Category - B2B

Don’t Take Shortcuts with your Sales

October 22, 2015

B2B, Business, online sales training, Sales, Sales Speaker, Top Sales Speaker

Ryan, a software sales rep, had been having a rough day. He’d been bombarded with questions from several customers and had gotten behind on work that he needed to finish before the end of the day. Then he got a call from Wayne, a prospect who introduced himself by saying, “I’ve heard great things about your engineering software package. I saw a demo about a year ago, and was not in a position to purchase it at the time, but since then it’s become very apparent that I need to integrate it into my system.”

“Wow,” thought Ryan “This will be easy. It’s about time something went right today.”

Then Wayne said, “I need to know about the cost, the tech support and how soon it can be installed.”

Ryan immediately went into his pitch. He discussed tech support in detail, covered availability and other options, and explained that the price was $12,000 with 30-day terms.

Wayne’s response was unexpected. He said that $12,000 was quite a hefty price tag and he needed a couple of days to think about all of this more carefully. He’d call Ryan back next week.

Ryan did a double take. “What just happened?” he thought. “This sale was in the bag, a sure thing, he really needs it and now he’s thinking it over? He said he needed the software right away.” And that was the end of the call.

So what happened? Ryan got lazy, plain and simple. He thought Wayne was sold. All he had to do was give him the info he needed, then write it up. He got fooled into assuming the sale without doing the work. He never got Wayne to talk about why he was looking now with seemed now to be a real priority about buying the software. The entire transaction was conducted at the intellectual level without any real understanding of the true need.

So what happened? Ryan was lured into taking shortcuts. He mistakenly thought the prospect’s enthusiasm was as sure as a sale. No matter what, you need the time to qualify the prospect and make sure he’s real before giving out your information or making your presentation.

In Ryan’s case, a couple of questions would have made a world of difference. He might have said, “Before we discuss pricing, help me understand why this software is so important. I want to make sure the application is correct for you. Would you mind if I ask you a couple of questions?” Of course, you’re digging in to find out what is really going on. This is so important to gather before you discuss price so you can truly have an understanding of not only why they want the software but the consequence of not installing it.

Once you give away your information, whether on the phone, in a presentation or in the form of a proposal, you have given up any form of control and are literally at the mercy of the prospect.

Remember it’s not about the sale, it’s about the process.

To Train or Not To Train?

September 29, 2015

Greta Schulz

B2B, Business, Hiring, Sales, Sales Speaker, Top Sales Speaker

Training

Important vs. Effective

Training is an intrecle and ongoing part of sales force development. Not only initial product training but ongoing sales process training to include; prospecting, calling at the top of an organization, closing and the activities it takes to get there consistently.

Training

“To have growth in products, you need to have growth in people”

Reinemund, CEO PepsiCo. Inc.

Training is an interesting subject. Most organizations believe at least at some level, that training is important. And most organizations believe that they have training in place. Typically when they say they have training they are referring to product training. Product training is the training of how the actual product(s) works. Thought it is important to understand this information, we tend to spend lots of time learning the ins and outs of product knowledge but not much time on how to take it successfully to market.

Most executives believe that “presenting” the features and benefits of the product and showing the knowledge of their product will sell it. It is only one part of the process and if I told you it was the less important of the two I am sure you would disagree…but it’s true. The other and most important part of the process is the ability to ask the right questions to get your prospects to “self-realize” that your product or service is a fit for them. This is not a natural way to approach selling; therefore training is an essential part of success in a sales organization.

A majority of sales organizations say they don’t have a sufficient amount of time to train and develop their sales teams. Another “reason” training doesn’t happen is that executives believe the sales manager has the responsibility to train. That is only partly true because training properly takes specific time and energy placed on the training task.

Often organizations overlook their greatest potential source of power-the power to increase sales performance by developing their people.

Executives attempt to solve sales training issues by hiring an ‘experienced’ salesperson. Someone that has been in sales before and just let them ‘do their thing”. This is an issue because we don’t know how successful they really were in the past and no matter how closely aligned your products or service is to what they sold before, it becomes difficult for them to break out of that mold.

