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Connect 4
- 1. Connect 4 Maximise your selling power by connecting sales, marketing, social media and networking to drive your business forward
- 2. Objective • Suggest some ideas to build your business using the skills consistently – Marketing – Use of Social Media – Networking – Selling • First let’s start at beginning 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 2
- 3. Your Ideal Client • Wants what you have got to sell • Wants loads of it • Wants it very soon • Will pay upfront • Will tell all their friends and partners • How many have you got? 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 3
- 4. Business types Clients Revenue • B2B, B2C, B2Web • One-off • Location • Repeating • Repeat business • Existing and new business sectors • Annual/monthly support or maintenance • Competitors • Pay-as-you-go • Partners • “Bluebird” 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 4
- 5. Marketing vs Sales Marketing Sales • Conditions the market • Targeted • Gets your name recognised • Focused • Social Media • Face to face • Website (for services) • Clear objective (get • Less clear objective contract) • Less measurable • Active • Passive, waiting for • Scary – or not... prospects 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 5
- 6. Marketing • Branding – Increase awareness, focus – Content for brochures, website, messages – Publicity and PR • Holder of the ‘VALUES’ of your business • Conditions the markets 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 6
- 7. Compelling Value Proposition What’s yours? Versus 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 7
- 8. Strong Value Propositions? 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 8
- 9. Social Media 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 9
- 10. Social Media for business growth • Loads of help and skills to assist • Use the technologies • Need consistency in the message – Values – Style • Separation for Business and Personal – Less clear as technologies collide – Legal ownership 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 10
- 11. Social Media 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 11
- 12. Suggestions • Recognise value of Personal brand – Or Business brand • Demonstrate values, be helpful • Add value, skill to your reader • Be Helpful and informative • Be regular, positive, non-judgemental • Be consistent 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 12
- 13. Interlude • Why is this not enough? • As businesses, why aren’t people beating down our doors? • The current human condition… 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 13
- 14. Why sales folk win? • Harvard Business Review – Incumbent supplier (4 out of 5 win) – Remove risk convincingly • Risk of change • Risk of technology – Good contact at senior levels – Sell the solution not the product – Tailor and build compelling messages – Build great rapport – Your people are your main advantage 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 14
- 15. Communication • No option to NOT communicate, but • We communicate by different ways – Words – Tonality – Physiology 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 15
- 16. Communication • No option to NOT communicate, but • We communicate by different ways – Words 7% – Tonality 38% – Physiology 55% 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 16
- 17. Building Rapport over the Phone • Concentrate on Matching – Voice – Breathing – Words – Values and Belief – Pattern • You must listen very carefully! 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 17
- 18. Developing e-mail rapport • LENGTH - how many lines their e-mails take up • DETAIL - full of detail or very top line • SENTENCES – ‘short/punchy’ vs ‘long/complex’ • TONE - Overall attitude is formal or informal • GREETING - How does the e-mail start? • SIGN OFF - How does the e-mail conclude? • LANGUAGE - Look for Value/Belief key words or phrases 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 18
- 19. Common thread • Positive, helpful attitude • Friendly, relaxed, partnership • Working together • Be easy to buy from • Call to action – What do I want you to do next? – And by when? 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 19
- 20. Maybe face time is better… • Marketing generally ‘slow time’ • Use of Video in messages and websites – Better than static – Still not flexible enough • Social media messages – Loads of links – But 140 Characters! – Limited use(?) • Blogs – Good choice but need to innovate, be flexible 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 20
- 21. Networking • Many options – SM Cafes, Business Clubs, Leading Women, Chamber breakfasts – Commercial networks – BNI, 4N, others • Allow you to express yourself – And LISTEN, gain feedback, confirm needs, learn – Listen • Longer term, full communication • Aim to follow-up and suggest how you might help! • Don’t Sell; let people buy from you 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 21
- 22. Networking Thoughts • Prepare – Know who is attending – Know who you want to meet – Business Cards • Attend – Enjoy, smile, chat and listen – Be attentive, ask questions • Follow up – Make contact – Suggest ideas, contacts or introductions – Maintain contact 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 22
- 23. Selling Overview • Cold calling (now really warm calling) • Bad reputation but can be done well • Build rapport • Positive mental attitude • Follow-up, doing what you promised • Build relationship, find needs • Listen, query, learn, suggest solution and close 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 23
- 24. Selling – the challenge 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 24
- 25. Cold Calls Some Basic principles • PREPARATION: • INTRODUCTION: – Self – Key phrases to – Environment • explain • Position – Knowledge – Who you represent – yourself and your purpose – Who you are calling 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 25
- 26. More Basic Principles • QUESTIONING • INFORM, EDUCATE – Help, facilitate, enable – Do not sell – Not assume, sell or push • INVOLVE, COORDINATE • OBJECTIVITY – Do not sell – Be a respected advisor • KEEP IN TOUCH – Do not sell – Keep ultimate • LISTEN, INTERPRET ownership – Do not sell • ASK, CLARIFY – Enquire, not sell 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 26
