4-step plan to build brilliant sales team - hr.com
TRANSCRIPT
03. 2016Essentials of
team leadership
Vol.15 No. 03
PRESENTED BY
4-Step plan to Build Brilliant SaleS team
Ric NeeleyBuilding a good team isn’t a cake-walk!
1109 Social Selling
Key takeaways for your business
Why Do We Listen To Each Other?Interpretation is everything!
Just Listen!Two specific techniques to improve your listening effectiveness
1814
The Need For SpeedDo not sacrifice quality just to go faster!
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Features
05 4-Step Plan To Build Brilliant Sales Team Building a good team isn’t a cake-walk! ric neeley
06 7 Tips To Improve Non-Verbal Selling Skills It’s time to place the ‘fog of fear’ in the background Bob phibbs
07 3 Tips To Prevent Poor Customer Service You must first understand why it happens dave Kahle
09 Social Selling Key takeaways for your business tony restell
10 The Struggles Of Being A Salesperson Are self-limiting beliefs harming your sales? By Karl Scheible and adam Boyd
11 Just Listen! Two specific techniques to improve your listening effectiveness dave Kahle
13 Sales Incentives It can boost motivation and improve productivity! John Sylvester
14 Why Do We Listen To Each Other? Interpretation is everything! Sharon drew morgen
15 Hiring A Marketing Superstar? The best interview question to ask Jet luga
17 Tips To Design And Structure Sales Force You need to be very careful during these processes prachi Juneja
18 The Need For Speed Do not sacrifice quality just to go faster! John tschohl
19 How To Earn Long Term Customers? Four steps to loyalty and higher margins peter meyer
20 4 Types Of Sales Analytics Gaining insights to help you manage and grow business elise musumano
4-Step Plan To Build Brilliant Sales Team
Brilliant sales people are like diamonds. They’re rare and they require painstaking and tedious work to polish. PG.05
Building a good team isn’t a cake-walk!
PRESENTED BY
03.2016Essentials of
team leadership
Vol.15 No. 03
1109 Social Selling
Key takeaways for your business
Why Do We Listen To Each Other?Interpretation is everything!
Just Listen!Two specific techniques to improve your listening effectiveness
1814
The Need For SpeedDo not sacrifice quality just to go faster!
Editorial Purpose:Our mission is to promote personal andprofessional development based on con-structivevalues, sound ethics, and timelessprinciples.
Sales & Service Excellence Essentials ispublishedmonthly by HR.com,124 Wellington Street EastAurora, OntarioCanada L4G 1J1
Internet Address: www.hr.com
Submissions and Correspondence:Please send any correspondence, articles,letters to the editor, andrequests to reprint, republish, or excerptarticles to [email protected] customer service, or information onproducts and services call1-877-472-6648
Sales & Service Excellence EssentialsPublishing:Debbie McGrath, CEO, HR.com - PublisherShelley Marsland-Beard - VP of SalesDeepa Damodaran - Senior EditorRaksha Sharma - Junior EditorRavi Kisan. S - Design and Layout
Copyright © 2016 HR.comPublishing. No part of this publication maybe reproduced or transmitted in any formwithout written permission from the publisher.Quotations must be credited.
Vol.15 Issue. 03
Today’s customers are ‘hyper-educated’ than ever. Even before approaching a salesperson, they would spend hours researching products and getting a general idea of the solutions available. Thus, being an effective, professional salesperson is more challenging now than ever.
A sharp sales team reflects the values of your organization, as well as that of your customers’ needs. As the voice of the customer, your sales team makes it possible to innovate just the right products and services to meet market demands. How can you purposefully design an incredible sales team to reflect your values and align them with your goals? Catch up with our cover story 4-Step Plan To Build Brilliant Sales Team by Ric Neele to know it for yourself!
Depending on whose data you want to believe, the percentage of sales reps failing to meet their quota falls between 50% and 63%. The cost of a failed sales hire can be financially catastrophic. Take a moment and add up the wasted salary, training costs, benefits, manager’s time, and the lost opportunity costs.
The Struggles Of Being A Salesperson by Karl Scheible and Adam Boyd talks about how to fix the hidden self-limiting beliefs and how it can cause harm to your sales.
The start of a new year, whether it’s a calendar year or a financial year, is a great time to review
and refresh your incentive scheme to ensure that it continues to meet your objectives and encourages your employees and channel partners to achieve their sales targets. In the article Sales Incentives, John Sylvester talks about challenges in developing a sales incentive scheme and shares a few tips to make the most of it.
Elise Musumano’s article 4 Types Of Sales Analytics will help you understand the four important categories of analytics – each more powerful than the next, to help you manage and grow your business.
That is not it! We also have a great bunch of other interesting and thought-provoking articles for you in this issue of Sales and Service Excel-lence Essentials. Enjoy reading and do not forget to mail us your feedback!
Editor’s Note
Regards,Debbie McGrathHR.com
Have a say?Write to the Editor.
5 Submit your Articles
Brilliant sales people are like diamonds. They’re rare and they require painstaking and tedious work to polish.
It can take serious effort to make them shine. However, it’s all worth it when you see their captivating inner fire that grabs the attention of everyone they meet.
A sharp sales team reflects the values of your organization, as well as reflecting your customers’ needs. As the voice of the customer, your sales team makes it possible to innovate just the right products and services to meet market demands.
By generating both immediate and future revenues and profits, they’re arguably the most valuable commodity on earth.
The Challenges of Building a Sales TeamThe world of sales isn’t what it used to be 25 years ago — or even
10 years ago. As products and services become more complex, the role of your sales team needs to evolve, too. Here’s why:• Sales teams must work much more closely with internal resources
to close deals.• Shorter product lifecycles mean more time spent learning new
offerings.• Emerging social media and social selling skills must be mastered
in order to engage a new generation of prospects.• With rising sales recruiting and training expenses, combined
with average annual sales force turnover north of 30% in the US, sales managers face more challenges than ever to find and retain sharp personnel.
How can you purposefully design an incredible sales team to reflect your values and align them with your goals?
To pull it off, you must get these four steps right:Recruit Diamonds in the Rough
Miners know the difference between quartz and diamond. Quartz is one of the most common materials found on earth, but diamonds have been treasured for generations. Though they look similar, being able to discern between the two is fundamental.
The first step is mining the right sales team. However, that means knowing the skills, traits, and characteristics that lead to success. And, like a miner, you need to test for the characteristics to discern a diamond in the rough from a piece of quartz that will be crushed
under pressure.However, once you do, you’ll have a reliable, valued member of
your sales team.Create a Roadmap for Sales Success
When you see a sparkling diamond in a jewelry store, it looks nothing like it did when it was found. When it was mined from the ground, it was muddled, dirty, and opaque.
