Archives

There’s no denying that the Olympic games influence our behaviors.  As a nation, we forget our differences and revel in our patriotism.  We put aside the divisiveness of partisan politics and rally around our athletic heroes.  Gym memberships surge.  Parents begin grooming their toddlers for the medal podium.  And, words like dressage, shuttlecock and rip entry find their way into our vocabulary.

But can the summer games influence our business as well?  Let’s take the Olympic motto: Faster, Higher, Stronger – how well does it apply to your business?

FASTER

How responsive is your team?  Do they respond to every call and email before the end of the day, even if it’s just to say they got the message?  Do you have service standards?  Are they followed?  How do you know?

HIGHER

Do you have goals in place and are they being met?  If so, is it time to raise the bar?  If not, what are you doing to identify the problem?  Are you measuring performance? Has your sales force been adequately coached?  Recognized?  Rewarded?

STRONGER

Is your business focused more on acquiring new customers or retaining existing customers?  The answer should be both.  Do you know what your customers are saying about your brand?  Would they recommend you to others?  By engaging your customers, you can turn customers into brand advocates that will remain loyal and do your recruiting for you.

Electrum Marketing can provide a variety of services that will make your brand faster, higher and stronger.

• Service Standards
• Mystery Shopping
• Customer Surveys
• Sales Training
• Business Development Strategies
• Acquisition Strategies
• Retention Strategies

Contact Electrum Marketing and get ready to go for the gold!

Make sure that this upcoming sales season is a winning season for your team!

Oh the lazy days of summer. When kids shake off the shackles of scholastic advancement and revel in the irresponsibility of adolescent indulgence. What will it be today? A quick trip to Forever 21 followed by a Twilight DVD marathon while trying new nail polish strips as seen in Teen Vogue? Do you think having “haute and naughty” nails makes me more Team Edward or Team Jacob?

Or perhaps an intense 5-hour session of “Call of Duty: Black Ops” fueled only by a 32 oz. Monster energy drink and a handful of Slim Jims is more your speed. Bro, these shooting controls are wicked tight! Take that you un-American zombie!!!

Summer allows their parents to enjoy the many opportunities to obliterate obligation as well. With so many bosses, supervisors and clients on vacation, it’s normal for the office pace to slow. And, thanks to the internet, smart phones, social media and a multitude of apps, days spent creating sales strategies, making client calls and polishing sales skills may easily fall victim to Facebook updates, viral videos, online scrabble games, pin boards and sales on Etsy.com. Did you see the homemade test tube spice rack? It’s only $27, so I “Liked” it. And then I pinned it. You didn’t yet? Oh, you should although I’m not sure why. Just do it. Hurry!

And, just as kids must face the loathsome annual “Back to School” sales, I propose that adults realize the importance of Back to Sales School. By knowing the answers to the following questions, your business development team will be focused and polished when their prospects return to their habitats of conference rooms, corner offices and unspent budgets.

Have you reviewed the curriculum? Do you have a strategic plan that will outline the steps you need to take to be successful?

What courses will you need to take? Does your sales team have the skills necessary to communicate benefits, overcome objections, and close the sale?

What subjects are you good at? What products or services do you offer that sets you apart from the competition? If you don’t have any then it’s time buckle down, hit the books and get one or two.

What’s your major? Who is going to be your target market and why? Do they have a need? Are they under served? Are they in a position to purchase? Are they likely to be long-term stream of revenue?

What supplies will you need? Will you need an integrated campaign consisting of direct mail, print ads, website landing pages, online banners, emails or a combination of a few select items?

Are you an A student or a C student? What assessment or measurement systems do you have in place to track your progress?

Do you need a tutor? Are you ready to send your team Back to Sales School? Contact Electrum Marketing for strategic planning, sales training, 30 second commercial training, graphic design, integrated marketing, and campaign measurement.

Make sure that this sales season is a winning season for your team!

