understanding what is required and who to contact to procure the needed intelligence. Often BD personnel are more comfortable with execution and don't plan as well as they can and should. This has repercussions and will affecting the quality of the intelligence gathered. For example, if you are on a call with a client and happen to bump into the CEO in the hallway (sometimes you get lucky), do you know the one important question you should ask or do you simply pass and miss the opportunity altogether?

Collection

This is the stage where the hard work starts and where many choose to begin or end the intelligence gathering process. The CIA compiles information overtly and covertly. It utilizes many different techniques in collection, from reading foreign newspapers to studying satellite images. The level of effort required in the collection stage is directly proportional to the difficulty of the objective.

As a Business Development professional, you also have a number of sources available to you as you begin collecting intelligence. No single source will be more important than the prospective client. This "HUMINT" (HUMan INTelligence) will form the core of the intelligence you receive, and being first person/personal Intel, this should theoretically be the most credible information you compile. However, your ability to solicit information by asking appropriate questions will also directly affect the quality and quantity of the intelligence you receive. Being perceived as a peer and trusted by your prospect will directly impact how open they will be to discuss their situation with you, and will directly impact how detailed they will be in providing quality responses to the questions you'll ask.

The collection of intelligence falls into two categories, primary or direct Intel and secondary or indirect Intel. Primary information is often referred to as "HUMINT." This is the Intel which comes directly from a human source, preferably the decision-maker or influencer within an organization. Secondary intelligence is information publicly available to everyone, so it's available to your competitors, too. Examples of this include utilizing Internet search engines, engaging with consultants, reviewing past awards and competitions utilizing the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

The collection of information is an area where organizations have invested much time over the years to ensure gathering is done in an ethical manner. Focusing on your Primary sources of information will generally keep you on the right side of the ethics debate. Business Development professionals who are engaged with their clients in a trusted business relationship do not need to employ unethical practices to gain an advantage. They understand the clients' needs and wants from their perspective. Professionals are comfortable asking any and all questions in order to fully comprehend how decisions will be made, what the specific requirements are and what funding is available. Armed with this first person/personal Intel, they possess all the relevant information required to influence or shape any of these areas if necessary.

Processing

It is in the Processing stage that the CIA compiles all the information collected and produces an intelligence report. The report will generally have a variety of sources and a range of different perspectives to assist in vetting the information. This information could vary from a translated document to a description of a satellite photo. In Business Development, this area is one where many organizations fail, since call or contact reports are not always completed at the level of detail required to make the gathered intelligence useful. Frequently, BD personnel do not possess the skills to gather the required intelligence, or they are anxious to move onto the next client and fail to capture the real intelligence as opposed to merely gathering data.

To illustrate, documenting that you made a good call results in a great opening line in a call report. But this assertion does not add any value to the intelligence gathered and is certainly of no benefit when it comes to making tough business decisions. One way to address this shortcoming is to be more diligent in preparing call scripts and call reports. Utilize your plans to develop your scripts, know why you are making the call and what Intel you need to gather. As you write your call report, be specific; list the intelligence you needed to gather, what information you actually were able to collect, and what the next steps in your engagement with this contact might be. All of the pertinent information should then be captured in a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) or other knowledge sharing system where everyone in the organization has access.

Many companies do not consider Intelligence as a corporate asset. Often management is more concerned about the number of BD calls being made, and is neither interested in the quality of the information being gathered nor its governance. There is a cost associated with every piece of intelligence that is gathered, i.e. salaries, travel and time. So it makes sense for the organization to value the information and make it accessible to everyone who may need it. If this is not occurring in your company, then your BD people are simply developing their network. When - not if - your BD people leave the organization, they will take all of this intelligence you have paid for and use it to further their careers with your competition.

Ensure that you have procedures in place to document calls and the intelligence gathered. Make certain that your BD leadership reviews these documents and provide coaching as necessary to assure quality Intel is being procured, and that it is valued as highly as some of your organization's proprietary processes or trademarked products. This information is the lifeblood of your organization and deserves to be treated as such.

