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The Big Hairy Audacious Goal The Elevator Pitch The Value Adding Process Marketing To Sell Product
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Market Audit PESTLE Analysis Segment The Market Boston Box Strategic Options SWOT Analysis Customer Market Research Competitor Analysis Brand Marketing Pricing Strategy Physical Evidence Packaging Strategy Environmental Issues
Produce your BHAG □ Write your Elevator Pitch □ Define your Value Adding Process □ Produce Features and Benefits Table □
Produce Market Audit Produce PESTLE Analysis Define your Market Segment Complete Boston Box Complete Ansoff Matrix Produce SWOT Analysis
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Complete Competitor Analysis Table □ Carry out the One Minute Brand Test □ Complete a Case Studies Template □
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B2B or B2C Direct Selling Selling Via Sales Agents Selling Through Distributors Selling Online Franchising Selling To Specifiers Licensing Agreements Routes to Market Check List Routes to Market Gap Analysis
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Advertising Complete the Advertising Options Table □ Web Site and SEO Email Marketing Awareness Through Social Media DIY PR Professional PR Giving Seminars and Speeches Meeting The Media Produce a Meeting the Media Aide Memoire □ Interview Techniques Networking, Organisations And Societies Awards Company Cleanliness And Livery The Returns On Investment Complete PR and Awareness Check List □ PR and Awareness Check List Produce PR and Awareness Gap Analysis □ PR and Awareness Gap Analysis
Complete Routes to Market Check List □ Produce Routes to Market Gap Analysis □
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The Whisperer Is Louder Than The Shouter 80/20 Principles Of Customers Customer 80/20 Table Suspects And prospects Within The Hierarchy Prospecting and Pipeline Management Prospect Contact Table Introductory Letters, Emails and Phone Calls Cold Calling The Traditional 7 Step Sales Process Consultative Selling and SPIN® Selling Open Plan Selling Prospect Research & Planning Template The process Of Selling (Not Telling) Buyer Behaviour Buyer Characteristics The Buying Cycle Objections Template Overcoming Objections The Closing process Persistence Is A Virtue Do Not Procrastinate Sales Person Characteristics in Sales Meetings Sales Force Management
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Basic requirements Of Customer Interaction Customer Relationship Management After Sales Service Internal Customer Care Questionnaire Remove any Barriers to Buying Barriers to Buying Table Delight your Customers Ways to Delight your Customers Customer Satisfaction and Feedback Complaints - The FACE system and opportunities Sales and Service Table Sales And Service At Every Level
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□ Company Culture □ Culture Mapping Exercise □ Belbin Self Perception Inventory For Sales □ Honey And Mumford Adapted For Sales □ Quick And Dirty Potential To Sell □ Internal Customers □ Freedom To Roam
Carry out Culture Mapping Exercise □ Carry out Self Perception Inventory □ Honey and Mumford Exercise □ Carry out Personality Trait Exercise □ Create an Internal Customer Matrix □
□ Sales Training Specification □ Sales Training Evaluation And Feedback
□ Sales Growth - Money Out before Money In □ Cash Flow Forecasting □ Sales Forecasts and the affects on Business Planning
□ Systems Resources □ Human Resources □ Production Resources □ Supply Chain □ Customer Services
□ An explanation of some of the mumbo jumbo that we sometimes talk
www.360degree
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360degree sales is a system which, although centred on sales performance and techniques, also adopts a 360 degree approach to the product, the routes to market, the impact on the finances of the business and the ways in which your processes can increase profitability. The 360degree concept follows a logical route from the desire or need to sell more, going through the ultimate goals for the business, the abilities of your product to achieve this, the most effective mix of sales , the sales techniques to carry out the plan and the training required to ensure sustainable knowledge within the business. With 360degree strategy we aim to get your product or service ‘sales ready’. We can help in selling it but the first priority is the need to get it to the point where you know exactly what you are offering, the value that you are adding and the segment of the market that is most likely to have the desire and the ability to purchase the product or service. The objectives for sales need to be established and the product needs to demonstrate that it meets the needs of the customer or, even better, needs that the customer doesn’t even know yet? And does it look right and feel right for the segment of the market that you have identified? This is an essential process prior to selling and, if you want to sell more, this needs to be undertaken by the business to enable the selling of the right things to the right people. The section is divided in to two - the first being Objectives in which business goals are established in order to align them with sales strategy. The second is the Strategy which aims to provide the ‘how’ to meet the sales objectives. This is basically to ensure we do what is important prior to selling.
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- Big Hairy Audacious Goal (AKA Vision). Where does the company want
to get to.
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- The statement of what you and your business do. - What have you got to sell? Exactly how do you add value? - Definitions of Marketing as opposed to sales. - Features & Benefits analysis and USPs.
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- Porters five forces to assess the risks associated with the market sector? - Using PESTLE to identify the future potential influencing factors on your market. - Identify a segment of the market that will pay a premium
for one or more of your products or services.
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- Analysis of where you fit into your market segment. - Use the Ansoff Matrix for considering the risks and opportunities
for increasing sales.
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- Formalise the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. - Methods for researching the customers in your market segment. - Comprehensive analysis of your main competition. - Review your brand and impact. - Based on cost, demand, competition, image, penetration pricing and what your competitors will do. - The importance of case studies and ‘proof’ of your work. - A checklist for creating a good case study. - The role of packaging within brand, marketing and ethics. - The ever increasing importance of environmental issues relating to product, marketing and sales.
AKA the vision - Where do you want the company to get to? There is a desire and a need within most companies to sell more - 360degree sales can either sell more for you or train you to sell more. Whatever your requirements there are some things that I would like to see in place in order to know where we are going with the sales campaign. The fundamental starting point is knowing where the company wants to be. Most commonly referred to as the Vision I prefer to use the term BHAG (pronounced beehag). I prefer this simply because it identifies the kind of language you should be using and the nature of goals that you should be setting yourself as a business. Therefore I prefer not to have cosy, woolly visions, but Big Hairy Audacious Goals (this is a term that was originally coined in Collins and Porras’ Built To Last). The BHAG is not the ‘business as usual’ set of goals and sales targets which should be achieved in house and with only the need for minimal training and third party input. The BHAG has to be something of a daunting challenge that can unify the efforts of the whole business to achieve. They are NOT Mission Statements that set out to be bland and all encompassing with all the niceties of looking after the customers, the stakeholders and the world in general (important, of course, as this all is). This is not intended as a statement to the outside world, although it can certainly be used for this, but essentially it is an internal statement of intent for the future state of the business. So how do we arrive at this BHAG, what should it look like, and how long should it be? The following page contains an exercise for how it can be recorded but, as a precursor to this, I will explain the levels at which the BHAG should be operating:
□ Where do you want to be In three years time? This would include where the company would exist geographically, what its customer base would include and how it would be perceived by the outside world.
□ The numbers - the woolly visions would not include anything as crude but I feel you’ve got to put them down to make this a proper goal. So, in three years time, what will the turnover be? How many people will the company employ? What will the margin be?
□ Values - what are the underlying values that you want the business to operate under. Do not include the mandatory requirements of the Discrimination Act as you had better be operating at the very least to this standard - this is what you are about as a business, not a box ticking exercise. This is about your own exemplary codes of conduct or ethics than the business should never turn it’s back on.
□ Purpose - why does the business exist? Why was it set up in the first place? The answer to this can never be ‘to make money’. Although the ultimate measure, reward or justification for the business may be to make money it is not the ‘purpose’ of the business. Taking it down to basics if a window cleaner set up in an area where there was either an unreliable window cleaner already, or no window cleaner at all, their purpose would still be to provide the best window cleaning service available in the area. This would either be to compete with the existing and win or to minimise the risk of any new entrants to the market. Carry out the exercise on the following page to start devising your BHAG and use the checklist as a guide to whether your vision has become a true BHAG.
The process for devising your company BHAG. Most of this process and, in particular, the first question is best carried out through brainstorming by the directors or business owners.
What would success be, the customer base and the perception of the outside world? In three years time what do you want these financials to be?
What are the values, codes of conduct and ethics that the business should never turn its back on? Why did the business exist in the first place and how will it continue to honour its existence? Fuse together the results of the above and arrive at a BHAG that fits in this space. The BHAG checklist.
□ Is it clear? □ Is it compelling? □ Does it require little explanation? □ Is it a goal? (rather than a statement). □ Is it outside the ‘business as usual targets’ that you would expect? □ Does it exist beyond the capabilities of one person (the business owner) to deliver? □ Is it consistent with the companies values and beliefs?
The statement of what you and your business do. The elevator statement comes from the idea that if you got into a lift with a stranger and you had the length of the journey in the lift to tell them what you and your business did what would you say? - and could you clearly articulate it in this period of time? While it is an old classic this elevator pitch is something that may get you thinking far longer and deeper than you may expect - and if you find you haven’t actually got an elevator pitch I suggest you had better come up with one. Sales is about clarity and communication and if you cannot define your offering in a succinct and understandable couple of sentences then you may be falling at the first hurdle. It is difficult to hone things down to a couple of sentences and, as the famous line goes, ‘I’m sorry that this letter is so long but I didn’t have the time to write a short one’. But if you are struggling with this then your customers may also be struggling with exactly what it is that you have to offer. There are more implications to the lack of an elevator pitch - when you are networking, your elevator pitch will be the thing that will either get people talking to you or running in the other direction. So it is probably also best if the elevator pitch contains something of the benefits that are achieved by your customers. The deeper implication of not knowing your elevator pitch is that you may not be completely focused on your business objectives and strategy. As opposed to seeing the elevator pitch as a quick selling line you should see it as a check and balance for everything that you do or are proposing to do: ‘does it further the aims and enhance the results of our elevator pitch?’ As an example (not necessarily the best one ever) is the elevator pitch for 360degree Sales. The script is not meant to be reeled off verbatim and, if I’m honest, I don’t think I’ve ever stated it exactly in these terms but this is it: That is what we do and, essentially, this is all I do. The ways we go about doing it fill lots and lots of pages and lots of elevators but everything boils down to what we say in the elevator pitch. It contains the outcome of what we do, who we do it with and the geographical area we cover. More importantly than this the two short sentences contain three benefits for my customers: ‘sell more’, ‘more profits’, paid by results’. In the form below fill in your elevator pitch. Unless you’re in a very tall building with a very slow lift it should fit in to this form.
Check List: □ Does it sound convincing?
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Does it explain what your business does?
Does it roll off the tongue smoothly?
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Would the listener understand your business?
Does it contain an element of benefits for the customer?
What have you got to sell? And exactly how do you add value? The value adding process is the route of all sales strategy - put simply: you have to define what you add to things to make people want to buy off you. The less value you add does not necessarily make your product or service less desirable but it is very likely to make your market a very competitive, commodity market that is price driven. The more value that you add the more likely you are to be entering into knowledge based selling than commodity based. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with commodity selling these markets tend to be dominated by those that are bigger, faster, cheaper and with mighty buying power - do you really think that you are, or can become, all of this? - The transformation of a set of inputs into desired outputs through a
series of linked steps.
This is a pretty basic diagram that aims to sum up this stuff about ‘adding value’. It’s all about what happens in the circle in the middle that defines your business and what you have to sell (so critical that it apparently warrants a drop shadow - always use these sparingly!). It is entirely relevant to every form of business. Manufacturing is obvious in terms of bringing together components and putting them together into something that is a product - in this case it is the product that is critical. Wholesale and retail are not likely to put together components or transform products but the process is absolutely critical - with retail the value is added by the outlets and the presentation and in wholesale the value is often added by the breaking of bulk, the range of product available from one source and the service levels to the customer. Clearly for service industries, the value adding is often in the levels of customer service, but can also be the range of services available. I will come on to features, benefits and USP’s but before this I require a sentence (preferably of no more than 14 - 20 words) that sums up your Value Adding Process: if it doesn’t fit in here then it’s probably too long - think again
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Definitions of Marketing as opposed to Sales Being the biased, bitter and twisted sales person that I am I believe that sales is paramount to the business. And by that I again stress that however you get your product to market it will involve selling - either direct to customers, to distributors, agents or retailers, it isn’t going to happen unless you sell. And if you need to raise finance it unlikely to ever get off the ground unless you have the ability to sell. I will, however, acknowledge that the marketing process that belies this is absolutely critical to the chances off selling. The marketing foundations are fundamental to sales and will be expanded on in the following sections. This page is intended as a brief definition and overview of marketing and an explanation of its ultimate importance. To sell at all, you must either understand marketing or employ people that do. If you are employed within a business with a purely sales function, with a separate marketing department, please attempt as much interaction as possible. While marketing and sales may be, and often should be, separate functions within a business they should never be remote silos. The function of marketing on sales will influence what products you are to sell and to whom you should be selling them. And if you are an SME or business owner you need to make these marketing decisions yourself to ensure and evaluate whether you are attempting to sell the right things to the right people. The other myth that should be immediately dispelled, a myth that will have every true marketer foaming at the mouth, is that marketing is all about literature, logos and point of sale displays. These are facets of the marketing process but are NOT what marketing is. I do come on to brand marketing and these impact areas later but they are only specific areas that drop out of the whole strategic marketing function. Having now said what marketing is not limited to, it is probably best to give some definitions that, I believe, succinctly sum up what marketing actually is. If you are not completely thinking along these marketing lines sales could be a very uphill battle for the business.
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Deciding what customers business you want to win, against whom, and how you will go about achieving this.
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Seeing your business through the eyes of the customer and clearly identifying what problems you are solving for them.
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Marketing is communication - it is systematically seeking how, and what, to communicate to whom with the purpose of winning more of the business that you want
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The Chartered Institute of Marketing definition goes along the lines of ‘to identify customer needs and satisfy them profitably’ (I am very much in favour of the word profitably at the end of this definition)
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To produce quality that provides complete customer satisfaction in every way.
Features and Benefits Analysis and ‘Honeymoon’ USPs. In order to sell it is essential that you are fully aware of the features and benefits of your product or service. To some extent it is an expansion on your vale adding process as this should begin to define your features and benefits. While your value adding statement should be contained within one sentence you should be able to drill down and produce a list of features for your product. Armed with a list of features (which is great) you should also have a list of benefits that a customer will get for each feature. You may have a great feature but it means very little without a significant ‘so what’ benefit for the customer. I am not a big fan of the term USP. It is because of the ‘U’ - do you really have something that is unique? And, more importantly, do you really need to have something unique to have a successful business? Of course not. It would be great if everything that we do and create and supply was in some way patentable but in the vast majority of cases, especially for an SME, this is simply not the case. It has been said, and I cannot find too much argument against this, that there are three ways to differentiate your business. Do you make things simpler, easier or more fun? These simple words are well worth bearing in mind when you analyse what you are offering customers. Despite my reservations about USPs I have coined the more obscure phrase of ‘honeymoon USP’. This, as I hope the name suggests, is a unique selling point that can be copied but would be unique to your business for a period of time that we would hope would gain market share or give significant impact on entry to market. I do come on to selling via IPR later but would stress that you don’t need patents, but you do need to offer products or services that are simpler, easier or more fun to compete. Complete the tables below to identify your features and benefits and any potential honeymoon USP.
Porters five forces to assess the risks associated with the market sectors. If you are going to sell you need to be aware of the following. And if this is your own business you need to be very aware, Porters five forces is a widely accepted model for assessing your competitive position and potential risks associated with a market sector. I endorse this evaluation and feel it is vital for anyone in business. It was devised by Professor Michael Porter of The Harvard Business School (what does he know about our SME?) but it does have an universal application and a flexibility to adapt to all market sectors. Current Competitive Position: the effectiveness you have in dealing with the threat posed by your current competitors - more in depth competitor analysis is covered later but for this exercise let’s see how we see ourselves now. Competitor Entry: the likelihood of new competitors entering the market - what are the barriers for entry to market? The Power of the Buyer: let’s take a step back to value adding and knowledge adding - this is where the buyer power is significantly eroded, by solving problems. Buyer power becomes paramount at the commodity level where there is a lot of competitive activity for selling a commodity product. If the latter is the case you had better be very good at what you do and very good at selling it. The Power of the Supplier: your importance to suppliers and your dependence on single suppliers, the deals that tie you in to existing suppliers. The Threat of Substitutes: the likelihood of alternative methods solving the same problem. It is important to do your own Five Forces Analysis in the table below.
Using PESTLE to identify the future potential influencing factors on your market. PESTLE is a method to identify, evaluate and ensure you are aware of the external factors that may influence the business. A key thing to keep in mind, but which is often overlooked in business, is that external factors will change. It is the anticipation of these changes and the readiness to adapt to them that will often make or break a business. In terms of sales PESTLE is vital as the last thing you want to be doing is trying to sell something that is ‘out of date’ for any of the PESTLE reasons: Political - European, National or Local affects that elections or changes in administration may have on the business. This can include stakeholders in general and possibly grant funding. Economic - How external changes in things like interest rates, exchange rates, tax and economic policy could affect the business. Social - The affects of demographic shifts in terms of labour shortages and customer base. Technological - How the rapid change in technology can either affect or outdate your product or the way in which it is being delivered. Legal - Be aware of how changes in the law relating to your process or product is likely to impact on the business. Environmental - How mandatory and desired policy will affect your business or the product or service. The exercise for PESTLE analysis is best done as brainstorming between business owners with a facilitator, and could also include senior management to ensure that all bases are covered. Ensure that, in addition to customers, all stakeholder are considered. To prioritise actions moving forward, rate the importance as High, Medium or Low. Continually review this over time
Identify a segment of the market that is willing and able to pay a premium for one or more of your products or services. Segmenting the market is one of the most important things you will do prior to selling. It is a way establish that you have a market to sell to and defining what it is. It is not a simple process - and we must remember that a market segment is not a sector or a market in general. A segment defines a sub category that is prepared to pay a premium for your value adding capability. It is possible to sell, with some degree of success, to the wrong or not clearly defined market segment. This can often be the issue - ‘some degree of success’. It is sometimes assumed that, if this is the case, that you did what you could, it didn’t sell enough, and the likelihood is that either the product was not quite right or that you were not good enough at selling it. Both of these could well be the case but If we go back a step here the question needs to be asked: is it because you did not clearly define a segment of the market that was prepared and able to pay a premium for your product? The segmentation can come about from many differing criteria that could include:
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geography through delivery logistics age and sex internal psychological drivers of class or peer pressure common interest of enthusiasts demographics income groups
This list could go on and on and it is really up to the business to have a clear definition of the segment that it is approaching rather than picking from a list of check boxes. While markets can be defined within lists of categories the segment is very much more a work of art or inspiration,. Segments do not necessarily exist but can, with strategic marketing, be created to align with your product. A good example of segmenting the market is Sky TV. They supply to a market - TV watchers, and, more specifically, TV watchers that will pay a premium to watch their channels . This, however, is still a market rather than a segment. The segmentation comes when Sky identify a specific group of TV watches in the UK that will pay a premium for a product they can offer. This was, of course, premiership football - and the rest is history. But the history then also includes segmenting in terms of Films and Kids (with the Sky Films Channel and the Disney Cannel). Retail is dominated by segmentation through positioning the right products in the right outlets and branding to the right segment. In some ways we are talking about specialisms and niche markets but It is more fundamental than this. Whatever you do in business you must be able to clearly, and succinctly, define a segment of the market that is able and willing to pay a premium for your particular product or service.
Analysis of where you fit in to your market segment. The Boston Box is a matrix in which you are able to position yourself to illustrate where you are within the market segment that you have previously identified. If there are diverse products or services it is likely that this process will be required for each, especially if they are being sold to different market segments. Do also remember that the analysis is specific to the identified market segment and not to the market as a whole. The definitions of the categories are: : if there is little market growth, your market share is low and the cash flow is negative: you need to ask yourself whether you should be doing this at all. : this is likely to a company with negative cash flow and a lot of investment that is yet to pay real rewards. It is still uncertain as to whether this business will truly succeed. It is likely to be a high risk/possible high return company. In the short to medium term these can often exist to poke a more efficient stick at bigger businesses that will buy them out. : if any of your products are in this segment of an expanding market with good market share you need to act quickly and capitalise your position and aim to be a market leader. : you need to identify if any of your products are cash cows. There comes a point when there is no point putting in any more investment - the only thing to do under these circumstances is to maximise the profitability and reap the cash for as long as possible. Become a thorn in the side of stars that may look to buy you out
Expanding segment in which you can become a market leader
High
Relative Market Growth
3% Market Growth
Low Low
High Relative Market Share
A minnow in a pond of sharks
Cash flow could be negative
Stop investing milk for cash
Low
Relative Market Growth
High
Low
Relative Market Share
Cash flow could be negative
High
High
Analysis of where you fit in to your market segment. For each of your products or services plot your market position with the Boston Box - this should start to define what strategy is required for each product.
3% Market Growth
Use the Ansoff matrix for considering the risks and opportunities for increasing sales. The Ansoff Matrix is a simple but effective way of analysing what sales strategies could be adopted and thinking about the relative successes that could be gained from each. These categories address the only really fundamental things that a company can do to achieve revenue growth. The Ansoff Matrix does, however, neatly illustrate the question - ‘yes, but more of what and to whom?’ The definitions of the categories are: : This is basically selling more of the same product to the existing market. While this may be described as the ‘easy’ route in terms of risk, both financially and in terms of time, it is not as easy as that. The following section will look at ways of achieving this but there may be more opportunity here for enhancing margin and profitability than for serious growth. : This is about New Product Development and selling additional or enhanced products to existing customers. New Product Development (NPD) should be an ongoing process within any business even if it is just to recognise what could be offered rather than coming up with a new widget every day. Do think laterally in terms of product development as it can range from a completely new product to satisfy an existing customers needs, right through to increasing the sales portfolio in terms of accessories and consumables for existing products. Think in terms of new products, consumables and new versions - but also ‘one stop shop’ (this could well include products that are bought in as well as manufactured in house). : This involves selling existing products in to a new market sector. Is there an opportunity, possibly with some alterations, for new applications and markets for your product? This could include geographical markets which could be accessed through franchising. : This is a combination risk of new products and new markets which, generally speaking, is to be avoided (hence the fact that I have put it in brackets). You are steering away from core product and existing customers and this may even be the pipe dream for the creation of a separate company that can stand these risks.
Ansoff Matrix To be avoided except for exceptional circumstances
New
Products
Existing
Easiest route, less risk
Existing
Markets
New
Existing
what steps could be taken to sell more of the existing products to the existing market or customers?
Easiest route? less risk
Existing
Products
New
New
what existing products could be sold to new customers?
what business plan and financial forecasts exist to justify selling new products to a new market?
Markets
what new products could be sold to existing customers?
Brainstorm and then fill in the sections to identify what opportunities exist for sales growth and the risks associated with each section. To be avoided except for exceptional circumstances
Formalise the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats SWOT analysis is a, sometimes maligned, mechanism to identify these aspects of the business. It can be criticised as a rather basic stating of the obvious on a superficial level that does not lead to strategic thinking. I would agree with all this but defend the reasoning for doing SWOT analysis purely on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that will affect the business achieving its long term objectives, rather than how they affect business as usual. I would not use SWOT as a diagnostic tool but use it as a method of formalising what will affect the business getting to where it wants to be in terms of sales growth. There is inevitably a certain amount of duplication in some of the strategy exercises as they are drawn from varied experience and sources. I think this is not a problem as some exercises will suit some people more than others and I believe it can also be good to do what appears to be a similar exercise to see if the same conclusions are arrived at. It will be evident that the External Opportunities and Threats within SWOT are in line with PESTLE but it is worth doing both of the processes, and with the same board members or management team. SWOT can also be a way of recording the PESTLE analysis to align it with the strengths of the business. We again have a two by two matrix - a recurring theme (keep it simple). The elements of the SWOT are made up of:
internal :: What are we good at that we should take forward and build on? What has helped us get where we are today that is a fundamental asset to our business and, if exploited further, would make a significant contribution to us achieving our future targets and vision? The recognition of what to keep and build on is absolutely as important to identify as the change factors. Assuming the business has got somewhere, you need to be aware of the strengths that exist and got it here. : What factors, although they may have been good enough for business to date, are likely to become an inhibitor to the business achieving your future targets and vision. What needs to be addressed in order for it not to become an inhibiting factor? Lets be very clear that this is in no way a blame exercise. This is why the SWOT is future based - it is not what is a current weakness, it is purely something that, going forward, will need to be addressed. I don’t like the term weakness within SWOT but it is accepted. If all your current customers like ‘blue’ this is not a weakness but if, to achieve the future target, you need to reach customers that like red, and you don’t do red then this is an issue that needs to be addressed within this category. While I advocate that some analysis is made available to management and all employees the internal weaknesses can be construed in the wrong way and it is likely to be best kept a board level.
external : What external opportunities exist in terms of market trends that can be exploited to help us achieve our future targets and vision? PESTLE analysis, if it has been carried out, can be incorporated here into the overall SWOT. Consider also the Boston Box and Ansoff Matrix to fill in this section. : What external threats, if not addressed, or fended off are likely to inhibit significantly the future targets and vision? This will include competitor activity (covered next), the results of PESTLE analysis and any other threats that can be foreseen.
What external opportunities exist that could help up to achieve our long term targets and objectives?
Internal
External
What would need to be addressed in order for us to get to where we What threats, if not addressed or fended off, are likely to inhibit the future achievement of targets? want?
What are we good at that we should take forward and build on?
Brainstorm and then fill in the sections to highlight the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats associated with the future targets and long term BHAG or vision. The external opportunities and threats can come from the PESTLE analysis.
