The Sales Hunter Smalll Business Sales Development Workbook 2012

Small Business / Sales Development

Workbook

Revised: January 2012 ©2012

Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter”

402‐445‐2110 www.TheSalesHunter.com

Mark Hunter / www.TheSalesHunter.com / [email protected] / ©2012 2

Table of Contents

Mark Hunter Clients ........................................................................................... 3 Mark Hunter Bio ................................................................................................. 4 Mark Hunter Quotes ........................................................................................... 5 How to Use this Workbook ................................................................................. 6 SWOT Analysis .............................................................................................. 7-8 Business / Marketing Plan ............................................................................ 9-12 Resource Allocation Grid ............................................................................ 13-14 Motivating Salespeople ................................................................................... 15 Managing Salespeople ............................................................................... 16-17 Sales Compensation ....................................................................................... 18 Sales Week ..................................................................................................... 19 Sales Meetings ................................................................................................ 20 Internet / Email ................................................................................................ 21 Internet / Website / “Business Media” ........................................................ 22-23 Prospecting / Leads ......................................................................................... 24 Account Management / “Major” or “Key” Accounts .................................... 25-26 Trends with Key Accounts ............................................................................... 27 Key Account Goals .................................................................................... 28-29 Key Account Strategy ................................................................................ 30-33 What Does Success Look Like ....................................................................... 34 15 Questions to Ask to Grow Your Business ................................................... 35 Questions to Ask a Sales Force ...................................................................... 36 29 Sales Territory Questions ..................................................................... 37-38 Leadership for Success ............................................................................. 39-40 Leaders ...................................................................................................... 41-42


We are known by the company we keep…


Mark Hunter Mark Hunter, "The Sales Hunter," helps individuals and companies identify better prospects, close more sales, and profitably build more long‐term customer relationships. Since 1998, Mark has conducted thousands of training programs and keynotes on sales. He is best known for his ability to motivate and move an organization through his high‐energy presentations. He spent more than 18 years in the sales and marketing divisions of three Fortune 100 companies. During his career, he led many projects, including the creation of a new 200 member sales force responsible for volume in excess of $700 million. Mark has held sales management roles in teams ranging in size from 20 to 900 members. This level of experience is at the core of every program he delivers to thousands of people each year in the areas of sales, communications, and leadership. Mark Hunter not only has expertise in sales, but also knows how to communicate it to others. He is a member of the National Speakers Association, the premier speaking organization recognized around the world for its top‐notch communicators. To find out more about Mark’s selling philosophy, visit his blog at www.TheSalesHunter.com.


Mark Hunter Quotes…

Measure your success not on the level of profit you’re making today, but on the level of the referrals you’re getting today.

The only good sale is one that leads to the next sale.

Sometimes your most profitable sales will be those you don’t make.

The level of profit you make on a sale will reflect the level of confidence you had going into the call.

Salespeople operating in an environment that does not allow them to be motivated won’t be salespeople for very long.

You work for the company in the same manner your employees work for the company.

Your competitor is not you. Don’t try to be like them.

Always hire people who are smarter than you.

The only resource you have that is in short supply is time. Everything else including money is unlimited.

Don’t spend time to save money. Spend money to buy time.

Companies don’t fail due to a lack of financial capital. They fail due to a lack of intellectual capital.

Embrace change. You can’t stop it.


How to use this Workbook:

I’ve designed this workbook to be just that – a “work” book. Business owners are entrepreneurial and as such are not driven by a precise set of “connect the dots.”

Use the book as a primer to look differently at things you’ve looked at thousands of times in the past. Use the book as a primer to discover new things. Most of all, use the book to help you make improvements in your business and, in particular, your sales.

The contents of this book have come from my background as a small business owner and a consultant to small and large businesses in the United States and around the world. With each new project comes new insights, many of which I’ve incorporated into this workbook.

The workbook does not include everything, because things are continually evolving. What you find in this edition may not be in the next. At the same time, the next edition will include things not found in this version.

As you use this workbook, do not allow your thinking to become too narrow. It’s very easy to think your business or situation is so unique that there is no way someone else’s ideas could be of any help to you. I can’t begin to tell you the number of times I’ve heard that.

Yes, each business is unique and there are unique industries, but let me assure you that the only thing that separates 99% of all companies are the abbreviations and terms used to describe things. Successful people seek out new ideas. They’re not afraid to acknowledge they may not have all the answers.

Business changes each day and what made you successful yesterday may not make you successful tomorrow. The challenge is in always working toward what will help make you profitable today and successful tomorrow.

