Let's Have a Party!

I’m just back from the USA where I’ve participated in a client’s business launch party in New York, and it reminded me of the importance of public holidays in the country in which you want to export. 

This week, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving – on a par with Christmas for the amount of preparation and food & drink consumed. Everybody was talking about their plans for that festive weekend. You couldn’t find many people intent on focussing exclusively on work around that time, as their thoughts were on finding the right turkey, calling family members or figuring out where to go with friends for the long weekend.

 

We were worried about the attendance (esp. so close after Hurricane Sandy), but it turns out that it was an excellent time to organise the launch party of the new business: lots of important folks turned up, all in festive mood and with a huge degree of empathy towards our team and brand. 

So next time you need to celebrate a company milestone, the anniversary of a business relationship, or the opening of a new office, look at the local calendar first, and choose a date in the week before a major public holiday. And as Elvis said, let’s have a party!

Norbert Sagnard

Deadly Sales Sins

So you’ve made some sales and exported some products. Your company is growing but perhaps not as fast as you would like. And it’s hard work to close those deals and build new markets. Why is it so hard?

Blame the economy, the competition, too much regulation. The sales team’s not working hard enough. The sales culture in the export markets is slow. The new version would help, if only it was finished ……. But could it be because your sales team (or you) are committing some deadly sins? Let’s see.

Are your team wasting time calling non-decision makers? Certainly, there are gate-keepers to be managed and, in the public sector, grade 5 managers play an important influencing role but do you really qualify who your team are spending their time with and why? They may be making their meeting or activity quotas but if they’re talking to the wrong people then so what?

Are your salespeople struggling with closing? Perhaps, but the chances are their problem is not closing. Their problem is wasting time trying to close deals that they should never have qualified into in the first place. Check your qualification process (and it is a process, not a one-off activity at the start of a sales cycle).

So, you’ve made a couple of great sales but finding it difficult to make more. Is your sales process consistent? Have you thoroughly analysed why you made those wins and why you’ve lost others? If you don’t try and document your process, you are doomed to re-invent the wheel each time. What a waste of effort.

What’s the fastest way to get rid of a salesperson? Ask for a proposal. And it is so easy to fall into this trap. It makes us feel busy, engaged, building a pipeline. Equally, there is a good chance we have been thrown a bone to stop us pestering someone, make up the numbers, give them reasons to turn us down. Again, this can be avoided through good qualification and dealing with decision-makers only.

And there are more sins. Do you have measurable sales goals & objectives? Are you getting sufficient customer referrals? Do you think that software (contact management, CRM) is the answer? If you want to know more, talk to me.

Happy Selling.

Geraldine Fusciardi

www.strategy-structure-sales.com