If this issue is present it will show itself in many ways; one is each sales person is working as an island, meaning they all have their own way of selling, their own process-or lack there of. The difficulty with that is management can’t appropriately coach each individual without a process. Though each person has their own personality and their own style, a consistent process helps keep the entire sales organization on-track and adds the ability to forecast and coach for continual success. If your team is presently not hitting any of the benchmarks you’ve set look at their process. Is it broken?

Greta Schulz is President of Schulz Business, a Sales Consulting and Training firm. She is a best selling author of “To Sell IS Not To Sell” and has a Second Edition coming out in the fall2015. She works with fortune 1000 companies and entrepreneurs. For more information or free sales tips go to www.schulzbusiness.com and sign up for ‘GretaNomics’, a weekly video tip series or email sales questions to greta@schulzbusiness.com

To Train or Not To Train?

Best Selling Author Greta Schulz joins GoDaddy Garage

September 23, 2015

Greta Schulz

B2B, Business, Hiring, Marketing, Sales, Sales Speaker, Social Media, Top Sales Speaker

September 22, 2015

For Immediately Release;

Greta Schulz Joins The “GoDaddy-Garage”

Greta Schulz is now a contributing editor and writer for the “GoDaddy Garage”. “The Garage” is a new blog that GoDaddy is publishing that will have in-depth articles about web site development, online sales, content marketing, and the use of WordPress with GoDaddy along with other helpful information. The articles will be written for newcomers, on line marketing veterans and everyone in between.

Schulz is an experienced marketer and is president and CEO of Schulz Business SELLutions, located in Palm Beach, Florida. In addition to her own business, Schulz is a national columnist and writer of “SELLutions” which can be seen in over thirty business journals across the country. Schulz was also a contributor to the New York Times best selling book entitled “Masters of Sales” along with a bestseller she penned herself called “To Sell is NOT to Sell.” She works with small businesses as well as members of the FORTUNE 1000. “I was very flattered to be asked to join The Garage at GoDaddy,” she said. “GoDaddy is one of the most well recognized brands of any type anywhere, and the leader in the Internet e-commerce business community. I am very excited about writing for them.”

As a nationally recognized expert in sales, Ms. Schulz helps organizations of all types improve sales and build business referrals. She is also in demand as a motivational speaker for companies and organizations around the nation. Ms. Schulz has a business degree from the University of Miami and is the married mother of three.

For more information go to:

press@SalesExpert.info

www.SchulzBusiness.com

Top 5 Things Every Salesperson /Business Developer Should Know!

September 21, 2015

Greta Schulz

B2B, Business, Sales, Sales Speaker, Top Sales Speaker

What’s the new normal when it comes to developing business? This is not the old ‘ask a few questions, give your features and benefits and trial close’. The 70s wants their slick sales guy back. Today you need to be smart, curious and a true consultant to sell. Here are a few things that today are imperative in business growth.

1) Tell the prospect its OK to break up….Rejection is a result of trying to sell someone your product or service as opposed to tell them you what you are calling about, let them know it seems that because of what they do you could potentially work together, but (pull back) you don’t want to assume that you are a good fit. What you’d like to do is ask a few questions to see if the two of you are a fit and if not, we decide it’s a NO then we only wasted a few minutes? Sound OK?

This allows you to give a NO as an option right upfront. Then you have asked for it as opposed to a prospect pushing you away and that is the rejection.

2) Mining for customers is different today. Networking is the true key to finding and keeping customers but most people do it wrong. Networking events ate not for direct prospecting! Recognize this scenario?

“Hey do you guys use promotional products? here’s a sample, we can really help you!!”..” NO! Instead I say go to an event and look for Strategic Alliances, people that you can refer business back and forth to as opposed to hitting your potential prospects so hard. We all know building business on referrals is the best way to do business so lets network for good alliances that you can refer business to and that is a good source for your referrals.

3) Research should be used for credibility. Research is essential today before you pick up the phone and call anyone. No excuses! The most important reason to do your research on their web site, Google etc. is to create good, quality questions to ask them to engage your prospect in conversation and truly understand their needs not to tell them that you’ve researched their company and since they do this, we can sell you that…

4) If you need to discount to get the business is almost always a result of one of these things. a) The customer doesn’t truly trust you/your product or service so there is only price to use as a differentiator or b) you haven’t truly understood the need for the product. I know need seems simple but it isn’t.What are they trying to say? What impression are they trying to leave, how do they want to be seen? What are they using it for? There are lots of questions to not only understand what a prospect needs but the true deep-down ‘whys’ Asking questions will let you also gain credibility and trust but not Selling and truly asking and listening….

