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Month and Quarter End Discounting Sets Bad Precedents

If you listen carefully today, you can hear salespeople out there in the field discounting to get opportunities closed here at the end of the month/quarter to make their revenue plans. What they need to know, that in the absence of establishing the value of your product or service, this tactic will backfire on them in many ways. And seasoned buyers know all about this goat rodeo, and will play the game all the way up to March 33rd to get what they want.

How do you stop this predictable cycle from happening?

During a phone conversation with a VP of Sales, he told me that his team was busy “cutting deals” to hit their annual revenue plan. This is not selling, and the words chosen made my skin crawl. If your team seems to rely on discounting to get orders, maybe you need to focus more attention on your sales process and developing your team to sell value.  The value the customer will receive by using your product or service, not the discount they will get from price list.   Building the discipline to ask the customers the right questions to qualify them as a high or low margin opportunity is a learned skill.  It takes restraint for sales people who have been conditioned to close, close, close.  We know that margins can be improved with well trained sales teams and we’ve seen that happen hundreds of times.

Maximizing your profit margin doesn’t happen by accident.  It won’t happen by sending out a memo targeting desired margins for the coming reporting period either.  It is a result of leadership identifying the development plans needed for the sales team, providing the training, giving feedback on performance and ongoing coaching to reinforce the process that has been identified to close deals without needing to resort to deep discounts.

Revenue is important and sales quotas are an important part of a business plan.  Discounting adds risk as it increases the amount of products to manufacture or services that need to be delivered to achieve a given profit goal.  Start today to protect your margins in future quarters.  Having regular deal reviews will open your eyes to the reliability and quality of the opportunities in your pipeline.  Want to buy some margin insurance?  The time is now.

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 your team 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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Four Skills That Make a Good Sales Manager Great

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I am often asked by management teams to participate in their sales meeting. They look for me to provide feedback, as well as perspective, based on my customer experiences around revenue development. Many of these meetings incorporate team-building events – perhaps at a tropical location or golf resort – while others are more dialed down and focus on a theme such as setting the company’s vision. Whatever the atmosphere, I enjoy the opportunity to provide insight into customer needs, preferences and pain points while observing the company’s top performers.

Not long ago I reflected on what makes a good sales manager outstanding, after all, a terrific sales manager is central to the success of a sales team and the overall performance of a business. We know a manager’s primary role is to develop the sales rep and the sales rep’s main responsibility is to develop opportunities and win business.

But not everyone gets from A to B. Here are four skills that a sales manager must master to become great and keep the pipeline moving.

  1. Determine Objectives: I have seen managers who set objectives based on their personal experiences with no buy-in from their sales reps. Does this sound familiar? “All sales reps must call on five opportunities a week and make 20 cold calls a day.” While this method may work, a better approach is to establish objectives with your sales reps. For instance, “Here are the revenue objectives we are trying to meet this year. What do you think we need to do to achieve this objective?” Managers who can secure buy-in from their sales reps and set clear, well-defined objectives will foster amazing performance.
  2. Schedule Reviews to Share Agreed Upon Information:Once objectives are set and expectations are clear, what happens next? Letting your sales rep “wing it” is not the answer. It’s crucial to provide guidance and structure. If the objective is to win $500,000 of new business, you and your reps should discuss the types of customers they need to talk to. How many of each of those customers should they talk to to reach their goal? Are corporate systems in place where reps execute follow-up correspondences? Emphasize the importance of being proactive, addressing client needs and maintaining professionalism in all communications. Have reps share their customer touchpoints with you for accountability. Walking them through follow-up expectations and processes will create a framework for repeatable success.
  3. Evaluate and Coach: In my experience, you can learn a lot about a sales rep’s performance from a prospect’s reply to a follow-up correspondence. Are enough letters being sent to show an ample pipeline? Is the rep talking to the right people? Are customer goals clearly stated and can your service or product move the customer closer to those goals? Letters should tell all these things and more. After your evaluation, choose one or two skills to coach your reps on. Do more than that and your limited time together will feel jam-packed and your coaching will be overwhelming. Tackle one skill at a time to foster improvement. For example, try role-playing with a rep and listen to how he or she positions your company’s capabilities. Tackle another skill the next time you talk or meet and solicit feedback on how the skill is developing.

 

  1. Offer Feedback and Reinforce:Look for what your sales reps do well. You’ll need to continually reinforce the positive to maintain the foundation you are building on with your reps. If objectives have not yet been achieved, focus on what’s going right and how a particular skill helped to get them halfway there. Then, work together on skills that will get them the rest of the way.

American business magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller said, “Good management consists in showing average people how to do the work of superior people.” By mastering these four skills managers will get superior people producing superior results.