Analysis

During Analysis, the CIA takes a closer look at all of the information, determines how it fits together, and ensures it is able to answer the original inquiry with the Intel. It assesses what and why it is happening, what might occur next and how it affects the country's interests. A Business Development professional needs to be able to think in this manner, too. Analysis at this level requires that the quality of the Intel be excellent, since it's difficult to make good decisions based on weak intelligence. Factor in where you gathered the information, the strength of the relationship with the informant along with their credibility, and whether you are able to validate the information gathered from others.

All information must be considered in order to corroborate the intelligence received. This is a critical activity because at this stage the threads of intelligence begin to weave tngether to help make informed decisions in your stage/gate or color reviews. It can also be used to provide competitive intelligence during your competitive assessment, or could provide vital Intel on the specifics required within the technical sections of your proposal.

Dissemination

The Dissemination stage could just as easily be named the Decision stage. There is a review of the analyzed intelligence, and a determination is made whether enough Intel has been collected to address the initial objective or if additional questions need to be answered.

The CIA then gives the final written analysis to the policymaker who started the process. After reading the final analysis and learning the answer to the original question, the policymaker may return the report with more questions. The whole process is then repeated.

Corporations use the written analysis to support decision making during "stage/gate" or "Color Team" reviews. It is during these reviews that the quality of the Intel should be evaluated and a determination made on whether there is sufficient and valid Intel to make the required decisions. Often the intelligence gathered is insufficient or needs further refinement. Thus more questions are scripted and the process begins again, with the plan being updated, contact list refined and questioning becomes more targeted and specific. Moving through the capture process, the intelligence generally goes through a number of iterations where it becomes more specific and hopefully increasingly accurate. General information is normally adequate for an opportunity to move into the Pipeline and the further you move through the capture process, the more targeted and specific the intelligence should become in order to make good business decisions.

It's easy to understand how the Intelligence Cycle that allows the CIA to keep America safe can be applied within your Business Development organization. The ability to find and analyze credible Intel is the real difference between highly successful customer centered organizations and those that tend to be more internally focused. The client is almost always the best source of intelligence! They make decisions for their own reasons and to solve their problems or issues, although they might not be able to articulate them well. Your grasp of their challenges needs to match their understanding; and to be successful, you must view their problems from their perspective. In the end, don't assume anything. Don't believe that just because they told you something, that it's the truth. People are human and have been known to lie (especially to sales people). Be skeptical of everything you hear and try to corroborate the information from more than one source. Doing this will improve the quality of the Intel gathered and the results will become evident in the decision you make.

The skills needed to gather robust Intelligence are critical to both Business Development and Capture Personnel. These skills can be learned, and there are a number of training curricula that will assist in addressing these skill gaps. Intelligence is the fuel that should drive all decisions within your business acquisition process. The ability to gather Intel is especially important for newly identified opportunities that need to be qualified as real. The information required to qualify them is critical to ensure resources are not wasted on opportunities that have little probability of success. Without robust intelligence, crucial decision-making in a firm's pursuit/capture process is compromised.

Skimping on these steps means simple data reporting supplants the in-depth analytics needed to deliver key insights concerning whether a "suspected" opportunity is in fact viable. These suspects masquerade as revenue growth prospects, but they can waste resources, personnel effort and the most limited component of all, time. Resources invested in suspect opportunities come at the cost of pursuing other qualified prospects that may be a better match for your organization's capabilities. And, as such, they can offer a higher probability of a win and resulting revenue growth.

During these changing, uncertain and challenging times, it's foolish and irresponsible not to be using a robust intelligence gathering and analysis process. Most business acquisition processes are aligned to utilize intelligence as opportunities move through each of the steps. We have found the main challenge of BD personnel to be the inability to ask the right questions to gather relevant intelligence that can be implemented to make good business decisions.

The Day the Job Fairy Died

2011-08-09T10:15:00.000-07:00

It was almost 30 years ago, but I can still remember it clearly. I'd just started my first "real" job working for a consulting engineering company and I'd been there about three months. Every day, someone had given me billable work to do. Pretty soon, I'd started to believe that a "Job Fairy" came around every night and put work on my desk. But this week was different. It was Friday and I was filling out my time sheet-but I didn't have an hour of billable work. The Job Fairy had died.