Methods for researching the customers in your market segment. While you need to segment the market and establish the segment that will pay a premium for one or more of your products or services, once you have done this you will need to actually come up with a list of names rather than a list of criterion. It is essential to be as specific as possible about your market segment but you also need to know the numbers - is the potential market 2 or 2 million? There are various ways of coming up with suspect lists, some more useful than others, largely depending on whether you are known at all to the customer (warm customers) or whether you will be coming at them completely cold. The whole area has been made a lot more easy (and less expensive) with the Internet, and there should now be the capability to do a lot more of this research yourself. Do remember, however, the old line about people buying from people and there will be times, particularly with B2B and FMCG supply, that a personal introduction through someone in the know may be the only real route to the customer. The length of the hit list itself will entirely depend on the nature of your products or services and could range anything from the 2 to 2 million - if it is 2 this is a very specific market and one would assume that you had at least been in touch with them during the development stages; if it is 2 million then we will be talking about B2C retail, in which case you are likely to be supplying through a distributor rather than taking all of these customers on yourself (and you won’t attempt to have 2 million names and addresses) - the hit list, in this case, will be the potential distributors. Let’s assume then that the list will be somewhere in between the 2 and 2 million, and a lot nearer the lower end. What potential customers do you already know? - Clearly if you are introducing a new product that may be suitable for some, or all, of your existing customers this is a fairly straightforward case of making them aware of the product or service (if you are doing your job properly they may have been involved in the development of it anyway). In marketing terms this is also desirable from a risk point of view (see ). If you are looking to increase the customer base and sell your current product to more people (market development) then the profile of existing good customers (as described in ) should be used as a starting point to identify new customers. The first consideration, in any circumstance, is to identify potential customers that you already know, as this is almost certainly going to be the route of least resistance. This does highlight the perils of diversification (selling new products to new customers) and why it is seen as a risky option. If we assume that you know a lot about your product or service it would be reasonable to assume that you know some potential customers for it (with the possible exception of distributors). Who do you know that may know potential customers? - This may sound like an odd one, but, in the event that you don’t directly know potential customers, you must think seriously about who you know that may know them. This could include networking contacts, other business contacts, friends, family, enemies (don’t make them!). If you are a true Sales Person you will be explore any route or contact you know, always in a polite and diplomatic way. Basically, if there is any way that you can come at a customer any warmer than cold then you need to do it.
Methods for researching the customers in your market segment. Surveys - Surveys has figured here (after the potential customers you may know) as surveys can be very good for identifying ready customers - but this is really a second phase, as you first need to come up with a list of people to survey. And they are much more likely to be replied to by people that at least know you a bit. By replying favourably to a survey about whether your product is likely to be of interest to a potential customer they are, effectively, offering themselves as customers. This is great feedback if you can get it but is far more likely to come from people you know. If this survey comes unsolicited from someone unknown the likelihood is that it will be thrown away or deleted. For more information on surveys see . While you will be asking questions such as ‘would you be interested in this widget?’ and ‘what colour would you prefer?’ etc. the real feedback is ‘yes - I will talk to!’ And if this is the case, talk to them!! Bought Databases / Leads - There are many companies that supply databases (much of which is done online these days) e.g., MintUK, that can be searched by putting specific criteria into searches to produce refined company listings. These databases can be useful as you get the facility to ‘play around’ with different search parameters. There are also many companies that will provide ‘leads’ but you do need to be careful about the quality of the leads that are being paid for. While some companies will provide high quality,(and probably expensive) qualified leads of companies that are actually seeking to purchase your product, or similar, much lead generation is unqualified information sourced from enquiry forms off web sites or searched public information such as planning applications. Much of the success of using databases and leads depends on how well you have been able to define your market segment up to this point. Web Research - I have used the term ‘web research’ but it basically means ‘carry on surfing’ - it is surprising how far you can get in terms of identifying potential customers just by Googling information about your market segment, finding blogs, discovering trade and random associations that you never knew existed, see what people are saying and who is saying it- for more information on the blogging side and Social Media see . Distributor Information - If you are looking for potential distributors or agents there is a lot that can be done on the Internet. Take at look at your competitors web sites and see who their distributors or agents are and if you are looking for online distributors you can use Google searches to find out who are the companies that are likely to be leading in the sector. It should be remembered that your competitors distributors or agents may have exclusivity arrangements or ‘conflict of interest’ contracts so it is also worth looking at suppliers or distributors of complimentary products where there is no direct competition. This can extend to the manufacturers of complimentary products who may have established sales routes and may look to add your product to their portfolio. See and for more information. Consultant Contacts - If your product or service is either highly specialised or needs to get to a specific market that is very hard to break into (e.g. MOD, some NHS, some supermarket chains) then you may just have to bite the bullet (and by that I mean pay the price!) and source a consultant with very good contacts in the particular field. While the services of someone like this may seem expensive it could well save an awful lot of heart ache and, therefore, be very well worth the money. As often, the devil is in the detail of the contract and you really do need to know what you are going to get for your money - Names? Introductions? Orders?
Comprehensive analysis of your main competition. While I believe quite strongly that businesses can often get too hung up and obsessed about their competitors (to the detriment of worrying about their own business) I do acknowledge that it is imperative to be aware of what the competitors are doing. I would hate to think this is with a view to keeping up with them as one of the strengths of a successful business is to keep ahead of the competition. It would, however, be foolish not to be aware of any trends within the competition, including pricing, and any new product development that may be about to affect your market. Benchmarking is another tool that I will never get too excited about. It can prove to be useful but has to be done with caution - you need to be benchmarking against exactly the same product or process that is going to exactly the same market and this can, in many cases become impossible. And the time consumed worrying about getting the benchmarking correct could often be better used getting your own business correct. Sector data that is often supplied for benchmarking is skewed by large companies with enormous economies of scale that are supplying a mass market. As such, these are not likely to be the competitors of a niche market SME. There are some processes and formulas that can be applied but I do urge caution with this. I guess you won’t be surprised that, having argued the case to not worry too much about your competitors, I will now tell you to be very very ‘aware’ of your competitors - there is a slight difference here. As is often the case there is a certain amount of duplication with the Competitor Analysis exercise and previous exercises. My ‘Honeymoon USPs, the Current Competitive Position within Porters Five Forces and the Boston Box all rely to some extent on competitor analysis but this is a more detailed breakdown of the affects of competitors on your business. The suggested exercise is critical to your sales strategy and the adaptation of it and the process should be ongoing. I again stress that, at whatever market level, you should aim to be market leading, but your speed of anticipation and reaction to competitor activity is also vital. There are a few things about your main four competitors that you should be aware, not least because this awareness may identify market opportunities. The first thing is to actually know who your four main competitors are. This is not always as obvious as it seems; who would have thought that Harley Davidson consider their biggest competitor in the UK to be conservatory companies (think about it), but apparently they do. This is obviously based on the fact that their identified segment of the market in terms of age and income is likely to be choosing between the two options. While I am not suggesting that the consideration of competitors needs to be done with as much lateral thinking as this, it is worth remembering that you need to be aware of what your competitors are doing - you don’t want to discover suddenly that the world is not Betamax. In order to sell successfully you should be aware of, but not slaves to, certain details about your four biggest competitors. The exercise on the next page should be revisited on a regular basis and, in conjunction your own new product development, should provide input to an involving and dynamic sales strategy.
Competitor Analysis Exercise The more you know about them the less you will be surprised! But not only this, there may be financial issues or service issues with your competitors that could provide opportunities for you.
Name: Location: % of Market Segment:
Financial Performance: Features and Benefits: Perception of customers? T/O: Margin: Debt:
No of employees: Customer base:
Name: Location: % of Market Segment:
Financial Performance: Features and Benefits: Perception of T/O: customers? Margin: Debt:
No of employees: Customer base:
Name: Location: % of Market Segment:
Financial Performance: Features and Benefits: Perception of T/O: customers? Margin: Debt:
No of employees: Customer base:
Name: Location: % of Market Segment: No of employees: Customer base:
Financial Performance: Features and Benefits: Perception of T/O: customers? Margin: Debt:
Review of your Brand and impact. Brand marketing is what a lot of people think of as marketing itself. I have, on countless occasions been asked to market a product by clients that think this means to design logos, flyers and business cards. While these elements are crucial this is only an element of the marketing process. This element can be described as ‘brand marketing’ or ‘graphic marketing’. It may only be an element within marketing but it can mean the difference between being taken seriously or dismissed, a letter being read or thrown away, or an email being read or deleted, or a stand at a trade show being visited or walked passed. It is about impact - the attraction and draw of the material that surrounds the product and whether it is exactly focused on the market sector that we are attempting to sell to. If a true brand is established it can have a value unto itself far beyond the realms of real assets and current profitability and it can even, as part of the exit strategy, provide an enormous monetary premium in the form of goodwill. It is essential, therefore, to get the graphic marketing, the brand, the pretty stuff (whatever you want to call it) absolutely right from very early on. And if you haven’t currently got it right you need to look at overhauling it. Brand is all about creating a distinct personality for your business and telling the world about it. It comprises the signs by which you are known and remembered, it is a reflection of the personality of the business and the market sector with which you are aiming to identify. It has become increasingly important with the Internet and the fact that competition, often, will not now be the competitor on the other side of town but the myriad competitors inside the world wide web. One thing I would seriously urge you to bear in mind is that you are probably pretty good at this branding lark with all the software and online tools that are available - you are also probably no where near good enough! I have met an awful lot of people that think they can do their own branding and ‘why pay a professional?’ But very, very few are anywhere near good enough and the results range from pretty good but pretty obviously not done by a professional to cringing with embarrassment and ‘what were they thinking?’. Bricklaying isn’t rocket science but if I wanted a wall building I’d employ a bricklayer. You don’t have to pay a fortune, however, for design work. There are many qualified graphic designers that will charge very reasonable rates so do shop around. Do be wary of printers that offer the design facility - don’t dismiss the idea but, from experience, some can be no more than enthusiastic amateurs. I have found that a good way to assess your brand impact is to carry out the which is on the following page. While this is an exercise that you can do on your own branded materials you are probably not the best person to be doing it. Get as many people as you can (and preferably ones within the market segment you are aiming for) to do the brand test for you. Don’t be disappointed if the results are not what you expected - you may have highlighted a real opportunity to overhaul the brand to fit the market segment and, as such, make the job of sales a whole lot easier. If your brand is a DIY one it may well be time to have at least a bit of professional design input!
things like modern, reliable, classy, grey, not entirely to be trusted, gimmicky, professional etc etc
things like men, women, children, professionals, mass market, on a budget, specific market segments, income brackets, status, age group, aspirational etc etc
things like old fashioned, sexy, modern, dull, trendy, cutting edge, creative, retro, out of touch, amateurish, boring etc etc
things like banks, solicitors, surf brand, food company, soft drinks, clothing label, estate agents, hotel, camp site, gift shop, construction company, creative studio etc etc
Look at the branded materials for one minute and then write down anything that springs to mind using the set of guideline questions. Please write down anything that comes to mind even if it is not specifically an answer to one of the questions.
Determining selling prices based on Cost, Demand, Competition, Image, Penetration Pricing and Competitor Reaction. Pricing can be a very complex subject and a very important one. The key thing to bear in mind with pricing strategy is that you should always be striving to make it less important. The less commodity based, labour and material intensive and the more knowledge based that the business can become the less important the selling price will be, and the better and more profitable the business will become. We are back to the concept of providing solutions rather than selling products. I have detailed below some factors to consider for your pricing strategy. Some of these factors will be more relevant to certain businesses than others but, however you formalise your pricing strategy, you do need to have one, rather than basing prices on guesswork, gut feel or instinct. Whatever you would be delighted to pay for your widget ain’t necessarily what anyone else would apart, perhaps, for close family members! In the same way as you can only give the market what it wants, or what will provide a real benefit, you can only charge a price that is acceptable to the market. You need to have objectives for your pricing strategy and these should be in line with your marketing strategy in general. This may include:
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Being perceived as a prestige product with premium pricing to reflect this
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Being perceived as very fair and moral within the market
Being acknowledged as an inexpensive, value alternative Offering more for the same price as your competitors Following a policy of market penetration Milking a Cash Cow Demonstrating a truly unique offering that can command truly premium prices (nice position if this is the case) Adopting a position of ‘you can’t find it cheaper anywhere’ (very risky - especially if this statement extends to the Internet)
Within this strategy I would encourage you not to get too hung up by your past pricing. The whole point of reviewing the pricing strategy at this point is to assess how you could do things different increase prices where possible. If you do have a ‘King’ customer that you know will be highly sensitive to a price increase then obviously this should be approached with caution, consideration and probably very open and honest negotiation but, generally speaking, the market may be more tolerant of price increases than you think, especially if you are adding value and offering good levels of service. You may well find that the customers that you are at risk of losing are those that you may be looking to replace under the of customers. The ultimate purpose of pricing is obviously to ensure making a profit but if there are circumstances under which it is accepted that you won’t (e.g. market penetration) you will have to be very clear about how long this situation is sustainable for the business, particularly in terms of cash flow. On the following page are six factors for considering selling price.
Determining Selling Prices based on Cost, Demand, Competition, Image, Penetration Pricing and Competitor Reaction. - A pretty basic consideration as, generally speaking, you will want the selling price to be higher than the costs in order to make a profit, which is what we are here for. Establishing true costs, however, can be complicated and is gone into in more detail in the section. In manufacturing there could be occasions where there are fixed costs that need to be covered so it could be beneficial to produce some products to sell at break even on cost. One thing to always be mindful of with pricing, however, is that pricing on a cost plus basis (I.e. the costs plus an agreed margin) should be avoided as it does not take into account the factors below and could risk selling at a price above or below what the market would be willing to pay. - This relates to the availability of identical or similar products on the market. As suggested above, if you are in a commodity selling situation against a lot of similar competition, small changes in the selling price can have significant affects on sales. If you are not careful, however, this sort of market can eventually result in a lot of work for very low margins. Conversely, the more value that you add, and the more you differentiate your product to niche segments, the less sensitive the market is likely to become to the price. - In the same way that you should be aware of the activities of your competition in general, you should be aware of their prices for like for like or similar products. This would include a competitor who is attempting to buy market share (possibly a new market entrant) and offers, and incentives from competitors which are not always apparent from headline pricing. On the other side of competitor headline pricing you should also be aware of hidden ‘extras’ that your competitors may charge that are included in your pricing (and also review whether they should be included in your price). It does, as usual, come back to how much value you can add and how you can differentiate your product in order to satisfactorily justify higher prices which could well be at enhanced margins. If the customer perceives a value for what you offer over and above your competition then your competitors pricing is not likely to be as relevant. - Your selling price will send out and/or reinforce the perception of your product within the market - clearly the obvious ‘reassuringly expensive’ quote is going to spring to mind. Never worry about the ‘high’ price, be more concerned about the way to justify it. Always strive for higher prices through added value, increased brand awareness and selling solutions; is this repetitive? - good! - There are occasions, largely when entering a new market to gain market share, when ‘penetration pricing’ can be acceptable. This would typically involve selling the product under the market price, and potentially at, or under, the cost price. This must be aligned with the overall marketing strategy and the financial implications of this must be absolutely understood in terms of timescale and numbers; and the objectives for this strategy should be very clear and must be proven in terms of financial forecasts and cash flows. - Remember that every action in terms of pricing will potentially cause a reaction from your competitors. Be aware of how your customers will react to your pricing strategy and, above all, resist creating price wars (especially with competitors in different sections of the ) - Business in general rarely benefits from price wars - for SMEs’ it can be fatal.
The importance of case studies and proof of your work. I have often been seriously impressed by SMEs telling me the fantastic work they have done and the things they have produced and the utter delight that the customer experienced. And, in most cases, I am relying on their word for it rather than being provided with any physical evidence. I have no proof or case studies to show me they can do what they say they can. Web sites are cheap, words are cheap, generic photos from Istockphoto are cheap, but real examples of what you have actually done and brand champions that will testify on your behalf can be priceless (and virtually free). I believe you should be obsessed with physical evidence and make no apologies for it. I believe you should have examples, case studies, photographic evidence, video evidence on You Tube, testimonials, and references that have used your services that I can contact. There are so many ways that your product can be validated or proved that It really is inexcusable to have no physical evidence. We will come on to the potential exposure for this Physical Evidence in the section but be assured that these windows to the world will be infinitely easier to dress if you have the information that will be asked for. A designer will always be able to make things look god but you will have to supply the evidence to make things powerful. I have developed some rules to enable a business to naturally gather the physical evidence and these should be referred to on a fairly regular basis (first thing Monday mornings will do) until they become truly intuitive.
□ Always make a record of what you have done. Photographic is the obvious way and, although it took be a long time to get into the habit, I always carried a digital camera in the glove compartment, and although it wasn’t my Nikon, it was capable of taking pretty good photos. I do know people that use their phones for this but I would urge caution - unless you have some extraordinarily state of the art phone I would avoid it. I am not an expert on mobile phone photo technology but I do know that my phone would be nowhere near good enough (and it’s not a cheap phone).
□ While photography is an excellent way of recording what you have done, video can be massively powerful - if it is appropriate for your business then do it - either get someone in, get a digital video camera or, possibly, do it from an SLR camera or phone. Video can be relatively easily incorporated into web sites via streaming or links to You Tube and can be used in PowerPoint or other presentations.
□ Before and after - not as obvious as it sounds as I rarely see ‘before’ images from people who do go to the trouble of photographing their work.
□ Get testimonials from customers, make a note of quotes and ask if you would mind them being used in your advertising.
□ Ask satisfied customers to act as references for your work that can be contacted by other prospective customers (some incentive may be needed for this).
□ Case Studies - use the template on the next page to create case studies for marketing and the media.
A template for putting together a case study for marketing and the media. As discussed previously the Physical Evidence that you acquire is vital in terms of putting this into the of routes for advertising, PR and awareness which is discussed later. Aim to fill in as much of the template as you can and you will be creating great case studies for the business.
Name of client and what they do (what they do relevant to B2B only) How did you get the job / project and what was the scope of the work Exactly what did you do and in what timescale (only if the timescale was good!) What do you feel you did better than your competitors could have done? Any USP? What story / angle could be used in the media? Can’t really be business as usual. What photographic evidence do you have for the case study? What video evidence (if any) do you have for the case study - can be rare but very powerful What quotes do you have from the customer regarding the job? Do you have a contact at the customers who could provide a quote or even an interview?
The role of packaging within Brand, Marketing and Ethics . Packaging, I would suggest, is becoming a more important part of strategy than ever before. This is partly because the consumer is ever more attuned to the nuances that align the product with them but equally because there is a massively growing awareness of the environmental affects of product packaging. I believe that the considerations of the packaging strategy fall into three distinct areas below and the first one, perhaps surprisingly, I feel is becoming the most important.
□ Environmental Issues - the affects of packaging on the environment are becoming enormously important. I have put this at the top of the list of considerations because it actually combines all of the aspects of packaging. If you carry out your packaging environmentally you can use this as a form of marketing and promotion, stay well ahead of any legislative demands and the likelihood is that you will probably save money on packaging by doing so. The main environmental aspects are over packaging with layers and polystyrene trays and plastic films and elaborate cardboard inserts; and the use of completely the wrong type of material - non biodegradable, non recyclable, where another option would have been available. There are many sources of information regarding environmental packaging and we work with public bodies that can offer free consultancy and know private sector specialists on the subject. All I would say is to make sure you have considered this aspect of your product offering because if one of your competitors has considered it more, you may not be on a level playing field when it come to sales.
□ Sales and Marketing Issues - this is the one that, as a sales and marketer you would have expected to be first. It is true to say that the packaging in terms of brand, especially with consumer products, can be as important as the product itself. It must completely fit in with the brand identity and be saying exactly the same and identifying with the same market segment as the product itself. The more up market you are aiming the product the greater the need to get this packaging right. But don’t think that if the product is up market and / or luxury that the environmental aspects go out of the window. Indeed, in many cases I have found it the reverse luxury products aimed at a financially well off niche are often scrutinised by these customers for ethical credentials as, to put it somewhat cynically, they can afford to do this, and are often more educated on the subject.
□ Mandatory Requirements - there’s always a boring consideration isn’t there? It may be boring but it is, none the less absolutely critical. If you spend ten thousand pounds on packaging only to find out that it does not contain all the information required by law you would somewhat upset. Whatever the product you are supplying there are likely to be laws and / or EN (European Standards) that require certain information to be on the packaging (and often on the product itself). If you are not aware of the details that need to be shown on your packaging you need to find out before even starting your packaging strategy.
The ever increasing importance of Environmental Issues relating to Product, Marketing and Sales. Leading nicely on from the last page of Packaging I would like to consider Environmental Issues in general. A few years ago, If I was reading this book, I would now jump to the next page which is a brand new and exciting section. If you do jump to the next page now this book is programmed to self destruct. This page is easily as important as any in this book (and far more important than some of it). Environmental Issues can be categorised into a similar three sections as the Packaging Strategy and the big question that I like to ask of business is ‘are you only going to do what you need to do, or are you going to turn all this to your advantage by leading the way?’ I use the following considerations when looking at the Environmental Issues for a business:
□ Reducing Costs: Forget the woolly jumpers and tree hugging, this is what resource efficiency is all about - you may well be loving the planet but you will be loving your bottom line profitability. It is often the case that a basic base line audit can be funded under government initiatives so this really is a no brainer. Even when private sector consultancy is required this is going to pay for itself many times over in a relatively short period of time.
□ Sales and Marketing Opportunities: While the above makes sense in economic terms, the 360degree philosophy will always be based on sales and what can help or hinder sales. This is the crux of why this is included, and why it is in the sales strategy, as it could potentially do either. Environmental Issues can be a ready made differentiator in a market that would appear to have few opportunities for a USP. You should research what environmental issues will affect your market and use these as sales opportunities to get ahead of the competition. Mandatory Requirements (below) are obviously things you must do but there can be enormous marketing and sales opportunities to be gained from doing the non mandatory things first and creating ‘honeymoon USPs’ to differentiate your business. Examples of this could include the use of recycled materials, the fact that the product is recyclable, the fact that the product is organic (refer to the soil association), the fact the product and your business have a low carbon footprint (refer to the carbon trust). As a business I cannot urge you enough to research, or get someone to research for you, the opportunities that may exist for creating sales and marketing strategies based on environmental issues.
□ Mandatory Requirements: It is clearly essential to be aware and comply with any legal requirements regarding environmental legislation. I don’t go too much into mandatory requirements as a sales consultant (there are specialists that I work with that can do this) but I do encourage you to consider the ‘grey’ requirements that are not yet compulsory but may be soon. And perhaps, as importantly, the standards that your company could have to improve its number of ticks when it comes to tendering. A basic Environmental Policy has now become pretty much expected when it comes to tendering (not just for public sector work). It is also worth bearing in mind that if you have any aspirations for grant funding a more than basic Environmental Policy will almost certainly be required. But the tick boxes for tendering are becoming far more stringent than this and are extending to the requirement for ISO 9001 and, in many cases ISO 14001 (Environmental) While not mandatory much of this is becoming a business requirement for sales.
360degree mix explores the expanding opportunities in terms of routes to market, PR, and raising awareness for the product or business as a whole. Established methods of getting your product to market can combine very effectively with new routes and traditional advertising can sit alongside social media PR. Consider the options and then analyse and measure the effectiveness of how you get your product to the end user and how people will know about its existence.
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- The differences between selling business to business and selling to
consumers.
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- The essential role of good direct selling techniques. - Things to consider for getting the most from sales agents. - The role and relationship with distributors. - The enormous opportunities for trading through e commerce. Should you sell online? What sells online, Can you do it yourself? Search Engine Optimisation, Pay Per Click advertising, The Personal Touch and EBay. - What needs to be in place to franchise a product? Does the business
have the potential for franchising?
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- The role of selling your product through specification.
- Selling through IPR. - Analysis exercise to cover the options of routes to market. - Action Planning for routes to market mix.
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An overview of the traditional approach. - Raise awareness though email marketing campaigns. - How your Web Site and its ability to be found by Search Engines can
raise your company profile.
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- The role of social media in raising awareness. Blogging,
RSS, Social Search, Social Bookmarking, Social Networking.
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- What you can do yourself including becoming an expert in your own field and DIY
press releases.
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- The role of professional PR Companies. - Enhancing your personal profile further. - Basic guidelines to becoming media friendly. - The PR benefits of networking and joining
organisations and societies
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- Go for anything you can. - Everything about the business says something about
the business.
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- The recording of where your enquiries and new business is
coming from.
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- Analysis Exercise of your PR and Awareness. - Action Planning for PR and Awareness.
The differences between selling business to business and selling to consumers. When we enter the world of what I call the mix the fundamental issue in terms of who you are marketing and selling to is going to be whether it is B2B (business to business) or B2C (business to consumer). And it is not just a case of one or the other - invariably your marketing support, literature and point of sale will be aimed at the consumer (or end user) whereas your sales efforts could be almost entirely aimed at business in terms of agents, merchants, stockist's, wholesalers or distributors. This is where the marketing and sales function can take on two completely different paths. The consumer will need to know the glossy blurb about the benefits of the product and the business intermediary will, to put it quite bluntly, want to know what’s in it for them, in terms of margin and any other support that will be available, which will invariably include what you will do to market the product and encourage the consumer to buy from them. There is also a fundamental difference in terms of selling to a business (buyers) and selling to the consumer in terms of the legal contracts that are being entered in to. While supplying direct to the public in terms of the end user may seem more straightforward than supplying to another business in many ways it is not. There is an implied level of expertise when selling to another business that is not the case when selling direct to the consumer. The consumer (or end user) sale needs to be handled very carefully in terms of legalities including the Sale of Goods Act and Trading Standards. There are also important legal requirements regarding web sites and trading online that, while they have not been policed and upheld too rigorously to date, will become extremely important in time and the contravention of these will expose a business to legal repercussions. In both circumstances, if you are supplying a product, it may well be covered by an EN (European) Standard, formerly BS (British Standard) and you must be aware of the standards relating to your product. I have listed below what I feel are the most relevant differences between b2b and b2c and this is the first thing to be established within the mix - while you may think in terms of selling to the consumer it is likely, unless you are a retail outlet of course, that your route to market and sales will be more involved than this, but can make approaching a market a whole lot easier.
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Margin - there is obviously the reality that if you sell through a third party who will ultimately sell on they will require a margin, and often a significant one, for doing this. This is reality - unless you can take on all the sales function and associated (often fixed) costs you are likely to need to sell through a third party and allow for their margins (see selling through agents and distributors).
