by Julie | Feb 20, 2020 | Uncategorized
Nearly all of my clients want to grow their revenues. This may be due to stagnant sales with their current customer base, new product introductions, or a real or perceived downturn in their target industry. But let’s be honest—can’t we all benefit from additional customers and sales?
So, to help all of you out, I compiled a list of action you can take right now to help grow your sales.
- Call your customers. Nothing beats a personal phone call.
- Personalize your offerings. Every customer has different needs and therefore may need a unique solution or personalized touch. You don’t have to create a whole new product, but you could customize it so it meets unique needs.
- Educate your buyers about all your products—but do it naturally, not as a one-sided presentation.
- Listen to what your customers are saying. Take the time to understand the meaning behind their words. You may need to ask some checking questions to confirm you understand.
- Offer solutions, even if the solution isn’t something you can sell them. A good salesperson is constantly focused on providing valuable information for their customers because they want them to succeed, not just to make the sale.
- Ask probing questions. Most salespeople get stuck in a rut when it comes to asking questions. How many different types of questions do you use? Have you tried the Best/Least, the Magic Wand, or the simple but extremely effective Tell Me More questions?
- Give them a referral. A warm referral is much stronger than a cold call. And if you know your customers and their offerings, you should easily be able to introduce them to someone who could use their product.
- Ask your current customers why they buy from you. Chances are, the answer may surprise you. Then use that information when communicating to your prospects.
- Be clear on your product benefits—but keep price out of the equation. You never want to sell on price alone.
- Don’t prematurely advocate. If you haven’t taken the time to develop trust and uncover the customer’s unique need, you will probably lose the sale. I like to tell my clients that “we are going to date for a while.” I want to make sure I understand my client’s needs before proposing a solution.
- Don’t make assumptions. It won’t serve you well, even if your assumption is correct.
- Communicate in the buyer’s language, not yours. Your customer doesn’t care about your internal processes—she cares about how it benefits her.
- Manage your time wisely. This is one area that very few people have mastered. (I developed a great process to help you master it—just ask me!)
- Ask for the sale. In order to make a sale, you must raise task tension. It isn’t enough to show up—you must move the sales process forward.
- Ask for a referral. Your current clients love working with you, and you love working with them. I’m sure they have friends or business colleagues who could benefit from working with you.
- Show your passion. People love to work with people who love what they do!
- Express your gratitude for having them as a customer. When was the last time someone did that for you? It felt pretty good, didn’t it?
- Be bold. Calling customers and/or prospects can be a little scary, but not hitting your sales numbers is even scarier. Recognize you are not alone with this fear, and not making the call doesn’t make the fear go away—you just compound it with stress and negative thoughts.
- Develop a sales process with metrics, roles and responsibilities, and goals. This should include leading indicators, not just lagging—i.e., number of sales calls per week (leading) vs new accounts closed (lagging).
- Reward yourself. Selling isn’t easy. It requires discipline, focus, strength, and perseverance. Create some milestones for yourself and take time to celebrate the small victories.
If you need help with any of the above, send me an email, or better yet, call me. My proven process can help every company increase their new account production by 30% in just the first year.
by Julie | Feb 13, 2020 | Sales
I met with a prospect this week and we were discussing her perception that she isn’t a good salesperson. I asked her what she thinks a salesperson’s role is, and she said, “To come into a meeting and tell people what they should buy.”
Well, I had news for her: The days of this kind of selling are long gone (or they should be). A good salesperson takes time to understand her customers, their goals and how to help them reach those goals. Today’s sales professionals are focused on helping customers solve problems.
Most of my clients don’t have sales teams that tell the customer what to buy. But I have found that many of them are reluctant to ask the probing questions that will uncover the customer’s true needs. Those needs could be around reducing total cost of manufacturing, or developing an innovative product, or increasing internal efficiencies. But if you don’t ask the questions, you won’t know, and then you are reduced to selling a product, not selling a solution.
If you modified the approach of your sales process to be solution-focused, would that improve your close ratio? If your goal every time you called a prospect was to provide some value, would that result in increased sales?
If you want to increase your sales, and develop customers who want to share their problems with you because you are a solution-focused supplier, send me an email. My proven sales process has resulted in close ratios that increased by 30% in just three months.
by Julie | Feb 6, 2020 | Sales
| If you are paying attention to the news, you know there is a lot of economic uncertainty right now. Yes, our economy has been doing well over the past 3+ years, but several current factors may have an impact, including the upcoming election, Boeing’s 737 Max, the European economy including Brexit, and the coronavirus. Each of these factors could or will affect our customers, our suppliers and ultimately our businesses. If you are concerned about a decrease in sales, it is probably safe to assume that your customers have the same concern.
But here is the good news. We can take steps now that will either prevent or minimize the effect of these factors on your businesses and your customers’ businesses. The following are 5 tips that will keep you on track to increased sales:
- Understand your value proposition to your customers. Do you know why your customers are buying from you? Many assume it is because of your prices. But that assumption is wrong probably 90% of the time. Customers are buying from you because you are helping them add value to their product or service. But you won’t know the real reason unless you ask them.
