Seven Steps To Greater Sales Forecast Accuracy

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Matt Heinz has been a trusted advisor to FSS since we met him at a Selling Power conference in May of 2013. In addition to the insight he shares with us on regular quarterly updates, Matt has also contributed the following article for our blog. If you want to know what is happening in the world of Marketing, and its critical connection to successful selling, schedule a 15 minute call with him. Thanks, Matt!

 

A lack of discipline around sales forecasting can kill your sales organization’s credibility. And as a sales manager or executive, it can also damage the trust you’ve built with your executive team and board.

Of course, sales forecasts are never going to be perfect. But these seven steps can make a material impact on how consistently and accurately your forecasts predict actual sales results.

Consistent definitions
Does everyone across the sales floor have the same definition for a qualified opportunity? What does it mean for an opportunity to be in the “negotiation” stage, for example? Is procurement actively engaged? Do they have an agreed-upon close date in mind? Ensuring these and other stage definitions are detailed and consistent will save you a ton of time, plus ensure that forecasted-to-close deals actually are on track.

Faster CRM updates
Many sales reps fail to update their opportunities simply because they don’t have time, or updating records takes way too long. Make it easier and faster for reps to update CRM – from the road, their mobile devices, and even at their desks. Minimize the information required, or use tools such as FactorLab to ask for, collect and leverage the right information that has the most meaning and correlation to qualified opportunities and pending closed deals.

Use better qualifying questions
Are reps asking the right questions, the sometimes hard questions, to ensure deals are on track? Or are they assuming deals are pending because of misinterpreted signals? Chatty prospects aren’t necessarily qualified prospects. And just because the prospect loves what you’re selling doesn’t mean they have budget and/or authority to move forward. Ask the right questions (and consider adding custom fields to your CRM to record them) so that pending deals are in fact pending.

Tie opportunities to a “compelling event”
Budget may exist. You may be talking to a decision maker. They love what you can do. But if what you’re selling doesn’t correlate to a “compelling event” – something happening in the organization that makes your solution (and the outcome it represents) a top priority, then it’s way too easy for your sale to slip through the cracks or fall down the priority list at the last minute. Sales tied to a top-priority – something that has visibility broadly and publicly – are far more likely to stay on track and close when expected.

Map the entire buyer ecosystem
All too often, a deal feels on track until a “surprise” influencer pops up at the last minute to squash or delay the sale. In most B2B sales opportunities, the buyer ecosystem involves at least a handful of people – decision-makers, influencers, endorsers, users, gatekeepers, etc. The better you understand the entire playing field, and have a story for each individual, the more likely your deal stays on track.

Map the entire purchase/procurement process
For complex purchase and large companies in particular, it’s extremely important to know exactly how the procurement process works. Who is involved, what are the stages, how long does it take. If you assume the deal is a go, and expect procurement to be a breeze, you’re kidding yourself. Some procurement processes take weeks or months to complete. Managers, consider requiring a complete map or understanding of the procurement process at an earlier stage of the sales opportunity development so there aren’t any surprises late in the game.

Reward reps for forecast accuracy history
This can be tricky, as you don’t want to discourage reps from “committing” to closed deals for the month or quarter. But if you follow the steps above, reps should have an easier time hitting their forecasts. And that’s definitely behavior you want to reinforce, reward and continue.

Curious to hear what’s worked for you as well to increase sales forecast consistency.

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On The Road Again from London and Munich

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After spending 10 days in England working with a customer on their global sales process implementation , John is now in Munich doing the same with the European operation. Click on the link below to learn more about this extended engagement in Europe, as well as the upcoming items in the  May newsletter. The newsletter includes contributions from friends/colleagues of Flannery Sales Systems on how to improve personal and organizational performance. And, if you are in Munich over the weekend, reach out to John for a coffee (john@drive-revenue.com).

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How Sales Process Helps with Focus and Execution

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What will you do differently in the next 12 months to drive revenue?

