Referrals=Margin Opportunity
Let’s break Sales into three groupings:
- Sales from existing customers
- Sales from new customers
- Sales from referrals
Of the three, referrals often offer us the highest margins. Here’s an exercise.
Look at your financial and business plans. Is there a line on the Revenue section for Referral business? Next, look at each of the business plans for each sales person. Is there a line for Referral business?
I’m betting the answer is “NO”.
So, if there is no plan for referral business, by default we are saying on the highest margin revenue opportunity, we are leaving it to chance! Ouch. We all know these two axioms, and now is the time to put them in to practice:
- Things that get measured get done
- Inspect what you expect
Time to leverage our solid business relationships into more business on both the top line and the bottom line. Get more Referral business.
Success in Selling is a Head Case
Monday, August 24th, 2009
Did you hear the one about the two shoe salesman assigned to sell shoes in Africa?
Both are put on planes to separate parts of Africa and land about the same time. One exits the plane to a large group of natives, none of which are wearing shoes. He immediately calls home office and says he’s flying right home because no one is wearing shoes, so no one will need them and he will be unable to sell. The other sales person is greeted similarly, and he calls home office and asks that any and all shoes be immediately sent to him, since no one is wearing shoes, he will be able to sell any and all!
Which salesperson are you in this marketplace? Everyday, we get to decide. 50% of success in selling is a head case; make yours work for you, not against you.
Thursday, August 20th, 2009
Go to this site, www.sendoutcards.com/jackdaly, and send yourself a photocard, free of charge and my treat. Customize it as you like. See how easy this is to do and then start using these as creative ice breakers and followup vehicles.
I’ve been doing this for years and this service has garnered me “obscene” amounts of business and revenue. Unique and memorable, and all can be done from your laptop. Quit waiting for the marketing department to “supply” you with the tools to be successful. Ask the top producers about their success, and you will often here them say this: “I’m not successful because of this company, I’m successful in spite of this company”!
Get on with growing your business…and your income!
Stop the Insanity
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
Had dinner last night with a long-term friend who in the past couple years transitioned over to the Sales Training field. As dinner ended, we exchanged business cards. When I returned to the room, I glanced at his card. Here was the take-away: “the only thing worse than training people and losing them is not training them and keeping them.”. That was from the legendary Zig Ziglar, which prompted this thought.
If you want changed results (more sales), then change the behavior. If you want to change the behavior, then that requires training. And, Training is a process, not an event. It must be ongoing and continuous. My question to you is when and how often are your sales people practicing? All too often they are not, and their only “practice” is on the customer! Stop the insanity!!
Making the Right Moves
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009
I spoke with a group of CEO/entrepreneurs today and went around the room and asked each (20), who does the selling for them and how do they sell. On several occasions, I was told that given the more difficult economic environment, they had tasked many different positions with additional sales duties beyond their traditional role. Like drivers, technicians and marketing/account management staff. The results were really being seen and they felt this to be a solid strategy.
When asked if they planned to “revert back” to their prior behaviors when the economy turns more positive, they said “no”, that this is something that has ongoing value. So, the question is this, “why do so many people and firms wait to make the right moves when their backs are to the wall by economy?”. The route to increasing sales is increasing the quantity and quality of the sales force. And, increasing sales is the most important thing we can do. So, be creative and apply the resources to it
The Daly News August 2009 Volume 33
Saturday, August 1st, 2009
IN A TIGHTENED ECONOMY
SALES MANAGEMENT: It seems this is a continuing refrain heard ’round the world- “It’s so tough to find good sales people.” The first question is “Are you really looking?” After that is wrestled down, “How and Where?”
Today’s tightened economy has opened the ears of so many more capable sales people that have been previously closed to overtures about making a move. Some have been hurt due to their industry being severely impacted. Some are working at companies that are genuinely struggling and are open to discussing a move. Now is the time to turn a tightened economy into a time of opportunity. Put together your list of known top sales performers that could add quick and real impact to your team. Don’t forget to expand your search to folks outside your industry. Whenever I ask my audiences if they would want a third/fourth quartile performer with industry experience or a first/second quartile performer with no industry experience, the choice is always the latter. Yet, it’s infrequent that we see Sales Leaders recruiting from outside their industry. There is real opportunity here and you can train them in your business. Top performers know one thing for certain- how to be top performers!
