Shoots of recovery - what's the outlook?

The green shoots of recovery - such a lovely phrase, and one spread across the news of late to herald a drop in unemployment and the IMF predicting a 2.4% growth for the UK economy; apparently  the highest of any major European economy.   Sounds reassuring and encouraging, yet I wonder what the true impact of this for businesses and I suspect that some will benefit sooner and greater than others. 

Well, I've recently (unscientifically) tested my suspicions when networking, and so far the feedback is mixed.  Some feel that staff development and training is still viewed as a discretionary spend by some businesses, and proposals issued during last year are still awaiting approval, and may not achieve this until Spring.  Other anecdotal feedback about the procurement of services and technology would suggest this is a higher priority for some companies, though one hopes they invest in some training to maximise its use. 

So what can you do to get your business ready for those opportunities?  Here are 3 thoughts:

1.       Dust off your sales and marketing plan - if you've been conducting less marketing over recent periods, the chances are your plan needs to be reviewed and activities critiqued to ensure they will support growth

2.       Let people know your still here - similar to the sales and marketing plan, your previous customers may have had less to spend in the last few years, and your interaction with them may have decreased to reflect this.  If they are ready to buy again, don't assume that you are the only supplier they will contact

3.       Meeting demand - you may have downsized your team or diverged into other product or services to keep the business going.  If your old customers do come back or buy more, are you able to increase productivity or service an increase in customers and their needs?  Evaluate theses scenarios in advance and know how you will sustainably deliver this

It's a concern that if Britain is split on the recovery, those businesses that are still bunkering down are likely to miss. You've seen the motorway signs "is your car prepared for winter?" - ask yourself is your business prepared for the opportunities of 2014? 

Here's to a great year.

 John

John is a Director of Vector Resources Limited and helps businesses increase sales and improve sales performance.  Find out more at www.vector-resources.co.uk

The season of giving

This week I co-hosted a workshop to help growing businesses get themselves and their customers motivated for the coming year, and it was insightful to hear how many people were motivated by helping others achieve more.  They recognised that by working with other business owners and assisting one another led to stronger relationships and opportunities than simply ploughing on in a belief that sharing would weaken their business.

This prompted me to think of when recently I worked with a number of business owners who were looking to reinforce or refresh their approach to sales and marketing. Each one has since sent me an update of how they are progressing with their actions and putting the suggestions and techniques I shared into practice, and I wish to share a couple of examples with you.

It was very rewarding to witness a 60 second pitch this week from a consultant who now shares what they offer confidently, proudly, and most importantly with clarity - we achieved the core message for this pitch within an hour, and he then practiced and refined the message until he owned it - I even received it as a video message the day after our session.

Sometimes we can increase the value of something we are already doing or planning to do - by making simple tactical changes.  Elliott owns and runs a clinic in north Kent offering osteopathy, sports massage and personal training.  When we met, Elliott already had a clear marketing plan, however he wanted to gain more referrals from his customers, yet like many was unsure of how he could confidently get his customers to take action. 

 

Elliott had already shared with me that he had ordered a small quantity of branded tops to thank loyal customers, and through our session Elliott chose to offer these instead as an incentive for customers to refer others.  Even better, and you can see it in the photographs, the customers are initiating the conversation thanks to his simple message displayed near the garment in the waiting area.

Growing businesses are a creative hive of ideas and plans to boost what they do and how they do it.  Be like Elliott - take practical action and take a further step towards success. 

I've really enjoyed seeing my customers continue to grow this year and I look forward to work with and helping many more with practical support in the coming year.

I wish you all a wonderful festive period and a successful 2014.

John

John is a Director of Vector Resources Limited and helps businesses increase sales and improve sales performance.  Find out more at www.vector-resources.co.uk

 

Warm up for your cold calling

For many, calling potential customers is up there with having to do a 60 second pitch to a new group about their business. Even those familiar with calling prospective customers can feel anxious or tongue tied at times. With a bit of forward thinking and preparation, you should find you gain more confidence in your calling and see improvement in getting to speak with your new customers.

Before the call

Start with the end in mind - if you are unsure why you are calling, the person at the other end will struggle to understand too.  Write the purpose of your call on your notepad and speak it back to yourself (see Message).