I don’t know about you, but I am not a huge fan of sales presentations.  I’m not even a tiny fan.  When I accept an invitation to a conference call in order to learn about a vendor’s service, it’s less about me perceiving a possible benefit, and more about me attempting to appease the sales karma Gods.   If I give someone a bit of my time and listen to their pitch, perhaps one of my prospects will realize the value of strategic branding and sign on the dotted line.

As someone who downloads occasional white papers, I inevitably receive calls to schedule in-depth presentations.  Some I accept.  Others I don’t.  But it almost never fails that the person who leads the presentation will open with – “So why did you contact us?”

“I didn’t call you.  Someone from your office called me.” 

Rather than providing a reason for us to be on the phone together – “I was hoping you could give us some feedback on our white paper” or “What interested you in our white paper?”– they immediately launch into their sales pitch as if the phone was going to self-destruct in two minutes.  If only I could be so lucky.  The gentlemen leading today’s call spoke for a solid six (yes, six) minutes before stopping to take a breath.   If I were a mayfly, 20% of my life would already be over without anyone asking me how I was or what I needed.  Poor neglected mayfly.

Meanwhile back to the genius who spent a solid 360 seconds talking at me.  I learned that he employs someone with a Ph.D. in cognitive behavior while he asked nothing about my team or my clients.  He listed his core competencies before ever asking me about my needs.  What do I care if you are an accomplished cheese maker if I am lactose intolerant?

I confess that his mad cheese making skills are an exaggeration used to make my point.  The fact is I had stopped listening to what he was really saying….until he said that they could design websites for our clients since we did not provide that service.  <Insert needle scratching off the record sound effect.>

“Excuse me,” I interjected, “but we do design websites.”

“Really?”  <Cue chirping crickets.> “Hmmmm.  But we also……” and he was off and running again for another two solid minutes.

At minute nine, he actually stopped and asked what type of clients we served and what needs we had.  Really, at this stage in our relationship?  Are you kidding me?  He’s like the husband who turns to his soon to be ex-wife in divorce court and says, “I understand exactly what you mean.  You are so right.  Let’s cuddle.”   Too little.  Too late.

Before either of us wasted another minute, I ended the call with a polite, “I don’t think we’re a good fit” which sounded better than “You don’t care about me and you never have.”

Since hanging up, I have made it my mission to prevent projectile presentations from occurring.  I vow to educate salespeople on:

1. The benefits of asking prospects open-ended questions
2. The hazards of not reviewing a prospect’s website before a call
3. The risks of spouting a laundry list of services before identifying a need
4. And the stupidity of promoting web design services to a business that designs websites

Gain a competitive advantage and improve the effectiveness and adaptability of every member of your sales team. Electrum Marketing’s Selling with Style® provides a personalized sales profile for both new and experienced salespeople, that will identify their natural approach to the selling process and give them the tools to improve sales performance while effectively communicating your brand.  For more information, please call 954.318.1600 or visit www.electrummarketing.com/.

Yesterday at Electrum Marketing, I accepted an in-person sales call from a rep I had no relationship with other than I had requested information from him six months ago for a potential project that never took off.  Hoping I might learn about a program that could benefit my clients and make me a hero, I sat down with open ears and an open mind.  That’s the last thing I remember.

He did not start by asking about my clients or their needs.  Instead, he dove right into a very detailed presentation that frankly was sometimes over my head.  If I don’t understand it, how can I sell it to my client?  He rattled off feature after feature.  Where are the benefits for my clients?

It’s not shocking that this happened.  Bad sales calls happen every 30 seconds.*  Since you’ve been reading this 3 salespeople have gone down in flames.  What’s shocking is that he was a senior representative of a very large well known company yet he lacked the most basic sales skills.  Needless to say, he did not get the sale…nor has he sent a follow up email as promised.  Surprise!

I’m tempted to send him my feedback although it wasn’t requested.  Without feedback, he will never get better and the company will continue to suffer.  I’m a strong believer in mystery shopping and a structured customer feedback process and recommend it to my clients.  It helps identify specific weaknesses in the customer experience and provides businesses with the information needed to improve the customer experience, selling skills and ultimately, profitability.

* This statistic is not proven.  Nor is it true.