It was like a light bulb going on. I remember the realization: if I didn't have any billable work to do, "these guys" were going to fire me! I also realized that it was going to be up to me to find work to do. Nobody was going to take care of me --- and, if I really wanted to be successful, I could learn to find work for others, too. This is a landmark moment in a young consultant's life.

Of course, for most (including me), the big question was how to do it. Few scientists and engineers come out of college with the level of thinking and skills necessary to develop new business.

I was lucky, though. I had great mentors to teach me. Charles Gupton, Porter Knowles, and, later, Bob Winn, helped me realize that to be successful as a consultant, I was going to have to do more than just technical work. I was also going to have to develop new business. I remember Bob Winn saying, "We do three things in this business - sell, manage and do. People who learn to do any two of the three well, will do just fine."

Other than mentorship, I had little training. I learned by doing, but it was a long, slow process as my career progressed. But eventually, I became "unconsciously competent" in the Business Development area.

Career Progression

In a consulting business, the usual evolution of a professional's career is to start off working for a Project Manager. Early on, people in the company may help young scientists and engineers find work, but in tough times, this gets harder. The best thing for young professionals to do to develop "job security" is to learn to "market" themselves internally. To insure a steady flow of billable work, they need to do a great job with the projects they're assigned, and then "network" heavily within the company to make sure that those senior individuals who manage new work know their skills and seek them out when they have work to do.

As time passes, successful professionals will probably begin to manage their own projects. For many, this will be their first real exposure to clients. Their goal must be to do an outstanding job by making sure that clients get what they want - on time and within budget. When they do this, they will "grow" additional work "farming" with their clients and begin to develop a professional practice. Clients will seek them out because they are professionals that can be trusted to look after their clients' needs and get the job done.

Eventually, as their careers progress, professionals may be called on to assist their firm's growth by developing new business. This is where it starts to get hard for most people. Developing new business requires "cold calls"-visiting people they don't know and believe are trying to "sell" them something. In fact the harder they try to "sell" services, the harder it gets. The skills required to be successful in this new endeavor aren't taught in college and learning through trial and error is a long, tough road.

Mechanical Limitations v. Conceptual Limitations - Knowing What to Do, How to Do It and Why It Works

Investing in training in business development can accelerate the learning process. In almost any sport, a few hours working with a good instructor, coach or guide is worth weeks of trial and error.

Many traditional "sales training" programs focus on presenting mechanical skills- the "what to do" - prospecting, qualifying, learning who the "influencers" and "decision makers" are, and "closing".

But it's not all about understanding and doing the mechanical skills - the "what do you say after you say hello". For most scientists and engineers, the biggest hurdle is conceptual - it's how to do it, why it works and why they won't do it -- the six inches between their ears. It's not just what to do. We find that even though they may be taught what to do, they won't do it, because they can't get past their conceptual problems.

For many, the biggest conceptual hurdle is that they associate "traditional sales" with what should be "professional business development". In our work with literally thousands of professionals, we know the words that everyone associates with selling and uses to describe "salesmen"-- "slick", "sleazy", "pushy", etc. For too many "traditional" salespeople, it's an accurate description - it's how they have been taught to think and act. Is it any wonder that scientists and engineers don't want to be "salesmen"?

However, they learn that in professional business development, their purpose is to provide their clients what they need or want in solutions, fixing problems whether or not they purchase it from them. They learn that they are helping their clients --- and there is nothing "slick", "sleazy" or "pushy" about that. Business development is something they can do with honor.

Another conceptual problem that we see in many professionals is "fear of rejection". They don't understand that in the best of times, they will meet rejection most of the time. They have to develop the level of thinking necessary to understand that it's not about them. It could be timing, budgets, or a slew of other considerations. It just is. If they take it personally, they will fail.

Once these conceptual problems are out of the way, scientists and engineers are ready to learn the mechanical skills that will help them qualify leads and develop prospects efficiently and effectively.

Shapers, Fakers and Order-Takers

2011-08-04T10:14:00.000-07:00

Few positions have the success of an organization weighing on them like Business Development (BD) positions. An extensive investment is often required to onboard a new BD hire. Once a hiring decision is made, an even more substantial time and financial investment is required to allow the individual to develop relationships and begin qualifying and shaping opportunities. This investment may continue for many years. It's no wonder why hiring teams often feel like they are looking for a diamond in the rough.