If interested in developing these skills, reach out to learn more about our workshops and services.

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Your Pipeline, Your Success 

Missing sales goals is not what an executive team member sets out to do. Invariably, however, quarter or year-end surprises happen. Being able to trust your pipeline will minimize those blunders. But that’s the rub – discounting, the rush of quarter-end contracts and erroneous optimism impact forecasting.  

If you want a pipeline you can count on, follow these best practices: 

Define Your Sales Process
Know how long each type of opportunity takes to move through the pipeline. Is the buyer just including a discounted offer within negotiations and keeping their original timetable? Don’t devalue your offer too soon. A discount on the wrong solution doesn’t help anyone.    

Develop Opportunity Profiles
Different types of deals have different types of characteristics. Use that data to create opportunity profiles. A review of those profiles will show the sales team (and management) what the portfolio looks like in real-time. Is there a good mix or are all opportunities tied to discounting? Will a new decision maker or stronger value proposition bring about the sale? Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.  

Grade Each Opportunity
We know not all opportunities are created equal. Use standardized milestones to assign a grade to opportunities in the pipeline. With measurable fact-based rules and grades, you can forecast your pipeline accurately.  

Capture Enough Opportunities
This number varies depending on the length of your sales cycle and your win ratio. You should have at least three times as many opportunities in the pipeline as your sales goal. 

Continuous Business Development
If you’ve ever had your pipeline run dry you know it’s not fun. To avoid that, salespeople should spend 10-20% of their time every week or month on business development. There’s a constant ebb and flow with any pipeline as opportunities are downgraded, closed or deleted. This is an effective tool that builds relationships and turns your team into playmakers.   

Ongoing Review
When a management team values opportunities and leads salespeople know it and act. Have you ever met a salesperson who doesn’t want to meet expectations? When those at the top take the time to evaluate and measure the pipeline, your sales team will appreciate the focus and pay attention too.   

In life and in sales, a goal without a plan – and measurable steps – is just a wish. It takes discipline and drive to manage progress and adjust as needed. Achieving your goal depends on evaluation – it’s worth it.  

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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On The Road Again: Istanbul

We are thrilled to be traveling across an ocean after 27 months of being domestic. John was in Istanbul, Turkey, the 55th country he has visited.
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Meet Me in Istanbul, Krakow, Prague or London

It’s been 27 months since I’ve crossed an ocean, and I can’t wait for the International travel next week. A Sales Process Workshop takes me to suburban Prague, but I will also be having meetings (and adventure travel) in Istanbul (June 13 to 16), Krakow (June 17 to 20), the Czech Republic (June 21 to 23), and finally in London (June 24 to 26).

If you are around and available, let’s meet to discuss Sales, hike a trail (click on photo above), eat lunch, walk in the park or simply revel in the glory of being back on the road. THE PEOPLE are what I’ve missed the most- let’s connect. Message me here, or to john@drive-revenue.com or What’s App 1 858 518-7039.    Cheers

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Tips For Sales Coaching On The Front Line

Establishing the right environment for coaching is as important as the actual coaching exercise. In my early sales career, some of the best information I received from my sales managers came after hours in ad hoc conversations on how to best position an opportunity or attack the competition, which helped me establish winning behaviors and habits.

Sales Manager Responsibilities

Sales managers have many responsibilities. Although the buyer/seller engagement gets most of the attention, the second most important relationship is between the seller and his or her manager. Do the sales management behaviors you have in place put you in the back or front position in line? Are you proactively leading from the front of the line, or trying to push your team from the back?  Which position would be the most advantageous for you and your team?

In many organizations, sales managers take pride in the fact that they are “behind” their team.  They take pride in being available whenever they are needed to come in and close a deal, discuss what went wrong after a loss, and check-in on progress throughout the sales cycle. These are examples of pushing from the back of the line. However, being at the front of the line is much more beneficial to both managers and their direct reports. How do you ensure you’re leading from the front of the line? Consider these four must-dos:

1. Manage Expectations – This concept is the polar opposite of figuring out what went wrong after losing a sale. Clearly defined sales process expectations are valuable in winning a sale. Ken Blanchard, author of the “One Minute Manager” makes the following statement: “As a manager, I’ve found that people are amazingly good at meeting my expectations, but only when they understand exactly what those expectations are.” If you set clear expectations for your team at every stage of the sales cycle, they are more likely to plan ahead to achieve a more productive sales engagement, increasing the probability of a win.