It’s my pleasure to provide you with this workbook. To determine what to use first, I encourage you to first read the entire workbook. You may uncover the biggest idea in the section you least expect. I also encourage you to visit website, including my blog, weekly sales tips, and videos. They are all there to help you and your people.

Great Selling!

Mark Hunter


SWOT Analysis:

A SWOT analysis helps us understand what key issues your business is facing.

When building a SWOT analysis, look at the business from several angles, with each angle being a different SWOT template. The best way to approach this is by doing at least two.

The first one is from your perspective based on your company. The second one is from the eyes of your biggest customer. Depending on your competitive situation, it also sometimes can be effective to develop one from your competitor’s perspective.

SWOT =

Strengths / Weaknesses are those things that are internal for what you are measuring.

Opportunities / Threats are those things that are external.

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Opportunities:

Threats:


Strengths Weaknesses

Threats Opportunities


Business / Marketing Plan:

Too many times small businesses are unable to clearly define what they are. To the owner, it might be clear, but to customers and, more importantly, to potential customers, the company’s objective and purpose are not always clear.

Use these questions to help you define what your company does and where the greatest opportunities are:

Full‐year dollar volume:

Trend vs. YAG:

Full‐year product volume:

Trend vs. YAG:

List your top 5 Customers:

Dollar Volume / Trend vs. YAG / Projected Current Year Volume:


Top Selling Product / Service:

What % of the total volume?

What % of customers buy this?

What is the #1 item new customers request from us?

What is the #1 item existing customers request from us?

What is the profitability of each product / service segment I offer? Change vs. YAG:

What do my competitors offer that I do not?

What do I offer that my competitors do not?

What are the 3 biggest problems our customers will have to deal with in the next 12 – 18 months?


Why do I lose an existing customer?

Where do my new customers come from?

List prospects that if they were to become customers would provide you with enough business to offset the loss of your top 3 customers:

What is a particular segment or geography into which I need to expand the business over the next 2‐3 years?


Why do my customers buy from me? How do I know this?

Why do others not buy from me? How do I know this?

What is the sales cycle for a prospect?

What is the sales process to maintain a current customer?

More focus equals more profit. Don’t build the business around discounted price or on trying to be all things to all people. Most companies have anywhere from 5 – 25% of their customers that are actually costing them money.


Resource Allocation Grid:

A key decision you have to make is not only how to use your time, but also the time

and resources of each person in the company. It is too easy for you and others in the

company to spend time working on things that may seem important but really are not.

Below is a grid you can use to help better understand how to use time and resources.

Your objective is to complete the grid for the same customer for which you did the

SWOT Analysis.

When putting items on the grid, indicate by the size of the circle the potential volume

the opportunity might bring. The size of the circle indicates the amount of volume.

This tool can also help you identify at the beginning of the year or quarter what items

you should be working on. A major mistake made by owners and salespeople is the

time is always spent doing what is easiest and never invested in harder activities that

will take more time but could result in significant volume gains.


Hard

Easy

HighCost

Low Cost


Motivating Salespeople:

1. Never think you can motivate a salesperson. The only thing you can do is

create an environment that allows the salesperson to motivate themselves.

2. You can encourage a salesperson through their spouse or significant other.

Develop a dialogue with them. Tell them how much you appreciate the work

their spouse / significant other is doing. Invite them to company functions

and get to know them.

3. Your salespeople will only be as motivated as you are. If you’re not positive,

they won’t be positive.

4. If you want your salespeople to be out prospecting, they have to see you

out prospecting.

5. Never undermine your salespeople. Allow them to close the sale. Don’t

swoop in at the finish line to make the close yourself.

6. Position yourself to be the “second person” on sales calls, and use your

position to create relationships with people your salesperson may not be

able to have relationships with.

7. Because of your title, you can ask questions your salesperson may not be

able to ask. Minimally, you will be able to get different answers and

information than your salesperson can get.

8. Never stop encouraging and supporting your salespeople. And remember

that your salespeople also hear what is not being said.

9. Allow your salespeople to vent to you. An open door policy means you

listen; it does not mean you speak.


Managing Salespeople:

1. Hire slow, fire quick. This phrase was first said years ago and is as applicable

today as it was by whoever first said years ago.

2. Do not hire a salesperson based solely on the “book” of business they

claim they will be able to bring with them. Whatever the amount a

potential hire says they can bring, you can be assured it will be less than half

of what they claim. Many times they end up brining only 10 – 20% of what

they say.

