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Sales TrainingThe anatomy of a Sale from A to ZProspectingChecklist for Sales PeopleUsing Customer Profiles to Prioritize ProspectsHave I gathered enough info on this prospect, such as: Company sizeFinancial performance and potential, andThe companys customers and markets.Did I use the info to sketch out the profile of the prospect?How does this prospect compare to our ideal customer?Are there any red flags? What else do I need to know?

Keeping the Pipeline FullHave I ranked my prospects by their potential?Do my efforts and time match my prioritized prospect list?Which leads are not getting the attention they deserve?What value am I bringing to each contact with prospects? Solving a prospects business problemRelevant info for the prospects market or industry, orQualified leads and referrals.

Are my follow-up calls consistent and effective? Digging for Leads in Different PlacesWhat info or sources do I have that my competitors dont?Am I going the extra mile and expanding my contacts

Staying Motivated to Prospect Effectively Am I spotting the best prospects early enough?Do I have the right mix of short-term and long-term leads?ProspectingScenario with Follow-up question

ProspectingSnapshot HandoutWhere do salespeople excel and fail? Are top-notch prospecting skills the key to boosting sales success? According to 82% of sales managers, the answer is a resounding yes.An overwhelming majority of sales execs say salespeople would improve their performance and sales results if they spent more time prospecting. Most salespeople devote less than 10% of their time to prospecting and a whopping 75% spend less than one-quarter of their time keeping their sales funnel full. Among the most important factors salespeople should consider when qualifying and prioritizing prospects, according to sales execs:Type of company Past relationship with companyFinancial performance of the companyProspectingSnapshot Handout [Contd]To ensure their prospecting efforts are most effective, salespeople should use a profile of their dream customer to focus on the strongest leads.

ProspectingTale of the Sale #1 [Actual case studies]Mike Ashley was pursuing a prospect who was concerned only with price. When Mike was able to show him more than the money, he won a loyal customer. Id been trying to crack the account for months, but I couldnt even get an appointment.After dealing with gatekeepers and unanswered voice mail, I tried to have a face-to-face.I got the same message when I arrived at his office. He was completely tied up and there was no telling when he would have any free time. I left, but I didnt want to give up. I carefully studied his present supplier, and the only thing he could beat us on was price. We had superior delivery, service and quality. customers to the same price cutter the previous year. Both returned after they ran into quality problems.

Still no sale

After a lot of phone calls and time waiting in his office, he finally gave me an appointment but only to brush me off.Were both wasting time, he said. You cant touch my prices.He barely listened when I ticked off the value-added benefits he wasnt getting now. Value to him was simply a function of price.Just to prove it, he let me bid on a new projectBut at least we were talking now, and I had an opening to stay in touch. And stay in touch I did!My other two customers had run into quality problems shortly after dropping me.

An opportunity arises

I stopped by one day, and his assistant told me not to wait around for him.He was out in the field dealing with some major quality problems just like the ones my other two customers ran into after dropping me.His present supplier wasnt even returning phone calls, his assistant said.I left a note offering to help. He called me back and immediately accepted my offer.Price wasnt even mentioned.

Beyond price

I spent three days in the field helping him fix his problems. Hes now one of my best customers.The whole experience reminded me of that saying in sales: The way you get the sale is the way youll eventually lose it.If Id cut the price, someone else wouldve cut it even more eventually.Now someone else will have to show theyre more reliable than me and I doubt they can!

ProspectingTale of the Sale #2 [Actual case studies]One of the basic rules of selling is supposed to be: Never go over the prospects head. But after months of broken appointments and mixed messages, Les Stevens got an appointment with his prospects boss and closed a major sale. This company was located in my backyard and should have been a major account. But I had a tough time even getting an appointment with the purchasing agent. After months of phone calls, I decided the only way to see him was to go to his office and sit. He kept me waiting for over an hour, then told me that he never saw a salesperson without an appointment.

Pinpointing the problem

I tried to explain about all my phone calls but he cut me off with, You got 10 minutes. So I launched into my presentation, but I could tell from his reaction that I wasnt getting anywhere. He told me to send him a written proposal and he would get back to me. I called him the day he got my proposal to see if he had any questions. It was obvious from his reaction that he hadnt read it.