Identify a dozen or so key recruits and begin the courting process. The time you invest now in this economy will pay your firm rich dividends not only with the production of the new hire, but raising the bar for others on the team and attraction of other top performers to your company. It is not inconsistent to be cutting out the poor performers while hiring on proven performers. That’s just plain smart!
SALES: Selling is the transfer of trust. That’s the foundation, and in a tightened economy it rings most true of all. While I am NOT suggesting to stop prospecting, I do want to emphasize that it is critical to call on our existing customers and clients more frequently. As I’m fond of saying “Go wide and go deep.”
Our first mandate should be to solidify our existing relationships. Be sure you are continuing to add value to the relationship. Utilize this time to get your Sales leaders out in the field with you to key accounts. The higher in the organization you can bring, the better. As well, if you are doing business with one or two locations of a customer, but they have several more locations, work the existing customers for internal referrals. Additionally, if you have ten products to offer, and they are buying two or three from you, look for ways to introduce additional products to them. Any of these activities will typically give you a better return on your investment than prospecting new accounts, particularly in a tightened economy, where customers are retrenching in to those they currently trust and do business with.
Again, don’t take this as a message to stop prospecting. There are plenty of customers being under served or not served at all as a result of their provider going out of business, or their sales person calling on their account is no longer with the company. Both of these situations present additional opportunities in today’s economy.For additional ideas, try my audio CD “Jack Me Up” with 21 action ideas and tactics to turn this market into one of opportunity. Retail investment is $40 for the CD, just call Jennifer at 888-298-6868 by September 30, and get it for $25. Onward & Upward!
CONTINUOUS SELF DEVELOPMENT
Gotta read it. Whether you are talking about improvement as a business leader, relationships with others or as a parent, MINDSET by Carol s. Dweck is truly one of the most impactful books I’ve read in many years. Guy Kawasaki put it this way-”If you manage any people or if you are a parent (which is a form of managing people), drop everything and read MINDSET.”
Talk about designing your life as you would like it to be-WOW! “You have a choice. Mindsets are just beliefs. They’re powerful beliefs, but they’re just something in your mind, and you can change your mind.”
Learn here that mindset is more important than talent. Dweck provides ample examples to make the point. Yet, society today seems to prize natural endowment over earned ability. That is baffling, when you think of it. Anyone familiar with the legendary basketball coach John Wooden knows how he valued character over ability, and that led to an untouched record of national championships.
Here are a couple tidbits: “Those with the growth mindset found success in doing their best, in learning and improving.” “Those with the growth mindset found setbacks motivating. They’re informative. They’re a wake-up call.” This book is about seeing things in a new way, and being able to grow accordingly.
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
The best days of the year for me, each year, are the days I go in to the Red Cross and donate my platelets. Several years I’ve gone in on my birthday and the nurses have remarked how generous I am to be in there on my birthday. I tell them it’s actually a bit selfish, as I’m giving a gift to myself- one where I feel so terrific to be able to help someone in such a life saving way! On a number of occasions, I’ve had people standing by, waiting for me to finish with my blood platelet donation, to whisk it away to a recipient that is a perfect match. And get this, I’ve been told that without me being there that day, the likelihood is that recipient would not make it to see tomorrow. WOW, what an impact. And all because I set aside two hours, watched a movie, while the platelet donation took place. The bonus to platelet donating is, unlike donating blood which requires you to wait 59 days before donating again, the process of platelets allows you to donate as frequently as weekly if you desire! What a deal- no cost to you, and additional life for others. Consider making such a two hour investment and see how great YOU feel.
WWW.JACKDALY.BLOGSPOTS.COM
TAKING ACTION-While we publish this newsletter on a monthly basis, you can get a regular feeding of “Jack Observations and Tips” by making visits to my blog- http://jackdaly.blogspot.com.As I make my travels around the world, I’m regularly confronted with examples of terrific sales and service examples, as well as the horrific. I’m using my blog to shout them out, so we can all learn from both the good and the bad out there. Check it out.
TWEET TWEET – http://twitter.com/Ironmanjack
For those of you not up and running on Twitter, here’s a few of mine you recently missed. And secondly, when are you gonna get with it? Planning on being last?
