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Post Modern Communication

  "Improving Presentation Ratios"

  "Case Study: Jump-Start Those Inactive Leads"

  "Setting Sales Priorities"

 Writing Advice for Sharp Sales Proposals

Expanding Corporate Diversity

“Improving Presentation Ratios”

Recently, I worked with a company in the information service industry whose sales representatives appeared to be having trouble at the presentation stage of the sale. Not enough sales were closing for the company to meet its quarterly targets.

The company’s managers, I learned, were encouraging reps to meet with their prospects once and only once -- and then to return a second time to present their proposal. The supervisors I interviewed felt that reps were wasting precious time whenever they met with prospects more than once to get information. As a result, they tried to discourage third or fourth visits with prospects.

The trouble was that, within the target industry this company operated, a single sales meeting really wasn’t enough time to gather meaningful facts.  Salespeople were presenting sketchy or ill-conceived plans that didn’t match what the prospects were really trying to accomplish. All too often, they were making presentations to people who had no authority to buy what they had to offer.

Here’s the recommendation I gave the client: “Make sure your reps are presenting to 1) the right person, with 2) the right plan, for 3) the right dollar value, and on 4) the right timetable. Let them go back for a few extra visits to nail everything down. See what happens. If your sales reps are confident about these `big four’ elements, the closing ratios will improve, and closing the sale will become a fairly simple process.”

I emphasized that, before the reps presented any proposal, they were to develop a preliminary outline of that proposal with the help of the decision maker. They were to verify their information in an informal setting before passing along a final plan.

The presentation, I stressed, should contain no surprises; it should be preceded by appropriate verification as the sales reps worked through their outlines with prospects. For instance, a sales representative might say: “One of your goals is to keep this project under $30,000 due to budget constraints. Our price for the job would be $25,000, with half due on signing the contract and half due on completion, which will be no later than August 1, 2000.” 

I predicted that the numbers would improve if the sales representatives followed my advice on confirming the ‘big four’ elements before making any formal presentation. To do so, I counseled, the reps would have to determine the following information about any prospect:

• What the company does

• Who the individual decision makers are... and what they are trying to accomplish

• Whether the company is currently buying from anyone else

• If there is a competitor on the scene, how and why the company decided to go with that competitor.

• The timetable for implementation

• The dollar amount of the deal

Senior managers accepted my recommendation and devised a new selling plan for the reps.  Salespeople were encouraged to learn much more about the prospect's business on the first appointment - and to return with an outline, rather than a final proposal, on the second visit.  This outline was to be used as a verification tool.  A formal proposal could be the centerpiece of a third or subsequent meeting.

The results were striking.  After only one month: reps were presenting an average of 10 more on-target proposals to prospects; they were also asking more questions to get a greater depth of information.  I estimate that closing ratios improved by 25 percent.

If you are rushing to present the proposal in your own sales process, rethink what you doing.  Ask yourself:  How am I gathering information now?  How reliable is that information?  How can I use proposal outlines to verify my information... and formulate a plan that will more closely fit with what the prospect actually does?

"Case Study:
Jump-Start Those Inactive Leads"

“Thanks for calling to confirm – but I’m afraid I’m going to have to cancel our meeting for next week. We’ve decided to put a hold on all our spending in this area for now.  We’ll be re-evaluating in a couple of months. Keep in touch, okay?”

It’s part of the sales landscape – a law as dependable as gravity. No matter how effective, persuasive, or experienced a given salesperson is, some percentage of that person’s promising leads will turn into “opportunities.” These are static contacts that aren’t moving through the sales process and can’t be counted on to provide income – at least for the time being. 

The question really isn’t whether contacts will fall into the “opportunity” category, but what steps to take when they do.  How do you reignite interest and generate activity within your list of “cold” prospects? Canadian sales representative Gino Sette came up with an interesting strategy. 

Gino decided to write a letter to every prospect who had decided not to buy from him over a given period. Basically, the letter said this: ”It was a pleasure meeting with you awhile back to talk about what your company was doing.  Even though we were unable to move forward at that time, I'm still thinking about you.”

Gino then invited each “cold” contact to sit in at one of his company’s upcoming events. “This will give you an opportunity to evaluate, first-hand, the applicability of what we do to your business environment,” he wrote. “Attached is a list of all upcoming training where my clients have approved outside observers. I've also included a brief description of each of the programs."

According to Gino, he got calls from prospects who were very interested in observing specific programs, even though they had initially declined his firm's training.  Gino decided to write to each member of his active client base and extend the same invitation.  The letter begins as follows:  "First of all, let me thank you for allowing us to work with you and XYZ Company.  We are very excited to have you as part of our client list, as you are a significant player.  It is for this reason that I would like to extend the following invitation to you...

As his flurry of return calls proved, Gino’s innovative letter technique is an effective way to win back (or solidify) your position on the to-do lists of your customers and inactive leads. His idea can be adapted to training programs, open houses, media events, and any number of other occasions.

"Setting Sales Priorities"  

I worked with a company in the print production industry that was having a tough time recruiting new business. I was given the assignment of interviewing some of their reps and managers to learn what they were doing in order to determine what had to change.  

My interviews revealed some interesting information. Reps were very discouraged, and some even admitted that they wanted to leave their jobs. Managers were frustrated, too, because they were losing major accounts and could not seem to attract new business.     

The problem? Salespeople were devoting too much time (more than half of their day) answering customer service questions and problems. Reps were spending most of their time with existing customers on production deadlines, and the rest of their day playing catch-up on other tasks.   

As a result, the sales team as a whole was negative and in a state of panic. Internal issues aside, reps and managers had to increase sales and manage time more effectively.

In this specific situation, the sales team complained of “too many production problems to deal with first” as the reason they failed to get enough appointments.  How are you structuring – or not structuring -- your day properly? Examine your own sales activity closely to get back on track.

The main reason salespeople don’t win new accounts is because they’re not prospecting on a daily basis. I also find that some reps have no idea how to accurately project and monitor their sales figures. In order for you to succeed, you’ll have to do the following:

First, visualize the sales process and where your prospects are in the pipeline.  Are you talking to enough people to meet your quota?

Second, cold call every day -- without fail. Even if you have a busy schedule, you can set aside time either earlier or later in the day for calls.   

Third, evaluate where your prospects are in the pipeline and determine what has to change. Do you have enough deals ready to close? If not, what skills can you work on sharpening?

These strategies will help you dramatically:

* Improve time management
* Decrease overall sales-related stress

The print production firm we worked with made more cold calls and took a closer look at their sales process. As a result, they made sales – despite the internal struggles. You can, too!

The bottom line: Don’t spend too much time on customer service or internal issues. If you don’t prospect for new business on a daily basis, you won’t be able to sustain your long-term sales goals.