A few days later, I got a letter explaining that he was happy with his present supplier and saw no reason to change. It became clear to me that I had to find a way to get around this purchasing agent if I was going to sell to this company.

A new strategy

So I made a few inquiries and found the name of the manager who would be the ultimate user of my product. I was in her office the next day and got an entirely different reaction from my proposal. She asked me a few questions, and I could tell she was impressed. Then she asked a sensitive question had I met with the purchasing agent? I said I had but hadnt made any progress. Im not surprised to hear that, she said. He takes it upon himself to act as a barrier between us and salespeople.

Closing the sale

That was all I had to hear. For the next week, I was on the phone every day, uncovering her most important needs and explaining the advantages we offered. One morning I got a call from the purchasing agent, and I was in his office that same day. I walked out with a $75,000 order, and the company is now one of my major accounts. It never wouldve happened if I hadnt come to the realization that theres no such thing as an unbreakable sales rule. Salespeople can be far more successful if they free themselves from the constraints of worn out sales myths.

Tale of the Sale (a real-life selling experience) is recounted by a salesperson with an outstanding sales record. This Tale of the Sale has been provided by Les Stevens, salesperson for Lodging Management Software, Harwich, MA.

ProspectingTale of the Sale #3 [Actual case studies]Persistence is what makes the impossible possible, the possible likely, and the likely definite. Thats what Ken Howansky discovered with a former customer who hadnt forgotten a bad experience he had a few years earlier. I spent the first few months in my new territory getting acquainted with my customers. Then I decided it was time to do some prospecting. When I began reviewing some of the inactive accounts, one really stood out. According to the records, there had been no activity on this account for three years. Until they stopped doing business with us, it had been a major account.

Burned by the pastIt turns out that my predecessor hadnt serviced the account very well. The customer had some quality issues and also com-plained about late deliveries. I talked to the sales manager, but all he remembered was the customer had become very upset with us and switched to a competitor.Theres a lot of bad blood there, he warned me. Put your efforts elsewhere. But it had been more than three years, so I thought maybe the customer was over the hard feelings and would welcome a new face. I called and spoke to the purchasing agent who had raised the complaints. He was very pleasant, and I was delighted when he agreed to see me.

No forgivenessThe former customer hadnt forgotten or forgiven. He filled me in on a list of late deliveries and unreturned phone calls. It didnt take me long to realize that he had only given me the appointment to vent. I just sat there and took it. He ended by saying that he was satisfied with his present supplier. I left quietly, but resolved that I was going to get this business back.

Persistence earned me a breakI made it a point to drop in on him when I was in the area. His attitude softened a bit, but not his resolve. We tried your company and it didnt work, always ended the call. On one of my visits, I heard him on the phone. You were supposed to have that part here two weeks ago, he screamed. Let me help you out, I pleaded. He told me the part that he needed, and I was back in his office with it two hours later. That blew him away. Your predecessor let me down a few years ago. You just made up for it.I wont forget that. Sure enough, he didnt. Im doing more business with this account now than my predecessor ever did in the past.

Manager NotesGetting StartedUse Notes for Managers Only as a guide to your sales meeting. Two high-impact ways to start the meeting are: 1) Ask for prospecting strategies your staff has successfully used recently. 2) Pass out one of the Scenarios with Follow-up Questions which also can be found in this module.

IntroductionNo matter what you sell, prospecting is more than just finding leads and making cold calls. Its also a skill nearly half of all salespeople struggle with, recent research shows. Thats why sales execs are putting more weight behind their salespeoples prospecting efforts.Salespeople need to do more than spot and qualify the best leads; they need to position themselves to pursue the right prospects at the right time.The good news: Most salespeople are already looking in the right places for the info they need. Its mostly a matter of using the info and sources more effectively.With an effective strategy to qualify and nurture prospects, salespeople can keep their pipelines full and generate new sales more consistently. BREAK TIMEWhether you plan to continue today or in a week or other time frame , it is time to break to prepare for the next salvage of infor-mation. It is preferred you take a week or more break to put the previous topic into Action.Getting to the Decision MakerChecklistGetting the Gatekeeper to Work for UsTop salespeople get the screener to recommend them to the next step. Two keys to making this happen:Do not allow a No: After explaining your reason for calling, ask Who would be most interested in hearing about this? Treat the gatekeeper with respect: This is a person who can make or break our sale and should be treated that way.Responding to Tough QuestionsSuccessful salespeople anticipate tough questions and have a toolbox full of confident responses.Here are two questions we should always be able to answer:What is this in reference to?Is ____ expecting your call? Identifying the Players Once past the initial screening, the goal is to identify the key players in a buyers organization and get them involved.Questions to help identify these decision makers:Who makes the final decisions on budgets?Who else would have an interest in seeing the improvements that weve talked about?Who would be the end-users of this product/service?Proven Ways to Get to the True Decision Maker We need to make sure we are working with the person who can give us a Yes. Two questions we can ask:Is there anyone else who should see this information?Who else needs to be convinced to make this commitmentGetting to the Decision MakerScenarioCaught between the contact and the decision-making committee?