2. Review and Plan – This is where accountability comes in. A verbal summary of a conversation between a sales representative and a prospect is only subjective without customer validation. Require a consistent follow up to each sales call which includes a brief written summary of the conversations and clear agreed upon “next steps.” Schedule weekly performance assessments with each member of your team to encourage skill attainment and to address skill deficits.

3.  Coach and Confirm – Once skill deficits are uncovered, use the following tips for leading a coaching session:

  • Be honest, open, respectful
  • Give feedback in private (praise in public)
  • Review expectations
  • Be specific about deficit components
  • Ask for their perspective on deficit and possible causes
  • Ask for their ideas for skill fulfillment
  • Be prepared with some suggestions
  • Determine clear next steps and follow-up

4. Reinforce – Make sure your selling behavior is something worth emulating for all of those in line behind you. Remember the child’s game of “Follow-the-Leader”?  Management behavior will reinforce habits that are good or bad. As you lead, they will follow. 

Get behind your sales team by doing an “about-face” and leading from the front of the line. Manage expectations, review and plan, coach and confirm, and then reinforce. 

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Helping Your Customers Achieve Their Objectives: What To Ask

 

People are most convinced by ideas they themselves discover, so getting your prospects to define their own objectives and challenges is critical to getting their buy in throughout the sales process. 

The following are three types of questions designed to get your prospects talking about their challenges. 

Open Questions.  Your prospect has discussed his primary business objective – now how do you get him talking about why he’s not able to accomplish that objective. These questions are designed to do just that. They uncover the tip of the iceberg, and are the first step in the discovery process. 

  • “What are the main concerns you’re having with respect to…..?” 
  •  “Usually people come to us for help in one or more of the following areas (list 2-3 problems you solve for people); are any of these issues for you?” 
  • “Tell me more…” or “Tell me why…” 

When you ask questions like this, look for the prospect to make statements like: 

  • “My sales are not where I want them to be.” 
  • “We’re spending too much on…..” 
  • “We’re not happy with…..” 

 

Cause Questions.  Now that you have the problem defined, the next step is to look for what’s causing the disparity.  Typically, there are several causes.  Pay close attention as these are the issues you will ultimately try to resolve. This information leads you to your presentation. 

  • “What are the reasons this is going on?” 
  • “Why do you suppose this is happening?” 
  • “Do you know what’s causing these problems?” 

It’s vital for you to understand – even better than the prospect – what’s causing their challenges.  You’ll hear things like: 

  • “Our current supplier is having quality and delivery problems.” 
  • We don’t have the right software and our people need training.” 

 

Keep Them Talking. Learn to direct the conversation and keep your prospects talking.  When they are talking, they are giving you valuable information. When you’re monopolizing the conversation, you’re losing an opportunity to discover what will motivate them to take action.  Add these types of questions to your repertoire and you’ll gain a deeper understanding of the issues. 

  • “Tell me more about that.” 
  • “What else is there?” 
  • ”Is there anything else?” 
  • “Could you be a little more specific?” 

With these three types of questions, your sales reps should be able to encourage prospects to fully define their key challenges, which is a critical first step in the qualifying process. 

           

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On The Road Again: Atlanta, Georgia

From the location of his first sales training meeting in 1987, and the Olympics in ’96 to today, John is in Atlanta, Georgia.

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On The Road Again: Boulder, Colorado

Altitude helps in physical, spiritual and mental ways. Take a look and a listen. Watch video above.

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What Do You Do? Sales Training?

An excerpt from San Diego Voyager Magazine.

 

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Flannery Sales Systems, LCC – What should we know?

At a cocktail party or BBQ I say we do Sales Training. What we really do is help our customers to refine and implement a repeatable process to drive revenue. If I say the latter at a social event, people walk away (joking). But if I am speaking with a Commercial Leader of a mid to large size organization, they get it.

Because the work we do is fundamental to the tactical execution of the GoTo Market strategy. And companies spend millions on getting their strategy right. We help our customers to improve the quality of the Sales opportunities they develop, and to increase the overall revenue in their pipeline. All Sales organizations are focused on this, and we enable it with a skills-based program that is custom built for our customers based on the markets they compete in and how organizations BUY, not how they should be selling.

Sales effectiveness is about understanding buying, not refining your sales pitch. The source of pride for us is twofold. First, we have helped the individuals in our customers’ organizations to improve their success. This is important monetarily, but even more so when you hear the effect it has on their families – that makes my heart sing.

And second, there are seven customers who have come back to buy from us again: four have bought from us twice, and three have done so 3 times. It may not be seen like a lot, but we only have 3-4 customers at a time and have worked with 56 overall, so the repeat business says we are doing something right.

What sets us apart is our team. I know that may seem trite or overused, but people buy from people, and we have super individuals at FSS who make the difference.

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