Understanding how a BD candidate will perform in the role is critical and often hard to determine. BD personnel will fit into one of the three categories below, whether or not they (or you) realize it. Understanding where your potential new hire fits into these categories is imperative to their success in their BD role, and consequently, your ROI.

Shapers

Early shapers are revenue makers. In the current economy, it is a given that fewer opportunities will be chased by more people. Shapers proactively engage with clients and ethically work to change requirements in their organizations' best interest. Shaping is not a new concept and has been the focus of great BD people for years. However, very few individuals have taken the time to learn how to shape the opportunity during the early Opportunity Identification and Qualification (OI&Q)i Phase. Shapers are proactive in gathering intelligence early and working with the prospect to shape opportunities.

Fakers

Beware of the fakers. These individuals have great looking resumes complete with glowing accolades. But, begin asking tough questions and you will quickly find that they show a lot of activity, but never "close the deal". Fakers are often hard to detect until an organization has already invested considerable revenue and time in pursuing opportunities. They know everything about the opportunity, but they've had limited substantive interfacing with any prospects. At that point, it becomes increasingly hard to cut the loss. These individuals are good at finding the next "great" opportunity, they "drink their own bathwater", spin the data, and really believe what they have is valid. What you discover is that they seldom develop any high value human intel that allows for making unbiased, critical pursue/no-pursue decisions.

Order-Takers

Depending on their role, order-takers can either be a great asset or a tremendous liability. In a primary BD role they are a disaster, preferring to stay in the office waiting for the client to call and often busying themselves with administrative tasks to avoid engaging clients. Good order-takers are great when they proactively expand the current projects by harvesting additional revenue. These types of individuals pay the overhead, but in this new environment, they struggle to achieve continued revenue growth.

Three Positive Methods to Enhance Online Sales

2011-07-10T10:13:00.000-07:00

Do you think you're one of many online business entrepreneurs who struggle to improve their online sales? Online stores are becoming renowned nowadays as a result of ease and affordability they give for the buyers. Quite a few online shoppers think it is exciting to shop over the internet since they don't need to go from one mall to another in order to find the dress or gadgets they want to gain. All they should do is to search for the product thru the internet, pick it by simply clicking add to cart, then pay via credit card. Indeed, it is with such ease to do. That is the reason why several individuals are addicted to buying online.

For the reason that internet businesses are increasing largely at the moment, it is the responsibility of the business owners to take care of their internet site and look for tactics on how to consistently improve it. With regards to web shops, they have to come up with unique gimmick and update the website on the latest trend that may captivate the thrilled clients. Next are some techniques to attract the awareness of both faithful and new clients in order to achieve increasing sales.

Give Full attention to Few Merchandise for the Homepage
If you sell a number of goods online, try to put emphasis to only one item or one set of related products to be shown on your homepage. Discuss the strong key points and attributes of the product and allow the customers to ask questions about it. It is believed that this procedure can help increase the online sales considering that it offers them the complete details about the product at first view.

Include Several Strong points of the Product in the Headline
The headline is the very first to capture the attention of the clients, thus it must not be taken for granted. It should come with how the product can help the consumer not just what the product's name is. It should emphasize how the consumers can take advantage of the product or service. The online stores must not only seek to grab attention but also to make customers to check the details about the item.

Provide Eye-catching Images
Because your business is related to online shopping, be sure that the images of your items will appear real because it is essentially the most valuable sales tools. You should let the buyers to take a look of the item but not to fully reveal it because it can also kill the sale. Consequently, you need to take some first rate photos that can help showcase the item.

Seven Principles to Improve Your Healthcare Sales

2011-07-04T10:10:00.000-07:00

Yes, the principles contained in this paper will guarantee your success (no hyperbola here). And, no, I don't claim to be the all-knowing sales guru. Many great sales trainers have gone before me, and this paper brings together that collective knowledge to provide you with the correct principles for success.