Sales Manager Jack Hayes walked into his office, dropped his briefcase on the floor next to his desk, and looked up to see his salesperson Bob Ash in his doorway.

What can I do for you, Bob? asked Jack.

Jack, sorry to bother you so early but Ive got a problem, said Bob. Ive spent months working with a new prospect. If it works out, the account would be my biggest.

Sounds fine so far, said Jack.

My contact and I went back and forth and finally worked out a contract, explained Bob. Problem is, he told me yesterday things have changed. The company changed its policy. Now a committee needs to decide. So I have to start all over again.

Did you ask your contact if you could present to the committee? asked Jack.

Yes, Ive talked to him about it. But since this whole decision-by-committee creation is new, he doesnt want to risk putting me in front of the committee, said Bob. Hes afraid hell look bad. He said hell present the proposal.

What about the two of you doing it together? asked Jack.

That was my next suggestion. He didnt go for it, explained Bob. And Ive tried every angle. He doesnt want me in front of the committee. But I cant sell to them if Im not there. Jack, I feel like my hands are tied. What can I do? Getting to the Decision MakerHandoutWhat are the biggest obstacles? It may be tougher than ever to get a hold of key decision makers, but thats not slowing salespeople down. On average, most salespeople get to the true buyer after making only three contacts or less, research shows. And one-quarter of them get to the buyer between four and seven contacts.It's another reminder that persistence is essential - especially since most sales are won around the fourth or fifth call.

Getting to the Decision MakerHandout [contd]How are salespeople getting in front of today's buyers? Several methods are getting results but according to sales managers two of the most effective are:

Asking several contacts at a prospective account how buying decisions are made there (65%), andResearching leads extensively before a call.

Getting to the Decision MakerTale of the Sale #1 [Actual case studies]Charles Kluck knew his first obstacle was to get past the gatekeeper. It took all of his salesmanship skills to do that only to realize he had to start solving problems all over again once he got to the real decision maker. One customer Id been courting for a while hadnt given me any business. In fact, I had a hard time even getting past a gatekeeper. I dropped in once in a while to renew the acquaintance and tell them about the great new things our company was doing, but the answer was always the same.Shed relay the message, she said, but no one was interesting in talking turkey to me yet. They had nothing for me.I was wearing out my welcome, and I wasnt getting anywhere. I got the feeling the people were too busy to even talk to a salesperson.

Changing the agenda

I wasnt ready to give up on this account, but the first thing I had to do was to change the agenda. I couldnt keep coming around empty-handed with the same story and be sent away empty-handed again, too.I solved that problem by putting a candy tray on the reception desk. It cost me next to nothing to drop in regularly to fill it. That gave me a legitimate reason to be there and at least be welcome.Im not sure if the customer felt guilty or he couldnt get hold of her regular service provider. In any event, on my next candy visit, she asked if I wanted to bid on a deal.

Starting all over again

I almost jumped for joy because I thought I got the deal, but it turned out that was only the start. All the relationship-building had just gotten me to the eventual decision maker. And he had a couple of choices and didnt know me at all.It dawned on me that after all the hard work to get past the gatekeeper, there was still a good chance that I could blow this sale.

Establishing a level of comfort

I had to start all over again. I managed to keep myself from selling too fast and too hard. I took the time to get to know this new person first. It turned out he was a first-time buyer who was nervous about making the wrong decision. A lot of money was involved and he didnt know me. Thats when I had to dig deeper into my arsenal. No small bribery with candy would do now. This situation called for empathy and testimonials. I explained how we helped other first-time buyers. The testimonials aimed at this particular selling situation worked, and I got the sale.Not only that, I got 15 repeat orders that year! The experience taught me once again that selling is just a series of problem-solving steps. Solving one just gets you an opportunity to solve an even bigger problem.