3. Hire based on attitude and commitment. You can train skill. Hiring the

“skilled” salesperson with a bad attitude will cause more harm than you can

ever imagine.

4. Do not allow your time to be monopolized by low performers at the

expense of not being able to spend time with your top performers. Time

spent with your above‐average performers always will have a higher return

on investment than time spent on low performers.

5. Inspect what you expect. Don’t take things for granted, especially with

your salespeople. Just as you expect your salespeople to follow‐up on all

leads and customer needs, it’s important that you follow‐up with your

salespeople.

6. Delegate with support. The mark of a business leader is one who can

delegate. The mark of a manager is one who does it themselves. Sales

leaders know the value of their team must be greater than the sum of what

they can do and, therefore, they’re constantly looking to delegate tasks.

Along with the delegation comes the support to ensure things are done and

people are learning as a result of doing it. Delegating without the support

leads to only one thing – the regret of not having something done to the

level it could have been done.


7. Do not make adjustments on the fly with your compensation program.

Once a salesperson knows they can leverage you to get something one time,

they will start doing it all the time. It’s far more important to keep them

focused on earning their money rather than fighting you for money.

8. Salespeople must have written performance plans that you review with

them minimally each quarter. Do not do these reviews on‐site. Do your

reviews with them off‐site to allow for open discussion that is free of

distractions.

9. Praise publically. Never forget the power of the public praise. As important

as financial compensation is to a salesperson, being appreciated and

recognized is always worth more.

10. Never undermine your salespeople by interacting with customers without

letting the salespeople know in advance what you intend to do.

11. Your salesperson manages the accounts; you manage the salesperson. As

tempting as it might be to try and manage the customer, don’t think you

can.

12. If in doubt, communicate. For years the prevailing small business

management philosophy was to withhold information under the belief if it

wasn’t critical for someone to know something, then they shouldn’t know it.

Today’s environment is information driven. If information is not shared,

there will be other information that will wind up filling the vacuum. Accept

this, because in sales in particular, it is far too easy for misinformation to be

spread. When it does, the outcome is never good.

13. Sales leaders do not fall into the price trap. Salespeople will always be

quick to say the key to gaining more sales is by cutting the price. It’s

amazing how few times salespeople will admit they didn’t get a sale because

of the poor job they did. The role you play with the sales team individually

and as a group is to help them develop customer solutions. Sales leaders

should only allow price to become the focus in isolated situations.


Sales Compensation:

1. Keep compensations programs simple and short with payouts as close to

the date of the sale as possible.

2. Never implement a compensation plan that is 100% performance driven.

Always have a base level of pay to compensate for the operational activities

required by a salesperson.

3. Once a compensation plan is put in place, do not change it. Compensation

plans, including bonuses, commissions, etc., should only be reviewed once a

year at a pre‐determined date of which everyone is aware.

4. Incremental or short‐term supplemental award programs should always be

in the form of something tangible or something that will create a memory.

Cash is not as impactful as people believe.

5. Any incremental or short‐term supplemental award program should be run

on rare occasions. Running an incentive program too frequently takes the

“incentive” out of it.

6. Announce any incremental or short‐term supplemental award program to

the sales team after it has already started. This prevents sandbagging of

numbers going into a contest.

7. Establish goals with the salesperson; however, you have the final say.

8. Goals should include items beyond volume/dollar numbers. A good set of

goals will include at least one that is personal development in nature.

(Remember – it’s your job to provide them with the tools and support to

achieve their developmental goal).


Sales Week: 1. Be firm in setting blocks of time to carry out specific activities, such as

prospecting, customer development, follow‐up activities, etc.

2. Salespeople will watch how you use your week to validate what they are – or

are not – doing.

3. The hours you work, including the time you start the day and end the day,

will serve as benchmarks for your people.

4. If you see something occur, mention it. Nothing will undermine productivity

and results faster than a manager not commenting about what they are

seeing throughout the week.

5. Create and enforce a policy as to how quickly your team must respond to all

phone calls, emails and other inquires. You must follow this policy too.

6. Your most critical times of the day to engage people is first thing in the

morning, right after lunch, and at the end of the day.

7. Each day your actions, whether they are seen or not seen, will either

motivate or de‐motivate everyone in your organization.

8. Announce to your team each success as it occurs.

9. Maintain consistency in the frequency with which you talk with your

salespeople.


