The Battle, "New"New Clients vs Exising Clients

Running with you the Sales Rep

Yep, we have all heard this before, the cost of getting new clients, the need to get new clients
because each year we lose some existing client,
The back in the day example(which is still used today) the can full of water but with a few holes
in the bottom.

So what is your plan to try in simple ways to achieve the right balance, in terms of-
    Your time allocation to find new clients,
    The plan to grow business from existing clients,
    The plan to keep existing clients, minimising the decline in your client base size,
    The critical mass,
    Yes must use the word,client retention.

I worked with a business, 3 reps, they needed 35 clients more or less every month to trade,
we worked out by a simple formula, that they needed at least a client base of 50 clients
to achieve/exceed their monthly sales targets with 35 clients buying every month.
 So from here the plan took better shape!
The business lost about 20 clients per year( an opportunity to address) quite a few due to Service issues, Relationship issues, and some on price.
A good refresher for you guys.
Till next time go sell your way to Success.

Spring and Summer Sales Months

Running with you the Sales Reps

1st September is here and month or two summer months will be with us, What am I getting at!

For the past ten years I have been studying here in South Africa, "Do Sme businesses and their
reps do more sales in the period September to November B2B".

The answer is yes, most of the reps and sme businesses exceed sales targets/budgets.
Why, mindsets are more positive, more energy, people feel better with the sun in their face!
       -Also December and January are usually below par months, with most businesses closing
for two to four weeks over this period.

September to November will "only" be good for you if you where ahead of the game in, June
building pipeline sales, relationships, selling solutions?

It's not to late for you to have a great November,
-Look at which clients bought from you in Nov2011, a good starting point,
-Have there been any shifts within your client base,which ones have grown,
-Which clients give you their buying forecasts( they trust you)

Till next time go sell your way to Success.

Sales Rep -Self Analysis

Running with you the Sales Reps

The guidelines below depend on what level rep you are and if you are in the B2B sales game.
 It is always good business to sit back and take stock from time to time, it will also keep you
 a head of the game.

So in your, 40 or 50 or 60 hour week, how do you score yourself on the following,
10 being the best.
-How good are you at prospecting,
-Analysing clients needs,
-Presentation skills,
-Managing of your time,
-Negotiating the deal,
-Closing the sale,

Then-Face to Face communication, and Relationship building, and use of Social media to
network etc.

As a medical doctor has to keep up to date, so we have to, whether, it's our skills, knowledge,
research, shifts and trends.

If you have your own sales development plan, then the above is simple.
Till next time go sell your way to Success

Sale Reps and Social Media

Running with you the Sales Rep

Past number of days I have been finalising my SME Owners workshop ,and been in Joburg meeting with clients.
Let me firstly thank those of you from, South Africa, USA, China, India, Israel, Russia, Germany, UK, UAE ,Australia for viewing my posts, and support.

On my travels I look out for Reps, and knock up a conversation, which includes, chatting about SM,
I am so surprised that very few "work LinkedIn" yep they do  some of the others, but more on the
"social level".

If I was a sales managers in a company I would think twice about employing a rep if they could not demonstrate that they use LinkedIn, and how they make it work for them, just to be in the game,
 this platform is for business. Reps working with LinkedIn I believe will find life alot more interesting, those who don't give our sales profession a bad name!

I met a sales lady, about 26 age, in the cell phone business(B2B), she had heard about LinkedIn, but had not taken action to check it out, good bad, indifferent!, you be the judge.

Recently I asked the sales groups that I am a member of via LinkedIn, What research to reps do on new prospects before your first face to face meeting, looking forward to feedback.

Till next time go sell your way to Success.

Your/Sales Managers Observation Techniques

Running with you the Sales Rep,

Observation techniques are used in market/ marketing research, but to me it is a vital skill
needed by sales reps.

The critical focus point is on your clients behaviour do you really study their behaviour, the way
they communicate, their style etc. I will come back to this further in the post.

Do you know how your sales manager goes about observing you! ( I hope you do)

Back in the day, the 1980's I had a Branch Manager, who did alot of " management by walking around" he also spent time observing us at our Friday evening team get together at the branch pub.
He would sit at the corner of the bar with a scotch and puff away, watching the different dynamics.
We called him JR( from the TV series Dallas) I made a point of observing JR, interesting stuff, I had been selling for 4years.I learnt many things at those Friday "meetings"

Ok back to you guys, when observing, factor in,
-The setting you are in, is it a natural or contrived setting,
-Is it in your office or your clients, does this make a big difference?
-Is it at a social function with your client, a game of golf, lunch, etc
So I hope I have given you something new to think about( do you do it subconsciously)

Till next time Go sell your way to Success.

Do you have these Skills

Running with you the Sales Rep.

In a earlier blog I chatted about being at a consultative sales level, although on you business card
 your title may say something else.

Here's a few skills that you need to be better and better than the opposition rep's,

-Your " leadership" skill level, as Robin Sharma puts it's "be a leader without a title",
 what does these mean, being very good at looking for solutions( I hate the word problem, negative!)
 ability to see good opportunities, not just rush after every one that comes your way, manage your
 return on effort(ROE)
- Your sales IQ, moving to Business IQ, with sales reps I work with I try to ensure they get a good
 understanding of how the business works, all business are the same, but are different, you know.
-Managing your clients expectations, through better communications( yep I have certain tricks in
 this regard, that's what I get paid for) and improved needs analysis approach.

Clients want help, great advice, solution driven input and know they can Trust you, keep your word,this is part of your leadership skill.

Till next time Go sell your way to Success.

Client's Personality Profile

Running with you the Sales Rep

Following on from a few of my recent posts "about clients". As sales pro's we try to quickly  identify/recognise at our first face to face meeting, which 2 of the 4 styles the client is.
Controller, Analytical, Promoter, Supporter.

The next trick is to KNOW how to sell to them, for example, if your client is a controller/analytical,
what is your approach vs someone who is analytical/promoter. yes different approaches needed.

Yes we can not put people in "boxes", but we need some form of basis to work from, it also depends on what 2 styles you are.

I done understand that there are other type of style models ie-

Expressive,Amiable, Analytical, Driver

So briefly selling to-
Analytical, show, talk detail, do not push them for quick answer,
Controller, talk results, be concise,
Promoter, give compliments, show flexibility,
Supporter, watch their feelings, and your tone,
           To name a few.
Till next time go sell your way to Success.