Sales Rev

JULY 2008

Welcome to the July 2008 edition of Sales Rev!

This edition of Sales Rev comes from Houston Texas where I am delivering sales process to a global client. Having visited Singapore, London and the US in recent week the economic news was quite gloomy in all areas. One area of hope was from Financial markets expert Marc Faber who is suggesting that oil prices would start to come off highs due to drops in demand. However he also suggested inflation would rise and the economies of the major countries would remain contracted for some months to go. As many of you know I am always one to look at the positive so included is a picture of me in England outside a wonderful country estate (where I was presenting) beside the owners country run about car. Some people are recession proof – why not you?

Please remember for the diary the Miller Heiman Sales Conference is on August 12th in Melbourne and August 14th Sydney. These one day events have excellent speakers from Australia and overseas on improving sales performance. More info below.

Cheers,

Rob

Contents

• So You Think You Can Dance
• Do you know your real competition?
• Supercharge your sales force

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE
Do you really know your buyers process?

Learn the Dance Steps

In the sales arena, as on the dance floor, misperception can really put a salesperson off beat. Like any dance, navigating through a sale depends on how well the two parties understand each other.

Prospects searching for solutions can go online for information (accurate or not) about us and the amount of organizations using Google as their primary information tool is getting frightening. You may not be aware of just how much they know about your company and your products perceived or otherwise. On top of this you may not know about the way they buy.

The Buying Process

Many times our buyers do not know there own buying process. This is not really a surprise as often our buyers engage with us for the first time as often buying a solution is not what they do every day.

While everyday we sell our solutions our buyers (unless they are procurement professionals) do not spend their days buying solutions. So it is a good idea to simply ask your buying contacts how the buying process works internally. Ask questions about approval level’s, timing, testing. Many times I have seen this assist the buyer to get the solution they want through their own organization.

Dancing in unison

Another key point is that a sales professional must recognize that the buying process is often moving long before the selling process begins. Without a thorough understanding of where your partner is on the dance floor, opportunities to step on toes abound. You might overlook a need, miss the urgency of their situation, ask for commitment too soon, or propose an irrelevant solution. You may even be involved to simply make up the numbers when a buyer is required to supply multiple options. Be careful of ABM situations ie they are calling you but the decision has “Already Been Made” (ABM). Knowing this allows you to walk away rather than wait precious time.

In summary before you move forward, be sure to:

• Assess the client’s circumstance to build a foundation for action.
• Determine your client's buying cycle and confirm where he is in the process.
• Arrange your time according to your client's buying cycle.

The more knowledge you can gather about your customer’s buying process, the better you can match your selling process to ensure solid results.

DO YOU KNOW YOUR REAL COMPETITION?

Do you really know your competition in business? Very often we focus on another supplier or a direct competitor however there are three other key areas of competition to our solutions.

1. Direct competitor
2. Internal – the client decides to do it themselves
3. Budget reallocation – they re-allocate the budget for you to another higher priority in the business
4. The do nothing

It is point four in my opinion that is often the biggest competitor to us but one that is very often not rated as a competitor.

SUPERCHARGE YOUR SALES FORCE

Melbourne 12th August, Sydney 14th August

The 2008 Miller Heiman Client Summit is for Sales Leaders seeking to raise the bar on overall effectiveness. As thought leaders in sales strategy and solutions, our mission is to help you rise to the top of your game. The event is an opportunity to hear best practices, case studies, and key insights to help you fully leverage the role of Miller Heiman sales methodologies in the ongoing improvement and success of your sales organisation.

Key Highlights:

• The latest practices of Winning Sales Organisations
• Embedding Sales Culture
• Making the CRM link easy
• Beating your competitors to the punch with strong messaging

Register Now to join your executive colleagues to share best practices and learn strategies and tactics to achieve the highest level of effectiveness from your sales team.

For more information, please contact Leisa on 03 9887 6967 or
email leisa@businessperformance.com.au

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