Sales Meetings:

Always have a weekly sales meeting. Include these items:

1. You must recognize others for their success, including what can be measured

and what can’t be measured.

2. Each person, including you, shares one success story from the prior week.

3. Each person, including you, shares one thing they learned from the prior

week.

4. Each person, including you, shares one objective to accomplish in the

upcoming week.

5. Teach, reinforce or even role‐play one sales concept each week.

6. Review numbers and the state of the business.

7. Allow one person to share one issue or opportunity they’re dealing with.

Discuss among the group ideas as to how to deal with it.

8. Attendance to the weekly sales meeting is mandatory. Provide food! Studies

have found that business owners and/or managers of small businesses who

take the time to bring in food, even home baked items, have employees who

are more loyal and committed.

9. Schedule a more in‐depth meeting every six months to review account

strategies and encourage long‐term buy‐in from the sales team.


Internet / Email: 1. Provide all people with access to their email away from the office, preferably

on a smart phone.

2. Your CRM system must be able to be accessed remotely. If you allow it to

only be accessed in the office, this will limit the acceptance and use of the

system.

3. Establish and enforce an “internet access policy,” but be flexible. Blocking

ESPN.com might sound right, but it can hurt a salesperson’s ability to gain

talking points with a customer. Too stringent of a policy will only move

activity to other devices the employees own.

4. An offsetting strategy is to put in place a website monitoring report showing

sites salespeople visit and the duration they spend on those sites. Use

caution with this approach, though, due to legal regulations. Consult your

local HR contact.

5. Spend the resources necessary to ensure everyone in the company

understands how to use all of the features in Microsoft Outlook.

6. Ensure all emails are being sent and received through a single server and

address.

7. All employees should use a uniform signature that includes a phone number.


Internet / Website / “Business Media” 1. Main Street has now been replaced with “Google Street.” The same focus a

small business used to place on maintaining their local hometown presence

is now the type of focus that must be placed on your internet strategy.

2. Customers, both loyal ones and new ones, will use the internet to confirm

their desire to work with you. The most effective money you can spend on

marketing is in building a long‐term internet presence across multiple

platforms.

3. Do not rely on Facebook or any other traditional social media site to be the

cornerstone of your web strategy. You don’t own the space on these sites

and they can and will change the rules at any time, regardless of how it

impacts you negatively.

4. Ignore “pay‐per‐click” programs. What you might think you can get with a

PPC program you’ll be able to get long‐term with a search engine

optimization program.

5. You must maintain complete control of your website. Do not allow your

internet provider or IT support company to have complete access or control.

6. Hire a professional website development company that is familiar with

small businesses to design your website using a WordPress template.

Maintain an on‐going relationship with the developer but only for ideas and

major format upgrades. Someone in your company should make all routine

entries and minor changes.

7. Do not use GoDaddy or 1‐to‐1, or any of the other high‐volume low‐price

companies to even come close to hosting your site. These companies do

not provide the level of firewall protection your business needs.

8. You must make a change to your website each week to remain even

remotely relevant to Google.


9. Establish a blogging policy with an editorial calendar that allows you to

provide new content for Google and build your customer community.

10. Embrace Linkedin with both personal listings and a listing for your

company. All salespeople and key personnel should be listed on Linkedin

using a uniform plan with similar words and phrases. All blog entries should

be linked to appear as updates in Linkedin. Join and participate in

appropriate groups.

11. Have a Facebook “Like” page with at least 25 followers to allow you to use

your company name in the URL. Link Facebook with your website and, in

particular, your blog.

12. Twitter / YouTube / other sites: Depending on your customer, develop one

or more of these channels as needed. Regardless of your desire now to

develop any of these, it is essential to register your personal name and

company name with each of these now to allow you to have access to it,

should you decide to develop a site later.

13. Establish a social media access and expectations policy for all employees.

Policy should include who in your company can access sites during the

workday. Additional rules need to be put in place to ensure how sites will be

used and what type of content can be posted.

14. Treat your internet strategy with the same care you would put into the

development of a print ad or radio spot. Never underestimate the short‐

and long‐term impact the internet will have on your business.

15. View all investments in time and money as requiring up to a 24‐month

timeframe to get back to break even. Yes, there are some activities that

will have a quick return on investment; however, your overall web strategy

should not be viewed as something you will be able to measure quickly.

16. Anything you do on the internet must match what you also have in hard

copy sales materials. Many times prospects will become familiar with you

first via the internet, and it is essential for everyone and everything in your

company to reflect the same style and message.


