S&MM SoundOff

Think Like Start-Ups for Successful Online Product/Service Launches

By Arthur Ceria

Big business better think small if they expect success in the digital world. Corporate bureaucracy drains the life out of marketing campaigns.

By the time everyone at the table has had their say, an innovative idea is generally transformed into yet another iteration of the same old safe thing. Then everyone wonders why their "new" blog/widget/forum/flash demo flopped and resolves never to do anything that inventive again.

Rather than dissect each new idea to death, adopt a start-up mentality when launching a new product or service. Since you're basically starting from scratch, capitalize on this fresh slate. Startups aren't afraid to be innovative, their mentality is all about risk taking, customer engagement and honestly. One can go after the competition full speed ahead without abandoning logic or taking undue risks. Rather than burn money on trial balloons like big companies, a must startup rely on deep knowledge of and consistent interaction with their market to decide what risks make sense.

Effective marketing today is all about conversation, and startups understand the power of conversation better than big enterprises. In a startup, senior management personnel  talk directly to everyone in the company (and everyone can be forthright with executives), and everyone in a startup  interacts directly with the company's customers. That conversation results in a depth of market knowledge that big firms pay dearly to obtain. To get that startup buzz going strip away some organizational layers, connect directly with customers, talk to them not at them, respond to their needs, take some chances, have a little fun and get passionate about your business again.

Arthur Ceria is President at Creative Feed, based in New York and San Francisco
www.CreatveFeed.com

Sales Training Vendors and RFPs

Among other things, we work with companies in facilitating an understanding of their own sales performance improvement requirements as well as guiding them through the sales training vendor selection process where appropriate. 

One client of ours issued RFPs to a long list of six sales training vendors. The RFP included significant sales process work, sales training and some sales enablement technology. In the introduction to the RFP, our client stated that (1) no vendor had been involved in the creation of the RFP (in fact, ESR wrote it), nor (2) had the company spoken with any vendor. In addition, the company stated that (3) from their perspective every vendor had an equal opportunity to win their business. The company also assured the vendors to whom the RFP was sent that (4) this was a real opportunity, (5) there was a budget and (6) the CEO had committed to go forward according to the dates put forth in the RFP.  I personally sent emails to the CEOs of those six companies in advance of them receiving the RFP explaining those points and assuring them that (7) everything the client represented was fact.Several of the training companies balked, saying they didn’t respond to blind RFPs, although I can’t see why, taking into account that degree of explanation. My team at ESR discussed this situation.  We feel strongly that the vendors that aren’t willing to respond in a situation like this are behind the curve adapting their own selling process to a legitimate customer buying process—in this case, the buying process of ESR’s client. Isn’t aligning your selling methodology with your customers’ buying methodologies a critical success factor in most sales performance improvement initiatives?

Of the vendors that did respond, three were selected for the short list.  It became clear right away that one vendor was ahead of the other two with respect to meeting the client’s requirements.  That vendor was selected and the engagement is now underway.

It has been pointed out to me that in the past I’ve been very vocal about salespeople not responding to blind RFPs without being granted access to the business owner of a project or initiative. That’s absolutely correct.  I still am, but this situation is very different.

This post originally from Dave Stein's personal blog at http://davesteinsblog.wordpress.com/. Dave Stein is CEO & Founder of ES Research Group, Inc. He is also a monthly strategy columnist for Sales & Marketing Management magazine.

Five Questions to Ask During Any Sales Call

By Brian Shannon

Asking great questions should be a part of every sales call. But, there may be a difference between the questions your reps are asking and great questions. The latter solicit candid, thoughtful feedback, which leads you closer to making a sale.

Based on 15 years of sales experience and countless hours of training and courses on the topic, here are what I believe to be the five best questions that you can ask while in front of a prospect (Let me know what you think!):

1. Who signs the order or agreement? I used to ask who the decision-maker is, but ended up burned too many times on that question. My experience tells me the following: a.) the decision-maker is commonly not the person who signs your deal; and b.) the decision-maker likes to pretend they are in charge of the decision, when they really aren’t. Now, that does not mean that you will not earn the business, it just infers that you leave yourself open for the competition to align themselves with the correct person. I have never come across anyone who has not been truthful when I asked, “Who signs the order?” People who do not have the authority to do so will not put themselves out there if they cannot execute the agreement.

2. What is my competition saying about me? This is the quintessential assumptive question. If they are talking to others, this question will uncover who they are and what their positioning is. Or if they are not talking to others, this question will generally open up discussion around whether the buyer intends on inviting other companies to participate in the opportunity. You may be thinking, “Why introduce competition when there may not be any?” Again, my experience tells me that buyers want to include another vendor, they’ll do so whether or not you bring it up.

3. Even though you want our product, what reasons prevent you from buying it right now? This is a terrific question because it gets to the heart of several possible sales obstacles. First, while the person you are speaking with may want your solution, it doesn’t mean that the organization is really committed to buying it. Your question will uncover the true obstacles to closing this sale. And it makes it easy for this person to defer the challenges to your sale to another person or department, if appropriate. Second, this question speaks directly to the timing of your prospective order. Sometimes this response will validate that this is a pressing issue for the potential buyer, but usually it will tell you the real timing of the opportunity. And yes, depending on what you are selling, your conversation may be one or two years ahead of their actual buying schedule.

