http://www.salescoachinglive.com/blog/category/general-business/ Blog categories... http://www.salescoachinglive.com/davekahle/blog/the-right-time-for-sales-training/ By Dave Kahle


Q. I wanted to do some sales training last year, but it just wasn’t the right time for it. We had...]]> By Dave Kahle


Q. I wanted to do some sales training last year, but it just wasn’t the right time for it. We had too many things on our plate. Looking at our calendar this year, I am coming to the same conclusion. Am I ever going to have time to do sales training? Will it ever be the right time?

A. Great question. Probably the number one reason sales managers don’t provide sales training for their teams is “the timing just isn’t right.”
Why is it that some companies, regardless of the press of the urgent and the demands of the customers, find time to provide regular training and development opportunities for their sales force, and others, in the same industry, just can’t make the time?

The answer really does not lie in the ebb and flow of “things to do.” Nor does it lie in the open spaces of the calendar – if only you could find some empty days, you could slot in a sales training event. The answer does not lie in the world of stuff outside of ourselves that so occupies our time and attention. Rather, the answer lies inside ourselves and our organizations – in our attitudes, our values and our corporate culture.
Let me lay some ground work with a bit of thinking about effective sales, in general and then circle around to address the question head on.

1. I think everyone would agree with this statement: Better sales people sell more than average sales people.

Better sales performance is not a matter of inheriting the best customer, or falling into a lucky deal. Those things happen occasionally, but year in and year out, the best performing sales people are those who ‘sell better’ than the rest. They do something, and usually a lot of things, better than their colleagues. As a result, their customers respond more positively to them, and the sales people post better numbers. They sell more because they act differently. Not just differently – but better.

There is a direct relationship between what the sales person does and how much he sells. Here’s a simple example. One study found that 74 percent of purchasing agents said they would be “much more likely to buy from a sales person, if that person would just listen.” Doesn’t it follow, then, that those sales people who listen better sell more than those who don’t? So, if you could help all of your sales people listen better, wouldn’t that result in more sales? Of course it would. And listening is just one of a number of sales practices that are essential to better sales performance.

That’s my point. What a sales person does directly and measurably impacts how much a sales person sells. And better sales people, because they do things better, sell more than average sales people.

2. Most of my readers would also agree with this statement: Almost every sales person can become better.

One of the things that I have most enjoyed about my career as a sales person has been the fact that I have never yet reached my potential. I can always do better. And, frankly, I’m a pretty good sales person.

I’m not perfect yet, even though I have tried to get there my whole life. Rarely does a day go by that I don’t find myself saying, “I should have done this or that better.” Unfortunately, it is in the nature of sales that one is never as good as he can be. Vince Lombardi aptly summed up the challenge of continuous improvement in a different area:

We will relentlessly pursue perfection, knowing full well that we will never attain it, because no one is perfect. But, we will chase perfection, because in the process we will catch excellence.

Put these two paradigms together (#1 & #2 above) and you have a pretty good rationalization for continuous and immediate sales training. If better sales practices bring in more money, and every sales person can become better, then investing in making them better will bring in more money.

How can you afford the luxury of not improving the practices of your sales team?

3. But wait, some of you are saying, sales training doesn’t automatically mean better sales practices.

You’re right. It doesn’t. But it sure outperforms the alternative of not doing anything and expecting everyone will just automatically improve by trial and error. I’m going to make a radical statement here: I believe that there is not an exceptional performer in any endeavor who is entirely self-taught (with the once in a generation exception for the occasional savant). Tiger Woods, for example, has a swing coach.

The more sophisticated and challenging is the endeavor, the more likely that the exceptional performer has had multitude of coaches, mentors and trainers along the way. Sales is an incredibly sophisticated endeavor, where learning on your own can only take you so far.

Everyone who wants to improve, in every endeavor known to mankind, sooner or later puts himself in a situation where he/she learns from a coach, trainer or mentor – someone who has gone before and has a gift of being able to discern and communicate the intricacies and insights of the field. It takes someone outside of ourselves to help us see and realize our real potential.

The dedicated sales person, for example, buys all the books, gets the Ezines, listens to the podcasts, etc. The sales manager who wants his team to perform well, constantly injects them into learning experiences. He brings in the videos, distributes good articles, sends them to the seminars, etc.

And, like everything else, there are qualities of sales training. You can bring in old Tom, for example, who is getting ready to retire and is looking for something less demanding than sales to do. Or, you can employ the local unemployed sales person who always wanted to be a trainer. The world is full of both types.

But, if you are going to invest your sales force’s valuable time and your hard-earned money, I’d recommend you invest it into a safe choice – professionals who have an understanding of how people learn and change, real life successful experience in sales, and years of proven experience in the profession of training.

4. One more point. Have you ever stopped to calculate the cost of maintaining the status quo?

Today -- just this one day -- how many opportunities did your sales people not uncover because they haven’t been trained in how to better uncover opportunities? How many opportunities did they miss because they have not been trained to listen well? How many new customers should have been developed this month, but weren’t because your sales people have never been instructed in how to develop a new customer? How many high-potential customers languish in business-as-usual because your sales people have never been taught how to penetrate large accounts?