Prospecting / Leads:

1. If leads come into the company from the phone or internet, you must have

a policy established that everyone understands. Leads do not have to be

distributed fairly, as long as everyone knows in advance that is how they’re

going to be handled.

2. Each salesperson must have a prospecting goal that can be measured on a

regular basis, ideally weekly, but no less than monthly.

3. Develop a well‐defined prospecting strategy that is simple for each

salesperson to use and leverages with their personalities.

4. All information learned about a prospect must be entered into a CRM

system. As a manager / owner, it is your responsibility to follow‐up on this

process regularly.

5. Prospecting strategy should be supported by a web‐based marketing plan.

Make sure everything a salesperson says or does is in sync with what your

website is saying.

6. Once identified, prospects need to be the “ownership” of one salesperson.

Changes to the ownership should only be done via a pre‐defined plan.

7. Prospecting and the development of new customers must be one of your

key activities. Salespeople will naturally gravitate toward spending their

time with established customers. This is why it is so important for you to

make prospecting a priority. This does not mean you’re doing their work.

Rather it’s you inspecting what you expect from them.


Account Management / “Major” or “Key” Accounts:

1. Minimize the use of “house accounts.” Excessive use of house accounts will

serve to de‐motivate a salesperson’s drive to develop new accounts.

2. Assign each account to a salesperson using a pre‐determined plan that is

well understood by all salespeople.

3. As the owner / manager, it is your responsibility to establish relationships

with all key personnel at every key account. Never allow a salesperson, no

matter what they might tell you, to have exclusive relationships with a

customer.

4. Key account records must be maintained in writing or electronically and

kept at the company offices or on a server. Never allow key account records

to be maintained solely in a salesperson’s home or stored only on their

computer.

5. Develop a key account review process to measure the salesperson’s

performance and to use as a tool with the customer to help build the

business.

6. Compensation plans must reflect the on‐going role the salesperson has

with the account.

7. Have in place a clearly defined plan for how communication will occur with

a key account if a customer service person or anyone else is involved in

dealing with the account.

8. Credit limits and invoicing concerns must be addressed with the

salesperson handling the key account before any changes are made. Basic

invoicing problems are best handled by someone other than the key account

salesperson, but only after the salesperson has been brought up to speed.

9. Allow each salesperson to see each other’s account information. Doing so

encourages everyone to maintain better records and allows for people to

learn from each other.


10. Always work to know the customer well enough to allow you to have a

relationship with the “next in line” person with whom you might one day

be dealing.

11. Always make sure your relationship at the customer extends at least two

levels above the person your salesperson is most frequently interacting.


Trends with Key Accounts:

What are the specific volume/business goals for this year? How are you doing?

How are your competitors doing with the key account? What can you learn from them?

Who are the account’s customers? What can you learn from their customers? How might you be able to help your major accounts work better with their customers?

Overall business trends for the key account with relationship to their competitors:

How does the customer feel about you? What are the biggest reasons you aren’t doing more business with them?


Key Account Goals:

You should have 2 – 3 customer development goals with each key account.

1.

2.

3.

All goals must be specific, measurable and time‐driven.

The failure to follow‐up and follow‐through on goals in a timely manner is the number one reason they are not achieved. The most important element is reviewing the goals in a timely manner that allows you enough time to make the necessary corrections to ensure they can be achieved.

What were the results of last year’s goals?

Why were they achieved or not achieved?


What can you learn from these that can help you with this year’s goals?

How will you measure each of the goals for this year?

(You should review yearly goals monthly. Quarterly goals should be reviewed weekly. Monthly goals should be reviewed 2 times per week.)


Key Account Strategy: Below are questions to ask when looking at developing a sales structure modeled after “key accounts” vs. a more open sales environment. Questions are not listed in sequence. All questions do not apply to all organizations.

1. What role does the sales department play in securing new customers and

retaining existing customers?

2. Is customer service or other customer‐centered departments going to be

part of the key account organization?

3. Does the capability exist to develop customer level P&L statements?

4. Is there an existing set of metrics in place to develop customer level

performance?

5. Will the compensation plans reflect customer level performance, and if so,

what are the criteria?

6. What is the impact of having a sales force aligned via industries/channels vs.

having them aligned geographically?

7. How consolidated is the existing business among customers and what are the

3‐year trends?

8. Will customer service resources and other departments have to be shared

across multiple customers? If so, how/who will monitor this?

9. Is there an accurate way to measure customer business potential?

10. Is there a CRM system in place and can it be used in a key account

environment?