How do diamonds get that way? They’re cut. Jewelers expertly map out every single millimeter of a rough diamond to get the most from it before shaping it to their vision. Similarly, to make a shining sales force, you have to map out a winning success strategy for them to follow.Add New Facets
A facet is a flat face on a geometric shape. To make diamonds sparkle and reflect light, jewelers facet them. The typical “round bril-liant” diamond involves 58 cuts—an awful lot for a rock less than a quarter-inch wide!
Your sales force must be multi-faceted, too. They need to be able to respond to different situations and have an encyclopedic knowledge of your products and services to meet the needs of unique customer situations.
The more skilled they are at helping customers—the more facets they have, if you will—the more likely they will be to generate future revenue.Create Heroes
Sales people tend to be motivated by incentives. To harness that motivation and encourage top-notch performance, shine a big spotlight on your most well-polished gems.
To create heroes in your organization, you’ll need to gamify the process of selling so sales team members are constantly competing against each other for higher rewards. When they succeed, so does your company. It’s a win-win. Incentive programs, when done correctly, help move the needle by keeping your top performers performing well and the rest of your team performing better.
This article originally appeared in ITA Group blog.
Ric Neeley is the Strategic Account Planner at ITA Group. He has been help-ing clients develop performance-driven sales, channel and employee initiatives for over 30 years. His programs help clients drive sales forces and channel partners results through integrated performance improvement strategies. He has helped clients tap the potential of their employees by aligning their individual goals with corporate objectives to create high performing cultures. He has over 25+ years experience in all aspects of marketing, advertising, promotions and sales on both agency and client side. Visit www.itagroup.com Email [email protected] Connect Ric NeeleyFollow @ITAGroup
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Sales and Service Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 03.2016
Building a good team isn’t a cake-walk! By Ric Neeley
4-Step Plan To Build Brilliant Sales Team
“the first step is mining the right sales team. However, that means knowing the skills, traits, and charac-teristics that lead to success. and, like a miner, you need to test for the characteristics to discern a diamond in the rough from a piece of quartz that will be crushed under pressure.”
COVER ARtiClE
6 Sales and Service Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 03.2016Submit your Articles
Your body language sends wordless cues long before you try to close a sale.The more you understand about what your body is saying — of-
tentimes without our knowledge — the more you can see how often it gets in your way.
And that is especially true when you are in a sales situation. That is because oftentimes our bodies communicate fear — and fear makes people look away.
Fear can cause you to lose your temper, or silence your own voice when it needs to be heard.
Most of all, fear keeps strangers at arm’s length.That’s because 55% of our language to communicate with another person is non-verbal.
Our bodies can sense bad vibrations long before someone’s words arrive.
So now, think about a time you felt devalued by someone. Picture what their body position was. Now picture your own body’s reaction.
I’ll bet you averted your eyes and you slumped your shoulders. You might even have curled your toes inside your shoes.
Now think what it would feel like to be served by someone whose shoulders were slumped, who didn’t meet your eyes, whose arms were crossed.
Would you feel engaged by them? Of course not!Their body was telling you they weren’t being authentic. Their non-verbal cues made it hard for you to trust them.
Most people don’t even realize when their bodies are communicat-ing, so the first thing to do is to simply notice your body position.• Do you cross your arms unconsciously?• Do you leave your arms down like a corpse when you talk to
someone?• Do your shoulders slouch most of the time?Those unconscious habits won’t bring customers to you. In fact, they are communicating your unease to them.When you have a whole crew of people doing that, the energy in
your entire business turns toxic. It makes customers walk out saying to themselves, “Something just didn’t feel right about that place.”7 Ways to Improve your Non-Verbal Selling Skills
1. Lift the Sternum (that’s the flat bone at the front center of your chest). This allows more oxygen into the lungs. A good image to maintain is that of a string pulling your posture up from your sternum. This allows your shoulders to become more relaxed when engaging strangers.
2. Lean Forward (but just a bit). Yes it’s subtle, but it keeps you from leaning backward, which shows a negative attitude.
3. Smile. A smile is your best tool to get someone to like you, and when you don’t smile, it’s the quickest way to turn someone off.
4. Meet their Eyes. We like people who look at us. Too much eye contact and it can feel threatening, but too little and you come off insincere. Yes, this is a balancing act to practice.
5. Gesture. Point directly at a feature and look at it with the
customer. They will follow your gesture, and so will their eyes as you describe the benefit. Use an open hand or two fingers together, it’s perceived as more open and friendly.
6. Arms Open. Hold your arms open and loose to show a welcom-ing attitude. Arms folded over your chest indicate you are unsympa-thetic, authoritative, and at some level, you are closing yourself off from the other person.
7. Stand Side-By-Side not Face-To-Face. When you present merchandise standing by your shopper’s side, it is non-threatening. This allows you to do a sideways lean, which is friendly and non-threatening.
An old-school tip says to mirror your customer’s body posture. For example, if they use their hands a lot, you mirror that. If their arms are open, so are yours.
If the customer suddenly crosses their legs and arms, you don’t want to mirror that. Their body is telling you they are closed off. You don’t want yours to say the same thing!
You need to maintain an open stance and see what you said or did to close them off. Addressing it with something like, “Did I just say something to put you off?” is a good way to bring them back.
Yes, it takes practice, but once you’re aware of your own body communication, you want to be a student of your customer’s body communication too.
Body posture is something rarely talked about in selling because it is assumed that if an employee is standing upright, that’s all they need to do. However, there’s much more to it.
Begin by noticing your own behavior. In what situations do you lose your voice? At that moment, what does your body look like? When you’re about to close the sale, how does your body look? When do you notice your breath becoming shallow? When do you take a step back from a customer?
The more you can choose your body posture, the more you’ll find you can also choose your attitude.
Your body is just like the car you have to drive. If you aren’t choos-ing the direction and checking the instruments, you’ll often be taken to a place you didn’t want to be.
And while you might still be afraid at some level when engaging a stranger, when you use these tips, you act as if you aren’t afraid which allows you to place the fog of fear in the background.
The more you master your body communication, the easier it will be to master your verbal communication. SSE
It’s time to place the ‘fog of fear’ in the background
By Bob Phibbs
7 Tips To Improve Non-Verbal Selling Skills
Bob Phibbs is the CEO of The Retail Doctor. As a speaker, sales consultant, and author of The Retail Doctor’s Guide to Growing Your Business, Bob has helped thousands of businesses since 1994. With over thirty years’ experience beginning in the trenches of retail and extending to senior management posi-tions, his presentations are designed to provide practical information in a fun and memorable format. Visit www.RetailDoc.com Follow @TheRetailDoctor
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What’s the true cost of poor customer service? If you’re looking for some equation to help determine how much you’re losing by poor customer service – good luck. In fact – if anyone spouts out a magic equation that gives you the answer to how much you’re losing via negative impacts of poor customer – I call BS. Businesses (and customers) are like snowflakes – everyone is different.