Just play around with those numbers and the conclusion will stagger you. The greatest cost in most companies is one which never makes it on the P&L statement – the cost of opportunities lost, customers not created, and sales not made due to a sales force performing at far less than its potential.
Now that I’ve laid some ground work, let me go back and answer the question.

Is there ever a good time to do sales training? It depends on your values, your attitude and your culture.

If you believe that your sales people can not become any better, then NO, do not make the time for sales training.

If you are perfectly content with the numbers your sales force is producing, then, NO, do not make the time for sales training.

If you think everyone will improve forever on their own, then NO, there will never be a good time for sales training.
If, on the other hand, you believe that just a small change in the behavior of a sales person can leverage into huge increases in sales and profits, then by all means make the time, as soon as possible.

Is there a good time to do sales training? That really is the wrong question. The question you should be asking instead is: How can you justify continuing to bear the costs of a sales team performing at less than optimum? How can you justify the maintenance of the status quo?

Parenthetically, our Sales Resource Center provides a virtually unlimited number of sales development lessons, delivered to every sales person’s computer, 24/7, for one low monthly fee.

Dave Kahle is one of the world’s leading sales educators. He’s written nine books, presented in 47 states and seven countries, and has helped enrich tens of thousands of sales people and transform hundreds of sales organizations. Sign up for his free weekly Ezine, and visit his blog. For a limited time, receive $547 of free bonuses with the purchase of his latest book, How to Sell Anything to Anyone Anytime.]]> http://www.salescoachinglive.com/davekahle/blog/the-right-time-for-sales-training/ Mon, 16 May 2011 17:21:25 +0000 Dave Kahle http://www.salescoachinglive.com/davekahle/blog/what-s-a-professional-sales-person/
Here’s one person’s opinion.

First, let’s eliminate those things that don’t matter. There are a number of misconceptions about the attributes of a professional sales person that center around the externals of a sales person’s situation. For example, being a professional sales person has absolutely nothing to do with the product or service the sales person sells.

I have met very professional sales people who have sold some of the strangest things imaginable. In almost every open-enrollment seminar that I present, I come across someone who sells something that I have never even heard of before. In my own experience, for example, I have sold cake mixes, men’s shoes, men’s suits and underwear, surgical staplers, sophisticated amplification equipment for hearing impaired children, business opportunities, life insurance, catheters, hand soap and yes, even sales people (as a sales recruiter), to name just a few.

Here’s another irrelevant external issue: Being a professional sales person has nothing to do with the folks to whom you sell. There are people in this country who sell something to every single job description and organization imaginable. Some of the customer types to whom my clients have sold include farmers, both crop growers and live stock growers; tool and die shops, tier one, two and three automotive suppliers; schools at every level, and government agencies of all kinds; the military, grocery stores, restaurants, convenience stores and retailers of every kind; contractors of every ilk, including electrical, mechanical, HVAC, plumbing; builders both residential and commercial, etc. I could go on and on, but you get the picture. In each and every one of these industries, there are professional sales people.

Being a professional sales person has nothing to do with the company for whom the sales person works. There are thousands of independent representatives in this country, for example, who work for themselves. Other sales people work for small family-held businesses, others work for large multi-nationals. Thousands sell for distributors; tens of thousands sell for retailers of every possible thing; more thousands sell for manufacturers and service providers of every type. Professional sales people are sprinkled throughout every one of these business types.

Finally, being a professional sales person has nothing to do with how long he’s been at it, his educational background or experience level. I have encountered many sales people who have been selling for over twenty years, for example, who don’t come close to fitting into the mold of a professional sales person. On the other hand, last week, I met a 21 year old, in his first sales job, who was very professional.

I have met professional sales people who had only a high school degree, and many with college and post-graduate degrees. None of these things, which are external to the sales person’s character, matter.

Now that we’ve eliminated the things that a professional sales person is not, let’s look at the other side and examine the marks of a profession sales person. “Professional” is the name we choose to put on a certain set of character traits and attitudes that reside inside a sales person.

1. A professional sales person is proud to be a sales person.

Can you imagine a doctor who is embarrassed to admit that he is a doctor? Or a nurse who covers up that fact? A teacher who doesn’t want anyone to know what he does for a living? A firefighter ashamed to admit it? A lawyer who pretends to be somebody else? (Well, ok, maybe on this one.)

You see, in every profession, the members of that profession are proud to be a part of it. Amazingly, that is not the case with the majority of sales people. They don’t like to think of themselves as sales people. Instead, they make up other terms. They are account executives, product specialists, customer liaison agents, mobile customer service representatives, to name a few.

On the other hand, the professionals understand the challenging nature of what they do for a living, the importance it has for their families, their companies and the economy as a whole. The work of the average sales person in this nation supports four other families within the organization. They are proud of that and proud to be sales people.