11. What is the classification process for determining different levels of key

accounts?


12. How will key accounts be assigned to salespeople?

13. How frequently will the total mix of key accounts be reviewed to determine if

changes should be made?

14. What will have to change in the reporting systems to accommodate a key

account structure?

15. What is the plan for communicating to customers how they will be serviced

in the new structure?

16. What is the transition period for salespeople moving between accounts?

17. What are the plans should a salesperson or a customer refuse to accept or

embrace the new structure?

18. How will senior management be used both in the start‐up phase of the new

structure and on going in the new organization?

19. What are the criteria that will be used to determine how customers are

classified and what is the process for updating the criteria?

20. Will job descriptions need to be modified along with key performance

indicators for individual salespeople due to the new structure?

21. How will the new structure impact operating expenses?

22. What is the process the salesperson in charge of a key account will use to

communicate with customer service and other departments? Will they have

any direct authority over these people?

23. How will the change be communicated to the rest of the organization?

24. How will the timing of the organizational change impact the overall business

and the immediate needs of the business?

25. How will competition respond and what should your response be to their

actions?


26. What is the plan for dealing with a customer who is not willing to accept a

change in sales personnel calling on them?

27. What will be the control process for proprietary customer information once

the new structure is put in place?

28. What is the proper customer call frequency for each level of key account and

how will it be measured on‐going?

29. What are the conversion tools/reports the sales team will need to have ready

to go with the change in the organization?

30. What are the goals and expectations for each salesperson, both during the

transition and going forward?

31. What changes will need to be made in the information systems to

accommodate the new sales structure and reporting relationships?

32. How is senior management approaching this change?

33. Will HR need to alter organizational charts or procedural manuals due to the

organizational change?

34. How will the success of the change be measured, both short‐ and long‐term?

35. What is necessary from a supply‐chain perspective to ensure there is not any

interruption to the business during the change?

36. Do you have valid metrics of the current sales force and how they’re

structured that can then be used to compare against future results?

37. How will the changes be communicated to the sales organization and other

departments?

38. What is the plan for involving the sales organization in the development of

the new structure?


39. Do you know exactly how the new structure is going to impact the day‐to‐day

workload of the sales organization?

40. What is the plan to ensure adequate resources are still placed against

opportunistic customers or prospects who have not been assigned to a

salesperson?

41. How will this impact or help the development of sales personnel and others

in the company?

42. How will this impact the backfill plan of personnel at all levels of the

organization?

43. Will the new structure open up new industry association opportunities you

have not been able to take advantage of previously?

44. Will there be some opportunities in which you will not be able to participate

due to the new structure?


What Does Success Look Like?

It seems simple enough, doesn’t it — understanding what success looks like. Too often in the sales industry, we think of it in lofty platitudes, rather than concrete realities.

Want to harness what really defines success?

Grapple with the below questions — not to the point of frustration, but with an eye on inspiration.

What does success look like?

How will we recognize it?

What are the obstacles we face in achieving success?

How much is our industry growing per year, and what are the long‐term

trends in the industry?

What do we do that our competitors cannot do short‐term? Long‐term?

Who is our strongest link in the organization?

Do we understand our cost structure well enough to understand the net profit

gained from adding incremental customers?

Who are the 20% of our customers who deliver 80% of the profit?

Are we long on time or money?

How stable is our customer base, and does our operating P&L reflect it?

How long does it take to turn a new customer into a profitable customer?

Why do people want to work for us?

Do we have an effective “back‐stop” plan in place to deal with key personnel?

Would investors be attracted to our business model?


15 Questions to Ask to Grow Your Business:

If you are a business owner or sales manager wanting to increase profits and grow business, answer these 15 questions to spur you toward action.

1. What is our plan for turning suspects into prospects, and how good is our

track record?

2. Of all the products and/or services we sell, which item do most people buy

first and why?

3. Why does a customer buy from us and not from somebody else?

4. What is the primary reason somebody chooses to buy from us?

5. Where do our prospects come from, and how do we even know they are

prospects?

6. What would it take to develop a referral program from our current

customers?

7. Who are our competitors for each one of our products and/or services, and

what are five significant reasons as to why we’re different?

8. How many sales calls does it take to close a sale, and how long does it take?

9. What are all of the objections/comments we’ve heard from our

customers/prospects, and how do we know how to respond to them?

10. What is our true cost of sales, and is it increasing or decreasing?

11. How much business do we get from referrals, and what is our plan for

maximizing this?

