5 ways to motivate your team (and money isn't one of them)‏

Here’s my motivation check list...how many of these questions can you say YES to?

If you alone are responsible for the sales results where you work, ask the questions of you. Otherwise ask them for your team and anyone who sells on behalf of your company.

1. Does each member of your team know where they fit in to the bigger company objectives?
2. Do you know the higher purpose of each of your team?
3. Are your team’s targets realistic bearing in mind your industry’s current market conditions?
4. Do your team members only very occasionally contact you for guidance?
5. Do you know the meta-programmes of each of your team?
6.  

So...how many did you answer yes to? Clearly the more you could answer yes to, the more motivated your team is likely to be.

This morning I quickly jotted down just a few of the many principles that I think are important when it comes to motivating a sales team. Of course there’s many more but I’m pushed for space and you’re pushed for time. So let’s throw a bit more light on these five.

 

Where do they fit in?  

Be sure you’ve explained where everyone fits in to the bigger company picture. Where is it all leading? Company growth? How much? And what’s their role in achieving that growth – individually and as a team? Make it simple. No need for fancy charts!  

 

What’s their higher purpose?  

Each of your team needs to have identified a higher purpose for themselves. In simple terms why they are doing what they are doing? And you need to know that purpose. Are they working towards a new or bigger car? A bigger house? An engagement ring? To retire early? Find out - and remind them regularly. Help them to constantly make that link between their day job, their target and that higher purpose.  

 

Targets should be er...on target  

Set your targets too low and it will be feet-up time for everyone. Set them too high and you ‘lose the team’ i.e. everyone knows they’re unachievable, so unconsciously they don’t try. I’m for flexible but stretching targets which take into account the prevailing market conditions, which may well conflict with those the Managing Director came up with 8 months ago but which now look pure fantasy. Let him/her explain their budget away elsewhere - in the meantime set stretching, realistic targets which will get the best out of your team right now.

 

Do they have to ask you about everything?  

If you hired them to do a good job, trust them! Surely they don’t have to ask you about everything? Let them scuff their knees and they will grow into the role. Sure you might have some challenges along the way but you’ll end up with a motivated and developed member of the team – and you get some of your time back too! Read this previous article for more about giving your team more autonomy.  

 

How are they wired? 

Heard of Meta-Programmes? These are the ‘internal wiring’ mechanisms that make up the individuality in each of your sales team. Know these programmes and you’ll never look back in terms of motivating your team. Remember each of your team are different – so your approach needs to be too. Click here for an example of just one meta programme (there are up to 16 in total!). You'll see how useful meta-programmes are for communicating with your team - and your customers.  

 

What about money?  

Phew - I’ve ran out of space and I haven’t even mentioned money. That’s deliberate though. Most meaningful research suggest money is only ever an effective motivator in the short term. And that’s borne out when I talk to sales directors and sales teams. 

For now, work on getting these five right and you’ll have a more motivated team – and more sales success.

Until next time

Leigh

PS; Remember to grab your copy of "The 9 Biggest Sales Mistakes"

   

The 9 Biggest Sales Mistakes identifies those key mistakes that are stopping sales teams, companies and business owners fulfilling their sales potential. The report establishes how to identify these errors, indicates how they can be eliminated - and sets out how to avoid them.

  

  results@sales-consultancy.com

020 7903 5426

www.sales-consultancy.com

For previous 'Tricks of the Trade' go here

How BAD are the questions you're asking?‏

Firstly – and I can’t stress this strongly enough, be in no doubt that your sales results will be directly influenced by the quality of questions you ask.

So how good are YOUR questions? 

The subject of "open questions" figures in just about every sales manual ever written and every sales course ever delivered. That's not a coincidence. 

To sell effectively you need information. Your prospects hold it. You need to acquire it. If you can conjure up a bank of well crafted open questions, you're in business! 

If you’re new to this game let me quickly define an open question as a question that cannot be answered yes or no. And when you’re looking to open up a conversation with a potential customer, just about the least useful answer you can get is yes, or no.   