They don’t hide it or apologize for it, they revel in it.

2. A professional sales person likes his job.

Not only are they proud to be sales people, but they like being sales people. They like the freedom and autonomy they have on the job, and they relish the responsibility that comes with that. They thrive on the customer contact, and are energized by the constant challenge. They get a high from closing a big or difficult sale, and aren’t afraid to celebrate those successes.

That doesn’t mean that they relish every aspect of every job. I’ve had a sales manager, for example, that I was embarrassed to introduce to a customer. I’ve sold products that didn’t excite me, and worked for companies whose management styles and cultures left me looking for something else. In all of these negative situations, though, I never disliked what I did.

3. A professional sales person believes he is a professional.

He doesn’t see what he does for a living as just a job. He understands that it is one of the most fundamental and important functions, not only in his company, but in the economy in general. He realizes that he touches and influences hundreds, if not thousands, of people, that his work supports and enables a number of other families, and that he represents much of the visible face of the company that employs them. These are serious responsibilities, and the professional sales person understands that to do this well, he must see himself as a professional.

4. A professional sales person continually invests in his own development.

Over the twenty plus years that I have been training sales people, educating sales managers and working to transform sales organizations, I have stumbled upon an observation which bothers me every time I communicate it. It’s this: Out of a group of any 20 sales people, only one has invested $25.00 of his own money on his own development and improvement in the past 12 months.

The non-professional sales people don’t think it’s their responsibility to improve themselves. They won’t buy a book, or attend a seminar without their bosses paying for it and requiring it of them. To them, it’s just a job.

The professionals invest in themselves. Since they see themselves as professionals, they understand that they must constantly and continually “sharpen the saw.” They buy the books, get the newsletters, attend the conferences, listen to the podcasts, etc.

Can you imagine your CPA, as he delivers your tax return, mentioning that he hasn’t spent any time updating himself in years? Or the doctor, as he goes into surgery to work on your spouse or child, off-handedly tossing off the fact that “it’s been years since he bothered to take a class or upgrade his skills.”

These seem like silly examples. But most sales people (95 percent) don’t bother to take the initiative to upgrade their skills and develop their competencies. Only the professionals do.

5. A professional sales person always acts with the best interests of his company and his customer above his own.

There is, resident in the psyche of every professional sales person, an obligation to “serve.” Ultimately, the professional sales person does serve two masters: his customers and his company. A professional understands that the sales he makes are the tangible expressions of win/win solutions for the customer as well as profitable transactions for his company.

The professional will not “push” an inappropriate solution onto a customer, just to make a sale. He’s in it for the long term, understanding that his reputation as a professional is worth far more than any individual deal. “Integrity” is the overriding personality trait, and adherence to a strict code of ethics is the specific expression.

The unprofessional sales person sees his company’s management as, under the worst scenario, the enemy with whom to contend, and under the best, as a somewhat less than competent irritant to be tolerated. The professional understands that he is an employee of the company, and has a responsibility to nurture the company’s interests. He is mindful of his need to provide a return on the company’s investment in him, and seeks continually to increase his profitability to his employer.

6. A professional sales person recognizes a responsibility that is larger than just the job.

A professional sales person, by virtue of the demands of his job, naturally develops exceptional “people” skills. He knows how to get things done, and how to work effectively with a variety of people. These are skills that are helpful in his communities as well as his position. Since he’s a professional, he invests some of his time in the larger community, serving on boards and task forces, coaching the elementary kids, adding his input to PTO meetings, etc. He gives a portion of his income to those less fortunate than himself.

He understands that he is one of the world’s more fortunate individuals and accepts the responsibility to pay it forward. I once heard this expression: “Service is the rent you pay for the position you occupy in society.” Professional sales people occupy a favored position, and accept their responsibility to pay the rent.

A professional sales force is an incredibly valuable asset to any organization, and the acquisition and development of a professional sales force is one of a businesses greatest accomplishments.

To foster your development as a professional sales person, visit The Sales Resource Center. Visit http://www.davekahle.com for more information.]]> http://www.salescoachinglive.com/davekahle/blog/what-s-a-professional-sales-person/ Mon, 18 Apr 2011 12:46:41 +0000 Dave Kahle http://www.salescoachinglive.com/barrycaponi/blog/want-another-chance-to-follow-your-new-year-s-resolutions-2/ http://www.salescoachinglive.com/barrycaponi/blog/want-another-chance-to-follow-your-new-year-s-resolutions-2/ Thu, 31 Mar 2011 13:10:28 +0000 Barry D. Caponi http://www.salescoachinglive.com/barrycaponi/blog/want-another-chance-to-follow-your-new-year-s-resolutions/ http://www.salescoachinglive.com/barrycaponi/blog/want-another-chance-to-follow-your-new-year-s-resolutions/ Thu, 31 Mar 2011 13:09:51 +0000 Barry D. Caponi http://www.salescoachinglive.com/bfarmer/blog/opinions-everyone-has-one-at-least-one/ I have often heard that opinions are like anal orifices, everyone has one! The fact is that just like parts of our own body, we not only have opinions...
Our ownership of opinions is absolute regardless of the facts!! Two plus two always equals four. New York City is the largest city in the United States. San Francisco is on the west coast. These are objective facts.
Red is better than blue. Chicago is a more dynamic city than LA. The Packers should win over Minnesota (said before the season begins). These are ALL opinions and their truth lies solely in the eye of the beholder.