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Legal Requirements - As mentioned above, there are many legal requirements in terms of selling to the consumer that selling via a third party could help with - they could help you by telling you what they require of your product rather than you having to cover every legal angle.
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Administration and Accounts - Never underestimate the simple fact of being paid - I am not an accountant but, believe me, it ain’t business until it’s been paid for! Selling B2B through distributors can significantly cut down on financial exposure and sheer administration - if one insurable distributor can supply to 50 customers and take on their financial risk, this is likely to the best route to take, especially if you are a manufacturer.
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Breaking Bulk - There are often going to be situations where a business will require a third party to ‘break bulk’ - i.e., to take full loads of a product and distribute this within a geographical area. One obvious example of this is the construction industry where the haulage of a product can contribute to at least 15% of the sale price, but there are many other similar situations.
The essential role of good direct selling techniques. Direct selling is not just what a sales person does when confronted by the buyer (and why good sales people are important) - direct selling is any interaction between anyone involved with the business coming into contact with anyone from a consumer or any third party, that may have an influence over the decision to buy. Anyone in this relationship should possess at least a modicum of direct selling skills. And the biggest myth to dispel now is the fact that direct selling involves some sort of ‘foot in the door’ sales techniques. The system is focused on sales (which we come on to in the section) but I cannot stress highly enough that, within the mix, the greater the ability of you, and any of your customer facing employees, to employ basic sales and customer service techniques the better your business will be. It is tempting to believe that if you have the right product and the right marketing support and some social media to raise awareness that direct selling has almost become a thing of the past. While some very shy people have become millionaires from their fantastic products, they are very much the exception to the rule - many more have become millionaires by being fantastic at selling their sometimes mundane and unoriginal products. And I would extend the requirement for Direct Selling further than this. When we enter the arena of raising finance through banks, equity investors, public sector organisations, are we just going to chuck a business plan at them and hope for the best? While the business plan is very important the direct selling of the concept and, often more importantly, the person with the concept, is what will be essential - it cannot be underestimated how much, in situations like these, people buy from people. I have seen it with companies looking for investment that a business can be failing miserably to convince any financiers until they get someone involved that can sell the story. After all, a business plan with financial forecasts, cash flows and projections for the next five years is not hard to right (It’s just a load of numbers that are very unlikely to actually happen), but getting someone to actually believe in it and put their money where mouth is, is a different matter - and that involves Direct Selling with all the presentational skills and research that is associated with it. If you are going to sell via Agents or Distributors I suppose you think you are going to side step the need for selling? Well agents and distributors, we would hope, are very good at selling. But quite often there is one thing that they are exceptional at - buying! So if you are going to enter into any a sort of deal with an agent of distributor you had better be very good at Direct Selling to them. I know this from the experience of being a manufacturer that sold nationally through agents and distributors while simultaneously acting as a distributor for other manufacturers to my own direct customers - now that can get interesting. The overriding message when looking at Direct Selling within the mix is that, at certain times, partly depending on the nature of the business, Direct Selling skills will be essential - and we are not talking about taking on sales people. I believe that any customer facing personnel (and all personnel ideally) should have some Direct Selling and Customer Service awareness and training. And at certain crucial points, be it expanding into new markets, raising finance, dealing with agents or distributors, there will be a requirement for a high level of Direct Selling skill - and if this is not readily available within the business it should be bought in on a project basis.
Things to consider for getting the most from Sales Agents. Sales Agents can be a massive help to a business in terms of creating a geographical sales network far beyond the boundaries of what your business could attempt to reach ‘in house’. The Sales Agent will typically promote your product and your brand and generate orders for the business in return for a commission on completion of the financial transaction that your business carries out direct with the customer. Depending on the nature of the agreement this can provide a very flexible ‘sales force’ that is being provided for you with no, or very little, investment being made on behalf of the company. It can provide a ‘win win’ situation that obviously pays for itself as payments to the agent are only made when monies are received from customers. Having made the Sales Agent scenario sound like a panacea for all issues regarding sales, there are some issues to bear in mind, as this Agent relationship can be a lot easier said than done. I do know this from experience, as previously stated, of working with Sales Agents and of being one. There are some potential pitfalls that need to be considered when looking for Sales Agents and establishing the legal relationship. A solicitor will invariably produce so much paperwork (I have been asked to sign Agency Contracts of 40-50 pages long), and at so much cost that, depending on the type of business, I have sometimes reverted often to a DIY contract on one sheet of paper that relied on my instincts with the agent when I met them in a pub (don’t tell my solicitors this). After all, if there is a genuine win win, it can just go along quite nicely. From my own experience I have highlighted below some of the considerations when looking to work with Sales Agents. I hasten to add that much of this is cynical worst case scenario but I have first hand experience of all this happening in reality.
□ Conflicts of Interest - what other similar products are the agent already selling? and how will this impact on the way in which they will sell your product? Are they just going to add you to a list of products that they already sell where you may become the bottom of their list because of the existing relationships they have? The word I will keep going on about with agents (and distributors) is commitment - are they going to commit to selling a quantity of the product and what comeback is there if they don’t? The reason I stress this is because, from experience, it is very hard to gain any commitment of this sort. Although this form of relationship is intended to be win win, the lack of any real commitment on either side can make it a time consuming irritation for the manufacturer. Depending on the nature of the product, and the relationship with the agent, the agreement that defines this issue can be anything from a handshake to a full blown legal agreement. This is likely to involve the agent agreeing that, while free to sell other products to the market, they cannot sell anything that directly competes with your own, or some form of commitment in terms of numbers.
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Exclusivity - the subject of commitment becomes even more important when it comes to an agent asking for any sort of exclusivity in terms of geographical or other boundaries. This sort of agreement can, effectively, rule out any other agent or supplier (or even your company) selling your product into a prescribed area. Needless to say that this has to be done with extreme caution and a lot of research to ensure that the proposed agent has the ability and desire to carry out the level of required sales. It is conceivable that an agent is seeking exclusive rights to sell into an area to negate your product to sell other products they are agents for. If an agent is looking for exclusive rights to sell product into a ring fenced area I think that, usually, it will be reasonable to look for some sort of sales commitment in terms of three months, six months, twelve months etc, with break out clauses along the way.
Things to consider for getting the most from Sales Agents.
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Financial Exposure - The agent will have no financial exposure to the customer as the transaction will take place between your business and the end user. While this retains your brand with the customer (and the agent would argue leaves them at risk of being cut out of the deal) the agent may try to sign up customers that are not credit worthy or not insurable as it is not their financial risk. This may take some handling and will certainly have to form part of any agency agreement when it comes to potential customers. If you have not already entered the world of insuring debt because you have always dealt with people you know that you are OK to take the risk on (and that is a risky business in itself!) then this kind of arms length transaction with customers that you don’t know will almost certainly make this a requirement. As well as the agents commission any additional insurance fees should be taken into account in terms of margin. While I am not necessarily in favour of enormously lengthy agency agreements drawn up by solicitors this is one element that needs to be formally agreed.
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Percentages and Payment Terms - This will inevitably vary tremendously depending on the market sector and will be influenced greatly by the amount of additionality that the agent is bringing in terms of specific market contacts and the financial volumes of the orders. If the role of the agent is merely a case of doing legwork to make your product known to a market that is likely to be receptive, and where the financial transactions are relatively large, then single digit percentage commission payments could be likely. If, however, a specialist sales agent can introduce your product into highly profitable markets that there would be no other ways of entering (eg certain sports markets, MOD, national supermarkets et al) then the commission expected could reasonably be much higher.
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Agents becoming Distributors and Manufacturers - This may seem a far fetched one - the agent actually becoming the manufacturer of a like for like or similar product and then supplying this to the ready made market that your product has enabled them to create. It may seem far fetched but I have seen exactly this scenario happen in practice. The agent (or distributor - see ) can be gaining a very strong market position based on the back of selling your product. You will have to consider whether they are truly promoting your product for the long term win win or whether they will be using your innovative product to create a market for themselves to supply to. What are the possibilities they could then find another supplier, using your unprotected IPR, to manufacture another product more cheaply to supply the market that has been created that you are at arms length from?
In conclusion, I would say that selling via Sales Agents can provide an extremely cost effective way of selling to a national or international market (in a lot of cases it will be the only way of selling to an international market). And most Sales Agents, if they are happy with your product, will gladly enter into an agreement that will benefit both parties at no risk. This, however, can be the drawback of agency agreements in the fact that there can potentially be no real commitment on both sides. This can lead to a lot of work on your part for very little reward and no recourse. I would always caution against too much legal bureaucracy being involved and would remind you of your instincts regarding the Sales Agents - if you are uncomfortable with the way they present themselves do you want them to be representing and selling your product to others? Always remember that Sales is about people!
The role of, and the relationship with Distributors. Distributors provide an essential service for selling a product; but their role can vary greatly depending on the nature of the product. The intrinsic difference that I make when defining distributors as opposed to agents is that, whatever else the Distributor may or may not do, they will handle the financial transaction with the end user or consumer. The other significant difference is that it can also involve the selling of your product unbranded to be re branded the distributor and, as such, lose the identity of your brand in return for sales. This is not, in itself, a problem but it does mean that the relationship with the distributor has to be managed very well and that there are some serious considerations to be made (especially if you are going to rely on a small number of distributors. Although this book is not aimed at retail it could be seen that the Distributor is the Retailer and the fundamentals of this section can certainly be applied to selling through a wholesaler. The major things to be considered when Selling though Distributors:
□ What are they actually doing for you?
- this is the obvious and overriding question. Depending on your market there will be roles that the Distributor will perform and margins that will be expected for the carrying out of these roles.
□ Financial Exposure - this is a key difference between an agent and a distributor. The financial transaction with the end user / consumer is handled by the distributor. Assuming that the distributor is credit worthy (a very significant thing to be established) then the risk is limited to your exposure to them. What could be a great deal of transactions on their part could be limited to one invoice a month to you which will also significantly cut down on your administration in terms of time and money. The flip side to this ideal coin of using distributors is the element of dependence that there can become on one or two major distributors.
□ Distributor as a sales tool - (AKA has been known by the derogatory name of Brass Plater) - they can still have a vitally important role. A purely Sales Distributor is likely to be a business that will sell your product but will never actually touch or stock it. Often this will involve your business supplying direct to the end user (sometimes under the branding of the distributor) but with the financial transaction being handled by the distributor. You could ask - why am I doing all the work for a return less than if I just sold direct? The answer will be (and it does need to be) that this distributor is quite simply getting you sales that you could not get yourself either through existing relationships or advertising budgets etc. (coupled also with the financial exposure as described above). There is also the fact that a Sales Distributor, because of the fact that they don’t have the overheads of stocking or distribution, will actually work on quite low margins (between single digit to much larger depending on their expertise and what value they are adding) but it will often be a controllable margin in terms of sales rewards. This form of relationship has to be handled very carefully - the Sales Distributor, in effect, has nothing of their own and has to, by the nature of their offering, be permanently looking for something else to promote for them to stay ahead of the game. We again enter the murky world of commitment and any deal that can be done regarding order volumes is to be encouraged, but I have seen so many commitments to sell products fall by the wayside with little, or no recourse that, unless you are dealing with blue chip distributors, wholesalers or retailers there is little that can be done other than take the risk.
The role of, and the relationship with, Distributors
□ Distributor as a stockist / to break bulk - the most obvious traditional role of the distributor is as a stockist of the product and, as such, is often vital in terms of providing regular orders and providing the logistics and distribution to break bulk, and enable access to your product for a national, or international, market. While distributors who are purely stockist's may well rely on orders that are derived from your own sales efforts they are likely, because of their intrinsic value and the inherent costs they will incur in terms of overhead and distribution, likely to be command a margin in excess of Sales Distributors. The value that is added by traditional stockist’s and distributors can equate to a margin of anything between 20% and 60% depending on the product. Clearly, the main power will be derived from the number of units they sell and the geographical area and number of outlets they have.
□ Distributor as sales and stockist - This is a distributor potentially doing a lot of work on behalf of your company and your product. They are becoming your sales arm and your means of distribution - they can, as such, become extremely valuable to you but can also become too dependent on them (why do supermarkets spring to mind?). Margins within this relationship can vary wildly between 30% to 80% plus and will, yet again, be dependent on what your products add - as a supplier of a commodity you will be squeezed all the way, as a supplier of an innovative product that is not readily available elsewhere you will be able to dictate the lower end margins.
□ Distributors with Solus Products or Geographical areas -
This is where a distributor is looking for the sole rights to sell your product into a market or geographical area and often for the product to be branded as the distributor. Regardless of whether a distributor is sales or stockist this is, again, where the issue of commitment is crucial. Anyone will promise the earth to get a solus deal if there is no risk on their part. At worst this could even be part of a blocking tactic to promote other products that the distributor sells into the area. I would always caution against these types of arrangements unless there is a very good relationship with the distributor.
□ How to attract and sell to Distributors - the process of selling to distributors is very much the same as any form of direct selling. You may think there is no need for sales on your part if you are ultimately going to sell through a distributor but the sale to the distributor is likely to be one of the most important you will do. Every aspect of the previous strategy will now be relevant. Please be a salesperson at this point, or employ one to assist in this process.
□ Distributors becoming Manufacturers - this is the slightly far fetched scenario that I touched on with Agents becoming Manufacturers - if this was far fetched with agents, it is certainly something to be mindful of with distributors. Depending on the level of protection for your product, and the level of association of your brand with the end user, be aware that the distributor could be creating a market with your product that, depending on the distribution agreement, they could exploit with an alternative product of their own.
The opportunities for trading through e commerce. This section could go on for as long as you like and I can advise you as much as you like but for the purposes of this I will have to keep it brief and will also confess that, while I have used the web successfully to sell online, things have become pretty sophisticated now. The principles and opportunities for selling remain the same but the technical details are fast moving and this does require the services of real experts in this field. I work with experts in this and can project manage the process if required. Below are my thoughts about how and when selling online can be really significant to your business. This is purely related to online selling and not concerned with web sites in general and other web based media which is covered in the . The first things to bear in mind when it comes to selling online is the functionality of the site in terms of ordering, taking payments, security, legal requirements for an e commerce site, and all the other ‘back office’ functions that the web site will be performing. An e commerce site is doing far more than a static ‘information’ site. While it is very important for an e commerce to look right (especially in terms of credibility when encouraging customers to part with their money) it is absolutely essential for the site to perform right in terms of the trading function. And this function can extend to not only taking and processing orders and payments but carrying out stock control, producing shipping notes, raising invoices and other accounting functions. The ‘back office’ functionality should also be robust enough to be future proof in terms of increased demand and sales. To this end I would always recommend that if you are going to use a professional web designer that they are fully experienced in e commerce and to the level that you are requiring. Your mate that has done a few web sites but only dabbled in terms of e commerce is, quite frankly, not going to be good enough if you are taking this thing seriously. The correct approach would be to define, in as much detail as humanly possible, exactly what you are looking for the site to do, send these details to several suppliers, narrow these down to three potentials and then hold a beauty parade of three suppliers, if possible.
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Should I sell online? - This is entirely dependent on the nature of the business and, most importantly, the way in which you intend to acquire new business. Selling online should certainly not be seen as some sort of panacea for business and many times expensive web sites have not even paid for themselves. If you are thinking about selling online I would first suggest answering the questions below.
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What can sell online? Almost anything can be sold online but if you expect to sell TV’s, T Shirts, Tents, Tools, Trampolines etc you had better be prepared for thousands of companies and traders that are already doing it. If you are going to sell commodity products with your own web site and expect to get rich (or even any orders) you may be in for a rude awakening. Unless you have huge sums of money to invest in what would still be a risky strategy the things to be selling online are innovative products into niche market segments. But this, after all, is the best way of doing business in any circumstance.
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Can I do it myself? The answer is almost certainly yes - be my guest. The better question is should I do it myself? - in which case I believe the answer is almost certainly no. And don’t get mixed up here with content management systems (the ability to edit the web site yourself - add and delete products, change prices etc as this is pretty much essential). The best way is probably to get a professional company to do the web site using an established e commerce platform and integrating your brand look and feel (or creating one if this does not already exist). I am assuming your company and you are good at what you do I am a great believer in letting other people do what they are truly good at.
The opportunities for trading through e commerce.
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Search Engine Optimisation. This is a subject that can be as clear as mud. I will say that you can have the best online trading web site but if nobody finds it you are wasting your time. SEO is vital to selling online and it is not something that you should try to do yourself unless you have a great deal of interest in the subject and a great deal of time to play with. Indeed, even if you do have both of these, maybe your time could be better spent on the business than doing your new hobby. It is a specialist subject and worth remembering that, even if you are using the highly professional services of an e commerce web designer, they may not be the best people to be carrying out this function for you. This is not a problem but what does need to be clear from the start is what capability, and resource is being put into SEO by the web designers. They may be experts themselves (which would require some evidence), they may be working in conjunction with an SEO specialist (which would be fine - and perhaps the ideal scenario) or they could be doing nothing in terms of SEO (which would be slightly concerning as the layout of the web site itself will be partly instrumental in how it performs in terms of SEO.
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Pay Per Click Advertising. By far the most common form of this is through Google® Adwords. This is simply paying to appear in the sponsored ads section that appears at the top and down the right hand side of Google® search results. As the name suggests you pay when anyone clicks on this ad. The use of Adwords could be the answer to all your prayers or it could empty your bank account very quickly with no results. This is again largely dependent on how niche the product is to a specific market segment. And, of course, how much your product or service is actually desired. The good thing with Adwords is that if no one is remotely interested in you and no one clicks you won’t pay a thing. The other good news is that if your bank account is emptying quickly you can turn the tap off at the click of a button. In comparison to traditional advertising this is a massive advantage and offers the ability to play around with different campaigns. The general ease of use and flexibility with Adwords does mean that it is worth having a go yourself but some expert advice is likely to bear greater rewards.
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The Personal Touch - Depending on what you are selling, as a sales person first and foremost, I will always believe that the personal touch is vital. While some things will sell online through a completely automated site without the remote possibility of talking to, or even contacting, a real person I believe in interaction, the ability to ask questions and that these questions can be answered to highlight your expertise and to facilitate getting the order. In my opinion the way to get sales online is, if possible, to provide telephone contact details and utilise the basics of telephone selling when receiving customer enquiries. Failing this there could at least be pretty rapid response email help and advice line.
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Should I Just stick it on EBay? The answer to this could well be yes. Web designers and online marketing consultants are not likely to say this but I will. Selling through EBay could be a great way to start online trading and, indeed, could be the best route for your product full stop. If you are going to sell a commodity product online this may be the only way of achieving any success online but only if you are buying the right product at very much the right price and selling on low margin in a proactive manner - this is akin to real market trading and does rely on the same disciplines. This is absolutely fine if it floats your boat but if you want a possibly more rewarding journey in terms of profitability and effort always look for the usual in terms of UPS' and ways in which you add value to your product or service.
What needs to be in place to franchise a product? Does your business have the potential for franchising? Franchising is often considered the get rich quick plan to national and global dominance based on little or no financial risk while you reap the benefits of other peoples hard work, other people that will have actually paid you for the privilege - it’s got to be a no brainer right? Of course, the fact is that there are extremely few businesses that would have the remotest chance of ever franchising their offering and for the extreme few that could, it involves an enormous amount of work - doesn’t sound so good now? The only detail I will go into here is to provide a checklist of some of the requirements for even considering franchising. Do remember that franchising is often only entered into by a business that is already successful and in a position of maturity and resource to set up this kind of contract. A checklist of some of the requirements for considering franchising:
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Have you really got something that no one else could just copy and produce themselves? If you think about it, there are few things that you could offer, especially as an SME, that could be worthy of buying as a ready made business? The only real way to do this is with a very slick and successful system of operating that would cut down an enormous learning curve and / or a recognised brand (which is unlikely to be the case for any SME).
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Does your business have exclusive access to anything that can be sold to others? This is pretty unlikely but can cover a multitude of things. The easiest would be if you manufacture your own product that is then used in a service capacity - e.g., your own carpet cleaner that you have developed for your own business that you can then franchise to other geographical area. Another could be a recipe (which can apply to more than just food) that is your very own that it would take lot to duplicate. Even better is if you have a consumable that will need to be bought from you on an ongoing basis which may take the form of a consumable product or a service contract.
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Are your systems watertight and arguably as good as any that exist within the market sector? Part of the deal is that your ‘way of doing things’ is so sophisticated and honed (and preferably including the use of a bespoke software application) that the learning curve would be so arduous and costly that it is more cost effective for a prospective trader to buy the finished system than to come up with their own.
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Does all the above come with a very tight brand that could be capable of gaining national recognition? The brand in terms of franchising has to be very sophisticated and above any form of branding that could be available to a fledgling business - it needs to be at a level that is worth paying good money for and gains a potential franchisee an instant brand beyond their own means.
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Have you got the resources in terms of time and money to set up a franchise arrangement? This is not a thing to be entered into lightly. The scrutiny of the business to make it transportable and saleable is intense and the work that is involved is not to be taken lightly. Above all, in terms of resources, there will be a legal backing to all this that is likely to be a somewhat bespoke contractual agreement that is not going to come cheap, and obviously needs to be drawn up by a legal expert in this field.
The opportunities for selling your product through specification. Specification selling is slightly different from traditional selling in the sense that you are not selling to the person that will buy your product or service. You are getting a designer / architect / person that decides what goes into something to state (specify) that your product will be used. It is a particularly common and necessary form of selling to the construction industry and others where decisions about materials and products are made by architects or engineers or local authority bods that will state in a bill of quantities or on a drawing that your product will be used (Eureka - job done!!) It is, of course, dependent on getting in front of these specifiers and these can be extremely difficult people to get in front of. Presentation, sampling and technical back will be critical and your features and benefits must be very clearly defined. The fact you are ‘selling’ to someone that is ‘spending someone else's money’ is irrelevant as, in many ways, the level of accountability can entail even more scrutiny than selling to a buyer. It is not uncommon to use specialist sales agents with existing relationships with certain types of specifiers in order to get your product known to them. These agents will often have a portfolio of products that they sell to specifiers. There are more details on this in and earlier in this section. The specification sale is often a long, drawn out process with the order coming much farther down the line and there is a lot of work still to do after the specification ‘sale’. On top of this you could end up transacting the order with a business that you don’t know, which could result in increased credit exposure or credit insurance. So, bearing all this in mind, is it still worth selling to specifiers? The answer is undoubtedly yes, and depending on the market you are in, it could be essential. Your survival in terms of profitability could be dependent on getting your product specified and below are the reasons to sell via this route and the things that will need to be in place to do it:
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The reason to sell to specifiers if you have the chance - This form of selling relies on selling the specific benefits of your product rather than selling a commodity product on price. Selling benefits, knowledge and service is what we should be doing in any form of selling so it is a desired sales route. You prove to a specifier that your product is the best to do the job and get specified and (here’s the point) you can potentially command a much higher price than selling something on a commodity basis. This is not to say, however, that by getting specified your work is done and you can just command the order from the end user or contractor. The common route that follows a specification is through a tendering process. This will mean that, if your product is specified, your business will be approached by (typically) three to six end users or contractors looking to price for the job that your product forms a part of. Clearly there is a resource consideration in terms of sales office to process and quote for these tenders. The price that will be quoted at this tender stage Is the ‘list price’ - the desired high end price that would be made available to the specifier. Whether this is ultimately the selling price that will be achieved is dependent on other factors farther along the process but this price sets the bar for the price and should be the price that the tendering contractors are using to price for the job.
The opportunities for selling your product through specification.
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’Or Similar Approved’ - This is the expression that is inserted into most specifications (and certainly local authority ones). Funnily enough the way to overcome this is to have something that cannot be easily ‘similarly approved’ (back to USPs and adding value). If you do have something that is truly unique then this is ideal but the aim is to get as many things put in the specification that will narrow down the possibilities for alternatives. It could be you manufacture to a certain British or European Standard that many of your competitors do not, or have some accreditation or feature that is not common to the industry. This feature and the associated benefits are not only the selling point but must be included in the specification in order to limit dramatically the powers of the end user or contractor when it comes to using an alternative. One objective of a contractor will be to seek like for like alternatives to specified products in order to make margins above the margin at tender stage (which is often extremely tight).
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Sell to the end user also! In most industries the contractors or end users are known and the trick with specification selling is to sell to the end user and certainly not treat them as if they have no choice but to buy off you. Even if they actually have no real chance of using an alternative they can make it very awkward at times by putting forward alternatives that seem, on the face of it, to be credible but much less expensive. Treat the contractors as if they are customers with a lot of decision making ability - they have now become your customer and, as they will be the ones paying you the money, they deserve absolute respect. If you can get to know the likely suspects in terms of contractors and network and sell to them this is likely to be great benefit. What could actually be an even bigger one is to have a contractor discount built in to the price. If, as stated previously, one objective of the appointed contractor is to save money on the price quoted at tender stage, then you could have this discount built in and offer it when a contractor is appointed. This is an entirely commercial decision and will be based largely on how much the product has a ‘similar approved’. I would recommend that, however much the product is unique, a contractor discount is probably a good idea, especially if it can be linked to early or on time payment terms. There is another major reason for selling to the contractor in this way - they may actually become an advocate and a customer in their own right. They will use your product and, if it is as good as you say it is, they may want to use it again when they are not tied to a specification. They could recommend you to clients if they also do design and build work - and, of course, they will know that whatever price you quote to the client there is a nice contractor discount for them. What that discount will be will vary a lot depending on many factors.
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Make you product very easy to Specify - This is crucial, it doesn’t matter how good your product is if it is not easy to specify. Your web site could have PDF downloads and cut and paste info that can be put straight into a specification. If your product involves drawings they should be readily available through the web or on disc (but copyright or accredited to you).