Listen for this Question

You are talking to a customer and she asks, “Can I get a discount?” or “What can you do about the price?” This innocent-sounding question costs you money because the majority of sales people respond by offering a better price or discount.

Unfortunately, when you drop your price too quickly, you teach your customer to repeat that behaviour in future transactions. A better way to respond to this request is to ask, “What did you have in mind?” or “What were you looking for?”

Professional negotiators will tell you to flinch first but I have found that most people are uncomfortable with this technique. So, at the very least when you ask one of these questions, you get the other person to tell you how much of a discount they want. More often than not, their expectations will be less than you are prepared to give which means you will increase the size of the sale and save money.

It sounds easy but it’s not. You have to train yourself to listen for your customer’s question and be prepared to respond with your own. Practise your response until it becomes second-nature and you will quickly notice results.

Kelley Robertson helps sales professionals and businesses discover new techniques to improve their sales and profits. Receive a FREE copy of 100 Ways to Increase Your Sales by subscribing to his free newsletter available at http://www.RobertsonTrainingGroup.com. For information on his programs contact him at 905-633-7750 or by email.

Extending the Olive Branch

By Mike McCue (Editor-in-Chief, Sales & Marketing Management)

When I accepted a marketing director position back in 2005, it was my first foray outside of the publishing world. But although I was new to the field, it didn¹t take me long to recognize that there are some long-held grievances between traditional marketing and sales teams. Many of them are of the chicken-or-egg variety: Does marketing not generate the right kinds of leads, or does sales not use them correctly? Are the collateral pieces generated by marketing not useful to sales, or does sales not take advantage of the materials that marketing provides?

I am not going to get caught in the middle of that Hatfields vs. McCoys debate, but I ran across a recent survey from Eloqua Corp. (State of the Marketer, released May 12) that shows the relationship between the two factions might be improving.

The survey was conducted with nearly 200 U.S. marketing professionals at companies covering a variety of industries and ranging in size from $10 million to $500 million in annual revenues and includes industries such as business and professional services, high technology, manufacturing, retail and hospitality.

Among the more encouraging results:

* When asked to characterize the relationship between the sales and marketing departments in their organizations, more than 90% of the respondents characterized the relationship as "Okay" or "Excellent."

* When asked how the relationship between sales and marketing departments has changed in their organizations over the last three years, 54% replied that they have seen improvement.

* When asked which department receives most of the blame when the company has a bad quarter, 58% replied that the responsibility is shared equally.

* The direct result of that improved relationship can be seen in the way marketers feel about their perceived value in the company (91% feel valued by senior management) and their choice of career (74% say they would reenter the marketing field if they could go back to college and do it all over again).

Clearly, there is still a lot of work to be done before companies truly maximize the relationship between sales and marketing, but at least it looks like we¹re on the right path!

For more information on the survey, please contact the Davies Murphy Group at [email protected].

Motivate Your Sales Force to Sell to Women in Four Easy Steps

By Kelly McCormick

What! Not all of your sales force wants to sell to the emerging female decision-making demographic? Have you tried to motivate them with mind-blowing statistics? You could mention that women make and/or influence approximately 80 percent of all buying decisions.

Still no one’s budging? Okay, how about this: Globally women spend an estimated $19 trillion each year. Still nothing? This calls for a plan. It’s time to use four easy steps to motivate staff to sell to women.
© 2008 Kelly McCormick, All rights reserved.

You just read the opening of my recent online column for the Manage Smarter Web site. Read the full article to find out the four easy steps to motivate your sales force to sell to women. Go to ManageSmarter.com.

About Kelly McCormick
Kelly McCormick, from OutSell Yourself ™, is a sales expert.  She writes an online monthly column on women and sales for Sales & Marketing Management. Get Kelly's Communication E-tips and information on Kelly's ‘Sell to Women’ and ‘Sell to All Buyers’ sessions and keynote talks at www.OutSellYourself.com. Her book, OutSell Yourself™: How to Sell Without Selling, is soon to be released.  Kelly can be contacted by calling 800-889-9637 (PST).

Why Not Take an Education Vacation!

By Mona Piontkowski (www.SeminarInformation.com)

Gas prices have gone through the roof and the climb upward doesn't seem to have any end in sight.We're all awaiting our promised windfall from the Federal government and the candidates are arguing about a gas tax holiday - and despite all these give-backs the price of gas continues to climb.

With the summer and vacation season quickly approaching how is a person supposed to plan a budget?
Can any of us even consider a vacation away from home this year? Can we afford the gas it will cost
us to get to our vacation location? Will there be an airline left to fly us to our destination of choice?
When we get there can we afford to rent a car - pay the gas - eat in a restaurant in the face of rising
food costs?

Should we just plan on staying in the backyard, turning on the garden hose, sipping a glass
of ice water and trying to relax?