Before we enter in a discussion about what is “Better” for someone we care about, we need to take a minute and review what their opinions and beliefs are. That review can take many forms. Here is one possible way to begin the evaluation.

1. What is their underlining belief system?
2. What in their background could influence the critical viewpoint or decision?
3. Who else will influence this discussion / decision?
4. Why am I involved in this discussion / decision?
5. What impact will this have on their resources - mental, physical, financial
6. What do I KNOW about their opinions that will come into play?
7. What are the facts? Are these truly facts or MY opinions of the facts?

These are first steps. Remember that a person’s opinions are critically important to them and they will defend them to the death! If you think this is a bit of an exaggeration then look to the Middle East, the Middle Ages, witch hunts, the Hatfield verses McCoy feud, Democrats verses Republicans, USC verses UCLA and High School Football in Texas!!

Treat people’s opinions as if they are as precious as their children. They might have had them longer!]]> http://www.salescoachinglive.com/bfarmer/blog/opinions-everyone-has-one-at-least-one/ Wed, 23 Feb 2011 14:13:59 +0000 Ben Farmer http://www.salescoachinglive.com/barrycaponi/blog/recording-our-appointment-setting-calls-will-improve-our-success-ratios/ Tip two of six to make our cold calls more effective.

This is the second blog in a series of six that talk about some little things that can make a b...]]> Tip two of six to make our cold calls more effective.

This is the second blog in a series of six that talk about some little things that can make a big difference in our appointment setting results. If you’ve been reading my blogs for long, you’ve heard me talk about the fact that I believe in incremental improvement. In other words, I’m willing to do all kinds of things to improve my ratios, even if that particular thing may only increase my success ratio by only one or two percent each. At the end of the year, those little improvements add up to substantially more appointments, or at least in my case, the need to make fewer calls.

Here’s an example of what I mean. Let’s say I must make 15 dials a day to hit my number of $150,000 in sales. If I just increased my Conversation Ratio by one percentage point-from 8% to 9% in this example, I would increase my sales to 107% of my goal. If I were to apply some tips that increased my Appointment Ratio by just one percentage point again-from 18% to 19% in this example, I would increase my sales to 117%. Interested?

Tip Two – Record our calls.

When talking about tip number one, standing while calling, I talked about tonality being so important. Well, tip number two is very much related.

One of the big reasons for recording our calls is to make sure that our tonality is coming through properly. We’re also going to be looking for things like over using acronyms, industry jargon that might not be understood by all we’re calling, and my favorite, talking too fast. We’ll also obviously be looking for how well we actually handle the call.

In addition to the idea of recording our conversations, here’s one last idea I highly recommend. We should record how we deliver our voicemails. (An easy way to do that is to call yourself and leave one on your own voicemail.)

When listening back to our recorded calls, we need to ask ourselves a simple question. Would we have said yes, or returned the voicemail?


Caponi Performance Group and Contact Science jointly market the telephone prospecting and cold calling solution called The Prospector’s Academy™ under the brand name Coldcalling101. It is the only comprehensive solution to solving the biggest barrier to success in most selling organizations – the inability to secure enough Initial Appointments to begin the selling process. We accomplish that through simultaneously addressing both the efficiency and effectiveness of the process. We can be reached at 214 483-5800 or at barry@coldcalling101.com.]]> http://www.salescoachinglive.com/barrycaponi/blog/recording-our-appointment-setting-calls-will-improve-our-success-ratios/ Sat, 29 Jan 2011 20:38:35 +0000 Barry D. Caponi http://www.salescoachinglive.com/brintdriggs/blog/create-demand-in-2011/ 9 Things You Must Know and Do to Create Demand for Your Business in 2011

2011 is a pivotal year. National and international news has been consistentl...]]> 9 Things You Must Know and Do to Create Demand for Your Business in 2011

2011 is a pivotal year. National and international news has been consistently pessimistic over the last few years. The sense of economic gloom and doom has many businesses and families scrambling for ways to cut back and “hunker down” for the coming year.

We’re nearly two weeks into 2011 and I’m pleased to acknowledge a refreshing sense of optimism coming from the business community and even the mainstream media, which is, by my estimation, notoriously negative, has expressed guarded optimism about the prospects for a prosperous 2011.

While many businesses chose to (or were forced to) retract and wait for signs of recovery, many other businesses and individuals saw the ‘downturn’ as an unparalleled opportunity for growth and wealth creation.

What distinguishes these two strikingly different outlooks? While there isn’t one simple answer, much of it has to do with one of the most basic principles of success. That is the principle of cause and effect.