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Specification Selling through specialist Sales Agents - Sometimes it is better to accept that no matter hard you try there will be certain people that you cannot get to - and this could well be the case with some specifiers. There are specialist agents and distributors that have relationships with the people that you are trying to get to and it is worth finding out who they are and who they know. For the margins that agents work on it can be a very cost effective way of selling to specifiers. I say this based on the fact that I have used them and, for many years, I was one.
Selling knowledge and Intellectual Property Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) are the definition and protection for your product or service and can open up routes to market far beyond the possibilities available if these rights do not exist. IPR can take many forms, from trade marks, to Patents and Design Rights. They are important for many reasons and ensure that an idea remains with the creator. They provide an exclusivity to commercially exploit an idea and prevent your competitors from doing so. They become assets to the business and, as such, can be traded, sold or, as in this section regarding routes to market, can be licensed to another business to provide a quick route to market and a market penetration far greater, and with much less risk, than could be achieved from going it alone. I have covered the basic types of IPR below but I am more concerned with what routes to market these can achieve. In terms of securing these rights it is certainly worth seeking the advice of an IP lawyer or Patent Attorney. These are the professionals that deal with the issues on a day to day basis and will know two things: Can the product be protected? And, perhaps more importantly, Is it actually worth protecting? It should always be remembered that this form of intellectual property protection is only worth entering into if the protection is actually going to be used - this does not, however, mean lengthy legal battles, it can be very effective for ‘scaring people off’ if they are infringing on the rights you have secured. It should be highlighted here that licensing agreements are different from getting a product manufactured to your specification by another business where you are likely to be paying for the manufacturing, retaining all of any IPR and taking all the commercial risks (this is fairly common practice). From a sales point of view, which is the way I will tend to look at it, the IPR can have very significant benefits as described below: 1 - To get things manufactured under licence, to get paid for the use of your licence, to enter into joint ventures. 2 - To protect your competitive advantage. 3 - When selling to financiers IPR is a real benefit to attracting funding - particularly if you are looking for equity funding. This will equally apply, if not more so, if you are trying to attract grant funding of any kind.
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Types of IPR’ Patents: These apply to inventions of a technical nature and are basically concerned with how things work, what they do and how they do it. They do not, however, have to be for truly new inventions (and this is quite a rare occurrence), they often apply to improvements to known technology, products or processes. What must be the case is that they must not have been made public in any way and this means that secrecy must be ensured before a patent is applied for. A granted patent can stop others from making, using or selling the patented product for up to 20 years, so your competitors will not be able to benefit in any way from your invention. They will also give you the opportunity to sell or license the patent for commercial gain, even if you are not going to produce the patented product yourself. It is likely to be through a Patent that the opportunity may exist for selling licensing rights to another business who have existing routes in to a market.
Selling knowledge and Intellectual Property
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Types of IPR’ (continued) Trade Marks: These apply to Signs, Logos, Words or Sounds and act to distinguish your product or service from that of your competitors. It is essentially a marketing tool as it enables customers to recognise your business and hopefully the associated quality of your product or service. A registered trade mark give you an automatic right to prevent anyone else using your mark for an indefinite period if the renewal fees are paid for, and acts as a clear deterrent to others from using it or trying to copy it. It can also provide a form of credibility as registering will entitle you to use the ® symbol. One thing to note here is that the ™ symbol does not mean that there is a registered trade mark - it’s only real meaning is that the owners would possibly take action if this was used or copied. While there is generally less scope for licensing trade marks for SMEs it is possible and would form part of a package if the business was going to be franchised. Design Rights: A design is the appearance of a product resulting from the features of the lines, contours, colours, shape, texture or materials. It can refer to the shape of a product or the decoration applied to it, or both. A certain degree of protection is afforded automatically by unregistered design rights and artistic copyright but registering the design affords much greater and securer protection. A registered design lasts for up to 25 years during which time the owner has the right to stop others from making, using or selling a similar product. The product and literature can be marked with the registered design number and will act as a deterrent to others from copying the design.
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Licensing the rights - This can be a very quick way to get your protected product into the market particularly for a small business or sole trader. If you can sell the licensing agreements to manufacture your products you can basically stand back and reap a reward for all the product that is made under this licensing agreement. Needless to say the product, the IPR protection and the choice of manufacturer is absolutely critical. Furthermore, the legal agreement that is entered into is one for the legal experts - you will need to ensure that you are covered if you are going to license what could be a very valuable asset. As stated earlier, this is different from outsourcing the manufacture of your product for yourself (which would be more of an optional manufacturing route), this is allowing someone else to manufacture your product for themselves and, as such, a lot of power over the product is going to another party.
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Joint Venture - A joint venture could be an ideal route to take with your IPR. This involves setting up a new business with another company that would have complimentary resources to your own. A larger business with manufacturing resource and existing routes to market could enter into a joint venture with the owner of IPR and, again, get to market much quicker to commercialise the protected rights. This is most likely when the other business is looking to limit the liabilities within the new business and not expose them to their existing business. If this is not the case then a much larger company will be more likely to be looking at licensing the rights.
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Selling to Potential Funders - A described earlier, potential investors in the business will certainly be attracted by protected IPR as these are what potentially is going to make them the return on investment. The protection, to some extent, is being seen as a protection from competition and a protection for the money.
One last thing to note here is that you can have all the protection in the world but it is only worth having if the idea is a good one - it is not worth protecting a bad idea!
An analysis of current routes to market and how they are working for you For each of the routes to market first decide how important each one is to the sales success of the business - put a value 1-10 (1 being not really important at all and 10 being critical). Next put a value of how good you feel you currently are at exploiting this route - put a value 1-10 (1 being not very good at all and 10 being excellent). Importance? How good?
b2b or b2c ratio direct selling selling via sales agents
What is the ratio between the b2b and the b2c business? Do you believe this to be the best ratio? If it is important to change this the importance should be high and the ability low. How important is direct selling to the business? I would argue that it is important in many ways. In this section consider the importance of you or your employees carrying out sales roles. Is there an opportunity to increase sales through employing agents? Does the business lend itself to this and how is it currently being exploited?
selling through distributors
Does the business use distributors and, if so, are you getting the best from them? Is there an opportunity to use distributors that you are not currently exploiting?
selling online
How much of your product is sold online? Is the product suitable to sell online and, if so, is this route being used in the best way that it could be?
franchising
Is there a possibility of franchising the product or service? How much have you done to explore this route?
selling to specifiers
Is there an opportunity to sell to specifiers rather than to the end user or contractor? Are the necessary resources in place to enable this?
licensing agreements
Is there an opportunity to protect any of the intellectual property of the business? How is this currently being exploited?
To analyse the priorities in terms of routes to market go to the next page and establish any routes to market gaps and actions that can be taken.
An analysis of potential gaps to be addressed in the routes to market mix. For each or the routes subtract the score for how good you feel you are from the score you gave it in terms of importance. List the categories in order of the highest positive figure first. Any minus figures will be of lowest priority. For at least the top three note some actions to be made. Sales Route
Score
Action (By When? By Who?)
An overview of the traditional methods for making your market aware of you. Advertising is still thought by many to be the route to making people aware of their product or service - and a lot of this is based on the dreaded ‘it’s what we’ve always done’, and the fact they are still in business is presumably some justification for the advertising spend ( or lack of it). It is essential to think about the best routes for advertising and even more important to measure the success. Below are details of potentially where to advertise and the tricks for printed media advertising. On the following page is a check list of advantages and disadvantages and an action plan for advertising.
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Where to Advertise - within the realm of advertising media there are choices to be made - they range, no great surprise, from the very inexpensive to the ridiculously expensive. So where is it best to advertise? The very well known saying is (paraphrased) ‘I know that half of the money I spend on advertising is well spent and the other half goes completely down the drain - the problem is that I don’t know which half is which’. It will, obviously, depend very much on the type of business, the extent of coverage that the business is looking for, the area within which it is looking to trade and the financial resources that can be made available for advertising. The advertising check list on the following page should be viewed in conjunction with the bigger picture in respect of available routes and always consider that, with a certain amount of effort, there may be less expensive ways of doing things.
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Tricks of the Trade for printed advertising content. Use the AIDA formula (referred to later in the A - Attention, a banner or headline that makes an impressive benefit promise I - Interest, builds up information in an interesting way that must relate closely to the issues of the reader D - Desire, that specifically links benefits to the reader so that they will want them A - Action, a call for the reader to DO SOMETHING - any advertising will be less effective if it does not call for a response from the reader. The main message (Attention) must be the most prominent. In printed advertising, the costs will dictate to an SME that they haven’t got time to waste building up a series of subtle adverts over a period of time, with lots of blank space or large, trendy pictures and obscure clever quotations. So, especially if you are doing the copy for yourself, do not be tempted to think you are suddenly an advertising genius. Just state the main benefit, a single and impressive benefit, clearly and simply. And remember that a feature is not a benefit - the benefit is the ‘so what’ of the feature. And the single, impressive benefit should include the brand / company name in it so that a clear link is made, it should take no longer to read than about 4-8 seconds and be no longer than about 15 words. In terms of layout for printed advertising think 3 things: clear layout / clear fonts / clear language. Again, you have not become a creative genius using overlaying images, fancy fonts and complicated words - even if you do want to show that you know what they mean. Similarly, fancy fonts of unusual sizes will be less easy to absorb. The easy sizes to read are 10, 11 or 12 points. If you have found the ‘filter effects’ buttons on your computer software leave them alone! No drop shadows or diffused glows or 3D effects. And avoid, if possible the USE OF UPPER CASE LETTERS they take longer to read, even in the headline. As for what your main benefit is - if you are not clear about this by now you’d better go back to the beginning.
An overview of the traditional methods for making your market aware of you. An exercise to review the pros and cons of different advertising media for your business. Advantages Disadvantages Your Options CPM
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cost / short life span / fleeting message if not repeated verbal message / cost / short life span /
Commercial Radio
coverage / credibility / attention / geography & audience selection get to a large local audience / repeatable local message
National Newspapers
enormous coverage / enormous cost / direct response / used short life span / readers are selective as a reference point
Local Newspapers
good geographical coverage / used as a reference point
Television
restricted coverage / high CPM for the coverage
Lifestyle Magazines
high cost / general / large circulation / high impact to target / competition for attention / timescales direct response
Trade Magazines
specific target market low circulation / competitors / high / can help to create interest with stockists cost per reader
Printed Directories
relatively cheap / long low attention / long lead times / old lasting / reference / geographical market fashioned
Online Directories
cheap / long lasting / target market /
could be very low attention / impact needs monitoring
Direct Mail
high information/ target lists / can be personalised
not taken seriously or ignored / mailing list needs to be created
Local Magazines
cheap / target local market / very personalised
low attention / not taken seriously / very local market
Measure the Return on Investment - Whichever advertising media is used or tried you really need to measure the returns as much as possible. One commonly used media buying exercise is to work out the Cost Per Thousand - CPM (mille). The cost for every thousand people that will be exposed to your advert. Almost all media will provide circulation or viewing figures and many will back this up with media packs. The calculation is straightforward and is simply the cost of an advert divided by the number (in thousands) of people who will be exposed it (e.g. An advert costing ÂŁ1000 that will be exposed to 100,000 people will be a CPM of ÂŁ0.01). While I have included this measure in the table above as it does provide a reasonable way of benchmarking relative advertising costs there is a lot more to advertising return than the cost of exposure. Some advertising may be very good at getting attention but not at being converted to sales results. This could be because the advert is getting the attention of the wrong customer and with an ambiguous message. It is essential to record where every enquiry has originated and, even more importantly, where enquiries THAT RESULT IN ORDERS have originated from. This can be recorded separately or, if possible, incorporated into a Customer Relationship Management system.
Raise awareness through e mail marketing campaigns. On the face of it email marketing is the answer to everything in terms of raising awareness. It is cheap, virtually to the point of costing nothing for the actual emails, and it can deliver a very specific message to a tailored database. It is also a very quick way of getting the message across be it new products or offers they can be conveyed with an immediacy that traditional advertising could not remotely compete with. Despite the fact that many of the same principles apply in terms of the adverts themselves I have kept this section of marketing / advertising separate from the traditional forms because this opens up new opportunities and disciplines that need to be explored in their own right. We are assuming your business has email - clearly this is essential for business! One note with I would add is that even if you don’t have a web site (see the next section on web sites) it really is worth having a domain name for the company that can, at the very least be used for email i.e., In terms of perception it is far better for an email address to be enquiries@acmeplumbers.co.uk than acmeplumbers@hotmail.com. Of course this does not mean that Acme Plumbers are any better at plumbing because they have a domain name but it will give potential customers a feeling that Acme Plumbers have some sense of stability, permanency and professionalism.
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What and When and How? Email marketing, if done correctly, can provide an incredibly cheap and very quick way of keeping your profile in front of customers and as a form of customer relationship management. It is also a fantastic tool for informing them of offers, promotions and new products. The ‘when’ can vary a lot depending on the product and the customer. It is certainly valid, in both B2B and B2C, if you have a new product or a special promotion. Personally I have found that the regularity should not be more than once a month although we certainly know that with B2C there , are very clever and enormous companies that seem to think that twice a week is fine. What is fundamental is that email marketing adverts should have something new to say. You are going to be sending them to a database that you have put together or at least that you have researched and consider to be important - the last thing you want to do is annoy these with repetitive and irritating copy that is clearly being churned out, without any finesse, to a mass market. The ‘how’ can also vary quite a bit from simply sending an email to a contact with regular updates on what is going on and any new products or offers to producing a full blown newsletter or, more likely, banner and poster ads that will be sent in the form of emails. The regularity and type of email can be built in to the CRM system but this is probably getting a bit unnecessarily elaborate for most SMEs that do actually have a business to run. This leads on to how the email marketing ads are going to be produced and whether the business can create them in house. All I would say is that sending something a bit ropey could be worse than not sending anything at all. This is another occasion where it could be a case of getting a professional to do the job - and this is where you will panic about costs, but please shop around on this - you could be looking very professional and attracting a lot of interest and business for a lot less money than you think. The other fundamental when it comes to email marketing is not so much what you are sending but who you are sending it to. This is where the database element is vital and, however it is done, it needs to be up to date and relevant. I will be tempted to mention CRM systems again now so I must stop myself - you get the message. The final thing that you must bear in mind is that if you are going to send these email marketing ads to your customer database you need to provide an option for them to unsubscribe - this will assist in keeping your database current and to stop customers potentially becoming annoyed with you.
How your company profile can be raised by your Web Site and its ability to be found by Search Engines. Online trading has been covered in as this is obviously a route to physically generating and processing orders. But even if you have no intention of ever selling a thing online the web site can be a vital tool in terms of PR and awareness. It can provide the validation for the customer that this is a reputable and professional business. However your company has come to the attention of a potential customer (even through personal recommendation) this customer is still likely to look at your web site to provide the ultimate vindication of their decision to buy from you. On the other hand it can, of course, form part of the reason for a customer deciding NOT to buy from you. Some people will be very suspicious if the business has no web site and some will find an amateurish and poor web site more off putting than not having a web site at all. There is no excuse for any business not to have at least a basic, professional looking informational web site containing a few pages. And this can do as much to confirm your professionalism as anything far more elaborate.
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Web site basics - When it comes to selling online I have recommended the use of a professional, but when it comes to a basic information site there may be an argument for having a go at this yourself. There are many free templates and ‘Open Source’ software in the public domain. All you need to do is buy a domain name and a hosting package, all of which can be done very cheaply. This depends largely on whether you are inclined and interested enough to put in a bit of work to understand some of the mumbo jumbo. This is also dependent on getting some ruthless feedback on the quality of what you are able to produce - it is no good your Mum thinking its a great site because she didn’t know you could do that sort of thing. And if you do intend to consult any customers please ensure that they are not ones that could be put off! Remember that if you are not going to do a pretty good job of this then it could do you more harm than good. And if we are talking about a basic information site do bear in mind how much this work is actually going to save you in terms of costs - you could end up going through a lot of pain to save a couple of hundred pounds. The other thing to realise, if you are going to rely on a certain amount of Search Engine Optimisation for the web site and your business to be found, a web designer should lay things out in a way that will maximise this.
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Search Engine Optimisation - the ability of search engines to find your web site can be critically important or it could be of little real significance to you. This really depends on whether you are going to be relying on people finding you on the Internet as a way of acquiring leads, or whether you will be promoting the web address in other ways and are just using it to get information and image across to people that will go onto it anyway, perhaps as a way of validating you as business. The other ways of promoting it, amongst other things, is to include it on all company literature, letterheads and business cards, in all adverts, on company livery on vehicles and any other way in which you will be exposed to your market. Always remember to guide potential customers to your web site whenever possible as it can say a lot more for a lot less money than any form of advertising will do. But it is dependent on getting people on to your site - and this is where Search Engine Optimisation can become a critical tool. If SEO is required at any significant level it will probably we worthwhile at least consulting with a specialist to ensure that basic requirements for organic searches are in place. Further to this, you can go into a lot more detail if the benefits are becoming apparent in terms of leads and the return on investment.
The role of Social Media in raising awareness - the new and affordable PR. The jury is out on whether Social Media is the route to PR and sales success that some people would suggest, but it is looking increasingly clear that, certainly in some sectors and markets, it can have a real impact on awareness. Secondly, it is worth remembering that this is pretty much free so there is no real excuse for not participating. The one drawback that I see with this stuff is it can be a bit time consuming. My social media associates will tell me that this is not true and that a bit of blogging and tweeting will not take long at all (depending on how addicted you get to it!) There are a few basics that need to be known and, as ever, it is sometimes worse to do these things badly than not do them at all. Below I have tried to sketch out these basics of social media and the (possible) benefits for your company within the relative media.
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Blogging - Blogging is now an accepted and natural way of imparting knowledge, information, and advice on the Internet. It is basically involves software that enables participants to post content on to a web site or blog in the form of a journal that is displayed in reverse chronological order. It can be seen as an introduction to the world of Social Media. While there are thousands and thousands of blogs out there and you may feel they are surely lost in a deluge of information, they are actually found quite readily by search engines when people are looking for information or advice about a specific subject. Your comments may well be found more than you think. This is also the reason to include a blog hosted on your domain, within your own web site, as it is likely to dramatically increase the natural rankings of your web site. The most popular software currently for blogging is WordPress which is a free, open source tool than can be downloaded, configured then uploaded to your web site. If you are not comfortable with the technical aspects of this it can easily be done by your web designer and is something worth thinking about specifying from the outset of a web site. There are many tips and tricks related to good blogging which I won’t go into here but essentially they are similar to any form of advertising or written communication - you need to be blogging stuff that people want to read!
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RSS Feeds - (The initials for Really Simplified Syndication) This involves aggregate and filter content around RSS technology - sounds a bit techy but it’s really just stuff that you opt in to receive. The participant subscribes to receive timely updates from web sites that are of interest. For the publisher it gives the opportunity to update and re publish information on a regular basis.
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Social Bookmarking - This involves tagging content and participating in Social Bookmarking communities; it can also help in generating search traffic to your web site. Delicious was one of the first examples, and coined the phrase social bookmarking. Users can tag each of their bookmarks with index terms that they choose themselves. Bookmarks posted to Delicious are, by default, publicly viewable although they can be marked as private and imported bookmarks are private.
The role of Social Media in raising awareness - the new and affordable PR.
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Social Networks - Facebook and LinkedIn - Facebook has become an accepted way for small business to build its’ social media web presence. There are generally three ways of approaching this: 1: Facebook Business Account only: This allows you to create a simple business presence but will allow limited access to the people who interact with the site. 2: Personal Profile and a Business Fan Page: If you already have a Facebook profile you can add a Fan Page that is a business only page allowing functionality beyond your current Facebook friends. There is still a close relationship between your personal and Fan pages so the privacy settings for your personal profiles become very important. 3: Personal Profile for Business and Fan Page for Business: This is a way to use all the features for your business but has to be carefully handled in terms of personal privacy. LinkedIn is a business focused social network relying largely on seeing who knows who in terms of introductions. It is generally worth entering into for the possibility to extend brand awareness, find clients, advice, deals, find professionals and get feedback.
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Micro Platforms / Microblogging - Twitter is the King - basically it allows you to say anything about anything in 140 characters or less. It has the facility to subscribe, share, friend or follow as many Twitter feeds as you like. There is a certain amount of discipline required to produce ‘Tweets’ (and I love this discipline as it should lend itself to simplicity). With some experience or training Twitter can provide a source for leads and market research.
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File Sharing Sites - The most relevant of these is YouTube but also includes flickr and slideshare. YouTube allows a business to create and customise a channel with your own branding. It is the second most popular search engine (behind Google) so this is well worth doing. While the majority of searches will still relate to entertainment there are a growing number (a figure of 35 million a month was quoted in 2010) searching for information or ‘how to’ videos. 5 ways to maximise YouTube for business purposes are: 1: Create content that meets a need - your content must be more relevant than purely self indulgent information about your business, it must be of interest (remember ). 2: Ensure reasonable Production Values - as professional as possible and easy to watch. 3: Optimise the Search - Use relevant keywords in the title and include them in tags. 4: Provide an Action Step - possibly a call to visit a unique URL on your web site. 5: Let the world know who you are: if you are providing interesting and useful information don’t be afraid to promote who you are and the details of your business. Flickr is a photo sharing site that can be used for marketing but there are some quite specific ways of doing this that require further information if this PR route is desirable.
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How often do I have to do all this? - it’s a bit like exercising - 20-30 minutes a day will do you loads of good. But the best laid plans don’t necessarily get carried out - if you are going to get into all this (and, generally speaking, I suggest you do) you really need to keep things live and relevant - it’s sort of defeating the object if you don’t.
What you can do yourself to help your PR campaign. The PR (Public Relations) generated by your business is a clear way of determining how your business will be viewed by the outside world - and whether it is even viewed at all. You can do a lot yourself in terms of PR without ever going near a PR company and some main points are highlighted below. Do remember that if you are going to court the attentions of the press you need to decide who will be responsible for this and have a clear policy. Other employees should refer any press enquiries to this person to ensure that no one is forced into making comments that may be inappropriate.
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Identify the Media that will reach your market sector - While a professional PR company could surely do this for you it could be beneficial for you to be identifying this exposure yourself. And, when the media is established, research what type of story they tend to cover, the style they use and the deadlines they work to in terms of copy. Further to this, attempt to build up a relationship with this media. Clearly this will be infinitely more possible with local media than with national. If you have identified the need for national exposure it really is worth thinking about professional PR which is covered next. Do also remember that, while PR is hopefully going to be cheaper than advertising in the long term, the relevant expression here is ‘long term’ with regards to establishing what you can offer the media, and building up a rapport. However, once a relationship has been formed, it can provide a very quick way of getting a message out - if it’s newsworthy! (see DIY Press Releases).
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Becoming an Expert in your own field - if you are going to interact with the media you do need to know what you are talking about - and be able to translate this into a story. I am assuming that you know a lot about your business sector and the market conditions and certainly a lot about your own products or services (and if you don’t - you should!). And don’t be put off by the fact that you may not consider your sector to be very interesting - there are few things that, with a bit of creativity, are not going to be of any interest at all. The activity within the haulage industry, for example, is often an early barometer of market conditions in general. The creativity in identifying and creating a story is something that requires some practice but if you read your identified target publications thoroughly you should get a good idea of what they are looking for. You should also be aiming to get yourself known within the media as someone that has consistently got something of interest to say on your subject (and humour can help with this). You should also be easy to contact by the press as anything that makes a journalists job a bit easier will be responded to. If you are going to them with newsworthy stories and can readily be contacted you will be going a long way to achieving DIY PR.
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DIY Press Releases - The objective is to practice your skills at press releases to the point that the press will have to do very little other than publish your copy and, here’s a very important bit, publish the accompanying picture! If you can provide a picture it could easily be the difference to something getting published or not (and not one taken with your phone). Do remember, however, that publications will change your wording so don’t be too precious about it. The golden rule, as already said, is that a press release needs to be some sort of story, rather than just a statement that is not ‘news’. While quirky and/or unusual is desirable there are a lot of things that will provide a story. Surveys are often carried out with the pure intention of creating press releases from their results. New Product Development with the benefits explained, personal achievements of staff and Awards can also be well worthy of a story. Even subjects such as staff achieving qualifications, staff promotions, staff joining and staff having babies can also be considered. The form in can be used as an aid to create a DIY press article.
The role of professional PR Companies. The mere mention of Professional PR companies may have you grabbing to protect your wallet and imagine people that are somewhat deluded and pretentious. The truth is that these can be really down to earth and really useful people with contacts that you would never get to, within local and national press and other media. I have worked with PR companies that have been invaluable, and if the right PR company is matched with the right business, it can produce dramatic effects in terms of awareness for the business. And the way to look at is a few press releases targeted to the right places, and written the right way, could be taken a lot more seriously (and cost less) than traditional advertising, particularly is we are talking about national coverage. If you are going to use the services of a PR Agency there is still a lot you can do to help yourself and to help them so don’t go to a PR company or even scope the project for your PR without at least having a look at the previous section
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Who to use? - When it comes to PR Companies they can vary a lot. Who you will choose will depend largely on the exposure you are looking to achieve - and this is something that a PR agency will be able to help you with. It is worth trying to find out who companies that are in a similar market to yours are using (this would probably not apply to direct competitors as this would be likely to cause a conflict of interest for a PR Company). It may be best to narrow the field down to three or four companies by a combination of this method, personal recommendation, networking and even the phone book or Google. These can then be interviewed in a ‘beauty parade’. While it is best to have a good idea of what you want in terms of PR do let potential PR Companies come up with their own suggestions based on your product or service as they may come up with ideas that you hadn’t thought of (and they are the experts). What do they do? - It may sound like a silly question but the truth is that a PR Agency probably do more then you think. We have talked about the obvious in terms of Press Releases and media exposure, but even with this the actual writing side can be overlooked. While it is possible, with practice, to create your own press releases they are not likely to be anywhere near as good (or as relevant) as professional writers can achieve. The PR Company will also be well versed in the requirements of different media. So, if time is critical to getting a message across, you may want to go the professional route. Many PR Companies will have packages particularly tailored to SMEs, start ups and sole traders and fully recognise the financial constraints of these businesses. PR companies can also be conversant with the new media stuff and could be used to create exposure through Online Media and Social Media. Press releases need not be limited to printed press you may want to engage PR companies to carry the messages across all the various platforms. This is likely, however, to become a grey area between your PR company, your web designer and specialist SEO and online marketing companies. The other thing to consider (which hopefully you would never need) is Crisis Communication. Depending on the size and nature of business this can be critical in terms of message if you do experience such things as IT systems failure, employee accidents or disputes, or even fire or flood. You may need to get a positive and accurate message out very quickly to avoid serious damage to the business.