If it all is too overwhelming and now you REALLY need a vacation from it all how can you possibly save
some money. Why not try to combine a business trip with a family vacation? Of course, you don't expect
the company to pay for the family to join you on your vacation - but why not look at the possibility of attending a seminar at a "vacation" location and bringing along the family and paying the difference between their costs and the amount your company will pay for your training and travel?

There are many seminars given at vacation destinations - hey medical professionals have been combining work and play at training sessions for years now. Why not schedule a training seminar at a location like Las Vegas or Lake Buena Vista or Orlando and bring along the family. Your company will pay for your attendance and travel costs like car rental or airfare and hotel - and you can bring along the family on your own dime.

Plan on scheduling the seminar for one or two days during the week and then take vacation time the rest of the week. Most seminars run from 9 to 5 - I'm sure the family can occupy themselves while you are actually in the training and then you have the rest of the time to enjoy yourself.

Start with a search on the city of your choice. Seminars in Las Vegas, for example can be found at:
http://www.seminarinformation.com/search.cfm?ct=las%20vegas; and those seminars near Disney World in Florida at: http://www.seminarinformation.com/search.cfm?ct=lake%20buena%20vista. Hundreds of locations and thousands of seminars are listed.

Pick up the Telephone

Too many people in sales have become too reliant on email. Let’s face it—trying to actually reach a customer on the telephone can be a huge challenge and I admit that sometimes it is far easier to send a quick email instead of picking up the telephone and calling a customer. However, I believe that some salespeople hide behind email instead of using the telephone.

Business people are inundated with email, especially key decision-makers and many of them don’t respond to messages that are not urgent. Or, if you are prospecting via email and your contact does not recognize your name, there is a strong likelihood that your message will go unread, particularly if your subject line does not stand out.

If you’re not getting a response from your customer or prospect, then it probably makes good business sense to pick up the telephone and call them, especially if your call is to discuss a problem or concern. While there’s a good possibility you will reach voice mail, you can still leave a message that outlines the urgency of the matter.

Remember, the more sensitive or important the situation, the more effective it is to call rather than email.

Kelley Robertson helps sales professionals and businesses discover new techniques to improve their sales and profits. Receive a FREE copy of 100 Ways to Increase Your Sales by subscribing to his free newsletter available at www.kelleyrobertson.com. For information on his programs contact him at 905-633-7750 or by email.

Gaining Through Giving

By Bob Burg and John David Mann (co-authors of The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea)

A shift in focus from getting to giving--defined as adding value to people's lives--is not only a nice way to live life, but a very profitable one. Which makes it something every sales professional should note.

Your goal is to always provide more to your customer in “use value” than the price you charge, while still making a healthy profit for yourself and your company. Your value to others is derived from and defined by what you give. The sales professional who comes from a “giving place” seeks to add value to all. Focus on constantly adding value in everything you do and to everyone you meet.

To the degree that you focus on adding value to others, constantly and consistently, you’ll determine your worth in the heart and in the marketplace. High value will translate into high income, high health, positive relationships and self-worth.

This leads to an obvious question: How does that value you’re providing others translate into well-deserved abundance on your part?

Let’s look at a basic but seemingly mysterious fact of life: There are sales professionals with immense product knowledge, who care greatly about their clients and work endlessly and tirelessly in order to provide great value to those they serve, yet whose income is nothing special. Others can be described in much the same way, yet their income is spectacular.

Compensation is like achievement; until you understand its governing laws, it seems unfair. Most of us grew up with this often-unspoken three-step rule for how to get things in life:
• First, aspire to a worthy goal.
• Next, work hard. Meanwhile, be a good person.
• Achieve

While the above is a good start, it lacks one basic element: impact. The fact is, to reap financial abundance, you must impact many people. Yes, you must serve them and, yes, you must serve them well. But just as importantly, you must serve a lot of them.

And that’s the secret to the physics of compensation: The bigger the impact, the bigger the income.

Corporate Trends: Moving from CMO to CEO

By James Gregory, CEO, CoreBrand (www.CoreBrand.com)

Chief Executive Officers have never truly synchronized with their Chief Marketing Officers when it comes to justifying the financial investment in corporate brand strategy. Lately, CMOs are changing this practice by becoming CEOs.

CMOs, who come from the marketing world, realize that ad campaigns and logo designs are not enough to define the corporate brand today. By using their knowledge of marketing, these new CEOs can effectively lead companies in new branding efforts that will strengthen the companies and enhance their brand reputations in the eyes of consumers.

A corporate brand image is ever present in ad campaigns and logo designs. It is the reputation behind that image that CEOs must manage and leverage to entice long-term consumers and shareholders. Without a solid reputation supporting the corporate brand image, an ad campaign has only short-term effects. While CMOs realize this, CEOs often do not because they do not always consider the impact of short-term efforts on long-term corporate results.

By utilizing their marketing expertise, CMOs turned CEOs can effectively lead their companies' business strategies in a direction that will solidify their brand reputations and, in turn, their brand images. With appropriate brand strategies, these new CEOs can leverage their companies' corporate brands to their full potential.