This foundational principle of life stated in its simplest form teaches us that for every outcome (effect) there is a cause. So, if you’ve experienced a decrease in business or your income has declined then, obviously, something is causing this to happen. If you don’t like this outcome then you have a very basic choice to make. You can continue to do what you’ve been doing (cause), and you’ll likely continue to get similar results (effect). Or, you can accept the simple truth that you don’t like your current outcome and determine to do something different.

In working with my business clients I find it helpful to distinguish between what I call demand satisfaction and demand creation. In our thriving economic times over the last 15-20 years, we’ve all become very skilled at satisfying demand. Much of this demand was created as a natural extension of a growing economy where people (and businesses) were confident and therefore were willing to spend money.

However, when consumer confidence is low and business spending is much more conservative, if we want to realize the same growth in our income and in our business revenues, then we must change our thinking and our actions in order to produce this growth. In short, we must learn to create demand for our product or service.

So what must we know and do to create demand for our business in 2011. Here are 9 things that are guaranteed to move you in the right direction:

1. Make Demand Creation a priority in 2011. Sounds simple. However, the vast majority of businesses (and individuals) do not to spend enough focused time on creating demand. Recommendation: block out 3-4 hours every week and focus on how to attract customers to your business. Start smaller if needs be but FOCUS!

2. Focus on results and advantages. Specifically, focus on your customer’s results and your advantages. Results, results, results…this is what people buy. What results to you get for your clients?

3. Get really clear on who is your ideal client. Rank existing and past clients. If you know, in specific detail who you ideal client is, then you can focus on positioning yourself with them.

4. Build a unique marketing message. When your ideal client hears this they should say “Wow! That’s exactly what I need…how do I get it?”

5. Create PULL marketing messages. PULL marketing gets a person involved in the buying process and motivates your customers to buy…from you. Your messages must draw people in, engage them.

6. Be where your Ideal Clients are. Identify where your ideal clients “hang out” and you will be able to reach them efficiently and inexpensively.

7. Get out there! Think about it! If you’re being shy and overly conservative, who’s talking to your ideal clients? Answer: your competitors.

8. Master the art of the soft close. We work with clients that have achieved a 97% prospect to paid client ratio. This can only happen when you’ve effective built trust and credibility through an educational buying process.

9. Automate your marketing and follow-up. Implement “auto-pilot” systems for consistent action and consistent follow up so you have the system work for you as opposed to adding more hours to our already overbooked schedule.

To gain more practical ideas, knowledge, skills and tools to enable your success in 2011, please join us in the conversation about how to master the art and science of growing your business!

I believe that 2011 can truly be your best year ever.]]> http://www.salescoachinglive.com/brintdriggs/blog/create-demand-in-2011/ Fri, 28 Jan 2011 22:48:07 +0000 Brint Driggs http://www.salescoachinglive.com/KevinPiket/blog/building-sales-networks-introduction/
While reading my blog you will read about a concept that I like to call a "Personal Sphere of Influence", it is the central point to my networking philosophy. I know that the more contacts you make the more sales you will earn, it is a simple and proven concept. Stay tuned to my next blog when I describe what a Personal Sphere of Influence actually is. I know you will enjoy reading about it!

Copyright © 2010 Kevin T. Piket
.]]> http://www.salescoachinglive.com/KevinPiket/blog/building-sales-networks-introduction/ Fri, 31 Dec 2010 16:08:04 +0000 Kevin Piket http://www.salescoachinglive.com/barrycaponi/blog/stand-up-when-making-cold-calls/ Tip one of six to make our cold calls more effective.

This is the first blog in a series of six that talk about some little things that can make a bi...]]> Tip one of six to make our cold calls more effective.

This is the first blog in a series of six that talk about some little things that can make a big difference in our appointment setting results. If you’ve been reading my blogs for long, you’ve heard me talk about the fact that I believe in incremental improvement. In other words, I’m willing to do all kinds of things to improve my ratios, even if that particular thing may only increase my success ratio by only one or two percent each. At the end of the year, those little improvements add up to substantially more appointments, or at least in my case, the need to make fewer calls.

Here’s an example of what I mean. Let’s say I must make 15 dials a day to hit my number of $150,000 in sales. If I just increased my Conversation Ratio by one percentage point-from 8% to 9% in this example, I would increase my sales to 107% of my goal. If I were to apply some tips that increased my Appointment Ratio by just one percentage point again-from 18% to 19% in this example, I would increase my sales to 117%. Interested?

Tip One – Stand when making calls.

In previous blogs (see link below) I talk about the fact we lose the most effective way of communication (body language) when we talk on the phone. So how to get some of that back?

Try this. Make a couple of phone calls sitting down at your desk and then make a couple more standing up. Or if you don’t even want to go that far, stand up, take a deep breath and pull your shoulders back (so that the air passage is open) and then just say, “Good morning”. Now sit back down relax in your chair and say, “Good morning” again. What you’ll find is that our body’s natural energy can more easily apply itself to our phone conversation when we’re standing.