Further enhancing your personal profile. Let’s face it, this won’t be for everyone - but if you can consider giving seminars and speeches it can have an enormous impact in terms of personal profile which will create awareness for your business. It can be quite a daunting thought to stand up in front of a group of people (especially if this group is quite a large number) but presentation skills are something that can be taught to most people. And I am not talking here about doing three day training workshops, I am referring to speeches which could be anything from five minutes long, to seminars which, as a novice, you wouldn’t want to be doing more than an hour (and that would take a lot of preparation). If you can give a short speech that will grab peoples attention you are likely to be in demand. You are not likely to get paid for it (except perhaps expenses) unless you are pretty well known, but it is a very good way of creating PR and raising awareness. When you get so good at it and well known that you do get paid for it then it can provide a good revenue stream. More important than the super slick skills of the presenter is the actual content of seminars and speeches. If you’re going to stand up in front of all these people it is best if you have something they want to listen to! The objective is to become known as an expert on your subject, whatever that subject may be. You need to imagine that you are a member of the audience and base it on the principal that you know very little about your subject - which will often be the case. The exception to this is giving a technical speech or seminar to a group of peers or similar experts in the field. It is important, wherever possible, to have something topical to say - and to keep updating this topicality as much as possible. This can include things such as changes in the law, subjects that relate to regional or national news, new products or new ways of doing things and subjects that are just of real human interest.
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The use of Humour - Humour is very important but must also be used sparingly - please do not try to be a stand up comedian. Humorous anecdotes can add dramatically to your content but avoid the use of jokes as you are unlikely to be able to deliver these with the correct timing and there can be nothing worse than an obvious joke falling flat.
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The use of Notes? - The use of notes for a novice or even an accustomed presenter is acceptable. These, however, should be bullet points akin to Powerpoint bullets and you should certainly not attempt to read from a script. This will not only appear unprofessional and stilted but is actually harder to do. A fairly casual referral to notes will be fine. I tend to use something like 6 X 4 inch index cards with one for each main heading and five or six bullet points contained on each. If you are tempted to go completely note free then by all means be tempted - but beware! It is great to be able to stand there and rattle off a speech but I would suggest this is only attempted for no more than five minutes to begin with (and then built up) - and do remember that if you lose the plot with this you will be in a place that you really don’t want to be in.
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Powerpoint Presentations - Many speeches and most seminar presentations will provide the facility, or even require, the use of Powerpoint. If you are going to give presentations you do need to find your way around this software and it is not daunting. It has two functions in terms of presentations: 1 - The same facility as with note cards exists to have bullet points as an aid to the presenter remember that with Powerpoint this is also a way for the audience to follow the presentation. 2 - There are many additional things that can be incorporated into Powerpoint - the inclusion of corporate identity, images and film clips should all be exploited.
Basic Guidelines for becoming Media Friendly. If you really want to create PR and raise awareness, becoming Media Friendly can be very beneficial. By this I am referring generally to live media which would include local radio and TV, and even national media if possible. This is an area that presents real opportunities for PR but must be handled with a certain amount of media awareness. While specialist training would be desirable to enter into this in a serious way, to raise your profile with an occasional media interview the following should be regarded:
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Before agreeing to be interviewed - What media is the interview being conducted for, the ‘angle’ of the interview, why have they approached you? who else is being interviewed? how long will the interview be, and the length of the final piece? will the interview be live or will it be recorded?
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Preparation - You need to be familiar with the publication or programme, the journalist that is likely to be involved and the audience type and anticipate likely questions (both good and bad), and anticipate any ‘skeletons in the cupboard’. Work out the major points you want to include in your message - the points should be realistic and positive. Note one or two points that you want to get across - the interview should be for your benefit as much as the journalists. Prepare some interesting stories, anecdotes that illustrate what you are saying. Rehearse your replies out loud to an imaginary audience, be yourself and speak in a calm, conversational manner as if talking to a friend and rehearse simple replies that avoid jargon.
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The Interview - ask if you are unsure about anything, ask what the first question will be and don’t be too defensive or dictatorial. Speak clearly, and more slowly, than you would normally speak and answer questions as openly as possible but bring in what YOU WANT to say. Correct any inaccuracies and politely refute groundless accusations, take the initiative when necessary and explain things clearly - when you have said what you need to say STOP - don’t dilute what you have already said or be lead into saying something you would regret. / If you do make a mistake correct it as you go along - in a recorded interview stop and pause, then start the sentence or point again. Remember to beware of being ‘caught’ in any way in an unguarded moment before or after an interview (think back to a few politicians on this point).
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Become the perfect interviewee - A few things that you can do to become Media Friendly: Always be easy to contact in the office, by mobile, at home, at any time. Always be happy to be interviewed. Be upbeat, energetic and proactive. Introduce something new. Introduce a strong local, regional, national angle. Give a strong and memorable KEY MESSAGE.
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The ideal Item (can equally apply to a press article) Tell the audience something new. Be relevant to the audience. Be lively. Clearly explain the story and its background / cover the What, Who, When, Where, Why and How. Include two or three sharp, helpful figures. Introduce colourful examples and anecdotes. Introduce a strong local, regional, national angle. Leave the audience with something memorable.
An Aide Memoire for the ingredients of a good interview (or article). Use the form below as a reminder of the main things that you will want to get across, and the most effective and informative ways to back the message up. Keep these things in mind when being interviewed to avoid getting too sidetracked. It is possible, with a radio interview, that you could take this document in with you but you must avoid reading anything - it is always very obvious when something is being read out, it will not be allowed and would sound completely contrived. This form can also be used to structure an article for the press and the notes on the previous page will also help with this.
This should be short (probably one sentence), make sense by itself, be strong, demand attention and be of interest to the audience.
The What, Who, When, Where, Why or How. Explain the reasoning behind the key message. This still needs to be catchy.
Specific examples that add further weight to the key message - relate the message to actual events to add colour and interest.
One or two statistics or figures that back up the message
Leave the audience with something memorable
The PR benefits of networking and joining organisations and societies. The benefits to networking can be huge and a vital part of your PR. While organisations and societies have some costs involved the good thing about business networking is that, apart from cost in terms of time, it is generally an activity that is free of charge. So don’t rely on making all your contacts in the cyber world of social media get into the real world of pressing flesh.
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Networking - To some extent this is obvious, not necessarily easy for a lot of people, but what they should be doing would appear to be apparent. You get around to events in order to meet people that could have a positive influence on your business, either in the form of customers, suppliers, collaborators, brand champions etc. There are, however, a few tips that are worth bearing in mind. Some people will present this sort of list as ‘Golden Rules’ and be very prescriptive about the whole thing but I prefer to use the word ‘tips’ as you do need to go with the flow a bit. The only real ‘Golden Rule’ is the last one! ❶ Be selective about where you network - although there is no apparent cost to this the real cost is time. Develop a sense of what are likely to be the most effective events to attend. ❷ Be prepared at all times - always have business cards, pocket sized brochures and info, cards of associates ❸ Aim to attend events where you will meet an average of between 10-15 people that could positively influence the business, and whose business cards you will get. ❹ Act as a host, not a guest - have a positive, helpful attitude and offer to assist, introduce yourself to others that are acting as guests. ❺ Listen and Ask Questions - Do more listening than talking and, generally aim to let others say what they do before you tell them. ❻ Don’t try and close a deal - this is not the place to be signing anyone up to anything, it is a time for making people aware of you and your business - that’s why it’s in PR and awareness. ❼ Give referrals - truly effective networking revolves around being helpful and giving referrals to other companies. This will not only elicit referrals from others but also enhance your networking credibility. ❽ Manage your time - again I will not be too prescriptive about this, if you want a guide aim for ten minutes per person - all I would say is don’t forget why you’re there and spend loads of time with someone really interesting (unless there is a very good reason). ❾ Exchange business cards and write notes on them - exchange two business cards (one to pass on) and make notes on the back to help you remember details. ❿ Follow Up! - All this is not worth doing unless you follow it up with an email or a call to the people that you meet, and PLEASE do whatever you have said you will do.
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Non Sector Organisations and Societies - These tend to be regional and combine companies from any sector. They include Chamber of Commerce, Federation of Small Business, breakfast clubs and business clubs (which tend to limit membership to a single member from each provider), and many others. These can all be useful in terms of networking and combined lobbying power but beware of the coverage that some of this will get you as some are really only useful to very localised service providers.
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Sector Specific Organisations and Societies - These tend to be larger geographical networks from the same sector or industry. These can be useful in terms of sharing best practice, collaboration opportunities, combined lobbying power and potential group buying opportunities.
Go for anything you can - within reason. Entering (and better still winning) awards can have enormous benefits to the business in a variety of ways. If there is half a chance of winning an award it is worth going for, despite the fact that there will be a certain amount of time involved. Indeed, If an award is fairly noteworthy, it is worth spending quite a bit of time on it. Clearly there has to be some sort of criteria for entering awards and having any chance of winning is not the only one - and, in some cases, it is no reason not to enter. There are awards in which even getting down to a pretty long short list will gain tremendous kudos, PR and marketing opportunity. In addition to this the networking opportunity that can be obtained from award ceremonies can be a massive opportunity to be mixing with the great and the good. Conversely, there are some awards that, even if appropriate to your industry, will take up so much time for so little chance of being short listed that it really isn’t worth it - these are the ones that are likely to be won only by blue chip corporates that have the resources to produce the 120 page application document! For some awards it can be appropriate to employ external consultants to actually write up the application documents, which they are likely to be able to do in an ‘award friendly’ manner. Below are my reasons for entering awards and the benefits that can be gained:
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Credibility - Being nominated for awards alone can add credibility to the business with customers and suppliers. It can also provide business opportunities such as reaching new customers approved lists or even improve credit rating or terms. The credibility factor can be particularly beneficial to relatively new businesses.
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PR - As this section is concerned with PR you would expect this, but as far as PR and awareness goes, awards can be the ultimate route. The process is relatively cheap in terms of financial outlay and if you are looking for your story for press releases or media exposure then you’ve got it on a plate.
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Ongoing Marketing Opportunities - The fact that you have won or even been short listed for an award can provide ongoing marketing opportunities in terms of use of logos on literature and web sites. It can also be recycled (for at least the following year) to beef up press releases and media interviews.
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Potential award categories - The type of award that you go for should, where possible, be aligned to the message you are trying to convey and be of interest to your identified market and market sector. Stating the obvious, if you have identified an environmentally conscious audience you would be targeting environmental and sustainability awards. Likewise, awards for innovation and technology will appeal to a cutting edge b2b market or a technology based b2c market. In terms of sales, customer service awards are appropriate to any business, and generic (eg ‘new business’) awards provide ideal networking opportunities across many sectors.
Everything about the business says something about the business. This may seem like a strange category to be in it’s own right but it’s not. Although prices and buying power mean that big business has been wiping the floor with small business for many years, this section is a significant way to put an SME back up there, especially when we are looking at b2c. And this is not talking about spending a fortune on corporate decor - that’s why the first word is ‘cleanliness’ - although this is meant, in marketing terms, as simplicity and sharpness of delivering your offering, I am also referring to things being clean and tidy which can provide a very powerful call to the buyer. This section is also not meant to be an exercise in retail presentation as this is a specialism which is not covered here. The general principles of cleanliness and livery, however, can be used as a starting point for retail.
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Marketing Cleanliness - This relates to the clarity and suitability of your company image in terms name, logos, strap lines and general accessibility and drawing power of the company on the identified market sector. This is covered in the section and it is certainly worth doing a One Minute Brand test - but this aspect goes deeper and broader than that. In terms of PR the ‘look’ of everything you do with your business should constantly be reinforcing the right message to the right customers or, even more importantly, the right potential customers.
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Actual Cleanliness - In addition to the somewhat metaphoric use of the word cleanliness above, there is also a need to take it literally. PR can be dramatically enhanced or largely destroyed by whether all things that customers will see or come into contact with are literally clean and tidy. This includes offices, vehicles, clothing, marketing material, reception areas etc., and can also include warehousing and manufacturing works, if these are likely to seen by customers. Not only will some of this involve statutory requirements (e.g. environmental health with food, or health and safety with manufacturing), it should be seen far beyond compliance and viewed as a very cost effective opportunity for PR and reinforcing awareness and perception of the business. The desire for cleanliness from a PR point of view (what the customers will see) has further importance in the section when talking about - the external benefits in terms of PR can have as much impact internally in terms of sales and customer service benefits; so my advice would be to extend the cleanliness culture to every aspect of the business - not just what the customer will see.
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Livery - A very specific point that highlights the areas of cleanliness is with vehicle livery. This is a portable shop window into the world or culture of the company, and a tremendous marketing and advertising opportunity. Vehicle advertising can be very effective and a busy vehicle can be seen by over 3,000 people every hour. The quality of the livery itself is very important and any graphic and brand issues should be addressed before commissioning any livery work. The other issue is the form that the livery will take. This can range from vinyl, stick on, graphics to very sophisticated vehicle wrapping. I would suggest going as ‘up market’ as possible with this, especially if the vehicle is going to be delivering to customers. Cleanliness in the literal sense is also very important with vehicles. I know of a business that could charge a significant premium over their competitors for supplying exactly the same commodity product - this perception of quality had come about purely from the fact that the vehicles were washed every night.
The recording of where your enquiries and new business is coming from. This section is really obvious - the fact that you should monitor very closely where your leads come from and, more importantly, the successful and profitable ones. It is so obvious that It can be surprising how little attention a lot of businesses pay to this. IT is arguably some of the most relevant sales and marketing information that you will ever get, and it should be shaping your future sales and marketing efforts. You should ensure that this management information is readily available and, preferably be built in to search functionality of a CRM system (see ). The starting point for the media mix will be the statistics in terms of the readership numbers and distribution for advertising in printed media, the number of hits that referral web sites receive, the number of visitors that will pass through trade shows. But the only really relevant, and evolving, data is your own record of where your best, most successful and most profitable leads come from - and these can be measured in three different ways: â–Ą Quantity of Enquiries - be wary of basing a successful return on investment in terms of the quantity of leads or enquiries - if they are not suitable to be converted into orders they could be more of a distraction in terms of resources than they are a help. â–Ą Quantity / Value of Orders - while this will be a better measure in terms of return the quantity of orders will not have much meaning if they are a lot of small orders that are generating an enormous amount of administration. Even the total value of orders generated from an element within the mix has to be evaluated in terms of profitability - it is possible that somewhere within the routes to market or somewhere in the mix there are orders being generated that are really not making any profits. â–Ą Profitability - in terms of return on investment you really need to be looking at the most profitable routes to market and market awareness. But, again, there is a note of caution when it comes to pure profitability. The obvious drawback is that it at the expense of volume, even if profitability is combined with volume there may be other issues with the size of orders and the amount of administration involved. The above considerations are not likely to be incorporated into even the most sophisticated of CRM systems - and remember that we are talking here about the quality of return from PR and Awareness and not the quality of the customer base (see ). There will inevitably be some subjective judgements to be made but basic systems can be put in place (which will be different for every business), to evaluate this return on investment. At the very least, the starting point for this process will be to always ask any enquirer (in any format) exactly where they heard about you - this can be a simple matter of a question in a telephone enquiry, and should also be incorporated into a web form enquiry. Again, at the very least, this information should be recorded permanently against the prospect / customer and be available for interpretation and analysis.
An analysis of current methods of achieving PR and raising awareness. For each of the methods of PR and Awareness first decide how important each one is to the sales success of the business - put a value 1-10 (1 being not really important at all and 10 being critical). Next put a value of how good you feel you currently exploit this method - put a value 1-10 (1 being not very good at all and 10 being excellent). Importance? How good?
CRM
What Customer Relationship Management systems are in place and how effective are they?
advertising
What advertising do you carry out and how is the return on investment analysed?
email marketing
Is email marketing being carried out to inform customers and continually raise awareness?
web site & SEO
How effective is your web site at conveying your message and will it be found by customers
social media
How much do you use social media to raise awareness and keep in touch with customers?
DIY PR
Do you carry out any public relations activity in house, and how effective is this?
professional PR
Do you employ any companies to achieve PR on your behalf and what are the benefits?
seminars and speeches meeting the media networking / organisations awards cleanliness and livery
Do you give any speeches and seminars and what opportunities exist? Are you media friendly and take advantage of any opportunities that may exist? Do you use Networking to raise awareness and are you a member of organisations or societies? Do you enter any awards and how successful are you? How clean is your marketing and the public face of your business to customers?
To analyse the priorities in terms of PR and Awareness go to the next page and establish any PR and Awareness gaps and actions that can be taken.
An analysis of potential gaps to be addressed in your methods of PR and Awareness. For each or the methods subtract the score for how good you feel you are from the score you gave it in terms of importance. List the categories in order of the highest positive figure first. Any minus figures will be of lowest priority. For at least the top three note some actions to be made. Method
Score
Action (By Who? By When?)
360degree sell is the heart of our business and we are specialists in increasing sales, improving customer service and satisfaction and customer retention. Business performance and growth is highly dependent on the relationship that a business has with its customers.
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- Don’t ‘sell to’ customers,
create a desire within them to want to buy from you.
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- Applying the Pareto Principle to customers.
How the sales hierarchy fits together. The need to create a funnel to bring through new customers within the sales cycle.
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Direct selling introductions to suspects and prospects.
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The principles and techniques for successful cold calling. The recognised 7 steps to achieving sales. Selling based on questioning and a greater understanding of customer needs.
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An Advanced and Strategic Approach to selling. Asking questions and listening. Exactly why do business buyers and consumer buyers buy? The axis of buyer behaviour characteristics. The alignment of your Sales Strategy with how customers make their purchasing decisions.
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The process of seeing objections as questions that need to be answered.
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- Aspects of the closing process from trial closing to closing the deal. The gentle art of being around and giving the buyer no reason not to buy from you.
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Time management to ensure the dirty work of selling actually happens.
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Character traits and their effectiveness in sales meetings.
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Basic principles for managing a directly employed sales team or third party agents.
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- Best practice customer interaction for face
to face, telephone and email.
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The role of Customer Relationship Management tools to assist Sales and Customer service. - The importance of service to customer retention. - Make it easy for customer to buy from you. - Do more than tick the basic customer service boxes. - Be obsessed by it, measure it, listen to it, improve it.
A system for successfully dealing with customer complaints and the view of complaints as sales opportunities. The map of interaction for every interface with customers.
Don’t sell to customers - create a desire within them to buy from you Having been involved in sales for twenty six years, from sales office to sales director and company director, the above statements , to me, are the underlying basis for the sales journey - a journey that is so much fun at times that it can hardly be replicated by any other function of the business. From experience, I can appreciate fully the satisfaction from seeing money coming in from an e commerce site, but there is no greater satisfaction than getting an order from a buyer having fulfilled all their requirements, knowing that this will become repeat business and the start of a long term relationship. This relationship is what underpins the entire basis of business. Your widget may be good but someone looking you in the eye and buying a consignment is even better, and the same person placing a repeat order is better still. To have your product or service so in line with customer needs that it sells itself is what every SME strives for and many think they will achieve. Unfortunately, the truth is, that no product or service is so good that it does not need direct selling in some form or other - and it is likely to be the sales element that will make or break the business. Most SME’s that I have encountered strive to make the product ‘sell itself’ because they are often daunted by the task of selling. My reaction to this is first, you will not, apart from exceptional circumstances, create this from of sales utopia and, secondly, you really don’t need to miss out on the joy and satisfaction that pure selling can bring. Direct selling (people to people), however, can be totally misunderstood as some form of sinister black art that relies on lies, deception and foot in the door tactics to be successful. The reality could not be farther from the truth - selling relies almost entirely on honesty, integrity and empathy with the needs and requirements of the buyer. In the modern world of customer feedback, which has been made massively more possible through the Internet, you would have to be an out and out con man to try some of the tricks that sales courses of previous decades would have you trying. I have been in sales so long that I was taught ‘the tricks’ and I used to say to customers ‘at this point, this is the trick I am supposed to do’ - buyers would invariably say ‘yes, I am sick of that trick’ and would appreciate my honesty and give me an order (as long as I had a good product!). It is so much easier to whisper than to shout - for you and the recipient. If you need to shout in life then it is likely that something is not aligned in the way it should be. After shouting a lot, your shouts tend to go unheard, if you can whisper with confidence, understanding and clarity you are likely to get a lot further. is all about making things fit together, simply and with integrity. I have highlighted techniques within marketing that can draw attention to your offering and, when selling, I will always provide instruction and training to enable you to be a whisperer rather than a shouter. This is not to say it will all be plain sailing - it doesn’t work like that. There are plenty of sales techniques that I suggest you adopt and can provide guidance and training on BUT they will only concentrate around supplying a product or service to a customer that will benefit from it - supplying a product or service to someone, for a fee, that they will not benefit from is, in my opinion, theft. Sales is all about win/win and complete satisfaction on both sides of the transaction - when you can create this, the art of selling is no art, it is simplicity and, above all, it is fun.
Applying the Pareto Principle to customers The 80/20 Pareto Principle is one that is used across many functions of business but its’ relevance to sales is undeniable, and should be a focus for sales strategy and customer relationship management - as much as anything because of its simplicity. 80% of business will come from 20% of customers. We all know that (supposedly) the customer is King but, believe me, some are definitely more King than others, and some (I hate to say it) you could do without altogether. While this is more relevant to business to business rather than business to consumer the principles can still apply. It is essential to know the identity of your best customers (call them stars) and assess the profitability of them they are only likely to be true stars if they are pretty much on, or above, your average achieved margin. Too much below this and they may be a drain on resources which you should look at replacing over a period of time. There can, however, be exceptions to this in terms of capacity utilisation. It is the responsibility of the sales function to identify the 20% of existing customers, suspects and prospects and treat them like Stars. This is also the first time, and not the last, that I will bang on about the requirements for a Customer Relationship Management system of some description (see ).
All you have to do with 80/20 is:
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Identify the 20% of your customers that are providing you with the 80% of the business and analyse the profit margin to ensure that they are worthy Stars.
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Have some form of CRM that enables a continuous dialogue at an extended level for Stars and, at the very least, recording who they actually are.
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Establish a way of identifying these ‘Stars’ to all areas of the business so that anyone knows they are dealing with a Star.
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Treat customers very well - treat Stars even better, email marketing campaigns to all could be accompanied by phone calls to Stars, dialogue and offers should be expressly aimed at Stars.
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Aim to promote those below Stars (which I call Rising Stars) and explore avenues with which they could become Stars - this form of promotion for Rising Stars is essential if one of the Stars needs to be replaced - Stars should never be considered as permanent.
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Have a method of customer profiling that will identify the potential Stars within a list of suspects or prospects (see and for more details).
Exercise - analyse your customers and identify the 20% From your current order book identify the 20% of customers that you are receiving your 80% of business and work out the margin you are achieving from each of these customers. Ideally they will be equal to, or above, your average margin but you may have good reason for them not to be e.g. to fill capacity. If this is the case, however, it is worth satisfying yourself that this custom cannot be replaced, albeit over a period of time. % of total business turnover
% margin achieved
reason for margin compared to average
what we do to treat them like kings
1:
2:
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8:
While this exercise can be viewed as a customer service requirement it is actually a good basis for the whole of the sales review. Who are the best customers? Why are they the best customers? Would it be better to be looking at replacing some of them and, most importantly of all, what is the profile of the customer that you should be looking to replace them with - or the profile of customer to be seeking to attract in order grow the business.
If you are in any doubt about who you should be targeting in terms of your market segment refer to the section. You really need to get this right to work out who the suspects will be. Most people will talk about prospects as anyone that you have identified as a potential customer for your product or service. I prefer to split anyone that you are yet to receive an order from into the two categories of Suspects and Prospects. I believe there is a clear distinction between the two and my definitions are: a customer who, to the best of your abilities to define through segmentation, could have the potential desire and capability to buy your product or service. It is often given as a list of ‘target’ customers that the business has had no real dialogue with previously, but which have been identified as the above. this is a commonly used term for any potential customer that has not placed an order. I would like this to be more explicit in terms of real potential - this is a potential customer, or leads, that have already shown interest in some form. Prospects are potential customers that you already have had some dialogue with. It could be they have replied to an email marketing campaign, not immediately put the phone down when you cold called, made an enquiry through your web site, said they were interested when you bumped into them at a networking event, said ‘You look great, but I already have a current supplier’ - (you get the idea). These are REAL prospects that can tentatively be added at the very top of the sales funnel. Below is the
sales hierarchy:
formulate a plan to move them up to stardom
these are the people you must not lose - unless you want to
they may not be stars but the interaction at this level is likely to be critical to your ability to pay your mortgage in the future
a very useful list of businesses that appear to fit the bill of your segmentation - not to be confused with a prospect list - formulate a plan for approaching suspects
The need to create a funnel to bring through new customers within the sales cycle. Of all the disciplines required within selling, prospecting and creating the sales pipeline is one of the most important of all. It can also be one of the most difficult and daunting of tasks. This is largely due to the potentially unproductive nature of the process. It is perceived as being an activity of insufficient returns and can even lead to morale problems. While it is far better, and easier, to keep existing customers than to find new ones, it is also essential to be generating new interest - partly to replace any existing business that may be lost, but particularly in terms of start up or early stage business and as a means to business growth. In some ways, prospecting is the soul of business and sales - it is the culmination of the strategy and the sales mix and the awareness you will have created within a market segment that you have identified. You are introducing your product or service to suspects that are going to be judging you for the first time, many of which won’t want to know you, and may not give you the time of day. BUT you have to remember this is a funnel process - there is not a large amount that goes in the top of the funnel that needs to get into the sales pipeline proper and come out the other end. I will come on to the techniques and different methods of introductions later but the principles, in pretty pictures, are shown below. Time allocated to approaching as many suspects as you can with your proposition, based on the features and benefits of your product or service. The AIDA methods can be applied as shown on the following pages. The reason for this being a funnel is because there will be a lot more going in to the top of the funnel than ever get to the sales pipeline. It is imperative that enough of the right stuff is fed into this funnel to produce a Sales Pipeline. The Sales Pipeline is the lifeblood to business and Pipeline Management is key to sales. This is where the accuracy of forecasting the legitimacy of the prospects likelihood to purchase is crucial. Too often sales people will feel that if the strategy and mix are right, and the suspect has become an active prospect, the sale is a fact of when, rather than if? This Sales Pipeline, however, can be one of the most delicate periods of time and not one to be taken for granted at any point. Don’t think that ticking all your boxes in line will be any measure of the likelihood for a sale. If you clearly understand the features and benefits of your product or service and how this will relate to the prospect you will also need to align your offering to the needs of the buyer - this is covered in more detail in . The method for managing this Pipeline is best done through an effective CRM system.
