In these testing times many of our clients are busy (and have been for many months) making sure that their sales force are working like beavers exploring every opportunity to get in front of old and new prospects, to explore the need and to set out their stalls.
We got a call from a Sales Director, an old chum and valued client who’d inherited a very experienced team, specialist sales folk and expert, (in their field) client managers. She was convinced that opening up new markets was the only way to go and was having a tough time getting them to explore opportunities in new markets, well out of their comfort zones.
She asked for our thoughts. We spoke with the team and identified some obvious (and less obvious) issues...
Friday, April 23. 2010
Jumping out of the sales rut, a recessionary story
Obvious issues invariably include status, “I’ve been around for ever, I don’t do cold calling”, the status quo is another area, “you say that I need to explore new areas but I’m still (just) making my numbers so why should I?” Fear of failure, though unspoken is always prevalent, we’re all human, no-one likes rejection and these folk had built great client relationships and so, gradually, got out of the habit of dealing with it.
We needed to find some way to revisit some basic sales challenges, some classic techniques, to get these folk back into the game, making calls, getting meetings, having the conversations and selling the stuff. A kick-start exercise in starting conversations from cold.
We put together an intensive, two-day exercise, facilitated and managed. Each salesman was supplied with a list of 50 targets, a mobile phone and a clearly articulated proposition supported by a carefully crafted customer story. We provided loads of supporting material and desk research on each target, no excuse to be un-prepared.
Over two intense days we worked with them through a series of thirty minute calling sessions, in small groups with immediate feedback and coaching from their colleagues, experienced cold callers, talented sales managers and an NLP guru. They got positive reinforcement, supportive criticism, peer competition and insight into both their own behaviours and the behaviours and psychology of buyers. Alternating frenetic pressured calling sessions with relaxed theoretical discussions and briefings kept it sparky and made it a very different experience as grumpy old salesmen found themselves experiencing the fun, helping others and getting the meetings.
It wasn’t easy, it got easier, it got better and it got results. It’s very easy to get into a rut but when the pipeline is looking a little thin it may well be worth shaking your sales team out of their routine and reminding them of the basic skills of getting to talk to a new prospect and the real buzz that comes with that achievement. Think about it.
"When the going gets tough, the tough get going" – Billy Ocean
(yes we know it was Joe Kennedy but we like Billy Ocean and we bet you're humming the song now)
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