12. Is our sales message compelling, and do our prospects really understand the

benefits we offer?

13. How much urgency is in our sales process? Do prospects understand why it is

important to do business with us now?

14. How effective is our advertising/marketing plan in creating potential prospects?Is our sales

pipeline full, and is it generating the right type of business?


Questions to Ask a Sales Force:

Use these questions as a guide when planning a semi‐annual strategic sales meeting.

Depending on the experience and motivational level of the organization, you can use

them either as a guide with which you prepare or actual questions to generate a

discussion during the meeting.

1. What are the three things the sales force could do that, if done well, would

significantly increase the volume and profit of the company?

2. What would the sales force say is the single greatest thing blocking them

from increasing their sales?

3. If each layer of the sales team could change one thing about the layer above

them, what would they change?

4. What are the things that have made us successful? How do we expand on

these things?

5. What is the greatest weakness each of our competitors has that we can

exploit?

6. What do our customers say about us?

7. What do our competitors say about us? What would they say is our strength

and our weakness?

8. What is the single greatest contribution you make to the company on a

weekly basis?

9. Do all people in the sales force truly understand what is expected of them in

their jobs?

10. When a salesperson is not able to accomplish something, is it because of a

lack of skill or a lack of attitude?

11. What is each person doing in their job that is significantly better than the

way they did it one year ago? How about three years ago?


29 Sales Territory Questions:

As an owner, take the time to answer the questions below to better understand your customers and yourself.

After you have answered the questions yourself, review these same questions with your veteran salespeople to gain additional insights.

The objective of these questions is to identify two or three areas you can either work to improve or areas you can exploit more to grow your business.

1. What do I really like about my customers?

2. What is the number one thing I don’t like about my customers?

3. What would my accounts say they really like and appreciate about me?

4. What do my accounts say they like about my competitors?

5. Would my accounts say I am, or am not, a valuable asset to them and why?

6. Do I really know the objectives of my accounts and my prospects?

7. When clients leave me, do I really know the reason why and what am I doing

about it?

8. What are the top three reasons people do business with me and how do I

know this?

9. What are the top three reasons people do not do business with me and how

do I know this?

10. What are the elements of my sales call that really go well and what areas do I

have trouble with? What am I doing about these?

11. What is the really big objective I need to accomplish to grow my territory?

12. What is keeping me from accomplishing my big objectives?

13. What are the things I do each week that do not help me build my territory?

14. What do I need to do to put passion into my job and to convey passion to my

clients?


15. When prospects do not buy from me, do I really know the reason why they

don’t and how effective is my follow‐up plan?

16. How many referrals do I get each year from my clients and what do I need to

do to get more referrals?

17. What do I need to change to cut down the amount of travel time I have each

week/month?

18. What things am I no longer doing that at one time were the things that made

me successful?

19. If I were to lose my biggest account, what would I need to do to replace that

business?

20. How determined am I in making my goals? (Are there other goals in my life

I’m more determined to achieve? If so, why?)

21. What are the things I do or the questions I ask that really get my accounts

talking?

22. Do I know the difference between a prospect and a suspect?

23. What are the five things I would tell a new person I was training that would

allow them to be incredibly successful?

24. What is the average number of sales calls it takes to convert a prospect to a

customer? Is the number decreasing or increasing?

25. What is the percent of leads that ultimately turn into customers and how

long does it take?

26. What is the profile of the key decision makers with whom we deal?

27. What is the profile of the key influencers/users with whom we deal?

28. What is the profile of the perfect prospect? How do I find/create more of

these?

29. What do I need to do to make one more sales call per week?


Leadership for Success:

1. Although managers are concerned about a result, leaders are also concerned

about why a result occurred.

2. Belief and attitude modification are as much of a concern to a leader as skills

modification.

3. Short‐term results can be driven by a manager’s words. Long‐term results

are driven by a leader’s actions.

4. Leaders understand that values and ethics play a much larger role in the

effectiveness of a long‐term relationship than most people typically think.

5. Successful leaders realize the importance of not just the major moves they

make, but also the small ones.

6. Successful leaders have teams unified in knowing the organization’s goals

and how each person’s actions affect achievement of those goals.

7. Strong leaders are able to impact performance as much by what they do not

say as by what they do say.

8. Leaders create formal and informal communication networks within their

organization.

9. Leaders recognize that establishing and nurturing mentoring networks is

essential in high‐performing organizations.

10. Leaders use the informal network of an organization to receive feedback and

monitor the health of the team.