Open Questions  

Asking open questions will get your prospect talking, which relaxes them and helps to build genuine rapport in no time. They'll get a sense that you're really interested in them and their needs.

 

What you get in return is the vital information you need - initially to make an internal judgement on how (or indeed if) you can help your prospect. Secondly you'll be able to match your offering specifically to their needs, the very needs which you beautifully elicited earlier with your fabulous open questions!   

Listen to their answers  

By the way, listen to their answers! I find that good listening skills are lacking amongst many sales people. Your sales conversations will flow much more freely if you relax and focus on their answers, not what your next question will be. Listen properly and with good intent - and your next question will just appear naturally.   

Here are some ideas for open questions - tailor them accordingly to your specific needs whether you're selling to other businesses or direct to consumers.  

Examples of Open questions... 

What's going on for you in your business right now?

Currently, what are your biggest challenges?

What's going well for you?

What's not going well for you at the moment?

Which areas are you most concerned about?

Where does your business/team need to be in x months/years time?

How do you see your business developing?

What action have you taken so far to...?

Where are you in terms of....

What's the next stage?  

And if in your business the potential customer arrives/phones up and asks about the availability of the ‘XYZ’ product, you’ll need to know the reason they chose that product from your vast range. For example you may be out of stock and want to offer an alternative, or have an even better version more suited to their needs. Or just want to build rapport as you process the sale. 

The question to really open up any conversation in these circumstances is... “What attracts you to this xxxx”. When answering this question the customer will give you their full buying criteria (“it’s got this, it hasn’t got that”) – golden nuggets of information to help you complete the sale.  

Avoid questions starting with 'Why'...

...as they can be confrontational - no matter how fluffy and soft you make them sound. When you ask a 'Why' question you are asking for justification of their response. Your client will probably become defensive and give you an emotive response.   

It takes practice  

Think of your next selling or networking scenario. Think of crucial information you need to successfully promote your product or service and construct five open questions which will help you get that information and help you increase your sales success.

Until next time.

 

Leigh

PS; Remember to grab your copy of "The 9 Biggest Sales Mistakes"

The 9 Biggest Sales Mistakes identifies those key mistakes that are stopping sales teams, companies and business owners fulfilling their sales potential. The report establishes how to identify these errors, indicates how they can be eliminated - and sets out how to avoid them.  

results@sales-consultancy.com

020 7903 5426

www.sales-consultancy.com

For previous 'Tricks of the Trade' go here

Seal the Deal in 5 Minutes! A Solution to Closing those Sales…

How frustrating is it when you put in lots of hard work for little or no reward?

Perhaps you’ve been working on a tender for a big contract only to see it cancelled, or awarded to a competitor? Or you’ve given a fabulous sales presentation, only for the meeting to grind towards its end with no sign of a sale?

Maybe you’ve quoted and you just can’t get an answer no matter how often you contact them? What about when you think you’ve been fobbed off - they probably don’t want your products but they won’t tell you outright so you keep contacting them ‘just in case’?

We’ve all been there - it’s frustrating and time consuming. The dilemma - do you chase old ‘maybe’ business or spend more time generating new enquiries?

Closing a Sale in 5 Minutes…

The Issue
The meeting’s gone well. You’ve got a fabulous connection with your prospect. Rapport levels are high. They seem attentive. They seem interested. You’ve impressively answered some minor objections that came your way. Yet there’s something that’s holding you back from asking outright for the business.

What to do next? 

The Solution
Three Killer Questions. Before you embark on the first question, make sure you have good levels of rapport with your prospect. If there is any ‘edge’ present, these questions won’t work. With fabulous rapport, they always deliver.

So, back to your meeting. It’s coming to an end and you need to close the sale.

Question Number 1
At the end of your conversation, ask:

On a scale from 1 to 10 – 1 meaning “it’s over…don’t darken our door again” and 10 meaning “we want you to start straight away”…where would you say we are?

THEN…SHUT UP! This is critical to ensure you give the silence that allows your contact to think.

Give them time. Allow your prospect to respond. They will give you a number. Don’t be too attached to the number. The golden nugget is their response to the next question.