This paper is about principles not techniques. There are hundreds of papers, books, tapes, seminars, etc. that will teach you different aspects of selling; how to better qualify prospects, ask the right questions, make a presentation, and close a sale. But without a correct understanding of the true principles of effective selling, you will probably struggle to achieve the success you desire.

1. Prerequisites to Success

Before you begin a sales career, you need to be completely honest with yourself. Do you have a strong enough desire to do what it takes to succeed? Do you like people? Are you comfortable meeting new people? Can you get up in front of other people and give a speech?...Or are you willing to try? Are you competitive? Do you like to win? Are you willing to learn new ideas?

If you can say "Yes" to all of the above questions, then read on... otherwise, maybe selling isn't for you. If you can't get over the discomfort of being in front of others, and you are not willing to work hard for success, you need to look into another career. Selling is the highest paid hard work or the lowest paid easy work... Take your pick. Which side of the equation do you want to be on?

For example, I have a brother-in-law that is quiet and reserved. He is NOT comfortable being the center of attention or in front of groups, and he's not very self-motivated. His wife tried for years to get him to go out and sell for a living. And during those years they struggled financially, because he could never overcome his timidity. Now he installs heating and air conditioning equipment, and he's happy and comfortable with what he does for a living (and is no longer financially stressed).

Don't make the same mistake he did, be totally honest with yourself!

You also need to make a commitment to give your career 100 percent of your efforts. If you don't, you'll never enjoy your work, nor will you have the success you want to achieve.

It's like when an airplane takes off from the runway; its engines must be at full throttle. If not, then the plane will never reach the velocity necessary to get off the ground. In the same way, if you are not willing to give your selling career the energy required, you will never get off the ground...but you will continue to struggle financially until you either crash at the end of the runway or commit yourself and increase the throttle and take off!

2. Skip the School of Hard Knocks

I've spent over 20 years in selling and relationship management through running a healthcare crm company. And for much of that time, I learned the good old fashion way, via the school of hard knocks. Let me tell you, trial and error isn't the most efficient way of learning. Sure, chemists and microbiologists make great discoveries using this method, but you don't have to learn that way.

There are many great people who have already blazed the trails before us, and if we are willing to learn from their experiences, we are guaranteed a "shortcut" to success. It's like having all the answers to the final exam right there before you!

From my experience, the most powerful tools to teach you the theory and practice of effective selling are readily available at your local library. Here is my top ten list of must reads:

    * The One Minute Sales Person, Spencer Johnson
    * The Greatest Salesman in the World, Og Mandino
    * See you at the Top, Zig Ziglar
    * Secrets to Closing the Sale, Zig Ziglar
    * SPIN® Selling, Neil Rackham
    * Why Customers Don't do What you Want Them to Do, Ferdinand Fournies
    * 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, Steven Covey
    * First Things First, Steven Covey
    * How to Win Friends & Influence People, Dale Carnegie
    * Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill
    * If Disney Ran Your Hospital, Fred Lee
    * Strategic Selling, Miller & Heiman

If you will take the time to invest in yourself and learn what the above writers teach about successful selling and human behavior, you will be half way to your destination of success.

3. You must use this New Paradigm for Selling (i.e., Managing Relationships).

To be truly successful we must, as Johnson puts it, "Sell On Purpose."

Selling On Purpose is a unique way at looking at selling and relationship management. Contrary to what mainstream sales trainers would suggest; It means to define your purpose in relation to the buyer's needs and wants, i.e., if you satisfy the buyer's wants, you satisfy your true purpose. This will change your whole perspective to selling.

Instead of "selling" a customer, you focus on helping the customer to buy those products or services that will get the customer what he/she wants. Or in the case of Physician Relations, help the Doctor get the most out of what your facility provides, and you will get the physician referrals you desire.

"The fastest way to achieve your goals is to stay on purpose. The fact is, with a product or service you believe in, selling is inherently purposeful. You do add value. You help people solve problems, seize opportunities, and help them to feel better about themselves."

Johnson goes on to say, that "to Sell On Purpose, is to help people get the good feelings they want about what they bought and about themselves." And here's the paradox, by helping your customer/physician get what he/she wants, you will invariably find the enjoyment and success you want. It may seem completely counter-intuitive, but I promise it works!