11. Successful leaders create organizations comprised of individuals who have a

desire to continuously improve.


12. Leaders work to create an environment within the entire organization that

encourages dialogue among peers in an effort to improve themselves.

13. Leaders are comfortable with communication flowing back up to them, and

they know how to deal with it once it’s received.

14. Leaders keep the focus of the organization on the true objectives and do not

allow the energy of the organization to be spent elsewhere. This does not

mean a leader hinders people from exploring new avenues and ideas. It

means they don’t allow personal missions to impede the organization’s goals.

15. Leaders continuously review the way things are being done and work to

improve them by fostering within the organization a spirit that is not

threatened by change.

16. Successful leaders realize the personal impact they make on the people they

come in contact with every day. By understanding the sacred role they play

in the lives of people, they are more cognizant of how they choose to

interact with them.

17. Successful leaders realize you cannot totally separate a person’s work life

from their personal life.

18. High‐performing leaders do not merely pass along information. Rather, they

filter the information to ensure it’s what the organization needs to know and

that it’s communicated in an appropriate manner. This does not mean

leaders keep their teams in the dark. A good leader will analyze the

information to determine how it helps the organization achieve its goals.

19. Leaders accomplish their tasks through other people, not themselves.

20. Leaders understand how a person’s output is impacted by their attitude.


Leaders…. Leaders don’t inform people; they energize people to participate.

Leaders don’t formulate; they “imaginate.”

Leaders don’t formulate culture; they initiate an environment that creates culture.

Leaders don’t pass information along; they foster the growth and application of

information.

L.E.A.D.E.R.S.H.I.P.

10 Traits of Effective Leaders

Listening – Leaders take the time to listen to what is being said and more importantly to

what is not being said. Create an environment that fosters dialogue at all levels. Create

an environment that encourages people to share their opinions with you, the leader,

instead of complaining to others.

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Empowerment – High‐performing teams make their own decisions. They know what the

vision and the goals of the organization are. They’re encouraged and supported in

making their own decisions. Does each member of your team fully understand the

vision and goals of your organization?

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Attitude – Leaders understand how much attitude can and does impact the

performance of the team. The skills and knowledge of a team will never be fully realized

unless the team has a success‐oriented attitude. Organizations adopt the style of the

leader and in turn, the attitude of the leader quickly becomes the attitude of the

organization. When leaders fail to embrace a people‐oriented, growth attitude, they

become managers of a process. Leaders know their attitude is on display at all times.

_______________________________________________________________

Driven – Leaders do not allow setbacks to become permanent; rather they use setbacks

as stepping stones to accomplish the team’s goals. Leaders know people are watching

them during difficult times to see how they respond. It’s during difficult times the

leader’s true spirit comes through. This spirit that becomes part of the organization.


_______________________________________________________________

Encourage – Leaders never underestimate the power of the team and are always

drawing out the best in people through their encouragement and support in large and

small things. Encouragement is an intangible, yet few traits are more important than

the visual and verbal encouragement that comes from the leadership.

_______________________________________________________________

Relate – Great leaders understand the personal and professional sides of their

organizations and they understand how both interact with each other. Leaders allow

themselves to become exposed on their personal side. This allows people to know how

to relate to them and in turn, how the leader relates to the organization.

_______________________________________________________________

Simplify – Today information is overloading everything and everybody. Leaders know

how to prevent information from complicating tasks and they work to streamline

processes. Just as important is the simplification of the tasks at hand. This is achieved

when everyone knows and understands the objectives of the team and its purpose.

_______________________________________________________________

Helpful – Leaders are never too busy not to help, nor are they too proud not to help.

True leaders help people in all kinds of situations. However, leaders also know when

not to help and allow the team and the individuals to achieve the satisfaction of

accomplishing the task themselves.

_______________________________________________________________

Imagination – Leaders dream and more importantly, they allow others to dream with

them. Through this process, they allow the organization to move to a higher level

through the use and application of imagination as a leadership tool.

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Passion – Nothing determines the level of output more than the passion exhibited by

the team and this starts with the leader. Without demonstrated passion from the

leader, there is no hope of the team ever achieving greatness. The level of output is

directly related to the passion of the organization and each member of the team.

_______________________________________________________________

Manage the Process / Lead the People

Have the spirit to lead and the strength to let go.

The Sales Hunter Smalll Business Sales Development Workbook 2012

Documents

Transcript of The Sales Hunter Smalll Business Sales Development Workbook 2012