5) Listen and shut up!! Wow! If I could teach people that are in sales/business development to ask questions and listen there would be a lot more success in business! Telling isn’t selling…but it comes from a good place. We are excited about what we represent and want other to be excited too but excitement doesn’t sell, questions and true engagement does. Long ago we were taught to ask a few questions and when you hear a “ buying signal” jump in and tell them you can help with that and how. NO! When you ask a question, wait for the answer and whatever the answer is, especially if it may be something your product or service can help with, the best next question is, “tell me about that”, then SHUT-UP!!!

What is Value?

September 7, 2015

Greta Schulz

B2B, Sales

Business people standing with question mark on boards

You know when I ask that question in a group of people, I get lots of different answers. Most of the people in the room tell me things like ‘we give great customer service; we give people a very competitive price; we have knowledge that others don’t; we’ve been in the industry for a long time; we’ve always been rated number 1 or number 2 in our industry rating.’

It’s disturbing to me when a sales person says to a prospect, ‘we work with lots of clients like you’ or ‘we’ve worked in your industry for a long time and we’re specialists in that industry, so we know what you need.’ That is extremely presumptuous. And I think when you say that to someone, you are immediately putting him in the category of ‘there’s nothing special about you and your business is just like everyone else’s.’ The fact is that maybe that is true, but as soon as you make someone feel that way, it changes the consultation and immediately turns you into ‘just another sales person’.

There is actually only one answer to the question, ‘what value do you bring?’ And the answer is very simple – it depends. It depends on the perception of value from person that you are speaking to because value does not come from you. Value comes from the other person that you’re speaking to. This is why features and benefits selling doesn’t work anymore, because the benefit of a particular feature that you have may have nothing to do with what your prospect believes the benefit or value is to them. The receiver of the benefit will perceive it’s value. They will decide if it’s a benefit or not.

How do you get value? How do you understand what is valuable to another person?

You have to ask them some really good questions. For example, one question you might ask is, ‘what is your biggest challenge when it comes to ________? If you have success with a new product or service in that area, what would that success look like?

What would be the advantage if you could utilize a product or service that would allow you to ________?

The questions that we ask, number one, allow people to talk about what they deem is most important to them. Number two once they are telling you the points of importance you can then give back to them a “customized” solution that is based upon what they said they wanted. So what have you done here. Well not only have you truly listended to the prospects issues and concerns, you have come up with a solution based on those paerticluar needs as THEY see them, not you. So when someone asks what your ‘value’ is, or what makes you better then the next guy, don’t answer that question until you fully understand what they want. And even if you do understand, don’t answer it anyway, the information they tell you will deem much more valuable if they have told it to you and then from that information, you come up with a forgone conclusion.

Don’t Take Shortcuts in Sales

August 28, 2015

Greta Schulz

B2B, Sales

Tim, a software sales rep, had been having a rough day. He’d been bombarded with questions from several customers and had gotten behind on a proposal that he needed to finish before the end of the day. Then he got a call from Gene, a prospect who introduced himself by saying, “I’ve heard great things about your accounting software package. I saw a demo about a year ago, and was not in a position to purchase it at the time, but since then it’s become very apparent that I need to integrate it immediately into my system.”

“Wow,” thought Tim. “This will be easy. It’s about time something went right today.”

Then Gene said, “I need to know about pricing and availability. And tech support is important, too. Tell me how that works.”

Tim went into his pitch. He discussed tech support in detail, covered availability and other options, and explained that the price was $8000 with 30-day terms.

Gene’s response was unexpected. He said that $8000 was quite a hefty price tag and he needed a couple of days to consider the purchase more carefully. He’d call Tim back next week.

Tim did a double take. “What just happened?” he thought. “This sale was in the bag, a sure thing, and now he’s thinking it over? He said he needed the software right away.” And that was the end of the call.