This isn’t 1985 anymore, folks. The sharing of information (and complaints) occurs at a much faster pace than it was 30-years ago – or even three years ago. People flock to Twitter, Facebook and other social media – to share poor customer experiences sometimes more often than great customer experiences. Great customer service matters. It matters to your repeat business, it matters to your brand loyalty, and it matters to your bottom line!
Now, though no two customers or organizations are the same, the negative impacts of poor customer service can be similar. For every customer you lose due to poor customer service, you also lose new customers they could have referred to you, thus damaging your reputation and brand loyalty. This will further negatively impact your performance and profits. Do the math based on your business model. What are some ways to prevent poor customer service?
To fix the problem – you must first understand some of the causes.• Poor processes• Poor communication• Lack of attention (or caring) for customers’ needs.
So what about some solutions. Begin by asking yourself these three questions:• Do you know what you’re doing? Is your team equipped to
fully resolve your customer’s issues? Are they trained on how to deliver an excellent customer experience? Are they trained on what processes to follow to resolve any customer service related issues? Who to get involved and what to do when they encounter a situation they may not know how to resolve? A customer gets annoyed when they think they’re dealing with someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing• Are you communicating? Do you “Ask. Listen. Deliver?” Is your
team properly communicating the details required to resolve issues the customer may be experiencing? Are they taking the time to listen to customer needs and concerns and respond accordingly? Commu-nication with the customer is imperative to great customer service and increased brand loyalty. A customer gets annoyed when they feel like they’re being ignored.• Are you responsive? How long do your customers wait for a
response to an inquiry? Are they even getting a response? Do you have processes to respond to and satisfy various types of customers? Poor internal process and communication practices can lead to slow responsiveness to customer needs and concerns. A customer gets annoyed when they feel their time is being wasted.
Poor customer service leads to loss of new customers, damage to reputation, increased employee turnover, and reduction in revenues. Customer acquisition isn’t cheap – customer retention is a better way to go. So, though businesses (and customers) are like snowflakes – everyone is different – asking yourself these difficult questions and taking actions on the answers is a helpful common starting point for improvement. SSE
This article originally appeared in Tolero Solutions blog.
You must first understand why it happensBy Scott Span
3 Tips To Prevent Poor Customer Service
Scott Span, MSOD is CEO & Lead Consultant of Tolero Solutions. He helps clients in facilitating sustainable growth by connecting and maximizing people –> performance –> profit™, creating organizations that are more responsive, productive and profitable.Visit www.tolerosolutions.com Connect Scott SpanEmail [email protected] Follow @SSpanTolero
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How can small businesses get results from social media? What time investment is needed for those results to start flowing? Is it real-istic for businesses to do this themselves? Are they missing a trick by focusing so heavily on LinkedIn? And, what does success look like? In preparing slides for a webinar I’m running to help small business owners, I’ve had cause to reflect on all of the above. I thought it’d be helpful to share some headlines with you in case you’re unable to make the webinar:How can a Business get Results from Social Media?
In my mind, there are two distinct ways of effectively selling your company through social media. The first involves using social sites to run highly targeted advertising campaigns, seen just by people who fit your ideal customer demographics. Then there’s the second angle, which is attracting customers by having a com-pelling social media presence and tapping into the pool of people who may not have even considered or been exposed to your busi-ness. Depending on the type of results, you’re primarily hoping to see, you’ll need to have one or both of these angles covered. Whichever route you go down, to be successful you’ll need to turn your social media presence into a sales funnel for your business - the end outcome of which being whatever you want your social media strategy to deliver for the team (sales, website visits, demo requests, calls booked… or just creating a buzz about your business). There are four key steps to achieving this., which you can learn about on the webinar.What Time Investment is needed for those Results to Start Flowing?
In what timescales should you promise the business that the fruits of this social media presence will be felt? Clearly, this is a function of how much resource you invest in building your social media presence. However, you shouldn’t be thinking about this as producing overnight results. Initial business results being seen within three months is achievable if you have an expert working on this. Six months if not. Then you’re looking at 12 to 24 months to really build an unassail-able lead in your market and be a company that everyone knows and wants to interact with. Running some social media advertising can significantly accelerate results, but will of course require budget – the more you can afford, the greater the impact will be.Is it Realistic for Businesses to Do This Themselves?
The answer here is yes and no. Success requires you to have a consistent presence on social media - and to be doing a multitude of things that are all needed to generate success. It also requires you to be expert at running social media advertising campaigns if you are going to invest in that side of things. Within a small business, it’s inconceivable that team members could do this adequately; they’re unlikely to have the necessary expertise and are likely to struggle to devote the time needed to be successful.
To this day, I’ve never seen this type of social selling strategy be suc-cessfully undertaken in-house, unless the business has gone all out and hired a social media-marketing manager with explicit responsibility for making this happen. More common is for companies to try and have
an admin person or intern take this on – and then the results simply don’t flow owing to a lack of skills and experience on social media.Are you Missing a Trick by Focusing so Heavily on LinkedIn?
Without question! Consider for a moment that a significant portion of all LinkedIn users only return to the site once a month. Now consider that many of those same users are logging into Facebook multiple times per week, or are active on Twitter several times a day. If you are entirely focused on researching potential hires or potential customers, then LinkedIn has a lot to offer.
However, if you also want to build your brand and attract people to your business then it’s the other social sites that will give you the frequent touch points and immediacy of interaction necessary to generate results. The underutilization of the more personal social media platforms is undoubtedly cutting you off from a huge section of your target audience, meaning you’re not generating the number of new customers you’d be looking for.What does Success Look Like?
Just as with the question of the timescales necessary for results to be achieved, clearly the results you will see in your business are going to be a function of the time and resource you invest into your social media presence. But to help you quantify what could be achieved in your business, I do share in these webinars insights into the types of results you can expect to achieve - be that visits to your website, purchases of your products or services, or active online conversation about your company.
What’s key, though, is that by turning your social media presence into a sales funnel, you get to the point where there’s a clear end result being achieved for any given level of investment in social media ad-vertising. And, that everything has been turned into a lead generation or sales process that is scalable and repeatable without being reliant on the founder or key sales people in the business. SSE
This article originally appeared in Social-Hire blog.
Tony Restell is an Ex-Strategy Consultant and Founder of Top-Consultant.com and Social-Hire.com. He is an entrepreneur with over a decade of experi-ence in online recruitment and social media. Visit www.social-hire.com Connect Tony RestellFollow @tonyrestell
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Key takeaways for your business
By Tony Restell
Social Selling
9Sales and Service Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 03.2016 Submit your Articles
10Sales and Service Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 03.2016
Depending on whose data you want to believe, the percentage of sales reps failing to meet their quota falls between 50% and 63%. The cost of a failed sales hire can be financially catastrophic. Take a moment and add up the wasted salary, training costs, benefits, the manager’s time, and the lost opportunity costs. A sales fail can easily exceed $100k, and some companies are losing over a million dollars a year on hiring mistakes.