- 27. Don’t Sell! • Use your positive attitude • Be helpful • Recognise prospects situation – Don’t appear threatening – Come back later • Be easy to buy from! 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 27
- 28. Value • Have you established the need in the prospect? • Can you deliver it in time and to budget? • Establish the value to the prospect – Life improving, world famous, rich, more fun at parties – Help to run their business better – Deliver savings, better service 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 28
- 29. Value Proposition • Link need with your product value – Features and benefits – SO WHAT? Test • Propose how it will solve the problem • Be clear, only making it possible for them to purchase • Always repeat the client’s keywords 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 29
- 30. Why Close? • Without a close – ‘walk in the park’ • We find it difficult – Overcome the Fear of Rejection • But… – Prospects like to be asked more than 5 times – Sale folk stop after less than 3 times of asking!!! 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 30
- 31. Closing - Key Points • Be positive, enthusiastic and eager • Be sure to understand the need/requirements • Does the prospect understand your offering and its value to him • Does the prospect believe in you and your business – must trust you – degree of rapport • Prospect must desire/enjoy the offer 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 31
- 32. Closing - MANACT • Money • Ability • Need • Authority • Competition • Timescale 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 32
- 33. Closing - MANACT • Money – budget, agreed, in bank? • Ability – resources, location ready • Need – clear, articulated, shared • Authority – signoff, available • Competition – who else, inaction • Timescale – dependent, same as yours 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 33
- 34. Different Techniques • Conditional close • The puppy close • Hot button close • The pro and con close • Ascending close • Order sheet close • Sudden death close • Relevant story close • Secondary close • Assumption close • Summary close 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 34
- 35. Examples of Objections • Don't have enough time • Don't have enough money • Competition have got a lower price • It isn't right for me – it's good for everyone else not for me • Anything else means – I don't believe what you are saying to me 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 35
- 36. Objections Types • Real – Physical difficulty, timing dependency • Need – Not recognising value, have better one already • Time – Delaying tactic, approval needed • Source – Credibility, rumour • Feature – Misunderstanding, limit to product 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 36
- 37. Objection Handling • Conditional • Pre-empting • Curiosity • Pushback • Deflection • Reframing • Feel, Felt, Found • Renaming • Humour • Reprioritise • Listen, agree, identify, • Writing reverse 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 37
- 38. 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 38
- 39. Measuring Progress • SEO and ‘Analytics’ for the technology • Sales funnel is – Up-to-date – View of all contacts/proposals/quotes – Progression of each entry – Gives a view of future business – Identifies where you need to be more active • CRM, Excel, paper – must be current 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 39
- 40. Stages 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 40
- 41. Build a Healthy Funnel • Select the right Opportunities – Ideal Client Profile • Physical – size, location, compatibility • Attitude – approach, relationship, values – Up to 35% are wasting your time! • Understand the Needs – Objectives – Decision- making process • Keep the funnel moving 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 41
- 42. Who are your winners? • Need to Prioritise (again) – Focus on likely successes – Identify key characteristics of successful client – Assess contacts against criteria – Don’t chase the losers – Help the winner to buy from YOU 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 42
- 43. Unclogging your Funnel • Focus on the opportunity profile against your ideal client – MANACT again! • Make each call or meeting count – Plan how it will move the sale forward • Get to the decision makers, gain their approval – Make an impact at the right level – Build relationships – Differentiate yourself and your products 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 43
- 44. ‘ ‘Connect 4’ is Consistency • Embrace your values everywhere • Be proud – your products – your price • Listen, hear and learn • Biggest asset in selling you 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 44
- 45. 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 45
- 46. Phil Sissons Magic Consulting Limited Mobile: 07881 205282 Email: phil@magic-consulting.co.uk TW: @sissonsp LinkedIn: uk.linkedin.com/in/philsissons 19/10/2012 Truro and Penwith Business College 46
Editor's Notes
- Presentation to folk at the Truro and Penwith college Business Centre breakfast meeting on October 18th 2012
- Objective for the talk is to link up the social media, marketing, networking and selling activities of companies into a cohesive form, so that messages are consistent and the techniques used will work to generate more business for the users
- What defines your ideal client?How many have you got? How many more do you want?
- In thinking about the markets you may attack or service, then there are different types of client and revenue profilesMost of my comments will be on the business to business community rather than to the public, but some will apply.Each client type has different styles and requirements in the way they approach sales folkThe revenue choices will have an impact on the cash profiles of the companies listening and may lead to not dealing with clients I some of these ways.Bluebird is the one that flies in unexpectedly and usually is large and difficult to process.