Particularly if we’re using a headset instead of and handset, we’ll tend to use more hand gestures (particularly if you happen to be Italian) and if you’re like me, even pace or walk around. These are all indications of more energy being applied to the conversation.

When we’re sitting, the energy just seems to remain trapped in our bodies. Our voice does not have as much energy, so our passion and belief in ourselves and our solution does not come through quite as effectively in our voice. Back on March 4, 2009, I wrote a blog on a UCLA study done on effective communication. In it I said that tonality is the single most effective component we have to apply to effective communication on the phone.

Part of tonality comes from the energy we put into the conversation, and more energy comes from standing up when we make calls.

As Mikey said in the old Life Cereal commercials, “Try it, you’ll like it.”

Caponi Performance Group and Contact Science jointly market the telephone prospecting and cold calling solution called The Prospector’s Academy™ under the brand name Coldcalling101. It is the only comprehensive solution to solving the biggest barrier to success in most selling organizations – the inability to secure enough Initial Appointments to begin the selling process. We accomplish that through simultaneously addressing both the efficiency and effectiveness of the process. We can be reached at 214 483-5800 or at barry@coldcalling101.com.

http://coldcalling101.com/the-tone-of-our-voice-is-more-important-than-the-content-of-our-message/]]> http://www.salescoachinglive.com/barrycaponi/blog/stand-up-when-making-cold-calls/ Thu, 30 Dec 2010 21:15:21 +0000 Barry D. Caponi http://www.salescoachinglive.com/seanpiket/blog/sales-coaching-compared-to-traditional-sales-management/
It is almost inevitable tha...]]>
It is almost inevitable that each time I ask a Sales VP, Director or Manager whether they feel they coach their salespeople or not the majority of these sales leaders feel they do a good job of coaching their reps. However, when pressed to describe the sales coaching methodology or process they use to coach their reps most all of these same sales leaders look puzzled and have a hard time describing how they coach. They typically launch into a description that sounds a little bit like this:

"I meet one-on-one with each of my reps on a weekly basis. I print off a static report of their sales pipeline and sift through each opportunity seeking an update from the rep. Leveraging my experience, I then provide guidance, suggestions and directives on what they need to do as a next step to move each opportunity through the funnel so they can close more sales!"

That is a classic description of traditional sales management. That is management by metrics and activity. Some refer to it as management by hammer depending on the manager's style! Nonetheless, it has nothing to do with effective sales coaching. And therein lies the challenge: most sales leaders think they are coaching when in reality they are not.

A Sales Executive Council study of over 2000 salespeople showed that less than 50% of salespeople receive consistent, personalized sales coaching from their managers. That same study showed that salespeople who receive 3 hours of sales coaching per month, on average, achieve 107% of quota compared to 82% of quota for their peers who don't receive sales coaching. Finally, out of 10 categories listed in the Manager Skill Index in that same Sales Executive Council study, managers ranked dead last (10 out of 10) in the critical skill area of sales coaching.

So to sum it up - sales coaching is the absolute best thing a sales leader can do to stimulate company sales and individual sales rep success yet it is the critical skill area where they struggle the most (or simply neglect). This is what I refer to as "The Great Sales Coaching Gap". My company, Sales Integrity, works on closing this gap for our customers on a daily/weekly basis through the implementation of corporate sales coaching programs. We either directly coach their sales professionals and sales leaders or we teach their sales leaders how to formally coach their salespeople through the implementation of a formal sales coaching methodology and systematic approach, complete with tools, templates and technology to enable, track and measure the coaching process. Either way, it all starts with a basic understanding of the difference between sales coaching and traditional sales management.

At it's core, here is the easiest way to describe the difference between sales coaching and sales management:

You manage an operation. You coach people. Period.

Start with that as your philosophy and foundation for implementing a formal sales coaching program at your organization. In the meantime, stay tuned for my next blog when I further breakdown the specific differences between sales coaching and traditional sales management and how you can apply sales coaching to your sales leadership arsenal.

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Sean Piket is the Founder]]> http://www.salescoachinglive.com/seanpiket/blog/sales-coaching-compared-to-traditional-sales-management/ Thu, 30 Dec 2010 03:29:59 +0000 Sean Piket http://www.salescoachinglive.com/brintdriggs/blog/what-is-marketing-automation/ What is Marketing Automation? How Can Marketing Automation help my business?

In an earlier post, I pointed out how many (most) businesses are leaving...]]> What is Marketing Automation? How Can Marketing Automation help my business?

In an earlier post, I pointed out how many (most) businesses are leaving hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars of potential new revenue on the table because they haven't yet figured out how to efficiently or effectively follow up with up to 95% of prospects and or customers in order to build trust, deliver value and position these prospects for future transactions.

An emerging new market, fueled by some remarkably simple technology has been created to enable businesses to solve this age old challenge...enter Marketing Automation.