Hiring salespeople is different from other hires. A typical sales rep deals with the following emotionally difficult situations: intense com-petition, buyers who lie, constant objections to price or proposal, and flat out rejections to taking a meeting with the rep. No other position in the company is faced with this type of pressure.
Salespeople carry an inventory of “self-limiting beliefs” that have no relevant impact on a person’s normal day-to-day life. However, when a salesperson is trying to sell something, some of these self-limiting beliefs become crippling. Let’s take money for example. Everyone has a different take on how much is a lot of money. Additionally, everyone has a different threshold for talking about money.
So if by chance, a rep was raised with a belief that it’s rude to talk about money, and they are in a sales position where they are selling something in a competitive environment, then guess what? They have to talk about money. If they choke up during the budget step, it appears to the buyer that the rep lacks the conviction that the pricing is fair…then the wrestling starts. If you put the same rep in a position where they are selling a low price product or service and it’s something the consumer wants, then money is rarely an issue.
Here is another example: Let’s assume that the ideal target prospect for the salesperson is a CXO. If the rep feels that they are not worthy of talking to an authority figure they will not call directly to the CXO level. Instead they will call much lower in the organization and try to work their way up. This strategy seldom works but it keeps the reps looking busy.
How can we uncover this in the job interview? Ask the right ques-tions? Even that is often not enough. The sales manager must be sophisticated enough to coach to the hidden weaknesses that limit the salesperson’s ability to close more deals and, most importantly, the salesperson must want to change. The salesperson must be committed to changing their beliefs… even in the face of extreme discomfort. If he or she is not committed to changing and doing whatever it takes (within ethical bounds) to achieve success, he or she will simply continue to bounce from job to job, closing another company, and hoping to collect another year’s salary.
So ask a sequence of questions that test for commitment. For example: Were you an athlete? Were you ever injured? Did you play hurt? Did you ever face adversity? How did you deal with it? What was the hardest thing that you ever changed about yourself? Why? How did you do it? If the candidate does not show commitment, they won’t be able to fix their hidden self-limiting beliefs, even if they are uncovered in the interview and even if the sales manager is adept at helping with coaching and counseling. The 50% to 63% of the reps that are failing were probably hired for the wrong position. SSE
Are self-limiting beliefs harming your sales?
By Karl Scheible and Adam Boyd
The Struggles Of Being A Salesperson
Submit your Articles
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Karl Scheible received his MBA from the University of Rochester William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration, has over 15 years experi-ence as a CEO and business founder, and teaches/advises at the Acton School of Business. He is an experienced Sandler trainers who play important roles in Sandler’s worldwide organization and is recognized as business development expert specializing in executive sales training and sales productivity training. He currently heads a Sandler training center in Austin, TX. Visit www.sandler.comFollow @SandlerTraining
Adam Boyd received his MBAE from the Acton School of Business and is a partner of Sandler training center in Austin, TX. He is also an experienced Sandler trainers who play important roles in Sandler’s worldwide organization and is recognized as business development expert specializing in executive sales training and sales productivity training. Visit www.sandler.comFollow @SandlerTraining
I recently came across some research that confirmed what many of us in the profession of educating sales people have known for years: That purchasers would be «much more likely” to buy from a sales person if that sales person would just «listen” to the customer.(1) The survey found that some of the worst offenders were experienced sales people.
Listening is one of the four fundamental competencies of a profes-sional sales person, and yet, the profession is, in general, so poor at it that most customers remark on our inability to do it well.
Wow! If there is anyone I wouldn’t want thinking I was a poor listener, my customers would be towards the top of the list.
Why is listening such a powerful sales competency? In my book Ques-tion Your Way to Sales Success, I describe a number of reasons. Here are a few.
First, it is our primary way of digging beneath the surface of a cus-tomer’s needs and uncovering deeper and more powerful needs and
motivations. That makes it a primary tool – of which the skillful use separates the master sales people from the mediocre. For example, it doesn’t take any skill whatsoever to pick up an RFQ, a set of blueprints, or to write down a list of what the customer says he needs. You don’t have to be a master listener to do that. However, to dig deeper and uncover deeper issues, that takes the ability to listen.
Here’s an example. In a routine sales call with a regular customer, the customer says, “We’re thinking of going to X product. What’s your price?”
Many sales people would look up the price and provide it. There. Job done.
The master would hear the words “Thinking of going…” and dig a little deeper. “What makes you interested in that?” he says.
The customer replies: “Well, we’re looking for a solution for a problem with our widget production line, and one of the key operators mentioned it as a possibility.”
Two specific techniques to improve your listening effectiveness
By Dave Kahle
Just Listen!
Interactive
11Sales and Service Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 03.2016 Submit your Articles
Just Listen!
“I see. What sort of problem are you having in that production line?”“An abnormally high reject rate.”“I may have some other solutions. Can I talk to your production
manager?”I don’t have to take this scenario much further to make the point. A
visit with the production supervisor could very well result in a deeper understanding of the problem and the development of an alternative solution with a whole lot more gross margin to it. The master sales person, exercising excellent listening skills, hears opportunities where many sales people don’t. Listening is the primary tool for digging deeper and uncovering deeper and more significant issues in our customers.
However, that’s not all. When we listen, we send a powerful message that we care about the other person. Conversely, when we don’t listen, we send the message that our agenda is far more important than the customer’s trivial ideas and issues. That makes effective listening one of the all-time great relationship building devices.
Listening requires us to take in information, ideas, and opinions that are outside our comforts zones. It is, therefore, one of the primary tools we use to grow intellectually, to broaden our views, and ultimately, to become wiser and more knowledgeable. If we never listen to someone with a different perspective, we never consider the possibility that we might be wrong.
From a sales person’s perspective, the more we listen, the more different positions, motivations, opinions, and nuances we are able to understand and accommodate. The wiser and more capable we become. Since we are able to understand an ever-growing panoply of positions and opinions, we are able to feel a rapport with more and more customers, and move closer to a consensus position with them.
Listening positions us as a consultant, and not a peddler, in the eyes of the customer. Ultimately, listening provides us our competitive edge.So, how do we do it better?
Here are two specific techniques to help you improve your listen-ing effectiveness.1. Listen Constructively.
My wife is a crisis counselor. She talks about “listening empatheti-cally.” That means she listens in order to understand what a person is feeling. That is very appropriate for that type of work. However, we are sales people. It is more important that we listen “constructively.” Think of “constructively – construction – building.” We need to listen for things upon which to build. Listen for opportunities, problems, opinions, etc. on which we can build our solutions.
