$150,000 Opportunity Closed – Who’s Next?

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We recently worked with a sales team to turn around a stalled opportunity that represented $150,000 in new revenue. We helped to apply the tools from our sales process workshops to first decide whether the opportunity was a fit with our customer's capabilities. The tools provide an objective framework to help accurately assess the opportunity. The framework helps answer the questions: Is it a fit with our product/service offering? And does it match the prospect's goals? This review helped to advance a “go/no go” decision point into a go.

We then coached our customer through the opportunity development that resulted in three key player/champion letters. When crafted properly, the champion letter is the most powerful tool to give momentum to a deal. Our customer saw the tools as “simple, yet extremely effective”. This sales rep had natural talent in his skill set. Now he had simple tools to improve his craft; he took an opportunity that had been stalled for 5 months and applied 3 simple, yet powerful tools and closed it in 4 weeks. Bring us your stalled opportunities and let us help your organization learn and apply simple principles that will drive your revenue in 2011.

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WE HELP YOU TO EXECUTE

The focus at Flannery Sales Systems is on the execution (aka implementation) of your sales process to better identify customer goals and how you can assist those companies in meeting their objectives. On regular occasions, we are called to help get ready to win, and have offered this valuable Coaching in several capacities.

Here is how the CEO of a multi-national company describes our involvement last week:

“We called upon John to support our team during the preparation and dry run of an oral presentation following an RFP of strategic importance for the organization. The presentation dynamics were complex with at least a dozen executives in attendance to include three decision-makers. Given the high level of technical content, John’s mission was to help our executive team keep the focus on  the usage of our services versus the features and benefits and to provide a fair opinion on our approach to the presentation. His feedback and support played an important role in the success of the presentation.”

We welcome an opportunity to work with your team in any phase of the opportunity development, preferably sooner than later. Don’t wait until the negotiation comes for another potential client; prepare to win now.

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Are You Selling What Your Customers Are Buying?

Selling is harder than ever. Sales cycles are longer, budgets aren’t always clear and the balance of power is no longer in the hands of the seller.  

According to Global Newswire, 95% of customers in 2023 read product reviews before making a purchase. And according to Trustpilot, 89% of global consumers say checking online reviews is part of their buying journey. Having informed buyers isn’t a bad thing, it just means your sales process better include insight into the buyer’s habits. This includes not only how they buy, but also how they research, compare vendors, shortlist and make final decisions.  

Many customers still go through five stages when completing a purchase – awareness, consideration, intent, purchase and re-purchase (renewal) – the difference is the order may not be linear.  

Nowadays, buyers can move halfway through a buying cycle without much direct seller interaction. They already have information or “misinformation” from other sources. To simplify your evaluation of where they are in their buying process, ask questions and listen intently! This will help you plan your pitch accordingly.  

And remember, you’re guiding them to options and/or a solution not telling them what to buy. Do timely research on your customer and current trends in their industry. Your value proposition is critical. Tell them something they haven’t heard before – make them want to learn what you have to say and how what you have to sell will make their business better.  

A successful sales team knows that how customers move through the sales process has changed. Multiple touchpoints are needed and the process often takes longer. High-pressure sales will likely backfire.  

Do you know the ins and outs of a successful sales process in today’s landscape? Flannery Sales Systems can help. Organizations turn to us to develop and implement a customizable, effective and repeatable sales process. We research your unique needs to help us understand where your team can benefit from improved skills and sales processes. Flannery Sales Systems works with a broad cross-section of industries and we are confident we can enhance your results. Contact us to learn more.  

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On Training and Preparing to Win

I have had the unique opportunity to train with one of the best athletes in the world. Michellie Jones is one of the most accomplished triathletes in the history of the sport to include first place at the infamous Ironman (Ironwoman?) in Hawaii and numerous other victories. When she was asked how she prepares for an event, Michellie said “lots of rest after lots of training”.

The setting was a local “Boot Camp” that is put on by her boyfriend, and it attracts a variety of amateur participants. I was paired up with Michellie to go through an 8 station loop course to be completed three times within the 55 minute session.

In a triathlon, the components are: Swim, Bike and Run. In Sales, it’s: Identify, Qualify, Develop and Close.

Half way through the first loop, I began to notice my heart rate rise and sweat level increase. How many times has Michellie done this routine vs. the amateur she was paired with? She didn’t appear to be nearly as flustered going into the second loop as I was, and she was even keeled as I struggled onto the tires for a resistance exercise on a two person pulley.