Diagnosis: Tim got lazy, plain and simple. He thought Gene was sold. All he had to do was give Gene the info he needed, then write it up. He got conned into doing a presentation without getting Gene to demonstrate why he was so excited about buying the software. The entire transaction was conducted at the intellectual level.

Prescription: Don’t be lured into taking shortcuts. Don’t mistake the prospect’s enthusiasm for your product or service as a sure sale. Take the time to qualify the prospect and make sure he’s real before you make your presentation. In Tim’s case, a couple of quick questions would have made a world of difference. He might have said, “Before we discuss pricing, help me understand why this software is so important. I want to make sure the application is correct for you. Mind if I ask you a couple of questions?” Of course, you’re probing for pain and one of the most important things to find out is the financial impact of not implementing a solution. Having discovered the financial impact and, assuming it was significant, you will find that the cost of the solution disappears as an objection.

Don’t take shortcuts! Don’t assume anything. Get the prospect involved at an emotional, not an intellectual, level. Use the system, qualify completely, and get the sale.

Bring in the Human Factor When Selling

August 25, 2015

Greta Schulz

B2B, Sales

Corey, a new but eager sales consultant recently asked me at a workshop I was conducting what should he leave for someone when cold calling and they say they’re busy so just leave some information.

It’s best to leave nothing! How often have any of us had someone call on us in the office and we tell them, “I’m very busy, can you just leave your information” and actually stopped and read it?

Leaving information is the most common form of the friendly but meaningless blow off. To the salesperson making walk in cold calls (canvasing), to get someone to even acknowledge us often feels like a positive for the day but make no mistake, it is in almost every case nothing but a rush out the door.

What should you do instead? First of all, there are times when just walking in cold is OK. Most often it is a huge waste of time but if you are going to do it, here are a few things that might help;

1) Acknowledge what they are thinking. Tell them you know how excited they must be to get yet another walk in from a salesperson! That’s right! Just say it! They are thinking it anyway and they may give you a bit of credit for at least being honest. You are bringing in the human factor. It is important to stop with the sales lines and get down to just having a light way of breaking the ice.

If they do ask you to leave something. Ask them, “I appreciate that but honestly, if you’re anything like me, when I ask someone to leave something or send something, I usually am not really interested but it’s the nicer way to say no. Rather then that, would you mind if I ask you just 2 or 3 questions and at that point if it really doesn’t make any sense, I will get out of your way and no need for the games. What do you think?”

The same will apply on the phone. When cold calling you need to do a few things that will help your call be more successful. Again, cold calling is not to the optimal way to build your business but if you are doing cold calls on the phone, lets try to get some more success. It is all about being real, bringing in the human factor.

First of all, stop calling with some lame introduction like, “Hi this is Jim from ABC manufacturing, how are you today”?? Seriously! That line alone will get a hang up. Or even “ Hi this is Jim from ABC Manufacturing, who is in charge of purchasing equipment?”

In this day and age, we should be embarrassed to call anyone and not have done some level of research before picking up the phone. You need to find out who the person is that you need to speak to by doing a little detective work. Google is a wonderful tool, don’t ya think? Additionally your research should also consist of some reason that you’re calling. Look on their website, read up on them in the local publication, etc. You need a reason to call.

Second, if you are going to call even with the research you’ve done, you need to pull back. Give them an out. Yep, that’s right, an out. Why? Because they have one anyway and they are much less likely to hang up if you tell them it’s OK to do so.

Yes people, selling today is about being Human! Forget all of the lines and fancy tricks. Tell them the reason you’re calling is because you read on their website that they are doing (fill in the blank) and since you work with companies in that area you thought it might make sense to talk for a few minutes, and ask just a couple of questions to see if it does but you may have no need at all and if that is the case, we can hang up, no harm, no foul.

Remember make this your own. Put it into your own words but don’t forget, if you act like a salesperson, you will be treated like one. If you act like just another business person with some credibility, you will also be treated like one!

Top 5 Things Every Salesperson / Business Developer Should Know!

August 3, 2015

Greta Schulz

B2B, Sales

What’s the new normal when it comes to developing business? This is not the old ‘ask a few questions, give your features and benefits and trial close’. The 70s wants their slick sales guy back. Today you need to be smart, curious and a true consultant to sell. Here are a few things that today are imperative in business growth.