Tale of the Sale (a real-life selling experience) is recounted by a salesperson with an outstanding sales record. Getting to the Decision MakerTale of the Sale #2 [Actual case studies]Robert Williams was about to give up on a prospect because he couldnt get to the decision maker. Instead, he came up with an off-beat approach and got the appointment he needed. One of my best customers gave me a good referral. If you can do the same thing for him that you did for me, youve got yourself a good account, my customer predicted.. He also gave me a warning: The company president is the only one to deal with. Dont waste your time talking to any gatekeepers. My first roadblock was the companys secretary who told me that her CEO didnt deal directly with salespeople.Removing the barriersI asked the secretary if I could speak to the presidents assistant. She made a phone call and within minutes I was in front of a VP. I thought it was a good sign when he agreed to see me on such short notice. He showed interest when I made my presentation. The VP asked a few intelligent questions, and I got the feeling that he would be setting up a meeting with the president right away. But the meeting didnt come that day or any time during five weeks of meetings. He always made time to see me, and I always left his office with a request for more support material to back up my claims. After the last session, I finally asked him if we could include the president in the next meeting.The door closes

Were a long way from involving the president, he said. Theres a lot of work to do before I decide if and when he should be included. I realized that I had been spending a lot of time with someone who couldnt make a decision. He was always accessible and willing to meet with me. But it was clear that his role was to keep as many salespeople as possible from entering the executive suite. Another way inI decided to take a different approach. It was obvious that this CEO put a maximum value on his time. So I wrote him a short letter and in the first sentence explained why one of his friends had referred me to him. I knew he didnt allow a lot of time for letter reading, so I kept it short. I also mentioned how helpful his gatekeeper had been in providing me with necessary information. In the last sentence, I set a date and time for a phone call. When I called, I told his secretary that the CEO was expecting my call. I was in his office the following morning. Later, I left with a contract.

This taught me the value of a multi-dimensional approach if one way doesnt succeed, try another. I had to go around two gatekeepers before getting into the executive suite. Getting to the Decision MakerTale of the Sale #3 [Actual case studies] Phil Catalano learned that its sometimes easier to sell multiple decision-makers instead of dealing with one if its done in the right was sold. The purchasing agent always gave me an appointment and listened as I came up with specific reasons why she should buy from me.But I always got the same answer. Beat my competitor on price or forget itWe were priced slightly higher than her present supplier. But we had a number of value-added benefits the competitor couldnt match. If I was going to sell this account, I had to find another way to deliver my message.Developing a strategyI asked the purchasing agent whether her present supplier was meeting all of her needs. She said there were no complaints from the three division heads who used the product. Her answer gave me the clue I needed. In the past, Id always resisted the idea of selling to multiple decision-makers.Since I wasnt getting anywhere with one decision-maker, maybe multiple decision-makers could turn this into an opportunity. She had no objection when I asked to meet individually with the three managers who were using the product.Their answers were a lot different than the one provided by the purchasing agent. All three reported problems and unacceptable delays from their current supplier. None had shared their thoughts with the purchasing agent. They had never talked about the problems they had with the suppler. My questions sparked a new awareness about their current suppliers quality and delivery problems. After pinpointing the problems, I knew the deal was mine to make or break. A joint meetingI put all of their problems and my suggested solutions in a proposal, and set up a meeting with the purchasing agent and the managers. I answered questions, then offered my personal guarantee to each manager that I would be available around the clock to resolve problems. The subject of price never came up. But a lot was said about quality and service. Safety in numbersI didnt leave with a sale, but I had a good feeling at the end of the meeting. Two weeks later I got my first order and they are now one of my biggest accounts. Now I realize that dealing with multiple decision-makers can be a plus if its done the right wayIf you answer their questions, do the research and probing, and come up with the right value-added strategies, members of the buying team will sell each other.

BREAK TIMEWhether you plan to continue today or in a week or other time frame , it is time to break to prepare for the next salvage of infor-mation. It is preferred you take a week or more break to put the previous topic into Action.