One way to do this is to plant a couple of questions into our mind before every sales call. These are questions for which we want to gain the answer. You could, for example, say to yourself before a sales call: “What is the one thing that is this customer’s most pressing challenge today?” And, you could ask yourself, “On what basis will this customer make the decision to buy or not?”
By planting those questions into your mind, you sharpen your sensitivity to what the customer says, enabling you to listen more constructively to the customer’s conversation.2. Discipline Yourself to Build the Habit of Responding to your Customer’s Comments.
Here’s how we think the sales interview should go. • We ask a question.• The customer answers.• We ask another question.When you exercise the habit of responding, you change the format.
Now, it goes like this:• We ask a question.• The customer answers.• We respond to the answer.• We now ask another question.Notice that we have intervened in the process with something we
call a “response.” A response is a verbal or non-verbal signal that we send to the customer that we are listening, and accepting what the customer says. It flatters the customer, makes him/her feel good about answering, and encourages him/her to answer in more depth and detail.Here are two powerful responses:A. Select one or two words out of the customer’s conversation, and repeat them back to the customer, nodding your head.
Here’s an example. You ask the question, “Which of these challenges are most pressing for you?”
The customer responds by talking for a few moments about his challenges. When he pauses, you say, “back orders” and nod your head. “Back orders,” was one of the issues he talked about. You just repeated it, and nodded your head.
That’s a powerful response because it shows the customer that you have listened to the point that you have captured and repeated one of his main thoughts. That feels good to the customer and conditions him to answer the next question with even more depth and detail. Just as importantly, since you were focused on finding a key word or two to repeat, you had to listen to the customer’s conversation! This technique forced you to listen more effectively, and made the customer feel good in the process.B. Summarize and rephrase what the customer has said, and repeat it back to him.
This is similar to the one or two word techniques discussed above, more intense. When the customer has finished answering your ques-tion, you say something like this: “Let me see if I understand you cor-rectly. In other words, what you are saying is…………………………” Paraphrase and give him back your understanding of what he just said.
Like the prior technique, this is a powerful tool because it forces you to listen, it engages the customer, and it seeks agreement. Using this a couple of times in the sales interview will make the customer feel good about you, ensure that you understand him, and create an atmosphere of agreement.
Ultimately, your ability to listen more effectively evolves out of your discipline to apply some of these techniques regularly and methodi-cally. If you are going to listen more effectively, you must first make the commitment to expend the effort to do so. SSE
Dave Kahle is one of the world’s leading sales authorities. He’s written twelve books, presented in 47 states and eleven countries, and has helped enrich tens of thousands of sales people and transform hundreds of sales organizations.Visit www.davekahle.comEmail [email protected] Follow @dave_kahle
Book
How to Sell Anything to Anyone Anytime
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In a competitive business environment, the achievement of sales targets is often key to success. Incentivizing people to achieve a specific outcome is an ancient practice and it’s commonly understood to be at the heart of human psychology, behavior and our motivation. We use it not just in business but also in everyday life because for the most part it works – what gets achieved gets rewarded.
In order to ensure people are meeting sales targets businesses, try to extract 100% effort all the time. So, it’s no wonder that dangling a carrot (in the form of sales incentives) is a technique often used by manufacturers and distributors to motivate their sales teams and channel partners. As an added bonus, a successful incentive scheme can also play a role in improving employee loyalty and recruiting and retaining the best talent.
The start of a new year, whether it’s a calendar year or a financial year, is a great time to review and refresh your incentive scheme to ensure that it continues to meet your objectives and encourages your employees and channel partners to achieve their sales targets.
The main challenge when developing a sales incentive scheme is that not every sales person will be motivated in the same way. So, here are some tips to make the most of your incentive scheme:1. Remember the 80/20 Rule
Experienced sales managers know that they typically achieve 80% of sales from the top 20% of the sales team. This means that it can be easy to make significant gains in a cost efficient manner by motivating those just outside the top 20% – it’s likely that top performers are already highly motivated anyway. When designing your incentive
scheme keep in mind those just outside the top 20% and work out how to raise their performance levels.2. Keep the Targets Real
We’ve all heard of SMART objectives and sales targets need to meet the SMART criteria, but you don’t want to make them too easy. This means they should be challenging, achievable and individual. However, in many organizations sales targets are quarterly or even annual targets and this can result in a loss of focus. By setting smaller monthly goals as a stepping-stone to the overall target you can maintain the interest of your sales team, make annual targets appear more achievable and motivate those who are not your top performers.3. Make Recognition an Integral Part of the Scheme
Don’t underestimate the impact of recognition. Sales people by their very nature like the limelight so make recognition part of your sales incentive program by announcing achievements and making presentations in front of the company. And remember that in most cases recognition is free.4. Select the Right Rewards
The right reward will motivate and inspire your sales people or channel partners to achieve their sales targets, but if the rewards on offer are unappealing then it’s unlikely you’ll see much return on your investment. Take a tip from the ‘Sales 101’ manual, and find out what people want first and then offer it to them. Examples of great rewards that motivate include: prepaid cards, vouchers, gift cards, merchandise and travel.5. Communication
Communication is critical to the success of any incentive scheme. In addition to launching your new incentive scheme, make sure that you are maintaining regular communication throughout its lifetime. You need to consider how people like to be communicated with and any differences that might be caused by sales teams who are office-based or field-based. As well as keeping your sales teams updated on scheme details and performance levels, ensure that you congratulate people and partners who have achieved their targets. By demonstrat-ing what they’ve achieved and the reward they received others will be motivated to follow their lead. SSE
This article originally appeared in HR Zone blog.
John Sylvester has been largely responsible for the development and growth of the motivation & incentive discipline with P&MM. Having worked in the motivation agency business since completing a business degree in 1984, John joined P&MM in 1989 and the main board in 1996.Visit www.p-mm.co.ukEmail [email protected] John SylvesterFollow @JohnSylvester
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It can boost motivation and improve productivity!
By John Sylvester
Sales Incentives
13Sales and Service Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 03.2016 Submit your Articles
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That if it were true that we only understand a fraction of what others say to us? And if true, what can we do about it?
As someone who has taken great pride in accurately hearing what others say, I was annoyed to discover that it’s pretty impossible for any listeners to achieve any consistent level of accuracy. The problem is not the words – we hear those, albeit, we only remember them for less than three seconds and not in the proper order (Remember the game of telephone we played as kids?). The problem is how we interpret them.Our Brains Restrict Accuracy
When researching my new book What? Did you really say what I think I heard? I learned that our brains arbitrarily delete or rede-fine anything our Communication Partners (CPs) say that might be uncomfortable or atypical. Unfortunately, we then believe that what we think we’ve heard – a subjective translation of what’s been said - is actually what was said or meant. It’s usually some degree of inaccuracy. And, it’s not our fault. Our brains do it to us.
