Emma The sales manager’s view Unfortunately, staff turnover is still an issue for us, as many others are experiencing too. The “The great resignation” seems to have resulted in a lot of swapping roles in the sales profession. So, following on from my last article about email etiquette I have been spending a lot of time coaching my new team members on the sales basics. This month I thought it would be useful to share some activities I encourage my team to do “outside of the sales process” i.e., in between customer visits and calls. With everyone being so busy, it’s very easy to be “out of sight, out of mind” when we are not in front of a customer. Here then, are some ideas to counter this: Send useful insights When nurturing key relationships, it only takes minutes to send something useful to help customers with issues they are tackling. If we focus on “useful, not salesy”, then the impact is always greater. For example, we could send an article on implementing operational efficiencies to an operations manager. It sends a strong message that the customer is in our thoughts, and costs nothing. Connect Keep an eye out for who you can connect together in your network. For example, if you know of a customer who is looking to move jobs to another business, is there anyone you can connect them to that will help? Linked-in facilitates this, and when we give spontaneously, the universe nearly always pays back through the principle of reciprocity. Ask for help Paradoxically, asking for help can actually build a positive relationship, especially if we ask for help in an area that our customer feels to be an expert in. Who doesn’t like being recognised as a specialist / expert / etc? Job moves When customers move jobs, it can seem like a threat (i.e., we lose a good contact at an important account) It can also be an excellent opportunity. Genuinely and warmly congratulate the person who is moving, write them a linked in recommendation to help build their reputation, offer them support in their role. Guess what? They won’t forget you! Maybe you will get a call in a few weeks…

 

 

Tips from the front line

In 2021 Harvard Business review published an article called “Rethinking Negotiation – A Smarter Way to Split the Pie”. Was there something new to be learnt about negotiation? Of course! Many salespeople will be familiar with the analogy of splitting a pie in negotiation, and even cooking a bigger pie so there is more to split, (value claim vs value creation).

The authors argue that we often look at the wrong pie, and therefore end up with a sub optimal outcome. Or we allow unequal power dynamics to skew a fair split.

In essence, if we are clear headed about the value that is created by co-operating with a customer, then this value is to be negotiated.

By way of example, if we are a small start-up that sells a widget to a large customer X that saves them £10,000, we can fairly claim £5000 of the value. This is because, without our solution, there would be no value gained. Often, the negotiation only focuses on our price, delivery times, payment terms etc.

It’s an article well worth taking the time to understand if you are involved in high value negotiations.

A good read

Unless you had your head in the sand over the last 10 years, you won’t have failed to see the inexorable rise of technology in sales and marketing. Allegedly there are now around 8000 organisation providing technology to support sales teams! Trying to navigate your way through that maze, is well, rather challenging.

Fortunately, Darell Alfonso has done an exceptional job of making a scary topic much more accessible and practical with his book “The Martech Handbook – Build a Technology Stack to Attract and Retain Customers”. It’s a definite must-read if you are thinking about investing in technology.

“How Minds Change – The New Science of Belief, Opinion & Persuasion” by David McRaney is an interesting change of perspective for a sales audience. Normally, we think a lot about how to persuade, while this book focuses on how people are persuaded. Drawing on research from political canvassing, and other contexts, the author unfolds what we know about this fascinating area. If you are in sales, you will see yourself in the mirror in quite an enlightening way!

Trending

You-tube has been used by businesses for a very long time now as an invaluable marketing tool. What about Tik-Tok? Isn’t that just for the kids? Well, when Dr Maja Korica, a respected academic at the prestigious Warwick Business School decides to take to Tik Tok, then it is a signal that things are changing.

The rapid, speedy, witty format already has legions of fans, and there are already many successful entrepreneurs who have monetised the platform by virtue of their popularity. Good content always sells!

Our back yard Those of you who have participated in our trainings may well have experience the LEGO challenge. For those that don’t know, it’s a team challenge to build a small Lego car in the quickest time possible.

Over the 8 or 10 years this challenge has been running, many organisations have tried it. Initially, the fastest time was 11.0 seconds by a team of dexterous nurses at the excellent Benenden Hospital. Their fast finger work set the benchmark time to beat. Then the record was drastically lowered (2017) to 7.0 seconds by a hyper-competitive team from Aspire Sports in Birmingham. Their determination to win earned them the top spot, until their record was equalled (2019) by highly intelligent consultants at Europe’s premier boutique consulting firm, CVA. This autumn, the record was absolutely destroyed by a cross-functional team at Global Protein Specialists, Essentia in Helsingborg, Sweden. Incredibly, they took the time taken to build the car down to 4.0 seconds! Their success was based on a textbook example of very high-quality communication (allowing experts to shine and define the best build sequence) and disciplined team co-ordination in execution. It just goes to show what is possible when teams really work well!

Finally, we are very pleased with the progress of our partnership with https://mindtoolsbusiness.com/solutions/sbt to provide specialist sales management content for their small business tool kit. This is a vital on-line resource for start-ups and SMEs, who want to build a sustainable, predictable sales engine.We are now looking at the next phase of content production for the site, which will likely be focused on B2B personal selling. We’d love to hear your thoughts on what would be valuable for you. Please contact anderson.hirst@sellinginteractions.com with your ideas!

 

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from the Selling Interactions team