Marketing Automation 101

Marketing Automation is the name given to software platformsthat seek to simplify and automate repetitive tasks within Marketing departments. Software vendors typically provide these platforms as a hosted or web-based solution, and so there is little-to-no software to install. These services are ideal for any company wishing to retain visitors and customers, improve conversions, reduce marketing costs, and streamline sales operations, and are often the mainstay of any B2B and B2C business that is on the web.


Elements in Automated Marketing Software

Important Product Features to Consider

Since the concept of Marketing Automation is relatively new, vendors will offer a varying choice of product features. It is then a wise choice to evaluate each vendor carefully and choose the one that best solves your immediate and long-term marketing and sales problems.

Overall, the most common feature one may find when evaluating vendors are listed here:

CRM Integration: Ideally suited to align Marketing and Sales - bi-directional CRM integration allows for CRM data to be easily manipulated from within the Marketing Automation platform.

Web Analytics: Incorporation of web analytics data, allows you to segment, score, and qualify prospects based on their website-viewing habits.

Lead Nurturing: Automates the process of qualifying Leads and increases up-sell rate by keeping current customers engaged.

Lead Scoring: Quality metrics applied to each Lead and Prospect, relative to that of others in your database.

Email Marketing: Email Marketing platform designed to launch email campaigns to targeted prospect groups.

List Management: Ability to segment your database of leads and target them with focused campaigns and programs.

Reporting: An obvious feature for any product, as you can't tune your marketing initiatives if you can't measure the response-rates.

The above list is a broad overview of the necessary pieces to achieve a successful Closed-Loop marketing process. As noted above, every vendor in the marketing automation space will have his own twist to these individual pieces, so choose the one that's right for you.

In my next post, I'll share with you more about how marketing automation works and we'll talk about the ROI benefits to your business...and your life.

If you'd like to discuss how marketing automation can help you grow your business, please give me a call at 877-890-2555 or email me at brint@brintdriggs.com]]> http://www.salescoachinglive.com/brintdriggs/blog/what-is-marketing-automation/ Mon, 13 Dec 2010 17:54:59 +0000 Brint Driggs http://www.salescoachinglive.com/brintdriggs/blog/a-case-for-automating-your-marketing/ Why has IBM, Google, Adobe spent billions of dollars in the race to dominate the web analytics market?

The answer is simple: Traffic, conversion and ...]]> Why has IBM, Google, Adobe spent billions of dollars in the race to dominate the web analytics market?

The answer is simple: Traffic, conversion and new revenue.

These are age old challenges. How do I get more of my ideal customers to visit my business (on-line or off-line), how do I get them to reach into their pockets or purses, pull out their money and hand it over to me…and walk away thrilled for having done so.

The internet has matured as a verifiable channel for filling your sales pipeline with pre-qualified prospects. With this maturation, the need to apply science and, well, technology to your web strategy is becoming more important than ever.

Companies spend billions every year trying to capture prospect information in hopes of closing immediate business. This is great and all very necessary; however, what percentage of this ‘new’ traffic is actually being monetized? Most would say that if a business could successfully convert 5% of this traffic to verifiable transactions, they would be thrilled...and rich.

While this is all fine and dandy (and necessary!), my inquiring mind has to ask the question:

"So, what are you doing with the 95% of the prospects that you're not successful at closing right away?"

The answer that I hear (and see) most of the time goes something like this "uhhhhh, not much. We try to follow up with them but most of them, quite frankly, kind of fall into a black hole and end up on some unused, rarely utilized database located somewhere on our servers."

Does this sound familiar? Does anything about this scenario sound crazy to anyone else but me?

Let's see, we're spending thousands, if not millions of dollars trying to get our ideal customers to visit our website and 'opt-in' to some sort of compelling offer...but yet, we're content to let 95% of that investment languish and die a slow, unprofitable death because we haven't figured out a way to efficiently or effectively follow up and nurture these types of prospects.

The Final Frontier?

We’re now able to automate pretty much every aspect of our business. Our financial and accounting processes, our manufacturing processes, our operations, our recruiting and hiring…the list goes on-and-on! Some form or fashion of technology has now been applied to pretty much every facet of our business and in many instances has enabled increased efficiencies and, while some would argue this, technology has also increased our effectiveness.

We’re now seeing a number of great solutions that are enabling businesses, large and small, to automate many of the marketing functions, which historically, have been very time consuming and inefficient.

In the next few posts, I’ll explore more about marketing automation and will provide reviews of some of the tools that have emerged that are helping businesses incubate and nurture the ‘languishing 95%’ in order to build more powerful sales pipelines and to drive more new revenue.

If you’re interested in immediate help in increasing your revenue by automating your marketing, please give us a call at 877-890-2555 or email me directly at brint@brintdriggs.com.]]> http://www.salescoachinglive.com/brintdriggs/blog/a-case-for-automating-your-marketing/ Mon, 13 Dec 2010 17:49:08 +0000 Brint Driggs http://www.salescoachinglive.com/barrycaponi/blog/the-skills-required-to-set-appointments-aren-8217t-the-same-we-use-in-norma/ There are four key differences.

