Nice Deals!: Update # 2

This is my second update on this month's contracts.

So for the second contract, I had negotiated directly with the President of this company, who in turn put his attorney in touch with me. This attorney was lobbying hard for a 90 day out clause for convenience instead of an annual commitment.

At the end of the day, my company said no and I agreed with that.

A contract is just that: a commitment to buy over a period of time; in this case one year. There are no "outs" for convenience. For convenience means that if the client didn't like the color of our UI, he could terminate without cause. In every contract it is boiler plate to have an out for breach or material breach. This deal is still alive, but will take longer now due to the attorney now in the role of "middleman".

My point to you is this:

Never ever let an attorney or a PGP push you into an "out" for convenience. It is not how stable business is done and if it is, it isn't sustainable for the long term. Imagine if all a company had were customers with contracts that had convenience clauses in them. That company would have a long list of potential issues including but not limited to:

• Customer Churn
• Revenue Leak
• Low Valuation
• Low credibility depending on the industry targeted.
• Always being in customer acquisition mode versus building a sustainable model. ie: more going out than coming in.

Also remember that if you are working with a PGP that is non-committal or "circular" as some may say, chances are they will push for this clause. Know that up front and try to disqualify them by letting them know your terms are hard and fast according to the length of the contract.

Contract negotiation is one of the most important and integral pieces of the sales process as it directly correlates to your de-booking rate and your company's overall valuation.

We will have a section on contract negotiation sometime in the future. Stay tuned!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Your Sales Resource

Nice Deals!: Update

Good news!

Today one of my contracts came in. I am half way there.

Keep on Selling!

Mike

Sales People: From the Prospect's View

I just found this great post on GoDaddy, also a great resource for domains, hosting etc. It is a very complete and useful account into how the Founder and President of GoDaddy views his time spent on various activities daily including sales calls. A very interesting read.

It reinforces the fact that as Sales Professionals, if we aren't selling and closing, we are wasting the PGP's (Pretty Good Prospect's) time. I know you are thinking but what about building rapport? Yes that is number one, but if selling isn't hand in hand with rapport, you may have such great rapport that your PGP now has the comfort level with you to say no or extend out your sale because "hey we are such great friends, I know you'll understand."

Just be cognizant of the fact that your rapport was probably initiated because you were trying to sell them something.

Here's the link:

http://www.bobparsons.com/telephonetimesavers.html

Take it easy,
Your Sales Resource

What Makes a Pretty Good Prospect?

I was thinking today about the details and efforts that go into identifying a Pretty Good Prospect, which will be known from here forward as a PGP.

A PGP is someone or a company who obviously "fits" into the target market of the product or service you are selling. This also ties into managing your time effectively, but we'll save that for another day. If they aren't in the target market, they probably won't listen, won't buy and won't make you any money either. Don't try to sell icecubes in the NorthPole.

When I identify a good prospect from scratch (no list or contact):

• I look at VC newsletters
• I look at the PGP's 10K if public.
• I look at their Careers page to see if they are hiring
• I look at what departments are hiring
• I look at revenues annually
• I ask my colleagues about them to see if anyone has sold to them before
• I check online resources like Google, Yahoo, Zaba, Hoovers and OneSource
• I check to make sure that in third party newgroups there isn't a reason posted for me to not engage them...ie "they are in bankruptcy" or some other extenuating factors
• I check the message board on Yahoo finance if public

When I am filtering web leads that come to my homepage, there are "gates" I need to put in place to get a more defined, quality PGP lead such as:

• Company name
• Employee count
• Annual revenues
• Contact info ie first, last, email, phone, job function, department
• Company website
• Industry
• Where did they here about us

When I have a list or contact it is still somewhat tactical, but more strategic:

• I think about how to triangulate in a PGP to make sure I have investment from the PGP internally
• I check to make sure they are the correct contact and what their "rank" is politically within the organization.
• I try to learn and have an Understanding of what drives interest in the PGP
• I ask what was the last product they implemented
• I make sure that I have a thorough 360° understanding of the PGP's business proposition; what do they do, how does that benefit their customers, what is their average sale, how many employees do they have, what is their rank in their industry, who are their competitors, are any of their competitors already a customer of mine, Do we share VC's, and lastly, Do we share any partnerships?
• I have a definite use in mind for the PGP for my product in terms of what pain I think it could solve; I have a game plan for penetrating the PGP

Some final nuggets:

• If you can't see a fit for what you are selling to your current PGP, you must look elsewhere to sell it as they won't see a fit either. This will be evident as you won't have the passion and sense of urgency in your demeanor (over the phone or in person) to sell it.
• Don't waste your time with companies that aren't a good target, even if they are inbound or a referral; Yes contact those, but keep in mind that there are far more companies out there that will be PGP's and you can feel at ease to simply move on to the next one you feel will be a good target

Finally, I have started a Yahoo! Group as a sales resource.