Just as our eyes take in light that our brains interpret into images, so our ears take in sound that our brains interpret into meaning. And because interpreting everything we hear is overwhelming, our brain takes short cuts and habituates how it interprets. So when John has said X, and Mary uses similar words or ideas days or years later, our brains tell us Mary is saying X. It’s possible that neither John nor Mary said X at all, or if they did their intended meaning was different; it will seem the same to us.
Not only does habit get in the way, but our brains use memory, triggers, assumptions, and bias – filters - to idiosyncratically interpret the words spoken. Everything we hear people say is wholly dependent upon our unique and subjective filters. It’s automatic and unconscious: We have no control over which filters are being used. Developed over our lifetimes, our filters categorize people and social situations, interpret events, delete references, misconstrue ideas, and redefine intended meaning. Without our permission.
As a result, we end up miscommunicating, mishearing, assuming, and misunderstanding, producing flawed communications at the best of times although it certainly seems as if we’re hearing and interpreting accurately. In What? (free download) I have an entire chapter of stories recounting very funny conversations filled with misunderstandings and assumptions. My editor found these stories so absurd she accused me of inventing them. I didn’t.
It starts when we’re children: How and what we hear other’s say gets determined when we’re young. And to keep us comfortable, our brains kindly continue these patterns throughout our lives, causing us to restrict who we have relationships with, and determine our professions, our friends, and even where we live. How Do We Connect
Why does this matter? Not because it’s crucial to accurately under-stand what others want to convey – which seems obvious – but to connect. The primary reason we communicate is to connect with others.
Since our lives are fuelled by connecting with others, and our
imperfect listening inadvertently restricts what we hear, how can we remain connected given our imperfect listening skills? Here are two ways and one rule to separate ‘what we hear’ from the connection itself:
1. For important information sharing, tell your CP what you think s/he said before you respond.
2. When you notice your response didn’t get the expected reaction, ask your CP what s/he heard you say.
Rule: If what you’re doing works, keep doing it. Just know the difference between what’s working and what’s not, and be willing to do something different the moment it stops working. Because if you don’t, you’re either lucky or unlucky, and those are bad odds.
Now let’s get to the connection issue. Here’s what you will notice at the moment your connection has been broken:• A physical or verbal reaction outside of what you assumed
would happen;• A sign of distress, confusion, annoyance, anger;• A change of topic, an avoidance, or a response outside of the
expected interchange.Sometimes, if you’re biasing you’re listening to hear something
specific, you might miss the cues of an ineffective reaction. Like when, for example, sales people or folks having arguments merely listen for openings to say that they want, and don’t notice what’s really hap-pening or the complete meaning being conveyed.
Ultimately, in order to ensure an ongoing connection, to make sure everyone’s voice is heard and feelings and ideas are properly conveyed, it’s most effective to remove as many listening filters as possible. Easier said than done, of course, as they are built in. (What? teaches how to fix this.)
In the meantime, during conversations, put yourself in neutral; rid yourself of biases and assumptions when listening; regularly check in with your communication partner to make sure your connection is solid. Then you’ll have an unrestricted connection with your CP that enables sharing, creativity, and candor. SSE
Sharon Drew Morgen is a visionary, NYT Business Bestselling author, and inventor of Buying Facilitation®. She is the author of the new bestseller What? Did you really say what I think I heard? that explains and resolves the gap between what’s said and what’s heard. Sharon Drew is a speaker, consultant, and trainer. Visit www.sharondrewmorgen.comEmail [email protected] Follow @sharondrew Connect Sharon Drew Morgen
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Sales and Service Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 03.2016
Interpretation is everything!
By Sharon Drew Morgen
Why Do We Listen To Each Other?
Are you looking for a unique mind capable of sprouting out fresh ideas that can fuel your company’s marketing? Most often, all you will need is one or two key people who are creative enough to actually produce quality marketing campaigns that can grow your business to next level.
The key is in selecting the creative bunches who have the ability to think outside of the box and innovate traditional marketing techniques. Producing quality marketing output starts with the hiring process; Your company must be able to acquire the best individual possible to steer your company’s marketing direction in the right place and in this article, we can reveal to you one simple secret that can help you in choosing that one person you need to actually stir up the marketing game of your company and change it for the better.
Try this simple question that you can use in your interviews:Start by giving your prospective hire a hypothetical scenario that
aims to gauge his marketing skills.For example, if you’re a software development company, you can
ask him a question like this:“We’ve recently developed an information management system.
However, no one knows about this product yet. How do we get people to find out more about our product?”
A mediocre hopeful marketer would be snappy and quick to answer, but would most likely procure unoriginal ideas and random sugges-tions like the following:
“Post about it on your company’s Facebook page”“Tweet about the product using your company’s Twitter handle”“Make a new advertisement on your company’s website”“Buy banner ads that will run on popular mobile apps”
Although these may seem like very logical and obvious answers, these techniques don’t necessarily espouse creativity or innovation. Remember, when choosing a great marketer, you’ll want that person to think differently than others. Traditional answers like this will most likely give your company traditional results as well.
Some of the better candidates for your marketing department will give less generic answers, but will still lack the creativity and imagination that is needed to run a revolutionary marketing campaign. Candidates like these will give you answers like:
“You have to ensure that your website is designed to maximize SEO”“Develop partnerships with companies that share similar interests/
products”“Personally approach various prospective clients through social
media to make it more personal”These are better answers but they aren’t necessarily game-changing
ideas. As mentioned previously, once all these ideas and suggestions are exhausted, there will be nothing left for to improve on.
The best kinds of candidates for your open marketing-jobs will give responses like this:
“What does your information management system do?”“How can the product improve the lives of your clients?”“What is your target market?”“What techniques are your competitors using?”“What expectations do you have for this product on the market?”The reason why these answers are the best kinds is because it just
goes to show that the people who respond this way don’t just jump into the conclusion and marketing tactics. They try to critically assess what it is they are trying to sell, and develop a foundation for market-ing strategy from there. It is by asking even the smallest questions wherein people can draw out the biggest pictures. Getting to the root cores of an issue are the best ways to address them. The only way to gain access to these root cores are by continually asking questions. Deductive reasoning is always a great way to start developing new ideas.
When people ask more questions, that means that they have the tendency to think outside the box more often, and that they aren’t subject to dogmatic and traditional ways of going about things. Routine will always breed familiarity. However, in marketing, creativity will always breed interest. SSE
This article originally appeared in Hire Rabbit blog.
Jet Luga is a systems developer, dedicated technology writer & researcher, social media enthusiast and blogger at Hire Rabbit.Visit www.hirerabbit.comFollow @HireRabbit
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The best interview question to ask
By Jet Luga
Hiring A Marketing Superstar?