Direct selling introductions to suspects and prospects.
I believe in a fundamental principle when it comes to promoting yourself or your company in this form of direct sales promotion; the less I see ‘we’ in all this and the more I see ‘you’ the better. I have been as guilty as anyone in the past of having long, standard introductory letters extolling the virtues of what ‘we’ could do (never mind what ‘you’ want), and I have also been the recipient of many introductory letters from companies that can do all sorts of fantastic things that were not remotely relevant or value adding to my business - thanks! To sum this dilemma up rather crudely, it is no good saying that ‘we’ can produce something in 26 shades of blue when ‘you’ want red. It all comes down, once again, to research and segmentation. The introductory letter, email or phone call, while being standardised in part, has to be tailored in some form to the expected needs of your suspect - a suspect that is probably being bombarded by similar approaches telling them what ‘we’ can do. The basic fact is that a buyer or business will only be remotely interested in what value you can add to their business and not what your business can do. Having got this fundamental principle right, there are some other techniques that can be employed to ensure the best penetration for these approaches.
This is a pretty well worn formula for sales letters and while I do disown much of the handed down instructions for sales, this is worth bearing in mind: A - start by gaining the ATTENTION of the reader. I - arouse INTEREST in the product or service (this is where I include making the detail as personal and relevant as possible). D - generate a DESIRE to own or buy the product based on the value adding properties that are relevant to the buyer. A - a call to ACTION - ask for something to be done. This, however, should not be done as a process of merely working through these sections when writing a letter or email or planning a phone call. These sections should be repeated so that attention is repeatedly gained, interest is repeatedly aroused and a desire is repeatedly aroused to gain the benefits that are being talked about. Only when this has clearly and persuasively been demonstrated should the call to action be undertaken. What also need to be permeated within all of this formula is continual fascination based on problem solving for the suspect, backed up by case study that is of personal relevance to them. There must also be proof, if possible, in the form of facts and figures, and a tangible sense that any ‘promises’ that are being made are achievable and not just theory as to what could happen. It is also worth noting not to get too hung up on grammar and proper English as it has been proven that writing in a more conversational style gets more attention from the reader (both B2C and B2B). So don’t do everything the computer Proof Reader tells you to. Do not, however, try to be too clever or, even worse, too humorous. Whatever it is you are selling is a serious purchase for your customer so you should never take it too lightly.
Direct selling introductions to suspects and prospects.
This formula is as old as the hills but it is still very relevant AS LONG AS it is done in conjunction with the ‘we or you’ principles. You can only gain attention, arouse interest, generate desire and ask for the order if the offering is being truly tailored to the suspect. Remember that it’s what you can do FOR THE CUSTOMER and not what you can do. The method can be used equally for letters, emails or phone calls. In the case of phone calls this method can be used as a plan to structure the sales call so that it gets across all the points to maximise the chances of a sale or an appointment (see also ). Use the table below and tailor the outputs for specific suspects that you have identified.
What attention grabbing headline would be most appropriate for this suspect?
In what ways can your headline be substantiated to create real interest?
What value adding properties will truly create a desire within the buyer - what will they miss out on?
Define how you will make your call to action.
The principles and techniques for successful cold calling. Cold Calling is probably one of the biggest reasons why people have a dislike, even hatred and often fear of selling. But cold calling is an integral part to many businesses In terms of creating sales leads, and the function can be very rewarding, and even fun, if a few fairly simple principles and techniques are applied. Although cold calling can apply to the practice of turning up without an appointment at a commercial customer that you don’t know, or knocking door to door, for the purposes of this exercise I am referring to the first time you telephone a prospect that you don’t know. While some businesses have specialist individuals or even teams that carry out the cold calling, for most SMEs it will be the sales person that will be doing this, and in a lot of small businesses, of course, this will be the business owner or one of the directors. While there have been many methodologies and scripts that have attempted to create the perfect cold calling technique unfortunately there is no magic formula to it. Much of the success, in fact, comes from the attitude of the person doing the cold calling and how they approach it. If it is viewed as a depressing numbers game in which you have to go through the motions then it is likely to be as effective as junk mail with returns of one in a hundred or much less. If, however, it is viewed positively as a highly entrepreneurial and creative activity it can lead to enormous sales opportunities. You will be feeding the very start of the sales pipeline and this is vital to future sales and success you are approaching and interacting with new businesses to you, and this is fresh opportunity that can be shaped, unencumbered by any negative history or baggage. You are in the position to make things happen. This is the truly entrepreneurial end of the business where the best opportunities are the new ones. The cold caller is the pivot and the initial connection, the translator and the interpreter between the supplier and the prospect. As such, this is a very commanding and powerful position to be in. Understanding this leads to a more strategic approach to cold calling. Cold calling is difficult. I’m sorry to break it to you in this way but it is true - but this should be seen as a positive rather than a negative. It’s not just difficult for you it’s difficult for everyone. Time has become far more pressurised for prospects and decision makers are likely to be shielded from cold callers. They will be difficult to reach, on their guard and very aware of sales techniques that are being used. This is why even the perfect script is of no real use; because it is still a script and it will be seen through and feel contrived. The sales person will feel increasingly pressurised and may become pushy or manipulative - an ideal way to alienate a prospect! This is why the difficult nature of cold calling is good news - it is so often done badly that a skilful cold caller can find it becoming a lot easier. It is also something that some people find so difficult that they don’t even do it any more; hoping instead that web sites and social media will somehow bypass the need for these phone calls altogether - this is a big mistake, but you should be quite happy that your competitors may be assuming this. The more difficult something is the more you should see it as an opportunity to be good at it to gain a competitive advantage. There is an opportunity to achieve differentiation, be noticed, gain respect and ultimately to succeed. You will be grateful for obstacles and challenges that your skill can overcome as these will block your less adept opposition, leaving you free to pursue a solid strategic approach.
The principles and techniques for successful cold calling. To become one of the successful minority at Cold Calling the three perspectives that you are likely to have to change are: □ Methods and Techniques - take a look at what you currently do and see how it fits in with the process described below. □ Adapting or using Scripts differently - If you use scripts review them, adapt them or learn how to ignore them in favour of an honest flow of conversation. □ Changing Attitudes and Style - this is the most important of all, embrace the entrepreneurial opportunity and approach it in a positive and upbeat manner. The 8 stage cold calling process. The process for Cold Calling is pretty much the same as for face to face selling with an appointment, in essence it can, and should, be viewed as the ultimate form of selling. Below are the 8 stages of cold calling and it should come as no surprise that the preparation stage is the longest. The summery of stages are: 1: Preparation - the product you are offering, your business and your mental approach to the process 2: Introduction - using key phrases, explaining you and your purpose 3: Questioning - help and enable rather than assume 4: Objectivity - position yourself as a consultant, don’t sell 5: Listen and Interpret - don’t sell 6: Inform and Educate - don’t sell 7: Involve and Coordinate - don’t sell 8: Keep in touch - keep notes and keep informed The overall goal of cold calling is not to sell, and certainly not in the traditional sense of pushing and telling. It is to open dialogue and hopefully to make an appointment for further discussion that is appropriate for the prospect. This follow up appointment could be in the form of a visit, a phone call or even a video conference or webinar - use whatever is available! A more detailed description of the stages follows: - the preparation for cold calling generally falls into three areas: •Your product or service - You must know your product and be satisfied that it is completely fit for purpose and meet the expectations that your marketing has created. In addition, the ethical standards of you organisation must meet the reasonable expectations of your target market. •Your mental approach - View cold calling as a strategic and exciting opportunity, something you can be great at, rather than just an impersonal numbers game. •The wording of the proposition - You must understand your business, or the business you are representing, inside out. See the section for more information on this. You must also do as much research as possible on the prospect businesses - you need to have a good strategic appreciation of the likely issues faced by your prospect in relation to your basic opening proposition.
The principles and techniques for successful cold calling. - (continued): •The wording of your proposition (continued) As previously described, the wording and its relationship to your prospects strategic issues, is fundamental and, if this stage is overlooked or not done properly, it will seriously reduce your effectiveness when cold calling. The prospect will always have a good sense of what is important to them and to display ignorance of their perspective at this stage is likely to be the end of the call. You should also not make too many assumptions at this stage about the final product offering as this is likely to be refined during the course of the sales process. Your opening proposition should be a broad, strategic interpretation of your offer but should be significantly interesting, important, new, different to make it worthwhile to continue the dialogue and explore the possibilities in more detail. This can be done by having a range of short introductory statements or questions (which you know very well) that you can mix and match according to the situation. Be very clear and concise about who you are and the nature of your call and have a powerful strategic basis for requesting the dialogue either now, or later, depending on the availability of the person you are seeking to contact. Prepare, and ask, good facilitative questions that help the prospect understand things more clearly and encourage them to explain how they decide upon the issues you are talking about. Remain fair and neutral to display your credentials as an impartial adviser rather than someone pushing a certain line. People don’t want to be sold to - they want to be helped and guided by an expert in a particular field in order for them to make an informed decision. An expert adviser listens to, and interprets from the customers perspective and does not act as a biased, self interested sales person. Remember how you want people to see you and act like it. Your role as an expert should allow the situation to naturally develop - you don’t need to be a technical expert but certainly be aware of the strategic overview for the prospect. Respond to the customers requests for answers with the aim of building an understanding, identifying whether there is a potentially useful fit between what you can offer and what the prospect might need. The method in which a situation could be moved forward should be driven and decided by the prospect. But don’t forget that it is your role to be seeking to move the situation forward in whatever way is appropriate. Take full notes and keep records at all stages. Whatever your role within an organisation, if you made the initial cold call and got the lead you should always remain available and keep in touch with the customer - it is you who the customer originally put faith in and bought in to.
The traditionally recognised 7 steps to achieving sales. Before moving on to some of the more contemporary and, it could be argued, more sophisticated and advanced forms of approaching sales, it is worth looking at the traditional sales approach. This still has a lot of validity in terms of putting a formal structure to the process and many people will still religiously follow this process and achieve excellent sales results. In summary the 7 steps are as follows:
The following goes into this in more detail: □ •ensure that you have carried out the section and are very familiar with the BENEFITS of your product, tailored to the perceived needs of the prospect. •research what current supplier agreements exist and the likely reaction of these suppliers if their business is at risk •identify as many of the decision makers as possible • attempt to identify the prospect companies strategic issues, aims, priorities, problems and politics. If this can’t be done for the company then there should be some appreciation of the these issues for the market sector. •prepare opening statements and plan your presentation •be aware of what you want from the meeting and prepare a checklist of questions or headings ensure you get all the information you want from the meeting. □ •smile, be professional, introduce yourself with your first and last name and say the company you represent and what the company does. •set the scene - explain the purpose of the visit and how you would like to learn about the prospects issues (rather then telling them what you do). •ask how much time the prospect has and agree a time to finish, ask if it’s OK to take notes (it’s polite) and ask if it’s OK to start asking questions or whether your prospect would like a brief overview of you company first. □ •to identify the strongest need or benefit perceived by the buyer relating to your product •questioning expertise is crucial to establish the needs and benefits that may not be obvious from the outset of the meeting •questioning also helps to develop a further relationship with the organisation - the buying cycle, the decision makers and their competitor pressures
The traditionally recognised 7 steps to achieving sales. □ •Good empathetic questioning should establish a rapport, to achieve a level of trust and friendship that acknowledges that people buy from people. •Open and Closed Questions - typically, most of the face to face selling process should involve Open Questioning which basically involves asking questions that cannot be answered with ‘yes’ or ‘no’ as this will not lead to an opportunity for further dialogue. Closed Questions come into play when you are seeking to gain commitment and involves questions that can only be answered with ‘yes’ or ‘no’. •The ultimate decision making and buying motives lie in the strategic issues that your product or service affect or have implications upon. •Traditional selling techniques sees questioning as an information gathering exercise to help the sales person - modern selling techniques see this more as part of the facilitative process to help define the issues of the buyer. □ •The presentation should be based on the central sales proposition - the unique perceived benefit that the buyer gains from your product or service. •The questioning stage should have revealed what this benefit is and the presentation should now be focused on matching the benefits with the needs of the prospect. •While the main benefits may remain constant the presentation process is likely to involve different people in the prospect business, with differing personal and organisational needs. •Sales presentations could come about in an impromptu fashion as well as a well prepared one ensure that presentations are always delivered in a professional manner with quality and integrity, this will directly be perceived as indicating the quality and integrity of the business. •Relevant evidence of success should be included, preferably from a similar sector or application and backed up by facts and figures. •Generally speaking, the more senior the person the less time you will have for the presentation presentations to an MD or FD need clear, concise benefits regarding costs, profits and operating efficiency. •Don’t knock the competition - it undermines your credibility and integrity. •Use props, samples and demonstration if possible - and make sure they are going to work! □ •While this stage, in the traditional selling process, was anticipated as being a major part of the process, modern selling techniques should alleviate the need for overcoming too many objections. I also cover overcoming objections in a section of its own later but this is where it fits in to the traditional sales approach. •The Sales person should qualify each objection to establish the precise nature and probe deeper with further questions to get to the deeper issue if required - many objections are actually requests for further information. •The Feel / Felt / Found technique could be used at this stage: This is a response to objections based around these three stages - ‘I understand how you FEEL/why you FEEL that’; ‘Other customers have FELT the same’; ‘But when they FOUND that’ The method uses empathy in stage one, neutrality and group reference to shift emphasis away from personal confrontation in stage two and then counters the objection and reinforces the benefits using majority benefits in stage three.
The traditionally recognised 7 steps to achieving sales. □ •The traditional approach was to flush out all the objections to isolate them as the only reasons why the prospect will not proceed. More modern approaches to selling (which follow) would aim to create a better understanding of the needs of the prospect and to work with them to create the proposition. •The Salesperson must enable a constructive discussion so they and the prospect are working on the problem together. The theory is that, provided the basic proposition is sound, objections will be overcome by the buyer and seller adjusting their positions to agree - for larger prospects and contracts this could go on for weeks, which is why this can be seen as a negotiating process rather than overcoming objections. □ •The Salespersons objective, in any form of selling, should be to conduct the sales process so well that there are very few objections and no need for a hard close. •The close itself can be highly affected by the nature of the buyer - this is covered later in . Whatever the buyer behaviour, one thing that will be necessary at some point is to ASK FOR THE ORDER. There are acceptable and easy ways of doing this such as the blindingly obvious ‘Are you happy with what we have covered and would you like to go ahead?’ Or even ‘Would you like to go ahead?’ I have known a lot a sales people that are brilliant at building up a rapport, and with an excellent product and superb awareness of the benefits, they go on for months having a great relationship with a buyer - such a good relationship it seems that they feel is almost crass to actually ask for an order off them! So they never get an order. There are so many utterly embarrassing closing techniques that exist that I will not even go there as most of this really is a thing of the past. I will cover thoughts on closing in its own right later in . □ •While sales people could be categorised as not starter/finishers, the necessity (especially in the case of SMEs) is for then to be exactly this. The paperwork, specification, details of installation, time scales, details of payment etc. must be confirmed promptly in writing and by email. •The follow up activity by the sales person (especially during this period of confirmation of the order) should be as often as the customer requires, and it is not generally acceptable to push this liaison on to another person or department. If a buyer has formed a relationship with a sales person they do not now want to deal with people they don’t know while the sales person is on to the next prospect. There will be a long term relationship to be established which is covered in but this is to be cultivated over time and the sales person should be fully accessible at this stage. The sales person has personally endorsed the product and the company so ensuring that value and satisfaction are fulfilled is an integral part of the modern sales function. As stated earlier, some of the methods involved with this traditional process can be seen as somewhat archaic. I do feel, however, that it is important to understand the formal process that was was the basis of very successful selling for 50 years before exploring some of the modern views.
Selling based on questioning and a greater understanding of customer needs. Consultative Selling involves a deeper level of questioning about organisational and operational issues that goes beyond your product and your features and benefits and concentrates far more on the needs of the business you are selling to. It can also been summed up as selling the way your customer wants to buy and not the way you like to sell. The whole process is based around first gaining a thorough understanding of the customers wider needs and motives for buying and then ensuring that your product or service fits with these needs. A model for this consultative selling is ‘needs creation’ selling - a selling that involves the customer more than the prescriptive, one way selling of the 7 steps approach. In Needs Creation selling the sales person seeks to identify and then enlarge upon a particular need, problem or challenge the prospective customer if facing. The consultative aspect of this lies partially in the skill and experience of the sales person to consult with the buyer to develop a solution provided by the selling company. It attempts to align the sales process with other professional and technical consultancy services. This model follows a five point process: 1: Genuine research of the prospect to confirm the suitability of the prospect to the seller 2: Establish rapport and sellers credentials by referencing case studies and solutions provided to others. 3: Strategic open questions are used to establish potential difficulties, problems, aims and challenges which could include a distress factor, a threat or a need to comply with mandatory requirements, or business development opportunities that could be realised if certain criteria were met. 4: Interpret, clarify, extend and quantify the implications of the main opportunities or threats in relationship to the finances and strategic objectives (see also ). All this should increase the need and value put on consultative advice. The greater the problem that is resolved the grater the value that will be put on the solution. 5: Sell the principle of your solution - matching the benefits of your solution to the needs that have been identified by the buyer. SPINŽ Selling Model This is a good example and model for consultative selling. It is easy to remember, and provides a good framework for consultative selling: S: Situation P: Problem I: Implication N: Need This boils downs to: Discuss and understand the Situation with the prospect. Identify the Problem that exists or could arise. Explain, discuss the Implication that could arise in terms of threats or lost opportunity. This will create a Need to rectify the problem or create the solution to the opportunity.
A modern, strategic approach to Selling Open Plan Selling takes consultative selling a step further in terms of strategy and is especially suited for B2B selling and Major Account selling. Modern selling should provide a tailored product or service that can demonstrate a significant strategic impact on the customers business. This is fundamentally different from the traditional approach of ‘this is what we’ve got, I’ll overcome your objections and then you’ll buy it’. The fact that this selling should involve a strategic impact on the customer means that this really needs to be carried out at board level or certainly a level within the business that is responsible for strategic direction. The sales person must understand business and be comfortable with dealing with Directors, time must also be allowed for in depth research to identify sales opportunities. There are ten steps to open plan selling:
More details of the steps follows with reference to how this fits in to the
process:
□ •Major prospects are likely to need extensive research before even approaching them. This is to establish the most likely benefit of your product or service to the prospect business. •As much as possible you need to research the prospects turnover, number and type of employees, sites, corporate and management structure. •Trading situation and strategy, aims, issues, trends within the business sector and a profile of the companies customers and likely competitors. •Research current supply agreements and any review dates. •Research the decision makers and the nature of the decision making process. •Seek to establish the strategic implications that your product or service could have in terms of competitive advantage, adding value, improving product quality or improving efficiency. When you start moving into these areas of strategic benefit this is what will differentiate you from the average sales person and transcend the mere learning of your USPs. •There is no excuse nowadays for not doing research - the Internet can provide an enormous amount of information about you prospect so use it to the full and build up a profile - the following page provides a template for recording the research and planning relating to the prospect.
A template for recording the initial research of the prospect in Open Plan Selling. Name, address and phone number of business Influencers, decision makers, their locations and contact details Information about the decision making process Finance issues including year end
Current suppliers and contracts
Volumes in terms of staff, sites, users etc. Special criteria and accreditations
Strategic threats and opportunities, and how your product or service (in strategic terms) will assist their aims e.g., operating efficiency, quality, competitive strengths and added value to customers
A modern, strategic approach to Selling □ •The information that has been gathered in the research and planning stage will help to define how and whom to approach in the prospect business. •The first serious approach should be via a senior decision maker either at board or at least senior management level. This, amongst other things, is because we are dealing at a strategic level with open plan selling and selling benefits that will affect the organisation at this level rather than selling to people constrained within tight, laid down budgetary requirements. You don’t want to rely on selling to someone that then has to sell the concept to senior management or board. •Appointment making is a discipline in itself and can be done in house or farmed out to third party canvassing companies - for any important prospects (which I would argue is most of them!) the sales person who will attend the appointment and manage the prospect relationship should be making the appointment. Even during the appointment making process a sales person should be gathering more information to add to the research. •The all important thing with the appointment stage is to remember that you are selling the appointment and not the product or service. •Introductory letters can be very useful before making an appointment (see ) and when approaching larger organisation this is likely to be an expected part of the process to have any chance of getting passed PA’s and secretaries. •AIDA applies to the making of an appointment and the selling of the appointment. The approach must be serious enough, interesting enough and fit in with the target companies strategic requirements - hence the necessity for research. •Work with PA’s and secretaries and do not try to circumvent them as they are very likely to be highly knowledgeable and very influential in terms of endorsement to the decision maker. •Don’t be put off if you are referred down by the MD or FD to a lower ranking person within the organisation - work with this person to gain the access to your target and if the referral down was directly from the MD or FD this will give you a certain credibility with who you get the appointment with. •Don’t use scripts as they are easily recognisable and very off putting - hence the reason for a professional sales or telemarketing person to be making the appointment. □ •Pre Appointment check list: ⌐ How long is the meeting scheduled for and who will be present? ⌐ Confirm the appointment by email - keep it brief and professional but if there are any agenda points that you would like included put them in the email - it shows you have thought about the meeting. ⌐ Gather any additional information you can from support staff, PA’s, secretaries etc. but don’t push it or ever become a nuisance. ⌐ Ensure you have prepared everything that the prospect would be expecting from the appointment. You must be fully aware of the prospect companies size, products and services and any case studies you have of similar companies you have supplied to. ⌐ Don’t be stupid - don’t be late. Do the sat nav and map stuff and allow time for delays - may be obvious but it’s incredible how many people are late for meetings (including me!).
A modern, strategic approach to Selling □ •The aims of the first appointment: ⌐ Gather additional strategic information and views to either fill in gaps or reinforce the research ⌐ Establish a personal rapport and credibility, and that of your organisation. ⌐ Identify and understand the prospects business, strategic priorities, any issues or problems and the objectives and goals of key decision makers. ⌐ Begin to align the prospect business strategic needs with your product or service. ⌐ Understand the prospects buying process (see also ), the role of the influencers, budgets, time scales, procedures, competitors and existing supply agreements. ⌐ Understand the trading preferences of the prospect including purchase / lease, long term / short term contracts, payment terms, single supplier or multiple contract. ⌐ The ultimate aim and imperative for the appointment is to agree a way forward that progresses the opportunity in a way that helps the prospect. •In consultative selling this is NOT the time for the full blown sales pitch of features and benefits of your product. •Certain issues that can be raised at this stage would include any legislative, health and safety or technological issues that will provide quick wins in terms of credibility and proof of value that you can add. •The open plan selling appointment should act on two levels: it achieves a greater knowledge of the strategic aims of the prospect business and should establish a professional respect and rapport - this combination should lead to a platform for progressing the opportunity as described above. □ •With open plan selling at a strategic level there is the likelihood that the next stage, after the initial appointment, is that there is an agreement for certain information to be gathered in order to produce a sales proposal. The parameters of this audit should be established in terms of what is going to happen, how will it be done, any costs that will be involved (unlikely for a proposal) and who will be involved. •The main points of the meeting and the details of the survey to be carried out should be confirmed by email within 48 hours of the meeting - this needs to focus on the purpose and the expected outcomes from the prospects point of view. This communication must encompass all the agreed elements of the proposal scope so there is no misunderstanding of what is expected. □ •The nature of the survey will be dependent on the product or service and the nature and size of the prospect organisation. For larger prospects this survey stage can be quite protracted and complex and could involve review stages to check that the interpretation of the survey is correct. Permissions to access certain sites or personnel during this survey may also be required. •The survey itself may be carried out by a separate survey department but for most SMEs the sales person is likely to be carrying it out. Either way the sales person should certainly be managing the survey as the way this is carried out will be indicative of the potential suppliers quality, professionalism and integrity.
