Are you a sales lead squatter?

I recently read comments on a discussion board from a salesperson who complained that he and his team were being laid off partly because senior “lazy” salespeople were sitting on good leads for too long. In addition, another sales office might be shut down soon.

His argument was that if the senior salespeople cannot convert leads into sales by a certain time period, they should transfer those leads over to junior salespeople who may have a better chance of converting them. He further argued that junior salespeople are more hungry and motivated to close good leads because they don’t have large pipelines to cushion themselves when meeting quota.

Squatting on good leads has always been a touchy subject in sales. On the one hand, you want to be fair to salespeople and give them enough time to work the leads. Depending on the industry you are in, it can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to two years before you can convert a lead into an order.  On the other hand, if you suspect that a salesperson isn’t putting enough time and effort into working the lead, and you feel you could do better, what should you do?

While you can privately complain to others, the best approach is to discuss the issue with your sales manager. But you don’t want to appear greedy or bad mouth your colleague. Instead, you want to take a more “we need to work as a team” or “we need to do what’s right for the company” approach. Maybe offer some suggestions on how you would approach the non-responsive lead. Chances are if your manager is smart, he probably is already aware that there may be a problem. But if you don’t complain, he may not move quickly to resolve the issue.

Why? Because most managers know how sensitive lead transfers can be. It takes a certain amount of deftness and diplomacy to remove leads from one salesperson to transfer them to others. I’ve seen fights and arguments break out on this very issue. In fact, I’ve seen salespeople quit on this very issue.

While this problem can be handled on a case-by-case basis, the best way to avoid sitting on good leads too long is to set some ground rules from the very beginning. This way everyone knows up front what is expected of them, and what benchmarks they need to achieve in order to keep their leads.

The ground rules could include the following:

1. Number of attempts – while I don’t believe that sales is a process or a numbers game, you would expect a salesperson to make anywhere from 6 to 8 attempts, i.e., phone calls, emails, voice mail and maybe even a customized direct marketing piece. Again, depending on the industry you are in, the attempts could stretch out for weeks, if not months, before a good lead is transferred to someone else, or goes into the dormant file for a while.
2. Has contact been made? – If after x-number of attempts and time goes by, the salesperson hasn’t reached the decision maker (or even knows who the decision maker is), then maybe it’s time to hand it off to someone else. In exchange, give the salesperson some other qualified leads to pursue.
3. Contact has been made, but you’re not getting anywhere – Let’s say the salesperson has made contact with the decision maker, but an order hasn’t been placed. For whatever reason, the decision maker isn’t budging, and no end appears in sight. The salesperson has been sitting on the lead for months (if not years). At this stage, it’s usually better to have the sales manager step in and work closely with the salesperson rather than yank the lead from him. Simply handing the lead off to someone else may undermine your efforts, and force your company to start from square one. Once your manager has reviewed the situation, he can better determine who and how the lead should be managed.
4. You know someone who could help – If a salesperson has been sitting on a good lead for a while, and you know of a contact who can help you reach the decision maker, what should you do? In that situation, it may be better to hand off the lead to you. Sometimes, the salesperson sitting on the lead may be grateful that you’re taking over because it means he can focus on more productive leads. In addition, he may appreciate your efforts because he doesn’t want to look bad to his sales manager for not closing the sale. Sure, he may have some initial resentment towards you, but eventually, he may see you as being his white knight rescuing him from a bad situation.

Besides laying out some ground rules, another approach to avoid lead squatting to is hold regular pipeline meetings to review leads and accounts. Usually, pipeline meetings are held once a week. Come to your pipeline prepared. Don’t be defensive. Tell your manager upfront if you are having problems with specific leads or accounts. Ask him for his advice – after all, he’s the manager!

If you know you’re not getting anywhere with a lead, and you’ve tried everything you can, recommend that the account is transferred to someone else. While some may consider this a show of weakness, in reality, most good managers will see this as a sign of strength and maturity on your part. Better to cut your losses early than let them linger on to have your competitors pluck your sale from the company.

Remember, your leads and accounts don’t belong to you. They belong to your employer. Like it or not, your employer sometimes needs to make unpopular decisions that may not appear to be in your best interest, but what is in the best interest of the company as a whole.

Better to hand off unproductive leads to others than lose your job because the company isn’t generating enough sales. Exercising good judgment is better than squatting.