- You are not learning anything when you are talking.about 24 hours ago from web
- The greatest thing about tomorrow is, I will be better than I am today-Tiger Woods. What about you? Think proactively! Take action today.6:55 AM Aug 21st from web
- NYC October 29- www.whoisthisjackguy.com. Very cool!1:30 PM Aug 12th from web
- Make enthusiasm your daily habit. http://jackdaly.blogspot.com/
- We have 2 choices: make a living or design a life. Pick the latter. 8:23 AM Jul 31st from web
SOCIAL MEDIA
I spoke to this issue last month, and since then have booked 5 pieces of business as a result of being active in this media. Forrester Research projects the $455 million that companies spent on social networking in 2008 will balloon to more than $3.1 billion by 2014, a growth rate more than three times what it forecasts for e-mail marketing. Along those lines, visit me on Facebook and register as a FAN of Jack Daly-http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jack-Daly/107134124050?_fb_noscript=1.
Here’s the schedule of cities I will be conducting programs in over the next 3 months (some for clients, others are open seat workshops). I may have flexibility in my scheduling for lunch, dinner or more should someone have an interest. If you see I’m headed to your part of the world, feel free to email jennifer@jackdaly.net with your interest and Jen will do her best to accommodate any requests.
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- September- Tampa, Pennsylvania, D.C., Toronto
- October- Michigan, Orlando, Raleigh, Chicago, Phoenix, Austin, Indianapolis
- November-Phoenix, Tuscon, Chicago, Birmingham
- December- San Francisco, San Diego, Virgina
2009 US & CanadaWorkshops and Summits
2 Day Sales & Management Summit
September 24 & 25, 2009- Toronto, ON
Join Jack Daly for a jam-packed, 2 day workshop program and national idea exchange. Listening to our customers, we have heard loud and clear the cry for an open-seat workshop on Sales Management. Combine a day of rigorous learning in the Sales Management arena, followed by a day intently focused on Sales with guest subject matter experts and you get a high-value few days of working on the business so that working in the business results in greater productivity and bottom-line results. You can register for both days or just one.
Special Event-October 29, 2009-NYC
1/2 Day Program hosted by New York Enterprise Report
The New York Enterprise Report is excited to present Smart Selling with Jack Daly: Strategies to Dramatically Increase Sales Today. This interactive half day workshop will be filled with take-away value that provides field-proven, added-value strategies to increase profits and productivity in your business now.
SMART SELLING WORKSHOPS-Year after year, hundreds of companies in the United States send their new hires and seasoned sales people to spend a fast paced, content rich day with Jack Daly. This 6 hour sales based workshop is designed to teach sales professionals what they need to know to get to the top of their game. Participants learn how to apply Jack’s street tested techniques and strategies that make the difference in any business, along with providing and reinforcing personal accountability to ensure that things are getting done!
- October 1, 2009-
- Orange County, CA
- Full Day Smart Selling
- December 15, 2009- New York, NY
- Full Day Smart Selling
- December 16, 2009- Chicago, IL
- Full Day Smart Selling
REGISTER TODAY!
HOW TO BE BULLET-PROOF
Build Your Best-Ever Sales Year
The Jack Daly Sales Webinar Series:
How to sell more, work smarter and avoid burn-out!
Is your call reluctance growing as your sales funnel dwindles? And now your sales goals look like a giant leap? Or maybe you’re just not performing like you know you can. Today, the bad economy takes its biggest toll by sucking the productive lifeblood out of otherwise productive salespeople.
But what can YOU do? I have five important insights and actions that every sales professional needs to know to boost your sales production, increase your personal income and be good to yourself in the future for the times ahead.
I’m offering a FREE Webinar on Thursday, September 17th at 1:00 pm Pacific timethat you won’t want to miss. We have very limited space-limited to just the first 500 people. I already know from talking with many people about this topic, the spots will go quickly. If you want to sharpen yourself and grow your sales, you’ll need to register soon to reserve your seat at http://ecocart2000.com/jackdaly/display.php?item_number=Webinar&details=1
Here are the 5 critical sales actions for today that you’ll learn about:
- What you must do every day to increase your income — especially in today’s economy.
- How can you build a system of focus for your advantage?
- How can you get the most out of every day?
- What’s the best way to identify your high payoff activities that elevates your production?
- How can you beat back call reluctance and quickly regain your peak after getting hammered by so much resistance?
AND MORE!!!
We’re limiting this webinar to just 500 lines and we’ll cut off registration when it is full. We expect a “sold out” event!