Who are you calling - if it's a business, have you looked at their website?  I always take a look at the latest news section, about us, and people section, particularly if I'm unsure who I wish to direct my call to.  Use your time wisely and appropriately for the initial call - this will depend on the volume of calls you intend to make, your proposition and the information you would wish to be armed with.

Message - what is your proposition?  Why are you calling this prospective customer?  You may have had success with similar businesses who have found your proposition beneficial.  Be clear about the purpose of your call - keep it clear of jargon and brief, as you may have to state it once or twice before you get through to the decision maker.

Remember it's about the customer - am I really interested in how long you've been established, what ISO's you've have, your special deal or how unique you think your product is?  Build a rapport with me and find out a bit about my world (that is relevant).  Share with me how your proposition will benefit my business and how others like me have benefitted.  Be prepared for longer conversations.

When are you at your best - plan time to make your calls when you are at your best/sharpest; block 30 minute chunks out in your diary to make the calls.   Consider when your customer might be best disposed to take your call - would you expect to have a good conversation with a restaurant owner between 11.30 am and 3 pm?

Role play it - get a colleague or friend to play the customer and role play the call.  This provides a safe testing ground to hear what works and it can provide some crucial feedback and leanings about the messages and conversation you intend to use. 

 

During the call

The clichés do work: stand up to make your call; smile; have your notes to hand to keep you on track.  Be polite and confident - if someone answers your call, I assume they have decided it is convenient to speak with you.  If they tell you it's not, make sure you agree a time for you to call back.  Make every call count - use the opportunity to gain a bit more information, such as what time the decision maker usually starts/works until; name of their PA; email address.

 

After the call

Make sure you update your database with the outcome of the call.   Keep track of your activity and hit rates: calls made/ calls connected/ decision makers spoken with/ appointments made - these can be very insightful.

Make a note of how successful you felt the call was; how you felt during the call, and what you might have done differently.

And most importantly give it time - the more you do, the more proficient and comfortable you will become, and the more success you will have.

 

 

John is a Director of Vector Resources Limited and helps businesses increase sales and improve sales performance.  Find out more at www.vector-resources.co.uk

The value of free

Have you ever struggled to get take up of your free seminar, free quote, or free consultation?  Has it become that even in business that some of us are sceptical of a catch, or that we feel or think that free has little or no value?

Yet what truth does this have, as free is still being widely advertised - "come to our free event, have a free trial, take a free test drive" - so does it work, does it have value? As sometimes it may feel that we struggle to 'give "it" away for free'.

Free on its own carries little value - it's the experience associated with what is being offered that builds the desire to use or take for free.  If you've ever commuted into a mainline station in London you'll regularly see promoters handing out promotional giveaways of cosmetics, confectionary, magazines and drinks.  A swarm of people change their course, anxious to get this new product for free.

When it comes to an event, seminar or consultancy, the purpose of free is to attract interest from a range of people who you hope will attend, increase their curiosity about you, and hopefully do business with you. 

Some event organisers in an attempt to address the mind-set of 'free' may place a nominal charge to encourage attendance on the day, and contribute to the cost of refreshments.  This can really slim down the guest list particularly if this is a new event or trying to attract a new audience, though at least you can be mildly confident that someone will show up.

To achieve success we should consider who our likely respondents are, and what would be their motivation to engage with free. 
There are numerous ways we can provide added value - collaboration with other subject matter speakers that compliment your business and will be of interest to your audience, the venue, and 'take away' materials or plan - and if you are providing refreshments make sure the biscuits are of a good quality; or cake if you wish to get my attendance.

Thanks for reading - for free.

 

John is a Director of Vector Resources Limited and helps businesses increase sales and improve sales performance.  Find out more at www.vector-resources.co.uk

Why the wise should not always choose the best seller

Should the sales manager be a better 'sales performer' than their team? 

Being a sales manager of a team brings its own rewards and challenges – managing sales colleagues, sales performance reporting, financial projections, hitting/exceeding team targets, and developing a portfolio of clients. Most are responsibilities that the 'solo' sales executive may have had limited, if any, exposure to.  Yet there are times where a high performing sales person is promoted to a team manager position as a way of retaining them. 

This often occurs when the companys’ ability to acknowledge the worth' of the sales person is limited, or when the justification for an increase in salary requires them to have a role with a 'higher level of responsibility'.  All too often the 'new' sales manager receives the trappings of their new role - upgraded tools and toys, bigger salary and greater capacity for commission - yet is simply left to get on with it. 