~ http://dononselling.com/

Making your sales pitch effective!

Sales people often do not have the discipline to sit down and create their sales pitch, make a script of it, and then rehearse it till they get it right. Many successful sales professionals have told me that they have improved once they began conscious work on their sales pitch.

Here is one important test to run when creating an impactful sales pitch. It involves asking the question "So?" While preparing your sales pitch, keep checking it by implementing the “So?” test.

Every time you say something about your product or your company, if the customer can raise the question 'So?', it kills your pitch instantly. This test also helps to differentiate the features, and the benefits, of your products. If you go ranting about your product features, and the customer says "So?", you need to immediately shift gears… here you have to say 'What this means for you is…' and then follow it up by mentioning the corresponding benefit(s).

Let’s take an example, if someone is selling a wonderful bike that has the latest ABC technology which saves fuel, the sales person can say here is ABC and it is the newest technology and the customer says 'So what?'. Immediately, the sales person highlights the amount of money the customer can save by saying "Sir, let me present you this bike that has the latest in ABC technology… what this means to you is that it would save you at least x dollars every month.”

Speaking the customers' language is the core to successful selling and by using well articulated benefits statements you can be a Best Seller.

Sales people - don't miss these basics!

There are a few things in sales which we cannot afford to ignore. Through the years, I’ve found three absolutely golden rules about sales, and selling, for just about anybody. These are:

• Have conviction in what you sell. That can happen only if you believe in your product / service, and the company.

• It’s all about transferring the conviction. The key step to this is to ask relevant questions and to listen attentively. It’s like 10% talking, and 90% listening. Listen actively, and very carefully to the other person, and be sure you understand what they want and need. Understand their unstated motives. Don’t sit and wait for them to shut up so you can start your pitch again. Figure out whether what you’re selling can help, and how. We all know that people choose on logic, but buy on emotions. Ensure that you decipher the emotion at play.

• In case what you’re selling can’t solve the problem, recognize that. Don’t fool yourself - say so. That certainly will enhance your credibility, so that maybe you’ll get another opportunity later on… and, you have nothing to lose, because selling something that isn’t in the buyer’s interest, is just a future business problem waiting to happen.

Sales Closing isn’t just ABC!

Often Sales heads and Business heads have told me that their salespeople aren't very good at closing. One thing that crosses my mind at that moment (which I certainly don't share with them) is that it's very likely that they aren't very good salespeople in the first place.

One issue that I have understood is that the confusing signals sales people get from different sales experts; some say ‘ABP’ Always be prospecting, some say ‘ABC’ Always be closing. This often leads to a misguided emphasis people place on closing. You would say, if only it were that easy. Super endings to otherwise mediocre plays aren't going to result in super salesman awards. In fact, too frequent closes in direct sales can be offensive to the buyers.

Very often sales people are not aware of, or neglect, several aspects of closing because they have their own agendas, which they think, will get them the sale. Well before closing, customers / prospects must understand their desired outcomes, why they can or can't be achieved, what capabilities are needed, the potential value and the price. In many instances they will want to compare other vendors.

Another mistake is that sellers try to close with non-decision makers. It's embarrassing for them to admit that they can’t take a call as they aren't authorized to commit. Sales people err by not getting in front of decision makers to close. Some reply upon proposals they hope decision makers will not only read but also understand.

Many sales people put pressure on buyers when they try to close prematurely. Some buyers will be "put off", and may decide not to buy. Those that are willing to buy will almost certainly expect discounts, or better terms for buying, sooner than they expected.

If closing is running so much on the mind, most sellers will have a parallel word running in their heads, discount. There may be instances in direct sales transactions when closing and discounting may work, if the sellers aren't the vendor of choice. Some sellers rationalize that it makes sense to discount even if they can't win, because the winning vendors will accept lower prices. I believe putting discounted numbers on the table can come back to haunt sellers.

We could to consider the ABC approach in an entirely different way. In sales situations involving long buying cycles it is important to gain commitment along the way. Minor yeses are the key. Rather than closing for the business earlier in buying cycles, there are other commitments to ask for: access to key people, agreements on potential value, an estimated decision date, agreement of buyers to spend resources in evaluating offerings, having some staff see demos, etc.

Sales professionals in direct selling have to get many yesses with the ultimate one being an agreement to move forward. My advice to all sales people is that they must be patient enough to wait until they've earned the right to ask for the business.