Many sales managers we talk to operate under the assumption that because their sales team, once in front of a Target,...]]> There are four key differences.

Many sales managers we talk to operate under the assumption that because their sales team, once in front of a Target, can move that Target through the pipeline effectively, they are also properly equipped and capable of getting a Target into the pipeline. After all, selling is selling, isn’t it? The sale, or objective, is just different in the case of trying to set an Initial Appointment, right?

Unfortunately, the answer is no. And this misunderstanding of the differences has created what we like to call the ‘elephant in the sales bullpen’. It is apparent to everyone that enough Initial Appointments are not being set, but the root cause is not pursued. Instead, us sales managers all ignore the elephant and utter the old mantra, “Make more dials!”

This four part blog explores the four major differences: the Beginning Repartee, the Pace of the Exchange, the Types of Responses heard from the Target, and Preparation to Succeed.

1. The Beginning Repartee. If our Target has agreed to an appointment with us, the opening moments of the call, although perhaps not yet openly friendly, are at least collegial or warm. That happens because our Target has already determined to invest time with us so they are open to the conversation and to us.

On a cold appointment making call, the opposite is true. They have not yet agreed that there is value in even talking, let alone meeting with us (even on a referral call). The reasons for that are twofold. The first is that they don’t think they need what we’re selling yet, so why would they need to have this conversation? Reason number two is that we’re interrupting them from doing something, so they don’t even want to talk with us. The result is, they’ll do anything, including lie to us, to get us off the phone. Hence, the term ‘cold call’ as the Target’s behavior towards us is cold. What that means is that the call begins as being adversarial.

On the Initial Appointment, the normal conversational skills we all have developed throughout our life are at play. Not so on the cold call. The skills necessary to Counter that initial negative response and get the Target to open their mind for a moment to a conversation about how our value proposition has helped others – and hence potentially them, are not needed nor practiced in the pipeline half of the selling process.

2. The Pace of the Exchange. When in front of a Target in a sales call, the pace of the conversation is generally deliberate, calculated and measured. When the Target asks us a question, we can take a moment to think about the question before answering. It is totally acceptable to do so. As a matter of fact, it can be construed as a sign of disrespect if we don’t ever seem to take a moment to think about what is asked and always seem to be quick with what could be taken as a ‘canned’ response.

On an appointment setting call, the pace is accelerated. Our Targets generally answer very quickly by falling back on their favorite ‘Conditioned Response’ – i.e., their typical way of getting sales professionals off the phone quickly. They don’t need to think about it, it is a reflex.

We must respond just as quickly, or risk being hung up on, or at least put on the defensive. The whole conversation is conducted at the speed of a Nolan Ryan fast ball (you’ll notice I love baseball metaphors). So if we’re not practiced at handling the few standard Negative Responses that we hear consistently, we’ll not have near the results we’d like to or need to.

3. The Types of Responses Heard. Because a Target has agreed to meet with us, by definition, they are willing to hear our story and share theirs to help determine whether it makes sense for them to move forward with us. That means their responses to questions we ask are more apt to be based on logic.
On a cold call, the responses we generally hear are more of a ‘knee jerk’ response designed to get us off the phone. Those responses are many times not even true, although they may have a grain of truth. If you’ll think about it, each of us has our own favorite we use when cold called.

Applying logic to their ‘lie’ does no good because there is no logic in their response. Therefore when we call someone, we must give them a vehicle to retreat from that opening knee jerk response in such a way that they save face and open their mind to a short conversation regarding what we’ve done for others to address a challenge or supply a benefit.

We must Counter their Negative Response using a transition that provides them the ability to save face (a lot of our customers felt the same way) and then ask a question that will open their mind to a short conversation by asking one of our Bridge Questions™. (By the way, our Counter technique works just as well when the Target actually gives us a true response.)

4. The Preparation to Succeed. When in front of a Target during the pipeline phase of the selling process, our preparation for the meeting should definitely include some planning. However, we cannot plan for all contingencies. That means that much of our success is based on our ability to think on our feet as each situation is at least slightly different.
On a cold call, there are only a few responses we’ll hear if we deliver the same message each time we approach someone. To accomplish that, we must internalize or memorize our opening approach to limit the responses we’ll hear and then also internalize or memorize the responses we’ll use to Counter those. We’ll also need to practice them so that they roll off the tongue like normal conversation.



Caponi Performance Group and Contact Science jointly market the telephone prospecting and cold calling solution called The Prospector’s Academy™ under the brand name Coldcalling101. It is the only comprehensive solution to solving the biggest barrier to success in most selling organizations – the inability to secure enough Initial Appointments to begin the selling process. We accomplish that through simultaneously addressing both the efficiency and effectiveness of the process. We can be reached at 214 483-5800 or at barry@coldcalling101.com.]]> http://www.salescoachinglive.com/barrycaponi/blog/the-skills-required-to-set-appointments-aren-8217t-the-same-we-use-in-norma/ Fri, 10 Dec 2010 01:42:41 +0000 Barry D. Caponi