A modern, strategic approach to Selling □ •The person that has carried out the survey now writes this into a Sales Proposal based on their findings. As suggested, this will probably be the sales person but if you have someone else dedicated to writing proposals it should be done in conjunction with the sales person who will deliver it. Whatever the case, the proposal needs to be relevant, factual and clearly outline the benefits of the product or service to the prospect. •There may be a possibility of also getting someone from within the prospect company to assist in writing the proposal. If this is possible it is likely to be extremely useful in ensuring the proposal is as relevant as possible. •Lengthy proposals should begin with an executive summary describing the key deliverables, costs, and benefits to the prospect organisation. •The proposal should always be personally presented (rather than sent), and by the sales person that has been in the process to date. It may be the case that the sales person will be asked to present the proposal to a group of decision makers and stakeholders - this is a very good way of getting the proposal across to all relevant people in one go. •It is certainly best to avoid a situation where the proposal is delivered to a non decision maker in the prospect organisation who will then deliver it ‘second hand’ to a decision maker. If this is the case it may suggest that the research and appointments have not been carried out to the best effect. □ •The presentation should be based on whatever is the best next stage for the prospect company and not the seller. Decision makers (and certainly ones in larger organisation) will not be pushed and trying to do so risks alienation. •It may be the case that only one presentation is required and that approval can be given there and then. However, for more complex or larger sales there may be a requirement to make further refinements to the proposal which could lead to further meetings and another presentation. •It could be the case that the decision maker is using the presentation to gain positive approval from other influencers. It could also be that the decision maker already has approval, subject to cost and disruption, and the presentation is being used to demonstrate that your offer will match these criteria. Clearly these are differing requirements for the presentation, so it is important to gear the presentation specifically to the requirement and the audience. •The roles of all the people present and how they interact within the prospect organisation should, by now, be understood by the sales person. Decision makers will be the key people but the motives and needs of influencers must also be understood. •In whatever format the presentation is going to be presented it should always be professional and concise. Ensure that if additional materials such as copies of the presentation, samples or other reference materials are used there are enough for all those who will be present (with some spares for unexpected attendees). •For large complex presentations help should be enlisted from colleagues or even external consultants. In these cases the colleagues or consultants should be very well briefed regarding the aims and objectives of the presentation. •Overall, the presentation should address the strategic organisational needs that have already been agreed. The preparation is crucial, but if there is a question that you don’t know the answer to don’t make it up - it’s the instant way of losing your credibility!
A modern, strategic approach to Selling □ •As open plan selling is a consultative process it is desirable, and not unlikely, that an agreement in principal be reached before all the details, costs and all terms and conditions have been agreed. It is advisable to do this as soon as the opportunity arises and should be confirmed in writing. At this point the sales person must agree and confirm various points necessary for the conclusion of the deal. •There may now enter a phase of some negotiating but I would suggest that this should only take place with some sort of agreement in principal. A possibly more modern approach from the buyer will be to adopt a style of co operation and mutually working together to agree on the points of detail •The management of, what is likely to be, a real change to prospect organisation is crucial, and some issues regarding the implementation are likely to surface quite late in the process. Your ability to anticipate these needs and act quickly is essential, as this can not only be make or break, but some of the additional requirements can provide some of the most profitable value add. •When the agreement is concluded it is the responsibility of the sales person to confirm in writing all the details to the prospect and internally. As the offer will be tailored to suit the prospect organisations needs, the details of the agreement will need to be communicated very clearly to the internal departments of your business. •This clearly implies that the sales person has an in depth knowledge of their own organisation in terms of cost, capability, pricing and margins (see for more information). □ •Even if the implementation of the sale is to be passed over to another person or department the sales person should always remain the key contact to the customer. The sales person will have won the order partly due to their own credibility so they must not disappear and ‘go on to the next one’. •The sales person must keep in touch with the decision maker to deal with any ongoing issues that will inevitably arise. •If the implementation is complex there may be a requirement for an implementation plan which is then followed with appropriate reviews and reporting. •Upon implementation the sales person must check and confirm that the decision maker is satisfied at all levels and that the influencers are happy with the results. □ •In many business transactions (and certainly with B2B) the sale is never really concluded and the ongoing support and relationship will make the difference (see also ). •Regular reviews should be arranged to check the performance against expectations - this not only demonstrates a respectful level of service but also alerts you to any potential competitor activity and any additional products or services that can be supplied to the customer. •Even if the sale is perceived as a one off transaction staying in touch with the customer is still vital in terms of additional work and for word of mouth recommendation and potential network opportunities. •Ultimately, the sales persons responsibility (be they sales person, director or business owner) is to continually find ways to refine, adapt, develop and improve the offering to stay ahead of any potential competitor.
The importance of the interview process to gain information and highlight benefits. As has been described previously the modern approach to selling does not involve telling. Selling is far more about listening and this page aims to set out a simple process for structuring the interview before any agreement to form a proposal or the trial close. It is a very simple diagram but one that is very important to have in the back of your mind during the interview process.
Exactly why do business buyers and consumer buyers buy. There are a series of steps that both the business buyer and the consumer buyer will go through before arriving at their decision to purchase. While there is a certain amount of overlap between b2b and b2c they are described below in two separate tables:
Identify a need or problem
Develop the product Specification
Search for products and suppliers
Evaluation of products and suppliers
Readiness to place an order
Evaluation of product / supplier performance
Follow on purchase
This can be as a result of a problem that the business is facing or as a result of promotional activity or press coverage by the sales company. The buyer will now use whatever means are available to them to source potential suppliers to overcome problems or improve upon current supply arrangements. This will involve web research, press releases, exhibitions and trade shows, advertising, seminars and relevant direct mail. This is when the business customer will be particularly open to a sales visit and the timing for this can be critical. Access to technical information and web based downloads are vital and pricing also now starts to become an issue. This is when the business buyer will be open to, and looking for, demonstration products and 3rd party recommendations and testimonials. They may also look for factory visits of visits to existing customers. This will also be the time when you may be negotiating special pricing packages and stocking deals. At this point it is imperative that the business buyer is dealing directly (and whenever they want to) with the sales person. The personal contact at this point could prove to be vital in securing the order. The more major the buying decision the more reassurance and validation the buyer will require. Review meetings and continued after sales service should provide this, especially if it is in conjunction with exposure to further PR and awareness activity. The aim is always for the buyer to view the initial purchase as the beginning of a long term relationship.
Exactly why do business buyers and consumer buyers buy. Consumer buying behaviour can be a minefield, not least because of the various routes that an interaction with a consumer buyer can occur. The table below aims to identify a general process for the consumer buyer.
The customer identifies a need or desire
This is often as a result of PR and awareness (specifically advertising). It can also be via word of mouth from friends or colleagues. Looking for information The customer will be wanting to know more about the product or service and will be actively seeking information. Advertising and PR are still important, combined with demonstrations, packaging and product displays. Videos and brochures are useful at this stage and if sales personnel are involved they should be deployed now. Checking out alternative products or suppliers The customer is now likely to be either choosing between alternative products or looking for validation of their intended purchase decision. It is the time for promotion of any guarantees or warranties and maximising packaging and promotional displays. Sales personnel are still very important and sales promotion offers become of interest. Independent sources of information, such as product test reviews, are also of interest. Purchasing decision This is the time to ‘tip the balance’ and sales promotion offers can clinch a deal. If sales personnel are involved they can be incentivised to close the deal but this activity needs to be handled very carefully to ensure continuing customer satisfaction. Using the product Expensive purchases can lead to a fear that the customer may have made the wrong decision. The reassurance can be provided by good customer service and loyalty schemes. An ongoing exposure to testimonial advertising will also provide reassurance that they have made the right decision.
The axis of buyer behaviour characteristics. The previous Buyer Behaviour can analyse the steps that buyers will go through when making purchasing decisions, but an additional level of understanding is to be aware of the different character types of buyers and their differing needs and concerns. Below is a characteristics matrix that it is very useful to have in the back of your mind when you are in front of a buyer. Sophisticated sales people not only sell to the functional needs of the buyer they also sell to their emotional needs.
Task Orientated The compliant buyer is driven by a need to justify their decision, perhaps to others or possibly to meet mandatory requirements that they are nervous about. As such they seek evidence and proof of the offering and may be overly pedantic so supply lots of evidence. Their biggest fear is the fear of
The dominant buyer is driven by the desire for results and to be in control of the situation. They like to be painted pictures of success and how they will be pivotal to this success. They will forego friendships for the sake of results and their biggest fear is a
loss of control.
failure.
Introvert
Extrovert
The stable buyer seeks equilibrium and is driven by seeking a harmonious relationship with a supplier that will be fair to all parties, both in the buying business and the selling business. They will feel very let down if personal assurances are not followed through and their biggest fear is the loss
The influential buyer is driven by a need to be liked and sold to on a personal level. They are highly people orientated and will need a lot of interaction with the sales person and possibly demonstrate the relationship with others in their own business. Their biggest fear is a lack of social acceptance.
of security.
People Orientated
To achieve true empathy with the buyer and align your proposition with them it requires a combination of understanding where the buyer is in the Buyer Behaviour process shown previously, an understanding of the Buyer Characteristics and a holistic view of the business Buying Cycle that follows.
The alignment of your sales strategy with how buyers make their purchasing decisions. The buying cycle differs from the stages of buyer behaviour and should be understood in order to align your sales efforts with the customer buying cycle. There are various interpretations and definitions of the buying cycle but I have illustrated the one that I feel has best served me. The real importance to this is to have an awareness of your customer, the length of the buying cycle and where they are, at any time, within the buying cycle. Different products will have different lengths of buying cycle and the general rule would be that the more expensive and significant the purchase the longer the buying cycle It is also extremely important to be aware of any repeating cycles on a seasonal basis, annual basis or any other basis that may be specific to the customer. This could include buying decisions based around year end, purchasing for new season stock or buying related to high, shoulder and low seasons. While many of these will appear obvious, research may uncover agendas that are not immediately apparent. We wouldn’t want to be flogging a dead horse in February when the customer will be actively looking for suppliers in July!
Do I have a problem? Did the problem get solved?
How big is the problem and what’s the cause?
What’s the best solution for me? What solutions are there and how good are they? What could go wrong?
The process of viewing objections as questions that need to be answered. Objections should be viewed in a positive way - if you are getting objections you are getting feedback and questions; you are being given the opportunity to overcome these objections to pave the way for the order. They should be faced straight on and answered and you should not try any tricks to divert attention away from the objections, this is very easy for the buyer to see through. Objections themselves are often no more than decision makers looking to justify their preferred choices by looking for some reassurance from the sales person. The objections should all be dealt with quickly, courteously and effectively. My ‘FACE’ system for handling complaints (see ) cam also be useful to have in your mind when overcoming objections. The simplified version of this is: F: Fast - respond quickly to the objection - too much hesitation will put doubts in the buyers mind as to the truth of the answer or your knowledge of the product or service. A: Agree - In this circumstance this is more of a matter of courtesy and empathy with the buyer. Agree that they have a point and that you understand their concerns. C: Comfort - continue with the empathy and offer set up the reassurance that will follow. E: Explain - this is the final and diplomatic response to the objection - you have acknowledged the legitimacy of the concern without coming straight back in an argumentative way and now you succinctly explain the rationale behind your offering that should negate the objection. Within the overcoming of an objection (and logically within the ‘Agree’ stage) it is always good to make reference to a case study of a similar customer. The classic response to the objection would be: ‘yes, XXX originally thought exactly that but we were able to demonstrate that .......................’. The good news is, with all these objections that are going to get thrown at you from left, right and centre, is that there will probably be no more than six, and you should know what they are likely to be. If you don’t anticipate them all before the first appointment it won’t take you long to draw up the list. It is essential, for these six objections, that your response and benefits that overcome them, are very well known. For any other curve balls that are thrown at you, you may just have to think quickly on your feet. It is worth drawing up a list of objections that you have already been, or anticipate being faced with: Objection 1 2 3 4 5 6
Response
Aspects of the closing process from trial closing to closing the deal. Closing can be a fear of even the best sales people. That dreaded time when you may actually have the audacity to ask for the order. I have been told by sales people that they are ‘getting on really well’ with prospects - 6 months later they are still getting on really well with them (no orders!) and they somehow seem to feel that actually closing and asking for an order will somehow spoil this idyllic relationship. I do not, however advocate many old fashioned closing techniques i.e., ‘So - which one do you want - the blue one or the green one?,’ Forcing the issue in this way without a proper lead in is likely to cause offence. With modern selling techniques that have been previously discussed, the need for pressurised closing should be minimised to the extent that it is a natural conclusion - (a nice thought), but I still feel that being aware of a few things when entering and exiting this closing process are still vital to selling. It doesn’t matter how good the lead up to the close is, the close still needs to be done.
□ Trial Closing - trial closing involves asking some potential closing questions in the form of hypothetically worded questions. These can be referred to as ‘if, would’ closed questions. ‘If we did it in blue would you be interested in buying one?’ Clearly, if the answer is yes (and you do it in blue) then there is a green light to proceed to the close. Needless to say, most trial closing questions are likely to be a bit more complex than this.
□ Seven Rules of Closing - generally speaking there are seven things that need to be in place to proceed to a close - it’s certainly a case of the more the better. This applies to asking for the order in both a basic, quick selling, situation or a complex consultative selling exercise that could have been going on for months. •The sales person must be positive, eager and enthusiastic. •The sales person must fully understand the customers needs. •The customer must fully understand the value of the offering. •The customer must believe you, and your company. •Trust, rapport and friendship must be established. •The customer must want to enjoy the benefits. •The product or service must be suited to the customer.
□ Major Obstacles to Closing - there can be a certain fear in the air on both sides when it comes to closing - this is largely due to the following reasons, which are certainly not reasons to shy away from closing (especially if some form of trial close has been carried out): •The sales persons fear of rejection - this is human nature; but the worst that can happen is not exactly life threatening. If you have got to this point the rejection could merely involve some basis moderation to the proposal to retain the order. If there is outright rejection you may have attempted to close slightly early - this should be considered in terms of learning for the next time. Remember that without the chance of rejection there is also no chance of acceptance! •The prospects fear of failure - the prospect, especially if this is a buyer of certain characteristics (see ), will have their own pressures, either from within their organisation or even from within themselves. If you smell this fear ensure that you have provided as much proof and physical evidence to protect the prospect from any likelihood of potential failure.
□ The Pressure of Silence - this is the only pressure that should ever be applied to a buyer during the close - but it should be used with care. If you have reached the point of asking for the order then ask for it.............don’t waffle on to fill in the silence with any more justification. The ball is in the buyers court to come up with any reasons not to buy - it should now be easier for the buyer to give you the order than to not.
The gentle art of being around and giving the buyer no reason not to buy from you (without becoming a pain). There is a theory that a purchase will be made, on average, after a customer has been exposed to a business, in some form or other seven times. This sounds like poor selling to me but it certainly backs up the statement that persistence is a virtue - and this is not about the foot in the door, or getting orders to get rid of you. This is simply about being around and keeping in touch and gently giving the buyer no reason not to buy from you. PR and Awareness will be producing some of these touches (see ) and social media, in particular, may be the route to condense these touches in terms of timescale. I don’t necessarily buy this seven touch theory but I guess it is not much different to my theory of ‘being around and being persistent’. Persistence is particularly relevant to died in the wool buyers who have ‘always done things this way’ and who think that things that ain’t broke don’t need mending. It’s the sort of existing relationship where the buyer went to the christening of your rival Mr. X's granddaughter last month so he’s not going to use you - YET! This is the scenario where you presented your case to the buyer in line what it seemed were their strategic needs, it seemed to go OK, you demonstrated a clear benefit to the business but there was already an incumbent supplier and, it appeared, that whatever happened they were going to stick with them. You tried a couple more times but didn’t appear to be getting anywhere so you gave up - they may have been an ideal prospect but it was never going to happen WRONG! As a company director of a business that included a significant amount of reselling I was frequently in the role of buyer. I was often surprised with the ease that some people would give up and assume I was always going to use the same suppliers. I had even earmarked orders and trial contracts for suppliers that, if they had only contacted me one more time, would have gained some very good business. As a sales person by trade I wasn’t exactly the most daunting of buyers to sell to but still they would give up. What happens if the rival salesperson Mr. X decides to spend more time with his wonderful gandkids (and fair play to him for doing that - he’s such a good bloke) - the person that takes over from him is a young upstart that rubs everyone up the wrong way so the buyer looks to that other bloke (you) who has been quite honourably hanging around and keeping in touch. What happens if the buyer moves on or retires and a new buyer steps in to make his mark and does an audit of what is available and your product or service (and you) are very visible and have demonstrated the benefits of your product. He didn’t go to the christening of your rivals grand daughter. What happens if the supply that ain’t broke so don’t need mending gets a bit broke in terms of quality or service - there is a professional or self interest obligation on the buyer to try the person who has been continually, but politely, offering an alternative that cannot be overlooked under these circumstances - circumstances that actually occur on a fairly regular basis. Never mind the seven touches - don’t underestimate how close you are to a sale - it may only be within one more light touch of a phone call or email. It would be very revealing to calculate the loss of sales through the lack of gentle and unobtrusive persistence - don’t be afraid to be around!
Time management to ensure the dirty work of selling actually happens. In my experience, most non sales people that should be devoting a certain percentage of their time and energy to selling, will sub consciously, or consciously, find other pressing things to do rather than sell (many sales people will do exactly the same). Non sales people will find things like light bulbs to change, machinery to mess with, dodgy plumbing to fix or even filing to do! Sales people, even less productively, will spend hours and hours over and above what is required, planning what to do, or even find filing to do! There has to be a time when the procrastination ends. If you have put everything in place up to now one thing that could be your downfall is basic time management and allocation of selling time. You need to allocate time to making phone calls - not deciding who to phone, actually making the calls; it can take at least six calls to get anywhere near someone. And with phone calls remember that you need to be allocating time that is most likely to suit your prospects, not you. You should allocate a number of days per week / per month for visiting prospects and / or carrying out customer service activity. This allocation will depend entirely on the maturity and extent of the customer base - but whatever it is it should be followed through as religiously as possible. Block out time in your diary to ensure that you do spend time on this activity. This will be another time to mention Customer Relationship Management. If it is carried out properly, practically and realistically CRM can provide not only the framework and discipline to carry out this process, but should also enable it to be done a lot easier. If you enter the tasks and follow up time scales realistically you are likely to be operating in a far more sophisticated manner than the majority of your competition. To summarise, the factors that will enable the selling presence to be effective are:
□ Allocate time for cold calling - this is obviously entirely dependent on the amount of new business you are looking for. This could range from 2 hours a week for a mature business to 2 days a week for a new business looking to establish a market.
□ Allocate time for new customer engagement - new customer visits will be non productive time in terms of revenue and have to be factored into the day job. Your productive £ per hour will need to be offset by this non revenue earning per hour activity.
□ Allocate time for existing customer interaction / visits - this is generally no problem for sales reps, servicing existing customers is, generally, a nice part of the job; for the owner / director, however, there could be a tendency to let the existing customer drift in favour of other things (see the next section on for more details).
□ Use a CRM system effectively - I don’t care what system it is or how sophisticated, it is the effective use that is important. Realistically set when you should be following up, without becoming like an automated robot to the customer, or the task becoming a tedious numbers game for you. In summary of this page I would insist that, if you are ever faced with the choice of doing almost anything other than making that sales call, MAKE THE CALL!
Basic principles for managing a directly employed sales team or third party agents. If you are employing or managing sales people, or using third party agents, and even distributors, there will inevitably be some details of the arrangement that has to be clear on both sides in terms of expectations. What would be considered a traditional approach of employing a field sales team is simply not practical for most SMEs and often, as discussed earlier in and you may be relying on a variety of people (including yourself) to do your direct selling. Whatever form this direct selling takes the general principles for its management are pretty much the same:
â–Ą How will the sales person be targeted? Sales Targets will always be a delicate balance, especially if rewards and payments will be based on hitting these targets. If there is a sales history for either the sales person or the sales territory then they can be based on either continuing to hit previous figures or on targeted growth (with rewards) in line with the business strategy. Modern thinking suggests that sales employees should actually set their own targets - partly because, given the freedom, they may actually set targets higher than were expected and because imposed targets really may be an arbitrary measure with no real accountability. With agents, sales targets will have to be established in order to fit the agents efforts into your overall business strategy and to ensure that you are not just part of a third party portfolio that may, or may not, be sold (see ).
â–Ą How will the sales person be measured? Targets are all well and good but there is a need to define what is actually going to be measured. Measures in terms of units will need strict parameters in terms of price flexibility, as do measures in terms of sales revenue. Ideally the measurement will be linked to profitability but this can become complex and could also be giving away more information than you would like to. However this is arranged, it will need to be with the full agreement of the sales person and in line with strategic objectives in terms of revenue and profitability.
â–Ą How will the sales person be rewarded? This is where there can be a wide range and the reward will be largely based on the risk for both sides. For an employed sales person the remuneration can range from salary, basic plus commission, or, in some cases, commission only. If a salary only is paid this will become a fixed overhead with no guarantee of a return and little incentive for the sales person. This is likely to be practiced where there is a very established product or service, a mature customer base and not a large requirement for new customers. The low risk, however, on the part of the sales person does mean that this salary will be relatively low. A common route for a business that is looking to source new customers is to pay a basic salary plus commission based on performance measures described in the section above. The percentages of basic as opposed to commission are again likely to based on the maturity of the customer base and the need for new customers. The lower the basic (and risk to the business) the less likely you are to find real quality sales people UNLESS you have a real quality product or service. With commission only, this is only likely to be entertained by sales people, consultants or agents if you have a truly good product - this is where all the previous sections need to be in place (including your own sales skills) to attract this commission only agreement. The financial risk to the employer will be very low in this case and the reward should be completely open ended or, at least have limits only set in terms of capacity, if required.
Character traits and their effectiveness in sales meetings. The importance of the sales meeting itself cannot be underestimated in terms of direct selling. 8 different sales character types have been identified and the behavioural differences suggest differing effectiveness in sales meetings. I do not have an exercise for recognising the traits but a brief meeting will relatively easily establish the bias in approach for a sales person. These behavioural characteristics are actually in ascending order from the least effective to the most. The good thing is that they are not ingrained personality traits and sales people can, with training and consideration, move into higher levels of effectiveness in sales meetings. The characteristics are shown below: 1 - The Socialiser - Pure Socialisers are considered by some organisations as the obvious good sales people, ‘the naturals’. They are able to present themselves well and do build up a reasonable rapport with customers. The real issue with Socialisers is they tend to be more style than content and, in a modern sales environment, the lack of real substance is not really acceptable. Pros: They are good at preparing for sales meetings but not significantly better to outweigh other issues, do get to a certain level of rapport. Cons: One of the real issues is a lack of being able to think on their feet and they seem to have little to discuss about their company or their product. They do little to match their offering to the needs of the customer and are not good at rising to a challenge, handling objections or negotiating. Overall they lack many basic sales skills and fail to discuss the value adding propositions of the business. This is something of a dinosaur in modern selling. 2 - The Deal Maker - The overriding trait of a Deal Maker is that of a price negotiator. They tend to enter meetings expecting a price negotiation and, as such, they tend to get one. Pros: Deal Makers are good at many selling roles including setting agendas, positioning the company, negotiating and making value propositions. Cons: Deal Makers are not good at handling objections or creating solutions on the fly. These sales people need to move away from the aggressive, hard negotiation to a more collaborative sales approach. Their personal and rapport creating skills can often be very low. 3 - The Narrator - The narrator is both well presented, a good orator and builds a good rapport. The narrator can also be limited to these skills and be something of a walking brochure or working from a script. Pros: The narrator is well versed in the company offering, the market place, and have a good knowledge of their product or service. Cons: What lets them down is their disorganisation and inability to turn their knowledge into solutions for the customer and to think on their feet. They are not suited to complex customers or sales processes. They may not be good at setting agendas, identifying customer needs and creating value propositions.
Character traits and their effectiveness in sales meetings. 4 - The Product / Service Focused - Product / Service Focused people (similar to narrators) present their products and themselves very well. Pros: They are very good at using product / service knowledge. They can be seen as technical specialists as their focus on product / service performance is very high. Cons: They tend to be bad at positioning the company and differentiating it from the competition. They also tend to be so focused on the features of their product they make little attempt to truly match it to the needs of the customer, are not good at negotiation or developing a value proposition. 5 - The Storyteller - Storytellers have a good knowledge of the market place and use it by selling through stories. Pros: They have a good ability at using case studies and anecdotes. They are able to pull in further examples to counter customer questions and create solutions on the fly. Cons: Storytellers will discuss company offerings but often fail to position these or utilise value propositions. They can be poor at setting objectives and agendas for meetings and could talk too much, missing opportunities for the close. 6 - The Consultant - We are now starting to enter the realms of all round high quality sales people. The Consultant will be well presented and have an ability to get the most out of introductions and build very good rapport with customers. Pros: A high level of product and market place knowledge which is used to promote the company, the value proposition and demonstrate market differentiation. They are good at objection handling, negotiating and creating solutions on the fly; they lend themselves to complex sales processes. Cons: If there are any failings it could be a lack of preparation before meetings and a failing to set specific agendas. They could also be poor storytellers leading to one dimensional selling. 7 - The Product Closer - These are fantastic sellers of products (rather than services) Pros: They are a dream in terms of selling products - very good at handling objections, know their products inside out and its value propositions to align with customer needs. Their knowledge makes them good negotiators and at creating solutions on the fly. They are good at listening, specifying the clients needs, and positioning their knowledge accordingly. Cons: If there is a fault it is a tendency to be so focused on the product rather than the company and this could inhibit cross selling. They may not use many case studies or anecdotes to highlight the companies positioning. 8 - The Expert - The Expert pretty much has it all but they are a pretty rare breed and if you are looking to employ one they aren’t likely to come cheap. Pros: These sales people are very good and have excellent all round sales skills. They discuss the company, identify the needs of the customer, and then position and articulate the sales value proposition to fulfil the needs better than the competition. They are excellent at creating solution on the fly and skilled at negotiating. Cons: The only thing that remained unproven in many studies was the experts skill at handling objections - this was because the truly expert sales person was receiving so few objections!
An analysis of current capability for Direct Selling For each of the aspects of direct selling first decide how important each one is to the sales success of the business - put a value 1-10 (1 being not really important at all and 10 being critical). Next put a value of how good you feel you currently are at exploiting this route - put a value 1-10 (1 being not very good at all and 10 being excellent). Importance? How good?