There are many good sales managers out there who do develop their team members and who involve colleagues in various aspects of the sales managers’ tasks; though this is not always the case.  With an absence of support (such as mentoring and coaching) or solid leadership the new manager is at the peril of their inexperience and other ‘forces’. 

Of course it can all work out well, particularly if the sales person has a desire to be a team manager. Though by simply moving your best sales person into a management role, rather than assessing their ability to lead a team, you may have already taken a risk with your customers, the team and their results.

Recognising that it’s the sum of parts (the team) that leads to the greater success is sometimes overlooked. Think of the coaches who have supported successful sports people – some were good, yet few were great in their own sporting career – however it’s their ability to work with and enhance the performance of their protégés that make some of them great coaches.

This is the same for good sales managers who lead, coach and mentor their teams. They are able to demonstrate skills and provide qualitative feedback that enhances the abilities and results of their sales people.  Yes, individuals transcending into sales management should be good at sales, however sometimes just picking the best sales people to be the team manager is not always best outcome for your customers, the business or the team. 

What do you think?

 

John is a Director of Vector Resources Limited and helps businesses increase sales and improve sales performance.  Find out more at www.vector-resources.co.uk

 

Motivating a sales team is all about money - right?

August 2013

What gets you fired up each day?  Maybe it’s the enjoyment of your job, the people that you will interact with, the chance to participate in your favourite hobby, or even the randomness of your day?

Though how frequently do we share what motivates us with family, friends, colleagues or associates? I imagine not that often. Besides why would they want or need to know?  An interesting thought, yet how regularly have you heard others say “they don’t motivate me” or “my manager doesn’t know what motivates me”- challenging when the insight into what does motivate the individual might be less than obvious.

So surely motivating sales people should be easy and straight forward as they are all driven by the same things – money, company car, gadgets, sales competitions, more money –right? 

Well there is some truth in this and money can be seen as a strong motivator, yet I believe that this list paints quite a superficial picture.  Of course many of us need or want a source of income to pay our bills and to fund our lifestyle, albeit the company car and gadgets are often tools that enable us to do our jobs or perform them better.  I believe there are other factors at play that provide motivation for our sales people, particularly when the individual is established within the company.  This is supported by a TED talk by Dan Ariely that looks at this in more detail and draws on 7 studies that reported on what makes colleagues more productive and happier at work. Ariely summarises that it’s more than money, and that people are motivated by meaningful work, by other’s acknowledgement and by the effort they’ve put in.  I can see his point, that if you value the work you do and the way you do it, hopefully others will do so too – whether it’s your customers, colleagues or boss.

Yet this still seems quite broad, like the earlier list, and we may have to give more effort to discover what really motivates our sales teams and colleagues.  I was faced with such a situation a few years ago. Whilst I was gaining an understanding of what motivated my sales people, this was less evident across our sales division and comments like “my manager doesn’t know what motivates me” were starting to emerge.  It also made me consider whether my colleagues were aware what fired me up each day and what maintained my motivation through the ‘highs’ and ‘not so highs’ of sales leadership.  

The exercise I used was quite simple and required minimal preparation, and became the icebreaker to a sales coaching day I was facilitating for about fifty colleagues.  Each participant was asked to bring an A4 sheet with a drawing or image that represented what motivated them to work in sales and/or work for our organisation.  The sheets were collected and placed on the walls by one colleague and then we circulated and wrote on each sheet who we thought was the owner of the image.

This certainly played to our competitive streak and the results were very interesting, both in what we perceived motivated colleagues and the reality of what actually did.  Some were quite obvious to guess (apparently mine was) and yes there were numerous money images, yet others revealed drivers that some of their co-workers had been less than aware of.  There was a mixture of images of holiday destinations, photos of families, yet also images of our customers, teams and our organisation. Even some owners of the money images explained a deeper purpose that included spending time with family and lifestyle choices. 

So before you get around to purchasing that bottle of champagne, gift voucher or luxury weekend break to thank or motivate your sales people, think about or better still find out what they would truly value. It could be that your timely acknowledgement of a task done well and reinforcement that what they do has purpose and meaning has greater impact than the bottle bag left on their desk months later. 

Or maybe it's always just about the money...what motivates you and your team?

 

John is a Director of Vector Resources Limited and helps businesses increase sales and improve sales performance.  Find out more at www.vector-resources.co.uk