Now more than ever, your sales organization must be able to focus and execute on key opportunities for success. The approach that you took over the past two years may not work in the new business environment. As you refine your plans for the balance of this year, let’s make some reasonable assumptions:

 

  • Your customers may spend only where they “have to”.
  • Companies with the most clearly defined value (as agreed to by their customers) will excel.
  • Weaker organizations may not have the resources to compete.
  • The competition may be gunning for the embedded revenue that you currently hold.
  • You must have a way to protect your base while pursuing targeted accounts.

We help organizations to define and implement a repeatable process for revenue generation. To recalibrate, we have moved some of our client’s resources to “refine” their efforts towards a new approach.

Are you positioned to proactively identify and go after those situations? Standing on the sidelines “waiting” for something to happen won’t get you there. Here is how we begin that process with our customers, aka FOCUS:

  • What mid-sized opportunities reside in the competition’s hands that we could make a play for?
  • Once this is determined, how well do we match up in a comparison of capabilities?
  • What are the most profitable opportunities we can develop?
  • Who in the target organization do we need to speak with to facilitate a change?
  • What internal and external resources do we need to compete?

Once these questions have been answered, we then develop a tactical approach on how to EXECUTE on these revenue opportunities from both the sales and marketing capacities.

Are you ready? Let’s get started.

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Feet on the Street: What Rowan Zorilla Can Teach You About Skills Development

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There are no shortcuts, no easy ways of getting around how to improve and sharpen your skills. Whether you are a doctor (continuing medical education classes), a fireman (drills are a regular occurrence), a salesperson (training followed by Managerial Coaching) or an up and coming world class skateboarder (ride, ride, ride), you have to put the work in to keep on top of your game. In his book “Outliers: The Story of Success”, Malcolm Gladwell cites the need to put in 10,000 hours to become an expert at something. That’s a full time job (2,000 hours per year) for 5 years; think about that when measuring your professional status!

Well, it just so happens that my nephew, Rowan Zorilla, aka RoZo, is in his breakout year as one of the hottest new riders on the Vans Skateboarding team (http://www.vans.com/team/skate/rowan-zorilla.html). In fact, on April 21st, Rowan and a small group of his elite team will be featured in a worldwide release of the Vans skateboarding movie called Propeller, which will be shown in 11 cities over a 3 week period. Check out www.vanspropeller.com for more information.

And how did Rowan get to this point in his young life? It’s the same way that an aspiring singer gets to Carnegie Hall: practice, practice, practice! Since he was 8 years old, Rowan has lived and breathed skateboarding. He participated at a competitive level in soccer and baseball, but at the age of 11 decided that skateboarding was his passion. Rowan has surrounded himself with a group of young men, kids at the time, who know skateboarding, and he had the good fortune of meeting Tony Hawk, and Tony’s son Riley several years ago. Rowan has learned from the best, as Tony is the global leader and ambassador of the sport.

There were, and still are, no shortcuts for Rowan. He skates to most of the places he goes to, and aside from a period with a banged up knee, he practices his trade on a daily basis. In high school, he maintained a high grade point average, as his parents (my sister Anne and her husband Dan), made sure that their son kept his options open for other educational and career opportunities.  He has also been provided great tools to work with, whether that be the boards he is sponsored on, or the shoes he is wearing, Rowan is ready to hit the street flying on a regular basis.

So what can we can we all learn from this? Dedication, focus, practice, tools and mentorship/leadership; it’s no different than what my customers ask of the sales professionals from their teams on a regular basis. Vans provides it to Rowan, and he runs with it. What are you doing with the skills and tools provided to you?

And there’s no way I can wrap up this article without saying how proud I am of Rowan. When he made this leap 2 years ago, it seemed like a tough goal to get to from my perspective. I am happy to report that I was wrong, and pleased to say what a great young man this nephew of mine is today. Finally, I am REALLY thrilled to say that I will join him at the premier in London on April 30th. Look out RoZo, here comes your loud and proud Uncle walking into the Prince Charles Theatre!!