Check it out at: http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/trialclosesaleshelp/

Make it a great evening!

Mike

Cold Calling Tactics

I thought I would share some cold calling tactics I just finished writing:

Cold Calling Tactics for Inside Sales Hunters

1) Pre-Call:

I research their website and Google the contact by name. I do a “5 minute hurry up” on finding all I can about them-this way I don’t get bogged down in the details. Spoke and Hoover’s are good here as well. I read reviews on the company from different news groups if available also.

I assume that I am in the role of the person I am calling. It could be:

Manager of e-business
Email Marketing Manager
Interactive Marketing Manager
Director of E-Commerce
Director of Strategic Marketing
Manager of Email Marketing
VP of Marketing
Manager of Program Marketing

Or any other executive you are targeting.

I think about how they are evaluated on a performance and metrics basis and how the product/service I am selling will help them while making them look good politically within their organization. In other words, what is their Gain? Once they realize the above they will be invested in seeing the purchase through as a champion for me.

2) Call:

My sole and only agenda is only to get an appointment and get them invested in starting the process with me. When they hang up the phone after making an appointment with me I want them to be thinking:

This is one appointment I can’t miss or reschedule!
Who else needs to see this or be on the call?

I introduce, not go in depth, about the services/product I am selling with a focus on how we can help with the following:

ROI
Increasing Sales
Lowering Costs
Specifically how what I am selling will make their life easier.

You should feel comfortable, passionate, and happy when you call, as this is portrayed in your phone voice. Each person’s talk track will be customized to them. My talk track may be something along these lines:

3) Live Call exec answers:

Hello is this Sally? Yes. Sally Jones? Yes! My name is Mike Klein and I’m calling from a company by the name of Company, Inc. And what we do is ***Elevator pitch here*** *pause* this pause is important because you will know if:

They have heard about your company
Have time to talk
Are in a good mood to talk
Are interested in talking at all

by their next response. If they respond with anything positive….even “ok”……go for the close and get the appointment. Say…..so what I would like to do is schedule an appointment so I could discuss our services/product with you further. Regardless of if they ask further questions, give a brief answer and always come back to scheduling the appointment.

4) Live Call exec admin or other employee answers:

Hi, I am not sure I am calling the right department/person and I was hoping you could help me out. * Pause* I am looking for the person in charge of your **Need fullfilled here***on the marketing side. *Pause* They may have questions on who you are, what you are selling etc. They will have questions; just make sure you answer them Once you have a name, ask for their direct dial# and email address.

5) Voicemail of correct contact:

Hi Sally, My name is Mike Klein and I’m calling from a company by the name of Company, Inc. My phone number is 111-222-3333. I was doing some research on your website today and thought our services would be a good fit for your company. ***Tell what your product does and how it will affect their business positively.*** Some of our customers like Walmart, Siemens and Bizrate are seeing increased value and increased revenues by as much as 10% in 6 months. What I would like to do is schedule an appointment to discuss our services/product with you further. I’ll send you an email follow up to this voicemail, If you could return my call I’d greatly appreciate it. Thanks Sally and make it a great day!

6) Some additional thoughts:

It takes 3 emails and 3 calls or voicemails to make 1 contact.

Don’t waste time by researching the correct contact more than 15 minutes at the very most; this is because you can get the correct contact by calling into the company and asking for them.

Analysis is paralysis don't get bogged down with the deatails and Keep it simple.

Motion craetes emotion, stand up some times and stretch. Stand while you are talking to someone on the phone.

A sale is made on every call you make, you sell the other person giving you information, the correct contact, an email address, a phone number, an appointment. Any way you look at it, you are selling one of those or something else. It is a Sale each and every time.

If you aren’t on the phone calling, you won’t make much $$.

Act as if. Act as if you are the expert on what it is that you are selling and this is something they absolutely can’t live without! Your passion will come through in your phone personality

Good Selling!

Now where's my coffee?

Nice deals!

Well, Here it is at 2:24 am and I just created my Blog.

I am looking forward to a couple of deals coming in this week (yes before Thanksgiving) so I can enjoy time with my family, eat, drink and watch football stress-free. I'll let you know how that goes.

Take it easy.