Tell the prospect its OK to break up….Rejection is a result of trying to sell someone your product or service as opposed to tell them you what you are calling about, let them know it seems that because of what they do you could potentially work together, but (pull back) you don’t want to assume that you are a good fit. What you’d like to do is ask a few questions to see if the two of you are a fit and if not, we decide it’s a NO then we only wasted a few minutes? Sound OK? This allows you to give a NO as an option right upfront. Then you have asked for it as opposed to a prospect pushing you away and that is the rejection.
Mining for customers is different today. Networking is the true key to finding and keeping customers but most people do it wrong. Networking events ate not for direct prospecting! Recognize this scenario? “Hey do you guys use promotional products? here’s a sample, we can really help you!!”..” NO! Instead I say go to an event and look for Strategic Alliances, people that you can refer business back and forth to as opposed to hitting your potential prospects so hard. We all know building business on referrals is the best way to do business so lets network for good alliances that you can refer business to and that is a good source for your referrals.
Research should be used for credibility. Research is essential today before you pick up the phone and call anyone. No excuses! The most important reason to do your research on their web site, Google etc. is to create good, quality questions to ask them to engage your prospect in conversation and truly understand their needs not to tell them that you’ve researched their company and since they do this, we can sell you that…
If you need to discount to get the business is almost always a result of one of these things. a) The customer doesn’t truly trust you/your product or service so there is only price to use as a differentiator or b) you haven’t truly understood the need for the product. I know need seems simple but it isn’t. What are they trying to say? What impression are they trying to leave, how do they want to be seen? What are they using it for? There are lots of questions to not only understand what a prospect needs but the true deep-down ‘whys’. Asking questions will let you also gain credibility and trust but not Selling and truly asking and listening….
Listen and shut up!! Wow! If I could teach people that are in sales/business development to ask questions and listen there would be a lot more success in business! Telling isn’t selling…but it comes from a good place. We are excited about what we represent and want other to be excited too but excitement doesn’t sell, questions and true engagement does. Long ago we were taught to ask a few questions and when you hear a “ buying signal” jump in and tell them you can help with that and how. NO! When you ask a question, wait for the answer and whatever the answer is, especially if it may be something your product or service can help with, the best next question is, “tell me about that”, then SHUT-UP!!!Greta Schulz is President of SchulzBusiness, a sales Consulting and Training firm. She is a best selling author of “To Sell IS Not To Sell” and works with fortune 1000 companies and entrepreneurs. For more information or free sales tips go to www.schulzbusiness.com and sign up for ‘GretaNomics’, a weekly video tip series or email sales questions to greta@schulzbusiness.com.

Always Give First

July 10, 2015

Greta Schulz

B2B, Sales

Last week, I sat down with Jacob, a friend who is a sales rep at an ink and toner supply store. We were exchanging the usual “So, how is the family…how is business?” when Jacob started to look troubled. “You know, Greta, I thought business was going great,” he said. “My sales have been through the roof, and I have more clients than I know what to do with. There is just one thing that has been bothering me the past few weeks.” “What is that?” I asked. “Well, I was reviewing my order totals for the quarter when I saw that my biggest client, ABC Graphics, had ordered only half as much toner in June as it did in May. I was not too surprised. Many of our clients have a slow month here or there. I figured things would pick up. Well, lo and behold, at the end of the next month, not only had ABC Graphics not increased back to its regular toner order, it had barely ordered anything.” I asked, “So tell me something, Jacob. When you recently visited your contact at ABC Graphics, how did it go?” “Well, to be honest, the last time I followed up with them was at the end of last year,” Jacob replied. “I told you we have been crazy—I mean busy—and besides I didn’t have anything new for him, they just want to order and not have us bother them.” Bother them! So why was Jacob rapidly losing ground on his biggest account? Because he did not stay in front of his client, and someone else moved in on his account. And if Jacob’s client perceives a visit as a “bother” then he needs to analyze what he says and does while he’s there. One common characteristic we as salespeople have, is the belief that “once a customer, always a customer.” Of course, as time goes on and good customer service does not, another salesperson sees your client as his prospect. So how can Jacob—or you—make it right? Sit down with your client list the first week of every month and think about each client individually. Then jot down something you can do for each person or company on the list. Take off your salesperson hat and really consider the well-being of your client. Think referrals, introductions, invitations to network with you…anything to make your client say, “Wow, he really does care about me.” Not only will you be helping out your clients, but you will also be keeping the line of communication open regarding your product or service. Then you can resolve their issue instead of your competition doing it…while getting their business. Rather than worrying about the other guy moving in on your clients, take some preventive measures to ensure you are keeping your clients happy. Remember the “givers gain” philosophy: The more you give, the more you get in return. If you are always giving, you will never lose.