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On the Road Again

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In April, John is at home in Solana Beach with Dan Albaum, Director of Marketing, Americas for Precor. Click on the video link below to hear how Dan describes how his marketing team helps drive the sales process. Dan is one of the Management Leaders who helped to build out the Precor Sales Process, and continues to evangelize the use of the process as a way to focus on the customer.

 

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Business Model Innovation with Brian Tracy

 

 

brian_tracyAs mentioned in the December newsletter, Brian Tracy has invited me to collaborate with him on a project he is developing on Business Model Innovation. With the rapidly changing technology landscape, the globalization of markets and the emergence of new markets in foreign countries, Brian sees a need to assist Senior Leaders in making adaptations quickly.

 

 

The early phases of the work on this project evolve around two key questions:

  • What is the Customer Value Offering your company provides? This means, what business objective does your product/service help your customers to achieve? And if they can reach those targets, what value does this bring?
  • Who Is Your Customer? Having a clear picture of who the customer is, and what phases they go through from being a prospect to your customer is critical. If you haven’t hit refresh on describing who your customer is, now may be the time to do so.

While doing research to contribute to this project, I came across an excellent article in the Harvard Business Review (HBR, July-Aug 2014) that asks the readers to consider a few questions around similar topics that Brian is exploring. These include the following:

  • What mix of products or services are you offering? Keeping a narrow focus on your offerings, and searching for commonalities across products was suggested in this capacity.
  • Who are the Decision Makers when it comes to selecting your product or service? This ties into #2 that Brian cites above, and is part of knowing your customer.

Next, we will move into the solution building phase of describing how Brian will help his customers to address these areas above, and we will share the answers to innovation related questions posed above. We would like to hear from any of you who have recently gone through this exercise, and are willing to share what modifications you made, and what the results were for your company. Contact us at info@drive-revenue.com.

 

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The Buyer’s Tactics

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If you’ve ever thumbed through an airline magazine you’ve seen the ads for negotiating workshops. They appeal primarily to buyers and, consequently, buyers often are far more prepared than most salespeople.  Let’s explore some of their tactics.

  • Playing one supplier off against the other.

This is the oldest trick in the book.   But it’s an effective one since salespeople tend to take the prospect at his word, despite the fact that occasionally prospects mislead salespeople.  Unfortunately there’s nothing in the rulebook that says the prospect has to be able to prove they have a better offer from a competitor.

  • Getting the salesperson to make the first offer.

“You’ll have to do better” is a statement often used by the prospect to get the salesperson to state a position.  Falling into the trap, most salespeople will suggest an alternative, such as a 5% price reduction.  Having made that “offer” now becomes the best price you will ever realize on this deal, and often the negotiation starts from this new level.  This is bad news for the salesperson.

  • Splitting the difference.

If the prospect is successful in getting the salesperson to make the first offer, and then counters that offer with something lower (“I was thinking10%, not 5%”), splitting the difference can seem like a “fair” way to resolve the issue, and offers the prospect of getting the deal done without further negotiation.  The problem is that the deal will be done on the prospect’s terms, not yours.

  • The flinch.

This maneuver strikes fear in the heart of most salespeople, putting them on the defensive immediately, and giving the prospect the advantage.  It’s such a simple move.  If you’re not familiar with it, here’s how it plays out.  When the salesperson quotes the price to the prospect, the prospect immediately responds by saying, “Wow, that’s a lot more than I thought it would be,” or words to that effect.  Accompanying the words with the appropriate body language and tonality, the message to the seller is clear – lower your price or this will be over quickly.  Almost reflexively, sellers respond with some sort of price concession in an effort to stay in the game.   These tactics can be viewed as manipulation on the part of the prospect, but no one said it had to be a fair fight.  Recognize it for what it is and deal with it.  Remember, knowledge is power.