From my own experience, when I changed my focus away from making "sales", to helping my clients satisfy their wants and needs, my sales increased significantly.

And there are also other side benefits: Once your customer understands that you are only interested in solving his problems and meeting his needs and wants, the walls of distrust disappear. Instead of putting you off and fighting you; you become a team working together to solve mutual problems. It's incredible how your stress levels will decrease, and your job fulfillment will increase when you switch to this way of thinking. It really works!

4. You must really believe in your Product and/or Service.

Selling is a transfer of enthusiasm. It's the process of transferring your enthusiasm and belief in your product or service to your customer. As a result, to be successful, you must truly believe your product is better, more efficient, at a better price or that you can provide better service than your competition.

I can't over emphasize that if you do not believe that using your own product/service is in the best interest of your customer, you will not be able to produce the enthusiasm necessary to make the sale or increase your referrals!

In fact, unless you are willing to buy and use your own product/service, how can you possibly generate enough enthusiasm to get your customer to buy your product or service? (Assuming you can buy it... it might be hard to buy a Boeing 747 if that's what you sell.)

I recently observed my niece as she began her selling career selling expensive knives and cutlery. She told us how these knives were better than any on the market, and I am sure she was sincere.

We bought a few as a duty to the family. However, I personally would never have bought the knives because of their exorbitant price. In fact, as soon as my Niece ran out of family members to sell to, she could not sell any more knives to anyone else because of the high price.

You see, deep down she did not believe that the knives value was in balance with their price, and as a result, could not convince anyone else (besides family members who felt obligated to buy) to purchase the product.

You must believe and be excited about your product/service, and you must believe it provides value. You must also be convinced that the product or service will benefit your customer, otherwise, like my niece; you will soon be looking for another product to sell.

5. Learn the Science of Persuasion.

If you really believe in your product/service, that it provides true value, and its price is in line with that value, then you must be willing to do everything in your power to persuade your prospects to own the product. Or, in the case of physicians, to use your facilities, equipment or specialists.

There are hundreds of techniques that have been taught over the years to help you do a better job of persuading your customers. You need to learn how to adapt these techniques to your own situation and be able to use them effortlessly.

From the Puppy Dog close to the Ben Franklin, and dozens of others, effective persuasion techniques are available in hundreds of books. I highly recommend you read Zig Ziglar's, Secrets to Closing the Sale to become proficient in using these methods of persuasion.

If you can honestly say to yourself that your customer "must" have your product or service, you will be able to create the kind of determination and enthusiasm needed to convince even the most hard-nosed prospect to buy (or refer)!

6. You must know your Product/Service.

The biggest frustration I experience when I'm investigating some product or service, is talking to a sales person who does not know as much about the product as I do. The more times you tell a prospective client that "I don't know" or "I'll have to get back with you" the more likely your prospect will look for somewhere else to get the product or service. You're doctors must have confidence in you in order to feel safe in referring their patients to your facility. If you don't know your capabilities well enough, you will have a difficult time building the confidence necessary to get the referrals.

Another aspect of knowing your product is your ability to deal effectively with objections that will certainly come up in a typical physician meeting. If you know your capabilities well, and can anticipate the concerns of your doctors, you will greatly increase your closing ratio.

Do your homework. Understand what your facilities strengths and weaknesses are, and know your competition.

7. You need to have a Competitive Advantage.

If you don't know what your competitive advantage is...find out! You need to give your customers a reason to buy exclusively from you. That reason may be a new technology that is not available anywhere else... better support, better pricing or something that gives you an edge over your competition. Your advantage is your unique selling

proposition. And, as a result of this advantage, your prospects must buy from you to get the benefits desired.

Now I realize that many times you do not have control over your facilities offering and it's pricing. Nevertheless, you need to work with your marketing/sales management to establish a competitive advantage of some kind or create some sort of specialization that will give you the advantage you need.

Failing the above (no unique selling proposition), you can still create your own personal competitive advantage...by being someone your doctors prefer to work with. The reality is that even if you have a technical, price, etc. advantage, your doctors will usually prefer to refer to someone they like. Therefore, sometimes your unique selling proposition is you.