15Sales and Service Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 03.2016 Submit your Articles
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The face of any organization is the sales force. Companies spend a considerable amount of time and money on sales force rather than on any other promotional activity. However, sales force is expensive and companies are looking forward to managing them in an efficient and effective manner.Designing of the Sales Force
Sales force is the link between companies and customer. Therefore, companies have to be careful in designing and structuring sales force.
1. The first step is setting out an objective for sales force. Earlier, companies had a single objective - increasing sales and making it objective for sales people. Sales people are asked to perform a search for prospective clients or lead. They are also asked to balance time between a prospective customer and current customer. Effective com-munication of product and services is essential to close the deal. Sales people also play an important role in after sales service and can make a difference for the company. They are eyes and ears of the company in the market gathering information about competition and customer changing demands.
2. The second step is to use sales people strategically. Sales people have to combine efforts with other team members to achieve the objective. They should be aware how to analyze market data been provided and convert them into marketing strategies.
3. The third step is deciding the structure of the sales force. The structure of the sales is dependent on the strategy followed by the company. Common sales force structures are as followsTerritorial structure is used where every sales representative
is assigned specific geographical area. This structure is preferred for building relationships with locals. Product structure is used for complex and unrelated product
portfolio. Here, the sales people are directly associated with research and development of the products. Market structure is used if companies are operating different
industry or market segments. Every sales force specializes in a definite market and helps push a product efficiently across the given market. However, the disadvantage would arise if customers are located over a wide geographical area. Complex structure is used when companies are in business
of selling complex product to different customer across a large geo-
graphical area. Here, the sales force structure is a combination of other structures discussed.
Once the structure is designed, companies need to make a decision with respect to the size of the sales force. The size of the sales force is dependent on the market size and number of customers.
4. The next step is to design compensation for the sales force. Com-pensation plays a big motivational factor for sales people. Companies follow a structure of a fixed amount and a variable amount depending of success achieved in the market. Allowances play an important factor in the salary owing to continuous travel and market visits.Managing Sales Force
Integral part for success of marketing strategy is management of the sales force. The management of sales consists of following
Recruitment is at the center of an effective sales force. One approach in the selection is asking a customer what characteristics they look for in a sales representative. Companies develop selection procedure where behavioral and management skills are tested.
Training is essential to remain ahead of the competition. Sales force needs training before entering the market as well as training at different stage of the product life cycle.
Supervision on sales force is decided on the profile of product portfolio. A general supervision is maintained with respect to sales people dealing with potential clients. Another supervision is related to efficient time management from preparation of client call to closing of the deal.
Motivation is a key aspect for management of the sales force. Here, compensation plays an important in driving up the motivational level. Compensation can be assigned based on sales quota. Other motivational tools are social gathering and family outing.
Evaluation is essential to management of a sales force. Sales reports sent by the sales force serve a good starting point of evaluation.
Art of negotiation and relationship marketing these two are the important aspects of successful sales representative and long term benefit for the company. SSE
This article originally appeared in Management Study Guides blog.
Prachi Juneja is a Content Writer and a blogger by profession. She has worked as a Content Writer for 3 years in TechBooks. She is an MBA from In-stitute of Management Technology (IMT) and has been writing management based articles for MSG since 2008.Visit www.managementstudyguide.com Email [email protected]
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“motivation is a key aspect for management of the sales force. Here, compensation plays an important in driving up the motivational level. Compensation can be assigned based on sales quota. other motiva-tional tools are social gathering and family outing.”
You need to be very careful during these processesBy Prachi Juneja
Tips To Design And Structure Sales Force
17Sales and Service Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 03.2016 Submit your Articles
18 Submit your Articles
“Customers want high quality at low prices and they want it now.” –Bill Gates
When it comes to customer service, we all want to “get out” quickly and get back to our lives. Generally speaking, just about the only time customers are going to contact you is when they need help, so speed counts in getting them where they’d like to be.• Customers Value Speed - Amazon! “…if you wanna do more
of something, make the friction less. If you wanna do less of something, make the friction more.” —Jeff Bezos
Amazon has such an immense number of customers that care about the bang-for-the-
buck value of Amazon Prime. Free shipping, free two-day delivery and instant video
are only three reasons that have helped Amazon build a reputation for excellent
service. Amazon built Prime Now in just 111 days to innovate for customers around speed of delivery — customers in several cities can now get their orders in an hour or less.
NOTE: Amazon has overcome challenge after challenge by adhering to Bezos’ mission: To be earth’s most customer-centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.
• Speed Creates an Advantage Over the Competition - Apple! Apple’s CEO recently asked for improvements in the company’s customer service “on hold” music after an Apple user emailed Cook about the quality of the music. The next day, the customer received a call from corporate letting them know that Tim Cook read his con-cerning email and that he had tested this and agreed that something must be done. What’s remarkable about this story is that Cook didn’t just reply to an unhappy customer; he took action.
NOTE: Explain to the customer that all feedback by a customer is valued by the company. The customer will be unsure whether or not you will actually solve their problem, so be clear that you intend to take ac-tion to reach a mutually beneficial solution. • Speed Reduces Costs and Attracts More Clients - Starbucks!
Starbucks employees are drilled in the ways of customer service from the get-go, learning how to recognize and respond to a customer’s
needs and wants. Consider the “Latte Method” that they are trained to use in unpleasant situations:
“Listen to the customer, Acknowledge their complaint, Take ac-tion by solving the problem, Thank them, and then Explain why the problem occurred”
This method allows employees to respond quickly to difficult cus-tomer situations – something that most customer service representatives find hard to deal with. In this manner, Starbucks employees are able to create a positive experience for the customer, every time.
NOTE: Express your genuine appreciation to the customer for sharing their complaint. Explain that customer complaints serve as constructive criticism and can allow the company to better serve other customers. Be sure that you include that you hope to serve them again soon.• Speed is Exceptional Service. - Metro Bank London! They
listen to their customers. Metro Bank is known as the most customer driven company in England with the highest Net Promoter Score (NPS) in the entire country. They will open an account giving new customers blank checks, debit card, and online internet access with personal password…in 15 to 20 minutes! And, the other banks in London take two weeks.
NOTE: Let your customers know that company policies and procedures have been changed to accommodate their requests, their time, and their concerns. That you are constantly on the alert for their input and that you look forward to hearing from them.
Speed involves using tools and techniques to dramatically reduce the time needed to complete a task while still placing a high importance on the level of quality. Do not sacrifice the quality of a project or task just to go faster. That is not speed. Speed does not forgo quality for the sake of finishing faster.
Remember, customers will reciprocate your helpful actions. When you resolve situations quickly and effectively, and then respond to their need, most customers will pay you back with continued or increased loyalty, goodwill, and even repurchasing. Keep in mind, there’s nobody more valuable than the customer.