Question Number 2
Ask… What would need to happen to get us to a 10?

SHUT UP! Again…this is critical. Give them more time to think.

Allow your prospect to respond.

You have now identified the gap between what you’re offering and what your client needs from you before they can say ‘yes’. You now know how close you are to securing the deal.

If you are able to resolve the gap immediately you’ll be able to close the deal there and then.

Some answers will alert you that these prospects are unlikely to ever buy. Disappointing yes but good to know there and then not several weeks and many follow ups later.

Question Number 3
Open question.

What would you like me to do next?

Their answer is usually like all the jigsaw pieces falling into place. They are explaining exactly what the next course of action is - talking as if you’re already on board.

Agree on the next course of action and be sure to maintain your control by agreeing when you will get back to them.

Asking these questions will change your sales results! They identify how close you are to a sale, they identify how big the gap is - and exactly what you need to do to bridge the gap. And you both decide whether or not you have the means to bridge the gap. All usually in a few minutes.

By slightly tweaking these questions you can use the ‘out of ten’ technique in other situations - for example staff appraisals and job satisfaction surveys come to mind.

Hope this technique brings you lots of sales success.

All the best…

Leigh

www.sales-consultancy.com
020 7903 5426
leigh@sales-consultancy.com

For previous ‘Tricks of the Trade’ go here

Decreasing Marketing; Increasing Sales

Most companies I help receive incoming enquiries - via the telephone line, emails, exhibitions, the list goes on. 

None of these companies convert 100% of those enquiries into a sale. Of course, 100% conversion is pushing it a bit! However – there’s no doubt that all of these companies had potential to increase their conversion rate, in many cases by a considerable amount.
A company in particular comes to mind. They took enquiries mainly by phone and converted 25% of these enquiries into an individual average order value of £997 – we’ll round this up to £1000 for ease of telling the story. 

Sales in volume were slightly over 10,000 a year so we’re talking about a £10m company here.
Having been called in to help, my first thoughts were what a crying shame that a massive 75% of sales enquiries were coming to nothing. Even sadder was that many of the 75% non-buyers were deemed ‘time wasters’ by the staff. I cringe at those words – in my book there’s no such thing as a time waster in sales and terming them as such reflects more on the seller than the potential buyer.

Within six weeks we’d got the conversion rate up to 27%. Now you might think that’s not much of an increase – and you’d be right. BUT – just this 2% increase in conversion rates equated to an annual increase in turnover of £800,000. Needless to say the training was deemed a big success.

The moral of the story? Don’t spend massive amounts of money on marketing when all you have to do is make better use of the leads that you’re already getting - sales success will follow.

How to increase conversion rates?
 
Here are a few pointers.

1. Ban the use of the words ‘time wasters’! I’m serious. Using this word in a sales environment engenders an underlying unconscious disrespect for potential buyers. I firmly believe that no one has got time these days to be a time waster – there must have been SOME level of interest for them to pick up the phone – check out a website etc.

2. Get technology in that can track enquiries and respond to them. This could be web analytics, a more sophisticated CRM, whatever it takes to know exactly who’s showing an interest – and which enables you to have a low cost follow up.

3. Connect! Yes I know some of this is very basic but…! It works. We found out at the company in question that their company was on average one of three that the potential customer contacted before making a decision. There were about 5 major players in their market at the time – and not much to choose between them in terms of product and price. So who do you think was going to get the business? YES – the one to whom the prospect felt most connected.

4. Connection is made through general rapport building and lots of curiosity – in sales terms known as good old fashioned open questions.

5. Structure. I’ll never be an advocate of scripts on telephone calls – I hate them – but a little structure can help considerably. So make sure you give the staff the guidance they need to succeed on the call.

6. Follow up when you’ve quoted. I can’t believe how many companies quote for business and then never follow up with at least a courtesy phone call. This is not hounding people – as a certain company’s ‘sales’ staff once suggested. This is called customer service, which, if we’re lucky, might catch on! If you don’t fancy following up quotes, you might want to consider an alternative career. Referring to suggestion 3, if you’re one of three companies that have quoted for a sale and you’re the only one that follows up, doesn’t that indicate a level of interest on your part that others haven’t matched?