- Ask your customers what other projects they are working on. You may have other products that could help them achieve their desired results. But don’t lead with your product benefits. You need to understand what they are working on first.
- Offer ideas that could help them reduce their Total Cost of Operation. This is different from lowering your price. It could mean offering a more expensive product with a longer life, a different method of packaging or shipping, or an innovative approach to the current process.
- Bring positivity and energy to the conversation. Don’t be afraid to talk about what you are doing internally to overcome current challenges. This may spark some ideas for your customers to apply.
- Call your customers. You won’t get the information you need through an email, no matter how diligently you ask all the above questions. Even in this day and age, phone calls are better than emails or texts.
If you aren’t sure how to how these five tips can increase your sales, send me an email, and I’ll call you to demonstrate how I can quickly help increase your sales with my proven process. |
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by Julie | Jan 30, 2020 | Leadership, Management
There comes a time in nearly everyone’s management career when he or she must decide whether to keep, redeploy or release an employee. A number of factors need to be considered when making this decision, and while the emotions should be removed, this decision also requires compassion. I thought I’d share my process, which I call PAID to Act, for helping clients ensure they’ve considered all the factors.
Passion
Does this employee demonstrate a desire to be in the position? This comes across in more than just words; it includes actions, non-verbal cues and attitude. What signals are they sending to let you know they have the desire to perform at the required level? Do they exhibit energy when assigned a new task? Are they willing to spend the extra time to make sure a job is done right? Or are they out the door at the end of their day?
Aptitude
If an employee has the passion, the next question is whether they have the skills needed to perform. There may be times when the employee needs training or coaching in order to increase their skill set. If the employee lacks competence but shows a desire to improve, then it’s still possible to retain the employee and develop their skill set. But there are times when it isn’t possible for the employee to develop the needed competence in order to fulfill the position. And that is when managers must make a hard decision: release or redeploy.
Importance
An employee might have the desire and aptitude to be in a position but might not understand its importance. Some positions come with a higher salary but also demand more time, a higher profile and the ability to make difficult decisions. Many people, especially younger employees, express a desire to be a supervisor manager without really understanding the responsibilities that come with those positions. Some management positions can mean additional hours and stress without any added glamour. Without a doubt, though, entry-level managers and front-line supervisors are the backbones of many companies. These individuals are often tasked with implementing the company vision while responding to each employee’s needs. No matter the role of the employee being evaluated, it is critical that he or she understand and embrace the responsibilities of the position.
Deliberation
You can’t make this decision without doing some internal reflection to ensure you have created an environment that provides the greatest opportunity for success. This can be a difficult thing to assess, but you must do so honestly. This includes asking yourself the following questions:
- Have I provided honest, direct feedback on the employee’s performance?
- Have I provided the tools the employee needs in order to thrive?
- Have I listened and understood the employee’s responses?
- Can I say with peace that I have done everything I could to provide an environment for success?
Act
If you believe you have done everything possible for a successful outcome, then the time has come for action. This action needs to Be Bold. Don’t hesitate or second-guess your decision. The longer you wait, the greater the risk for unintended consequences, including built-up resentment, degradation of team performance or spreading discontent to customers or suppliers.
Do you need help deciding on the best course of action? My proven process will assist you in reaching a decision. Call or email me today so we can decide the best course of action with all parties involved.
by Julie | Jan 23, 2020 | Leadership, Management
The Underlying Cost of Not Being Bold
Last week, I gave an example of a client who chose to be bold when addressing an employee-performance issue. In that case, the results turned out to be positive for both the employee and the company. Of course, it doesn’t always work out that way. So, if you’re hesitant to deal with an employee-performance issue, you might want to consider what that issue is really costing your business.
According to Gallup, disengaged employees have higher absenteeism, lower productivity and lower profitability. Gallup estimates that a disengaged employee will cost their employer 34% of their salary, meaning that a disengaged employee making $50,000/year will cost you $17,000. Multiply that by 10 employees, and you’re losing $170,000/year.
That number seemed a little high at first, but then I went back and looked at some recent engagements and what each client’s situation was really costing the business. Here are some examples:
- A mid-sized professional services company had a department manager who didn’t have the skills to manage his team, resulting in reduced productivity, more mistakes and a lower-quality product leaving the department. The owner estimated that this was costing his $40M business about $325,000 across the entire company, in key employee losses, additional installation labor and product redesigns.
- A $20M low-tech manufacturing company was struggling with lack of engagement in the supervisor who oversaw its highest-revenue, most technical department. Over a period of six months, the company missed more than $1.2 million in shipments and $300,000 in revenue and 50% of all shipped product was rejected by the customer. These two issues nearly put the company out of business.
- A manager at a highly technical manufacturing company lacked the interpersonal skills to manage a rapidly growing department. This resulted in a $457,000 drop in profitability in just three months due to numerous errors in quotes to customers, inefficient processes and a growing scrap rate.
If you have concerns about how a key employee is performing, are you ready to Be Bold and take action? Email or call me today and we can immediately begin to take steps to correct this situation. |
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