Again, to register for the Thursday, September 17th free webinar go here now http://ecocart2000.com/jackdaly/display.php?item_number=Webinar&details=1
You’ll be glad you did!
P.S. I believe in constant learning and adjusting to the market conditions we all face. These five sales actions are right “on-target” for today’s selling environment. Join me
Coaches Corner
OPEN FOR NEW BUSINESS OR CALL RELUCTANCE?
by Dan Larson & Dave Wilen
The most common cause of failure in selling? Most salespeople give up too soon. When the prospect or buyer doesn’t respond to an email, voice mail, letter of introduction or when you make contact and they say “No”… the majority of salespeople fade away.
Most salespeople quit too soon:
- 50 percent quit after the first contact/attempt.
- 20 percent quit after the second contact/attempt.
- 7 percent quit after the third contact/attempt.
- 5 percent quit after the fourth contact/attempt.
- percent quit after the fifth contact/attempt.
However, 80 percent of customers say “Yes” AFTER the sixth call. The fact that over 80% of sellers give up BEFORE the average prospect buys screams an obvious failure out loud.
This isn’t news to most veteran salespeople or sales managers, so what IS holding you team back? Certainly most sellers know the products or services. Companies spend the majority of their training/re-training time and money in this area. This often breeds an “All About Me/My Company/Products” presentation that triggers the “flight or fight” reaction in the prospect. Their resistance goes up and they go away. THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT YOU, YOUR COMPANY OR YOUR PRODUCT. They only really care about the solutions theyare seeking. You’ve got to speak to that.
What’s Missing? The simple answer is that most salespeople suffer call reluctance because they’ve never been taught how to sell. Many universities offer a degree in marketing, yet there is no college degree in sales. So when it comes to opening new business, amateurs get beat up after getting it all wrong. More experienced sellers get some things right but still suffer high amounts of rejection and end up wearing down and giving up. Call reluctance grows, your sales funnel shrinks and your sales goals now look like a giant leap.
In many cases salespeople are given the product knowledge, a territory, a phone, a computer and a pat on the back. When we discuss opening new business with most salespeople we find they don’t want to become a pest to the prospect. They have no idea how to… or how often to try and contact the prospect. And most sellers believe that if they get a prospect’s voice mail they should hang up.
They’ve never been given a system and process to follow, never practiced what questions to ask or outcome-based statements, haven’t worked through the possible objections they may hear, they don’t know what to say when leaving a voice mail message, don’t have customer-focused marketing materials or sales tools to help them… the list goes on.
So where do you begin? As coaches we know that a structured prospecting system is often the most effective first step. This needs to include a short, sweet opening dialog that focuses on the buyer and is practiced… and MUST include WIIFM (what’s in it for me-the prospect). Back this with a system for frequency, intervals and methodology of contacting each prospect and you have a dramatically new prospecting engine that can drive new sales growth.
New business is available for the taking over companies that give up-by companies that get serious about developing their new business system.
If you are a Sales Manager, Sales VP, president, executive or owner of the company and want to boost your new business development by 40% or more, call us for a free discussion to analyze your sales team’s approach. Contact either Dan atcoachdave@impactsalescoach.com or Dan at dan@smartmarketingROI.com or c all Jennifer at (888) 298-6868.
TAKING ACTION– As a catalyst to encouraging others to “take action”, we feature what others are doing and experiencing with their initiatives following our training sessions. Hopefully these will prompt each of us to take action!
Jack,
Your session for TransPerfect here in New York was AWESOME!! I’m 35 and have have sat through a lot of professional sales training sessions in my time. This was the first time I’ve wanted to sprint out and “make !*#@ happen” as a result. The talk was highly motivational and your belief is contagious. The tactics are familiar, but you were just the kick in the ass I needed.
I look forward to becoming a Jack Daly success story. Stay tuned!
Thanks,
Mark Fournier
Jack,
I wanted to thank you for taking the time to educate all of us yesterday. I took a lot more from the presentation than I ever though I would and will definitely utilize the tips you provided. In addition, I really took in what you said about enjoying your life before you’re to old to do so, and I plan to do just that. Best wishes in completing your goals, hopefully I can call you some day and let you know I’ve exceeded my goals and am a selling machine.
Thanks again,
Kevin Haas
JACK THANKS – your card has enabled me to secure a large deal – it was one of keys that sparked up the buyer to act!! If you are in OZ let me know and I will track you down to help you knock off 1/1001 wines you should try – least I can do.