By the way, you can use the very same tactics on the buyer; you just have to be proactive and use them first.

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Ask A Sales Leader: Sean Conley

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Sean Conley has enjoyed a long, successful career in  high technology Sales in the mobile platforms and cloud computing services industries. Formerly a school teacher, Sean used his background in education, and mastery of martial arts to bridge into a customer facing role. Sean is a continual learner, who treats his sales career as a craft that is continuously being refined.  He is also well rounded in music, travel, sports and the art of being a raconteur.

 

 

1. Describe how your customer facing teams use your organization’s sales process.

We have two documents which we use for our organization’s sales process. The first is an opportunity description, which outlines our current business overview, business challenges and pain. The second document is an Excel spreadsheet which scopes out the entire sales process and assigns points based upon each step.

2. What is your Management’s approach to Coaching sales reps?

I really like the TV Show on CNC called “The Profit,” where the host is a business turnaround specialist that helps failing businesses.  On the show, he mentions that there are three elements of what makes a company successful: People, Product and Process. Having a level of preparation and documentation provides management with an updated and concise dashboard into where the company and revenue is headed within a specific month/quarter.

3. How do you reinforce sales skill development for sales reps?

I like articles on sales and negotiation from Harvard Business School Publishing. In the past, we have also white-boarded opportunities and practiced a mock pitch. Having a deeper understanding of the buying process, timing, who owns the budget and where project prioritization is taking place are critical to understanding how to accurately forecast for senior management. Also, making certain that the reps have a succinct overview and update for forecasting is a critical skill set.

4. What advice would you give to other sales leaders?

Communicate the mission on a weekly, monthly and quarterly perspective.  Good sales leaders coach their reps to pay attention to the smaller details and establish a balance of focus on the mission while promoting an “esprit d corps” within the team.

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Becoming A Master Communicator

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Communication skills are the key to being successful in sales.  They serve two important purposes.  First, they help you understand the prospect’s business objectives.  Second, by focusing the conversation on the prospect, you are able to build a high level of trust and minimize the perception of self-interest.

 

Communication is a two-way street.  That is, it involves both speaking and listening.  Salespeople must have the skills to keep the focus on the prospect, to keep the prospect talking, to be a good listener and build a trusting relationship with the prospect.  After all, your job is to get information, not give it.  How else can you diagnose the prospect’s challenges effectively?  If the diagnosis is flawed, how much confidence will your prospect have in the solution?

When you are talking you are saying something that you already know.  When you listen you discover something that someone else knows.  Many attempts to communicate are nullified by saying too much.

If you want to interact with someone, communication is essential.  If you want to influence or advise someone, understanding his or her point of view is critical.  A good rule of thumb is to keep your prospect speaking twice as much as you do.  After all, you have two ears and one mouth and you should use them in that ratio in professional selling.  Unfortunately, most salespeople are like alligators – all mouth and no ears.

In diagnosing the prospect’s challenges, and establishing their business objectives during a sales meeting, it is important to ask good questions, take notes and follow up. Taking notes really shows the customer that you are paying attention to what their needs are. At the end of the meeting:

  • Verbally summarize what you heard at the end of a sales meeting
  • Discuss what the next steps should be including time and date for the next discussion
  • Follow up by sending an email to the prospect outlining what was said during the meeting and what the next steps are

These simple tips, when followed on a regular basis, will help you to differentiate yourself by the way that you sell, and move you into the master communicator category.

 

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On The Road Again: In Seattle, WA

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In March, John is up in the Pacific Northwest in the beautiful tree filled city of Seattle instructing a Sales Process Workshop, and working with the Managers on how to Coach to the process. In this video, John previews the upcoming articles for the newsletter and announces exciting travel plans that take FSS back out to the global market. Pack your bags and listen below.

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