5 Keys to Successful B2B Marketing

June 23, 2015

Greta Schulz

B2B, Marketing, Sales

Successful business to business marketing involves a tricky balance that even major business conglomerates can struggle with. To stay ahead of competitors, it’s important to constantly revisit your marketing campaign, analyzing your goals, revenue and client market. Whether you are revamping your B2B marketing strategy or just getting started, the following five keys to successful B2B marketing can help you on your way.

1) Define Your Brand

Before you can begin to market your brand, you need to have a strong brand definition. What can your product do that others can’t? What makes you stand out? What gives you an edge over the competition? Before pitching your brand to potential clients, you must be able to answer all of these questions, and answer them with confidence. Whether you’re selling paper towels or high end jewelry, if you can’t define your product’s personality in five words or less, then you need to tighten your marketing pitch. Statistics show that the average consumer attention span is now just eight seconds, that’s lower than the attention span of a goldfish. To capture the attention of the modern consumer, ensure that your branding is concise, snappy, and has a voice of its own.

2) Hire Your Focus Group

As you prepare your pitch for your B2B sales venture, include members of your focus group in the decision-making process. For example, if your product is aimed at women between the ages of 25-34, your entire marketing team should not be made up of men between the ages of 45-54. If hiring your focus group is impractical (if your product is aimed at six year olds, for instance), then test the effectiveness of your pitch through your social media platforms (here we’re assuming that parents will liaise on behalf of their children). As you introduce your product to the wide world of social media, you’ll begin to receive the kind of consumer feedback that should play an integral part in the creation of your pitch.

3) Identify Your Client

Successful B2B marketing is not about selling to the first client who will buy your product, it’s about finding the best client for your product. Before pitching your product, identify your niche. Who do you want to sell to, and why? Remember picking essay titles in high school? The narrower the focus, the better the results. You can’t market to everyone, everywhere, or your pitch will lack the spice of individuality that attracts high end B2B buyers. Before choosing your buyers, do as much research as possible on their B2B reputation, the products that interest them, and the demographics to which they cater. The better you understand your client, the more easily you can convince them that your product is exactly what they’ve been looking for.

4) Ready Your Pitch

Your buyers don’t know how great your product is, and your pitch is your only chance to convince them that it’s marvelous, flawless, and indispensable. Remember that B2B buyers have not just their own interests in mind, but the interests of their customers as well. Your pitch is the first step in a complex decision making process, so be ready to answer any questions that your buyer might throw at you. B2B buyers are more rational, careful and calculated than the average consumer, so flashy gimmicks are not necessarily going to work. It’s not enough to make your buyer want your product, they have to need it.

5) Cultivate Positive Client Relationships

As you build your marketing success, keep in mind the importance of cultivating and maintaining positive client relationships. Once you’ve made a successful sale, ensure that your product delivers as promised, and keep lines of communication open between your business and your buyer. Always think of the value-add. What can you offer your customers, that others aren’t offering? What pain points can you solve for your target audience to improve brand loyalty? Shopify, for example, offers templates, such as a Bill of Lading template, to facilitate the business needs of their customers. You don’t have to be a large e-commerce platform to offer these widgets – in many cases simple apps and tools can go a long way in creating customer loyalty. For any growing business, B2B referrals are crucial, and you won’t get them if you miss deadlines, fail to communicate with your clients, or deliver misleading pitches. As tempting as it may be to cut corners early on to optimize your ROI, it won’t help you in your end game. Offer fair prices, maintain a positive attitude, stick to your integrity, and your B2B relationships will not fail to flourish.

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Nick Rojas is a business consultant and writer who lives in Los Angeles and Chicago. He has consulted small and medium-sized enterprises for over twenty years. You can follow him on Twitter @NickARojas.