Cheers
With thanks,
Craig
NEW TOOLS FOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Here are two things to add to your prospecting arsenal: GOLD MAIL AND SEND OUT CARDS. Following is a brief description of each and how to get started. An inexpensive and creative way to get in front of your prospects and customers, while differentiating yourself from the competition. Get proactive!
Just click on the GoldMail button above to hear my personal message.
For years I have been underscoring the importance of regularly “touching” your prospects, customers and clients. In my training Workshops, I share examples of many ways to do this activity that will ensure you stand out from the competition. One of the more effective tools I’ve used for years has been taking photos on my calls and other occasions and quickly turning them into photo cards with my own personalized messages. These simple cards have generated me several hundreds of thousands of dollars in business over the past couple years, and the momentum continues to grow. This is a great tool to go “wide and deep” with your existing clients. Just click on the SendOutCards logo above to send yourself a free card.
NEW TOOLS FOR ASSESSING EXISTING AND POTENTIAL SALES PROS PROFILING FOR SUCCESS
Having the tools to assess behavior partnered with recommendations for change that will result in improved sales performance is a sales manager’s dream. Well, dream no more. With a simple phone call you can have these tools in your hands. And the process is simple. Your sales staff takes the assessment online. It only takes minutes. After they’ve finished filling out the survey, the computer generates a thorough assessment of strengths and weaknesses. It gives the sales professional a clear view of what’s working and what’s not and why.
Results and Benefits
An investment in the Success Insights Sales report will yield immediate results and valuable benefits in several areas by showing how to:
- Spot winners with a reliable selection method.
- Evalua te the performance of both new and existing salespeople.
- Maximize the sales team’s effectiveness.
- Coach the sales team for maximum results.
- Hire the salesperson that fits the company needs.
- Bring a salesperson out of a sales slump and back on a winning track.
- Reduce employee turnover and new training costs.
- Boost your sales-the ultimate business objective.
If you are looking to maximize the sales team’s effectiveness-bring a salesperson out of a sales slump and back on a winning track-spot winners with a reliable selection method-coach the sales team for maximum results- then contact us at jennifer@jackdaly.net and ask about the SALES INSIGHT REPORT.
IN THE NEWS
From INC. magazine September issue:
In 1997, David Giuliani’s company topped the INC 500 list. He now has a new company that is #60 on this year’s list, with three-year growth of 2,197%. Seems a guy we can all learn from. Here’s a thought- he raves about social networking, which has rendered his company’s marketing playbook largely obsolete. “There’s a woman on the Web who does these two-minute evaluations of products,” says Giuliani. “She did one for Clarisonic, and within two days, she had over 100,000 hits. Where could you have seen that 12 years ago? This is the company doing nothing and the market doing everything. The market is energetic. The market is alive.” So, what are you waiting for??
How about building a top notch sales force? Learn some tips from #29 on INC 500 list iCore Networks. 2008 revenues of $17 million; revenue per salesperson $1.4 million; revenue vs. quota +25 %; revenue growth 2007-08 = +45%. From founder and CEO Stephen Canton comes their sales philosophy: “Without a brand name and without market share, the only way to close deals is through activity-that means feet on the street and knocking on doors.” Of all I learned from the article, the Hiring Process was the key takeaway:
- An executive recruiter presecreens candidates to find reps with a few years experience outside the telecom industry.
- A first interview with Sales Manager. Only 10% of candidates advance beyond this stage.
Next, a candidate spends a full day with a rep door-to-door cold-calling..
- An interview with the VP of sales..
- An interview with the founder..
Here’s the takeaway- “Hire slowly, fire quickly”.
On the lighter side of things, where are the priorities of our society today? Check out this list of top 12 Earning Personalities: ($millions)
Oprah-$275 ; Dr. Phil-$80 ; Simon Cowell-$75 ; Howard Stern-$70 ; Rush Limbaugh-$54 ; Trump-$50 ; Letterman-$45 ; Judge Judy-$45 ; Ryan Seacrest-$38 ; Ellen DeGeneres-$35 ; Leno-$32 ; Tyra Banks-$30.
I can’t help but scratch my head on this list
If any article in this newsletter would be of interest to your co-workers, customers or clients we would appreciate having you forward it along.