There are of course another hundred+ tips on increasing sales and following up enquiries – but if you do these and do them well enough, your selling skills and your sales conversions will increase.

Converted yet?

Leigh
www.sales-consultancy.com
020 7903 5426
results@sales-consultancy.com

8.5 tips for better meetings‏

Meetings. Do you love or loathe them? 

Whatever your answer, you know that sooner or later you’ll be attending one! According to a survey, 45% of us are blighted by “having a meeting for the sake of having a meeting”.

 

Ring any bells? I’ve attended a few meetings in my time. Some excellent. Some not so! 

  

I thought I’d jot down some random thoughts on how to have better meetings!   

And I’d love to know what you think too!  

 

Here goes... =

Is the meeting necessary? 

If you’re thinking of calling a meeting, ask yourself if the meeting is absolutely necessary. Common sense? Of course it is but...well you probably know the rest of that sentence.

Is it essential that YOU attend?

 

The meeting might be justified, but is it really essential for you to be there? I spoke to someone a few days ago from a very sizeable corporate brand who told me of internal meetings he'd attended where he didn’t know several people around the table. Even by the end of the meeting, he still wasn’t sure why they were there! If your attendance is crucial, then maybe you could leave as soon as ‘your bit’ has been concluded? 

But...

 

A quick meeting can be much more appropriate than hiding behind a stream of emails. Sometimes there’s no substitute for face to face communication, so calling a colleague or two for a quick group chat can be the very best way to exchange views - and make decisions.  

 

Preparation

 

How well prepared will you be? Do you need to check a website? Linkedin profiles? Read a report? Read some previous email threads? Avoid ‘winging it’ – never a good plan!  

 

Your mindset

 

To get the best from any meeting, anywhere, you must ensure you’re in the right mindset. Firstly, know 100% what you want to get out of the meeting. Then, visualise having a great meeting! Run through it in your mind. Visualise where you will be sitting, what you will be saying – and the positive responses from others. Visualise a fabulous outcome. You’ll be training your brain to make it happen.  

 

Secondly, think about your demeanour before and during the meeting. As my industry colleague Simon Buzza commented recently, cynics and pessimists suck the energy out of situations and people. They can drag down group morale and make a challenging situation lots worse. Optimists on the other hand can raise morale and lift spirits. How will you act at your next meeting?  

Get there early

 

I’m not one for those late ‘power entrances’ that used to be suggested by some gurus a few years back. My view is to get there early, sit where you’re most comfortable, build rapport as others arrive - and notice...

 

Notice the others

 

Remember how you know the exact mood of your partner, child or best friend when they walk into the room, before they've uttered a word? Their expression tells all. So it is in business. You’ll get useful clues by noticing the demeanour of others as they join the meeting. Enthusiastic? Lethargic? Remember you'll give clues too.  

 

Get things done

 

This tip is particularly dependent on the type of meeting, but in general a good meeting should be around 60% -70% forward looking and only 30%-40% ‘rear view’. This might mean circulating information beforehand to cut down the time spent ‘rear viewing’ at the meeting itself. The overall tone of the meeting should be “OK, that’s what’s happened, now what actions can we take...”  

At ease

 

Do you manage a team? How comfortable are they in giving you their input at meetings? Are they at ease? Are they saying what they’re really thinking? That’s the aim. If you think you’re not getting the full story and they’re NOT at ease, you’ll need to ask the reasons behind that, individually later perhaps rather than at the meeting itself!  

 

I’d be delighted to hear your additional thoughts and tips around meetings and whether your sales success, has been impacted by meetings.

Until then

 

Leigh

PS: Check out my recent article for O2's "The Business" - Click Here to access "Losing Sales? Here's Why"

 

results@sales-consultancy.com

020 7903 5426  

www.sales-consultancy.com

 

For previous 'Tricks of the Trade' go here