- My view of the division between marketing and sales.Some folk think that social media and websites can deliver sales, but I think this is mainly through selling products with relatively few variations or choices for that product. Groceries, books etc are good examples. Houses are marketed and then sold face to face, same with services and more complex items
- Branding is key area for marketing and requires a view of the shape of the company strategy and plans. No plan will lead to loose marketing and unclear objectives
- Compare Woolworths and john Lewis
- Just looking a the logo will tell you now about the company values, ethics and productsIs Google still a positive message and where is Apple after Steve Jobs’ death
- Social media technologies and usage has spawned an enormous number of support companies who will tell you how to use the stuff better. I have yet to come across one that extends their help into the actual process of selling
- With all that help available from people, companies and the internet itself then I will not competeSuffice to say that all the technologies are useful, need to be consistently used with a common message.I always get a little worried about personal and business profiles overlapping and who is authorised to make statements or provide information on behalf of the company
- Flitterin
- My view is to use a personal brand for a small business, but manage this and especially if the company is growing. At some point the brand will be bigger than the person and must move to the business focus.
- Trouble is, I am not certain that this is enough. We probably need to do some other stuff, so a slight sideways jump before progressing
- HBR review of sales losses in the US in 2012. Interviews with 1500 companies
- How do we communicate? Is it just via the content on a screen?
- The words amount to a very small portion of the way in which the message is taken up. Difficult to get tonality into short messages, even blogs, and the way you present the message, how you look and feel is even harder
- Over the phone where the main contact is via the voice and not images it can be very hard.In all forms of communication, the value of active listening is key. A carefully placed ‘really’ can either add to the rapport build up or it can kill it. Head attitude and position can work sometimes, but not always so you have to focus on what the other person is doing and your effect on them
- Email and report writing also is quite difficult but some element of matching and mirroring will help. But keep checking because you could overdo it and turn the other person off entirely.
- Common thread is the gentle stuff, but you must always leave them with a clear view of the next stage, what you want to do next and what they might want to have done to help you progressAnd always with a clear agreement of the timeframe
- Maybe we should meet after allSome of the limitations which will change but seen as of today
- At networking events don’t expect to succeed with a contract on the first day. This is not very likely.Networking is process for getting to know people better, learning and sharing. Sounds all fey, but is a good process and you should find a network group that works for you and some that don’t. Spend most of your time at the latter as this is where you will find your clients
- Stuff I have learnt from networking over many years, and have worked for me
- After all the other stuff is done you now have to make the sale and this is the scary bit. There are some techniques and I will be talking about these with the College in November.
- Get yourself relaxed and ready. Set targets for number of calls and when achieved, reward yourself!!Get your introduction short, inviting and helpful. Ask if you can use their expertise and knowledge so you can learn about whether your products or services will work for them for example. Recognise that it might not be convenient so if not arrange to call back and then DO IT
- Ask gentle questions, listen actively, check your understanding, clarify, share some of your insights and build rapport into a conversation. Always end with a ‘what to do next?’ step so that you have opened the door to call againDon’t be threatening, but helpful, positive
- Key is in the last statement!
- What does your prospect want that you can deliver
- Linking the value required to the value given by your products or servicesBe clear about how it will help and any concerns expressed tell you what you still have to do to convince the process to go forward
- Note the last two lines and why there is a mismatch
- These are all key to your success. You find out by test closing and asking for the business either all together or in stages like a discovery meeting
- Mnemonic for this is MANACT
- Mnemonic for this is MANACT, this is how to assess
- Run through some of these
- Talk through these and ask for other examples
- Overview of different types of objection
- Conditional – if you want a red one and I can get it, will you sign today?Curious – I am wondering what is not yet clear, can I ask what I have missed?Feel, felt, found – I had another client who express similar feelings of concern, he felt that .., but he found…Pre-empting – I know that you want to know more about our pricing, but if I can show you how this will save money will you go aheadPreframing – Let me make sure I understand,…. If that is correct, then I can add to your knowledge by…
- Sometime selling can feel quite disheartening
- But you can only tell if there is a problem if you are monitoring your progress.There are many ways but I like this one
- Track each contact and inopportunity through these stages, customised to your own business over time
- Maintain and improve the health of your tunnel constantlyWeed out the time wasters and long termers
- Identify who you can do business with and why, then go and tell them
- Recap all of the previous stages and you will find either you missed something or it changed. Get updated and revisit
- I hope you can see how all of the details fit well together and if you are consistent and regular across the board then it will lead to easier sales and so more businessThere is a common denominator though and that is YOU
- You have the power
- If you would like to discuss some more or want me to talk to your sales or management team, then call