There were eight stations in the Boot Camp loop, and there are six skills in sales that we identify where mastery must be fluent in order to succeed: new business development, needs analysis, accessing key players, identification of value, opportunity control and negotiating/closing. How often do you run through all exercises to make sure you are in a position to win?

To compare myself to a professional athlete is silly, so I won’t go down that path. But what is the differential between an average sales person and the top performers in the field? Preparation and training are the key components.

How much time are you spending refining your skills so that you put yourself into a position to win?

As I recall limping around the office in the past, I was amazed at how sore certain parts of my body were and was reminded what it takes to succeed. And while I won’t be planning to compete in the next Iron Man, I will be practicing my sales skills so I am ready to win the next opportunity. How about you?

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MID YEAR PERSPECTIVE

With 12 selling days left before the close of Q2, and the mid-year point for 2010, where do you find yourself in relation to your revenue plan?

I hope your results are strong AND that your revenue pipeline remains full of qualified opportunities. It can be challenging to keep both balls in the air simultaneously. Take a moment now to revisit our article from earlier this year on the “Pipeline to Success” (link to the right) to help keep your team and you on target. Keeping yourself out of the sales doldrums is important now, and it will become even more critical when you reach this point in December.

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Pipeline to Success

Most senior executives have found themselves reflecting on the past quarter’s results and questioning the projections for future quarters.  Quarter or year-end discounting, a flurry of end of quarter deal closings and just plain wishful thinking are all common behaviors that cast some legitimate doubts over the future quarters’ forecast.

Having confidence in your pipeline is the key to meeting or exceeding sales quotas.  In just about any economic environment, missing sales goals is not a situation any executive team wants to end up in but all too often, there’s that quarter or year-end surprise.  Here are a few best practices to consider:

  1. Have Enough Opportunities – Depending on the length of your sales cycle and your win ratio, this will vary.  As a rule of thumb, if you don’t have at least three times the amount of opportunities in the pipeline as your sales goal, you may be looking at a pipe dream instead of a pipeline.
  2. Grade the Opportunities – Not all opportunities are created equal.  You must have measureable fact based rules for assigning values to each of the opportunities. Using historical data to grade the opportunities in the pipeline is critical to creating an accurate forecast.  Using standardized milestones for each opportunity in the pipeline is the primary tool for assigning a grade.
  3. Create an Opportunity Profile – Using historical data to understand the characteristics of different types of deals in your pipeline will keep your team focused on making sure they have a portfolio of A, B and C opportunities.  Concentrating all your resources on a few “A” opportunities can often lead to disappointment or reduced margins if you need to discount to salvage too few opportunities in the pipeline.  An “A”, “B” or “C” opportunity can be upgraded with a new budget year, a new decision maker at the customer company or just by creating a new urgency to benefit from the value of your solution.
  4. Ongoing Business Development – Waiting till the pipeline is getting empty or till the end of the quarter is a recipe for failure. The amount of time spent on business development may vary, but having salespeople spend 10-20% of their time every week or month is a good rule of thumb.  Opportunities in the pipeline are constantly being closed, downgraded or deleted.  Business development activity is a critical step to maintaining the pipeline.  By doing ongoing business development, you are more likely to reconnect with an opportunity that is in the process of going into play.
  5. Define your Sales Process – Having a clear view of how long it takes different types of opportunities to move through the pipeline is essential to managing your opportunities.  While sometimes a sales cycle may be compressed by an offer to discount, more often than not, the buyer just bakes in your new offer into the negotiation and proceeds to move towards a decision on their same timetable.  If you offer a discount too early, they may use that as a starting point for future negotiations.
  6. Ongoing Inspection – If the management team doesn’t inspect the pipeline regularly, it shouldn’t expect to have a high degree of confidence in hitting the goal.  It’s only human nature that sales teams will pay attention to the things that their management focuses on.  If there is a focus on evaluating opportunities, the sales team will make sure they have opportunities.  The goal is to close sales, but leads and opportunities just don’t magically appear.

Managing a sales pipeline is an arduous task that requires diligence, detail and discipline.  The alternative is to resort to strategies that have failed the test of time like “Spray and Pray”, “Hail Mary” and wishful thinking.  There’s no time like the present to schedule a pipeline review.  The longer you wait, the more likely you are to miss your goal.

Flannery Sales Systems helps organizations develop and implement a repeatable sales process.  Improving the effectiveness of your sales organization is the key outcome we provide to clients.  We would welcome an opportunity to explore your needs and understand where you could benefit from improved skills and sales processes.  Flannery Sales Systems works with a broad cross section of industries and we are confident we can enhance your results.

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