“Today’s consumers want speed and convenience, but they also want a great customer experience.” SSE
John Tschohl is an international service strategist and speaker. He is founder and president of the Service Quality Institute in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Described by Time and Entrepreneur magazines as a customer service guru, he has written seven books on customer service. Visit www.johntschohl.com www.customer-service.com Email [email protected] Connect John Tschohl Follow @johntschohl
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Sales and Service Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 03.2016
Do not sacrifice quality just to go faster!
By John Tschohl
The Need For Speed
“Speed involves using tools and techniques to dra-matically reduce the time needed to complete a task while still placing a high importance on the level of quality. do not sacrifice the quality of a project or task just to go faster. that is not speed. Speed does not forgo quality for the sake of finishing faster.”
If you want consistent revenue growth for your business, it makes sense to systematically build long-term customer relationships. Customers typically buy from you because:
1. They truly like and trust the salesperson. 2. Your rep gives them exactly what they want. This usually means
discounts and special terms. 3. They want real business value and you consistently deliver it.
When these customers feel good about buying value from you they can have intense loyalty to you. If that is what you want, keep reading.
Your Choice: Charm, Discounts, or ValueIn the first case, having charming salespeople does work. It succeeds
because people buy from people. If you are in a highly competitive market, having a charming salesperson can be the difference between making your sales numbers and missing them. However, you are at risk because likable salespeople can be out-charmed by someone from another company. Worse, your competition might hire your rep.
When you rely on charm, you leave your business vulnerable. In the second case, you can earn the business. However, it comes with higher administrative costs with less revenue. Then, it spreads to other customers. It’s a downward spiral that crushes your margins. Delivering value as individual customers see it will demand a different strategy.
For this, you focus on identifying, with each customer, exactly what he or she needs to grow his or her business. Your margins and top line improve when a customer buys for him or herself and chooses you to be part of that. This is where you earn long-term loyalty and you protect your margins.
Four Simple if not Easy StepsTo earn long-term customers, a best practice is to build a virtuous
cycle of: 1. Learning each customer’s needs to grow his or her own business, 2. Delivering against those needs, 3. Showing that you listen, and then 4. Getting to hear about the next set of essential needs.To make this work, your sales team need not focus on product
knowledge or on being charming. Have them focus intentionally adding value to the customer’s business, as the customer perceives it. This should be about helping the customer grow their business, not just saving money. It’s about supporting their gain, not just resolving their pain.
When you do this, you become part of the individual customer’s own internally driven growth process. You integrate into his or her business plans and assumptions. Implementing the Best Practice
The best practice works like this: 1. Your rep goes to the customer but doesn’t pitch your company
or your products.2. Instead, she asks questions about the customer’s business. Some
are obvious, but if she focuses on the future as well as the present, she can ask questions that will bring thoughtful silence.
These questions can be as simple as asking: • Where will you get your new customers next month? • Where will you get your new customers in 12 months? • Where will you get your new customers in 24 months?When your salesperson asks the right questions, she learns what
really matters to the customer for his or her business future. The closing question then becomes, “If we can help you resolve this, would you like to know more?”
With this practice, you combine adding value with helping the customer feel good about themselves when he or she works with your team. You earn loyalty that lasts, with margins that reward you. SSE
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Four steps to loyalty and higher marginsBy Peter Meyer
How To Earn Long Term Customers?
19Sales and Service Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 03.2016 Submit your Articles
Peter Meyer is a founder and principal of The Meyer Group. He has done speaking tours on management, technology, and strategies throughout the United States and in Europe, the Far East, and Australia. He has also twice ad-dressed the Commonwealth Club of California and guest lectured at the Uni-versity of California and at Santa Clara University. He has published articles in Excellence Essentials, The Wall Street Journal, The Canadian Business Review, Business Horizons, Dateline, Internet Business Journal, Executive Female, and The Recorder as well as a profile of him in Entrepreneur. Visit www.meyergrp.comConnect Peter MeyerEmail [email protected]
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Analytics. Their purpose is to surface insights that help you manage and grow your business. The casual observer might think that all analytics are created equally; they aren’t. There’s a spectrum, with some more powerful than others. Below are four important categories of analytics – each more powerful than the next.
1. Descriptive AnalyticsWhen you track data like email opens, clicks, and replies, you’re surfac-ing descriptive analytics. Descriptive analytical data shows you what happened in the past, and it’s the simplest and most widely used. The data summarizes events in easily digestible charts and reports. 80% of business analytics are descriptive. This is changing, however, as technology grows more sophisticated.2. Diagnostic AnalyticsThink ‘drill down data.’ We’re talking data discovery, data mining, and correlations — findings that display deeper information as an analytical dashboard. Diagnostic analytics examine the cause of past performance. It tells sales managers and leaders how their teams are performing by showing things like pipeline, activities, opportunities, and closed deals. Diagnostic analytics give you an understanding of a problem that happened so you can adjust actions going forward to rectify it.
3. Predictive AnalyticsWhile descriptive and diagnostic analytics assess past events, predic-tive analytics take it one-step further – predicting what’s probable in the future. Just like predicting the weather, predictive sales analyt-ics uses advanced techniques like statistical, modeling, and data mining to find patterns in the data. See Gartner’s full explanation here. In a sales setting, predictive data might forecasts things like opens, clicks, and reply rates for a campaign based on past campaigns sent on the same day of week and at a similar and time.4. Prescriptive AnalyticsImagine a feedback system that consistently gains intelligence from analyzing actions and their effects. (i.e. “do this if you want to achieve that”). This is prescriptive analytics. A prescriptive system figures out the most likely consequence of different choices of action, and recom-mends a best course of action to improve an outcome. Prescriptive systems analyze the most meaningful, granular sales metrics and opti-mize recommendations in real-time. Sales reps learn how they should move forward based on real-time data such as prospect engagement, and managers have a clear path for coaching their teams.
On a sales team, each type of analytics is an integrated part of everyday life. Sales reps use descriptive email tracking data to un-derstand what historic messaging has best engaged their audience at each stage of the funnel.
Managers use diagnostic analytics to understand how their teams are performing and pinpoint what the high-performing contributors are doing differently. Determining the cause allows them to coach the rest of the team to adopt the same strategy.
Teams with predictive analytics have a good guess about what their prospect’s response rate will likely be based on data from past campaigns.
And prescriptive systems guide teams in real-time telling them the exact steps to take to reach their ideal outcome (creating opportunities and closing deals). SSE
This article originally appeared on Smart Selling Tools blog.
Elise Musumano is a Senior Content Marketing Strategist at Yesware.Visit www.smartsellingtools.com Follow @emusumano
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Sales and Service Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 03.2016
Gaining insights to help you manage and grow business
By Elise Musumano
4 Types Of Sales Analytics
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