80/20 priciple
How well do you understand your customers and analyse their relative profitability and importance to the business - are lessons applied from this research?
pipeline management
How well do you need to understand your sale pipeline and the time scales and success rates through to conversion?
intro via letters, emails, cold calling traditional versus open plan selling buyer behaviour and characteristics overcoming objections and closing time management for sales sales meetings
How important are introductory letters, emails and cold calling? Is this an area that proves to be a success for the business? How relevant is the understanding of the traditional stages of the sales process and the more modern concepts of open plan and needs based selling, how much research is carried out? How much direct selling do you do and how important is it to understand the processes that the buyer will go through, their functional and emotional needs? How important is it to be able to handle the objections of the buyer? Is the closing process important to your selling and how efficiently, and successfully, is this currently handled? How well do you define the time allocation for the sales process and how important is it that you should do this? How important are sales meetings to the business and how do you think you handle them? Do you know your own sales characteristics?
To analyse the priorities in terms of direct selling go to the next page and establish any skills gaps and identify actions that can be taken.
An analysis of potential skills gaps to be addressed in your direct selling capability. For each or the aspects subtract the score for how good you feel you are from the score you gave it in terms of importance. List the categories in order of the highest positive figure first. Any minus figures will be of lowest priority. For at least the top three note some actions to be made. Method
Score
Action (By Who? By When?)
In Customer Service terms I am referring to ‘face to face’ interaction as any direct, personal interface between a member of your company and a customer. While this is most evident in terms of sales person to buyer this page is addressing the issue in a broader manner. If this were a typical sales programme it would tell you to ‘dress smart, be enthusiastic, be professional and willing to please’ that’s good. But I would prefer the word research to pop up - if we are remotely endeavouring to actually sell to people let’s have some understanding of them and an empathy for what they are looking for, rather than a rule book that includes a dress code! I am not suggesting that if your customer is a circus troupe that you should wear a clowns nose but there may be occasions where it won’t do you any favours to wear a suit. I would, however, keep the word professional (I can live with that - it correctly identifies a code of honesty and integrity that is essential). I have seen sales programmes use the term ‘willing to please’ but, I feel, this can be replaced with ‘willing to do the right thing’ - if you are consistently and willingly prepared to do the right things by your customers in an open and transparent manner It is proven to gain enormous results. Some Guidelines Below are some guidelines to consider wherever there is a direct interaction between a person from your company and a customer:
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Tailor things - always do as much research as possible to establish what your customer is going to expect. Do not aim to dress like them or mimic them in any way (as this is unlikely to be what they expect) - but please show some empathy for what they are looking to you for.
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Retail or trade counter should be smart but casual and, I hate to say it, loosely fit in with a corporate theme. This, in certain circumstances of course, can be extended to the point of the corporate theme being to wear whatever you want as the theme is to have no corporate theme.
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A minor massive detail - remember that most of what a potential customer thinks about you or your company will be established in the first five seconds - a daunting thought but an encouraging one if you can only be bothered to get that five seconds right.
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If you say you are going to do something - DO IT. This is not a guideline but a commandment. And, heaven forbid, you are not going to be able to DO IT, you had better give as much notice of this as possible, keep the customer fully informed, and hope upon hope that they may put up with being treated in a way that you would not want to be treated yourself!
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Never wash your dirty linen in public - no matter how well you get on with a customer or buyer they do not want to hear about your internal issues and if your internal issues get to be so much that you really feel the need to do this in public either get another job, or another business.
The general principles of telephone interaction are, again, common sense but there are some guidelines that you need to be thinking about:
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This is the old chestnut (but some of the old ones are the best) - however the phone is going to answered, endeavour to answer it within three rings. This was how I was bought up under penalty of something nasty happening. I acknowledge in todays world that we will try and shove customers down a route of email only, if possible, but can you imagine a business that you could ring up and get someone to answer within three rings - you would certainly use that company again. If you had a serious issue with a company and they answered the phone within three rings and you got through to someone that could resolve the issue - you would definitely use that company again.
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DO NOT tell anyone to either ring back or ring another number. This is one of my golden rules when it comes to receiving phone calls. A CUSTOMER SHOULD ONLY HAVE TO MAKE ONE CALL TO YOU: If the person they were after is on the phone YOU should get that person to ring them back; If the customer has got through to the wrong department or wrong extension YOU should get the right department to ring them back, if you cannot put them through. The failure to do this, in my opinion, is a cardinal sin and, while I dislike too many rules (and the use of too many capital letters) I am happy to use them here. I work primarily with SMEs and, while larger corporations can get away with things like this, it is unacceptable to a small or medium business and negates one of the advantages that SMEs’ have over the larger, more impersonal organisations.
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The above is also true of too much automation within the phone system. We are all painfully aware of the hideously elaborate automated systems of large organisations and the frustration that these can cause for the customer with the multiple layers of options that can go on for several minutes, only to be cut off at the end. The economic truth for large organisations is that these systems will save the business an absolute fortune so they will, almost inevitably go down this route. This can be to the advantage of SMEs’ as it should be the personal attention they can provide that proves to be part of your differentiator - remember that the vast majority of businesses have not invented a widget that everyone must have, so service can be an essential feature of your value adding process (if not the only one). It is also a good idea for the customer to have a named contact within your business so that a rapport of service and trust can be established (see also to create a map of this interaction).
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This is the corny one but one that I do believe in, based on experience: smile when you’re on the phone - have fun for goodness sake; you are a person talking to another person and that is what makes the world go round. Not only that, but these customers are why you have a business or a job - wouldn’t it be great to be friends with them by being nice, and knowing they will come back, and you can have a laugh and a joke. Smile when you’re on the phone and customers actually become people!
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To conclude I will repeat one of my principles of sales, If you say you’re going to do something DO IT! How many times has a business promised to ring you back by the end of the day, by tomorrow, or by the end of the week, and not done it? This is invariably because they don’t have an answer yet - so what? Ring back out of courtesy to say you haven’t got an answer yet. Not having an answer by when you said is not great, but not ringing back out of courtesy is unforgivable.
The role of Customer Relationship Management tools to assist sales and customer service. I am a big fan of CRM or, to be precise, the correct use of CRM - and I don’t mean I’m into the software (software rarely thrills me). This is not some sort of glorified database or a way of checking up on sales people. It should be viewed as a way of sales life to enhance the customer experience and create intuitive customer satisfaction. The benefits of CRM are outlined below:
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Focus the business away from the product and towards the customer - CRM puts the customer first and focuses on customer requirements rather than what your business can offer. If taken seriously it provides a discipline for interaction with the customer that the customer is actually looking for, and not one that is likely to happen by chance. CRM should redefine customer service as not something you ‘do to’ your customers but something you ‘do with’ your customers. It should ultimately provide a better customer service than many of your competitors are likely to be providing. The one big word in CRM is ‘relationship’ and it must not be underestimated - it also must not be mistaken, as is often the case, for the ‘record’ - this implies a database and IT system only and not a direct feed in to sales performance.
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Concentrate on the Relationship - The role of all this is to develop core competencies in terms of customer offering and service to a level that cannot be exceeded by you or your competitors. All the efforts of this should mean that the company is totally aligned to the customer. This will include: • the culture of exceeding customer expectation. • customers being recognised and treated as partners. • the value that is added by relationship building. • the fact that service is a value adding activity. • reward and recognition become based on customer focus.
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Costs, wastage and complaints - Proper CRM systems which are capable of providing good management information will be invaluable to identifying where the orders are coming from, save time and money in advertising and save money in terms of dissatisfied customers. As you can see from this, good CRM has the twofold benefits of more profit now in terms of customer interaction and more profit long term in terms of efficiencies. I would advocate good CRM purely on the basis of making your life easier - but when it comes to making your life more profitable it becomes a bit of a no brainer.
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CRM and Management Information - To make life more profitable it does rely on being able to extract good usable management information (and not just for management). It is certainly not just a tool to remind you to chase a customer on a certain date - I have seen CRM systems used for functions that their exiting Outlook would have performed perfectly well. The sort of additionality in terms of information that you should be looking for: • clearly define the customers under the 80/20 principles. • specifically establish the requirements of different customers. • highlight the relative profitability of different customer types regardless of size - this can be used to identify which customers to seek more business from, and produce customer profiles for new customer acquisition. • clearly define profitability in terms of product mix. • establish relative returns on different routes to market and which are the most cost effective.
The role of Customer Relationship Management tools to assist sales and customer service.
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What CRM System? CRM and IT - while CRM will be based on a Software Package, anything from entirely off the shelf to wholly bespoke, it should not be seen as a software solution - the IT is merely a way of facilitating the Customer Relationship solution. There are many software applications available for this and the most important thing is to have a clear idea of your requirements when entering the selection process. It is likely that you will want to do this through a service provider rather than just purchasing the software but in some cases of small business, if an off the shelf package provides exactly what you are looking, it can just be a case of purchasing the software or, ever increasingly popular, adopting a web based off the shelf CRM system. A lot of web based systems can now build on, and integrate with Outlook and the advantage of a web based system is that it can be accessed from any computer if the passwords and security checks are made available to users. Do, however, ensure that the product will provide what you require and is adaptable enough to eliminate any onerous tasks that will not provide any benefits the more requirements of a system to input apparently meaningless data ‘because the system tells you to’ the less it will be bought into by users. This is where a service provider could be used (and may well be your existing IT provider if you have one. They will normally build on an existing platform but can produce a CRM system specifically for your needs. As well as assistance with specifying the system they are also likely to be involved with its implementation, user training and maintenance. The nature of these bespoke systems are less likely to be web based as the software, in effect, is being created specifically for the business.
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The inherent perils of a CRM system - They don’t always work - that’s a pretty good peril when it comes to spending your companies cash on something. They don’t always work because they often become (or even start off) so elaborate that they just don’t get used. I am into simplicity and, with CRM, I am obsessed with it. The danger with a CRM system is that it gets added to and fed into by so many agendas and stakeholders that it just becomes so unwieldy that people revert back to their own systems, databases and ‘little black books’. If used properly by sales people the CRM system can capture an enormous amount of customer information and this, in itself, can be an issue to some sales people, who may feel they are giving away too much of the information they feel is theirs, to the company. While this should not be an issue to a sales person, particularly if they are directly employed by the business, it is always best to get the buy in of all potential users of the system, especially the sales function. One of the likely inputs into the system is from some form of financial management personnel and this can lead to feelings that it could be merely a way of ‘checking up’ on other departments as a time and motion study. Again the system needs to be explained and adopted by all for what it is - a way of aligning the company with the customers.
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CRM and Company Culture - As previously described, Customer Relationship Management in itself will not automatically produce better customer service, but it should provide the framework. The overall issue in terms of buy in is the Company Culture. To achieve the full benefit of introducing a CRM system it could be a good idea to do this in conjunction with a Culture Mapping exercise to highlight any underlying issues with customer service and culture that the providing of this framework alone will not address - see and .
The importance of service and customer care to customer retention. There is really only one thing you have to do with customers - keep them! It is a lot easier to keep customers than it is to replace them, yet it would appear, at times, that far more energy goes in to attracting new customers than to ensuring that after sales service keeps the ones you’ve got. And the statistics for how customers are lost are pretty conclusive: 3% move away, geographically 5% develop a relationship with another supplier 9% leave for competitive reasons 14% ONLY are dissatisfied with the product or service 69% leave because of an attitude of indifference towards them! The clear message from this is that you must make customers believe you care about them. Ask the following questions of everyone in the organisation and record the answers in the table:
The combined results of the table can be used to formulate a customer charter that has the ‘buy in’ of all members of staff. This should be aligned with the general principles of what a customer is looking for in terms of after sales service and customer care: □ Don’t waste our time. □ Remember who we are. □ Make it easy for us to buy from you. □ Make sure your service delights us! □ Customise your service for us.
Make it easy for customers to buy from you. Companies must always be very wary about any unintentional barriers they may be putting up and making it difficult or less than a pleasant experience to buy from you. This is one of those occasions where you may well only be as good as your weakest link. You might have the most fantastic product that the buyer actually sees the benefits of, and wants to buy, but if you make it difficult to buy, the chances are it will not be successful. I have looked at many businesses that apparently have an ‘unsuccessful’ product and it has turned out they actually have barriers to buying. Below are some potential obstacles that would have to be removed:
1: Delivery - depending on the product, delivery can take on an incredible importance. This falls broadly into 3 areas: Do you have it in stock for immediate delivery? How quickly do you deliver compared to the competition? How does your actual delivery compare to your quoted delivery times?
2: Identify and banish the ‘Sales Prevention Officers’ -
an ideal term for people that really do not help the customer experience - indeed, at times, they positively hinder the sales process for the customer. And they are not always obvious, they can manage to infiltrate many areas of the process. You need to see your business through the customers eyes and even get people to ‘mystery shop’ and give you feedback. There will be key customer interactions that the sales prevention officer must be kept away from, examples of which are shown below. My view is that, regardless of these key interaction points, the Sales Prevention Officers should be banished from the business altogether (see and ).
• Initial telephone contact • General telephone liaison and messages • Checking availability • Providing a Quotation or Price • Placing an Order • Chasing the progress of an Order • The Delivery
3: What if they don’t like the product? - The order or purchase needs to be de risked for the customer as much as possible. Offer the best guarantee you can and state in clearly and in detail. Unconditional money back guarantees and, the dreaded, sales or return (avoid if at all possible) will create the most comfort for the customer but you need to back up your guarantee if required.
4: Free Trials - If possible, the Free Trial can be an incredibly effective way of selling your product (assuming it is a good product!) - not only does it remove doubts but encourages the customer to actually sell the product to themselves
5: Online Sales Friendliness - Although this has been included earlier in
it is worth repeating here, as making it easy for customers to buy is essential in terms of online trading. Ease, here, can be extended to peace of mind in terms of Internet security.
Make it easy for customers to buy from you. Fill in the table below to identify any potential barriers to sales and to develop a plan to break down the barriers:
Stock levels / Speed of delivery compared to competitors / How do you compare against quoted delivery times what steps can be taken to improve? Do any of these exist possibly in terms of: > Initial telephone contact? > General telephone liaison and messages > Checking availability > Providing a Quotation or Price > Placing an Order > Chasing the progress of an Order > The Delivery What guarantees do you offer and how strong are they?
Is there a way of offering free trials as proof of your product?
Is the experience accessible and easy to use or could it be improved?
Do more than tick the basic customer service boxes. Delighting customers has become an accepted term which may seem a little trite on the surface. The fact is, it is not - it is the right term and a very important one. ‘Delighting’ customers means doing more than satisfying them - work on the premise that some of your competitors may also satisfy customers. Delighting customers is to give them a level of service above their expectations or, to use a well worn expression, to ‘go the extra mile’. It is providing additional qualities which should provide high levels of repeat business and business from referrals. Some examples of this delight are given below but the best ones will come from your experience of your customers:
□ Do something unexpected - add a level of service to the customer that is over and above the customer expectations. If you can define a new parameter of customer service that exceeds the expected levels this is likely to really stand out - it could provide a Honeymoon USP.
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Speed of Delivery - as mentioned earlier, delivery has become a critical issue - in order to delight customers you will be delivering in less than the time quoted.
□ Have an exceptional attention to Detail - get as many details as possible about your customers from the initial call and pre order stage (not in a clumsy or heavy handed way), and use this to provide a completely tailored service. From there on every detail should be recorded and used to continue the personal touch.
□ Act on the results of Customer Perception Surveys - (see
). You don’t have to rely on your own perceptions of how to delight customers - you could always get them to tell you how!
Brainstorm ideas for delighting customers in general - use the above concepts regarding delivery, things over and above the expected, and attentions to detail that can be applied to individual customers or to the market segment. Arrive at three things that you can do to truly delight customers rather than just tick the boxes. The left hand column are suggestions but the concepts can be anything that your brainstorming comes up with, so please think outside the box.
What could yo do that is over and above the expected? Could this be a honeymoon USP? How do you arrive at the details that can make all the difference to customer service? Is there anything related to delivery that could be improved to delight customers?
Be obsessed by it, measure it, listen to it, improve it. Customer satisfaction and customer perception is something that should be paramount in your efforts towards ongoing customer retention. This has a twofold benefit as it not only validates your, hopefully, good customer service but it is also the best and cheapest market research to enable you to constantly improve your service, and give the customer what they want. While ongoing customer satisfaction surveys are used as a matter of course by the large corporates they are, in my opinion, often too faceless and can become an annoyance to the customer. They are likely to involve a third party going through the motions and asking questions that seem pretty pointless and, most importantly, don’t appear to be really interacting with the customer in a way that suggests their answers will really be taken into account. Much customer satisfaction monitoring appears to be more about checking up on the employees of the supplier than it is about the input from the customer. I would prefer to carry out a fairly regular customer perception survey that really gauges how you are aligning your service with the expectations of the customer. Rather than checking up on how good people are the survey should be open ended and based on listening. The aims should be: • To find out what customers really want • To provide feedback on how customers currently see you • Highlight areas for improvement • Show customers you care about their opinions • Gauge competitors strengths and weaknesses • Get ammunition to sell the benefits of your own business In House or Third Party? There are different ways in which a customer perception survey can be carried out. The first thing to decide is whether it will be carried out by a third party or whether you can carry this out in house. In House: Other than the obvious fact that it will be a lot cheaper to carry out in house, there is also the fact that you know the business better than anyone else, can exploit the personal touch in the interaction, and could also sort out some of the hard facts from the opinions. The disadvantages, however, are that carrying out surveys is not your area of expertise, customers may think you are just trying to sell them something, and the personal knowledge you have of the customers could bring in a bias or sell fulfilling of prophecies. Third Party: This is their area of expertise in getting genuine, objective and relevant data and they may be able to bring things to the survey that you wouldn’t have thought of. Other than the obvious fact that they will be more expensive the other potential disadvantage is that they will not be familiar with some of the nuances of your business. Type of Survey? The traditional forms of customer survey used to be: □ Postal Survey - This was traditionally a relatively inexpensive and quick way of surveying a large number of customers. It is renowned, however, for producing a very limited response, a bias within the type of people responding, and a lack of being able to gauge feeling or probe for more information.
Be obsessed by it, measure it, listen to it, improve it. Type of Survey? (continued) □ Telephone Survey - These are better for B2B selling but business customers are likely to be fed up with telephone selling and surveys. They do allow for some probing and get a larger response than postal surveys. A more detailed perception and insight can be obtained from this form of survey. They are, however, more time consuming and expensive than postal surveys. □ Face to Face Survey - This is more associated to B2C selling but can be applicable to B2B if the business operates in a fairly small geographical area. They allow for increased customer contact with more probing questions and detailed answers. The drawback is they are very time consuming and can be very expensive. □ Email Survey - To some extent this is the natural replacement to the above methods and can be incorporated into general email marketing campaigns. There are quite a few free software packages that allow you to create online surveys but to get a more in depth survey they may need upgrading. An example of these tools is www.surveymonkey.com. In many ways, these surveys offer a great opportunity but are, however, something of the modern version of postal surveys with similar disadvantages. They can be a bit impersonal, not open to any probing and can suffer from a low response rate. What Customers to Survey? Generally you are likely to be looking for the view of a cross section of your customers. To establish a true cross section you will need to consider: • The size of the customer • The amount of business they do with you • The type of business / market segment • The geographical location • The length of time they have been customers • Ex customers that you want to find out why they went somewhere else • Prospects that you quoted but did not place an order In terms of numbers, you should be aiming to survey at least 10-15% of your customers with a minimum of 30 - 50 customers in total. If time and resources are limited you can limit the survey to the top 20% of customers and the best prospects for the future. The next thing to get right is the person within the business that you are going to survey - although this is logically going to be the person that places the orders there may be other agendas that need to be addressed and gauged. Before starting the survey you need to check all the customer details are up to date - this, in itself, can highlight deficiencies in your customer record system and provide an opportunity to update these records.
Be obsessed by it, measure it, listen to it, improve it. Design the Survey The best way of actually getting a survey answered or completed is for it to be no more than about 10 questions and take no more than 10-15 minutes to complete. Comments should be recorded verbatim to allow for interpretation later, rather than any interpretation at the time of conducting the survey. The main questions that are likely to be contained within any survey are: • What do you look for in a supplier? Whether this is done through multiple choice answers or through questioning (phone or face to face) and, probing deeper, this should produce a very important list. • Which of these factors (from the above question) is the most important to you? This will be determined by simply asking the question or from the ranking of the multiple choice. It should be noted that if only a multiple choice is available it is dependent on your pre conceived list of important factors and could preclude answers that are unexpected to you. • On a scale of 1-10 (1 being very bad and 10 being excellent) how we rate on these factors? • On average, how do our competitors rate on the same scale? If the survey is going really well at this point you could ask the names of who they see as your main competitors. There will be some additional questions that will be bespoke to your particular product or service or relating to information that you specifically want to gather but, in genera terms, the above questions will form the basis for most surveys. Feedback The results of the survey should be formatted to produce the following details: • What is important to your customers? Arrive at a list of between 3-6 factors that are the most important to your customers - this is enormously valuable information by any reckoning. • Put them in order. Produce a list in order of weighted importance to prioritise the requirements of your customers. • How do you rate on these factors? Produce a gap analysis of where your current performance falls short in the key areas of customer requirements. • How do your customers rate? This information can be twofold in terms of significance. If you rate a low score in a certain area but your competitors also rate a similar score then it may be that the expectations of the customer are unrealistic and, if this is the case, it may just be a case of being the best of all evils. It may, on the other hand, provide an opportunity to gain a serious competitive advantage and gain honeymoon USPs. There is one thing, of course, about using the feedback on an average or trend basis - it can also be used specifically relating to the individual companies surveyed to tailor your offering to them. Action It should go without saying that the feedback from surveys should be acted on, but it is not always the case - either through laziness or a lack of acceptance of the results. If you are going to the trouble of carrying out this survey please use it to your advantage and build it into your plan to delight your customers.
A system for successfully dealing with customer complaints and the view of complaints as sales opportunities. The one sure thing about sales and customer service is that, at some point, and in some sectors far more than others, you will get complaints. In some industries there will even be a nervousness about you as a supplier until you have actually received, and dealt with, at least one complaint. So, in some sectors, complaints serve as the final validation of your credentials as a supplier - at the very least complaints should always be seen as an opportunity rather than an irritation. Handling complaints in the right way can lead to further opportunities, and can give you higher ratings on internal surveys by your customers than if you don’t receive a complaint at all. I have seen the results of surveys that were done on my own business that, if I had no complaints (and no opportunity to overcome them) I would score a zero (neutral), if I successfully handled a complaint I would gain a plus rating that would enhance my overall score. With this importance in mind, below is my FACE System for handling complaints, which I devised many years ago and have used quite a number of times!
F - Fast
Whatever you do in terms of a complaint, the absolute must is to act quickly. Do not sit on a complaint - the quicker you get in there, the greater the chance of diffusing the situation.
A - Agree
It may seem odd, but the next step is to agree that the complainant has a point - NOT to agree to any form of liability but to agree that the injured party is injured in some way.
C - Comfort
Whatever the bizarre, and possibly unreasonable, motivation behind the complaint the next step is to offer comfort to the complainant. It will serve no purpose to be confrontational (not yet) and comfort can diffuse or confuse the reasons for complaints - there are 3 general sections that the complainants themselves will fall in to: 1: The genuine complaint that is justified. 2: The complaint where the complainant feels they are justified but are misguided or have misunderstood parts of the service agreement. 3: The complaint where the complainant is trying it on to get something.
E - Explain
This is where the crunch comes - but whatever the outcome of this, the 3 preliminary steps will have, hopefully, cushioned this explanation to a level that will be digestible. In line with the 3 motivations above the explanations will be different but they should be clear and completely backed up by facts. The explanations relating to the above will be: 1: If the complaint is justified (which is likely to be a significant percentage) you need to explain exactly what you are going to do to resolve the problem and agree a timescale for the resolution - needless to say, it is imperative that this timescale is adhered to. 2 and 3 : If you believe there is no justification for the complaint, the explanation involves the diplomatic, but authoritative fact based explanation of why the complaint is not justified. Depending on the nature of the complaint and the importance of the customer there could be a justification for offering some form of recompense (without prejudice!)
The additional opportunity that may be applicable to a complaint is the access that it could give you to a decision maker that can normally be very difficult to get hold of. They will want to see how the complaint is handled and, if you handle it well, it could provide an opportunity to very cheekily be asking for more orders.
The map of interaction for every interface with customers. With most B2B interactions there will be a series of interfaces between the supplier and the customer. There can sometimes be an emphasis with the connection at the top and, clearly, this is the most important relationship. But there will be significant influencers at every level and interface with the customer, and each of these need looking after to ensure sales harmony. Even staff that appear to have no influence within the customer business should be treated exceptionally well - no one in this interface should ever be taken for granted or undermined. While directors may be the major decision makers in the first instance, the power is likely to shift down a level when it comes to operational issues - management is likely to be a big influence in the ongoing operational activity. Directors may only get involved now if they get any complaints from management! While directors and business owners will have the responsibility for the interaction with their counterparts in the customer business, they will not have time, and be the wrong people, to be establishing the other relationships. The Sales and Service Table aims to identify the interfaces and, as importantly, place some individual, or group, responsibilities for the successful interaction. These can also be incorporated into remuneration rewards for the success of sales generation as a whole. As you can see, the pyramid that this is often drawn as, is not a pyramid here - I don’t agree with the weighted importance of any members of the customer staff. Indeed, not only is the importance similar overall, it also varies under different circumstances and at different times during the customer cycle. This order is also not meant to be hierarchical, it is more in order of the likely interaction.
Board Level
Board Level
Management / Buyer:
Sales Management / Representative:
Buyer / Surveyor:
Sales Representative / Sales Office:
Administrative / Reception:
Administrative:
Goods receipt / Operational User:
Despatch / Delivery:
An analysis of how you create customer satisfaction and loyalty. For each of the aspects of customer service first decide how important each one is to the success of the business - put a value 1-10 (1 being not really important at all and 10 being critical). Next put a value of how good you feel you currently are at exploiting this route - put a value 1-10 (1 being not very good at all and 10 being excellent). Importance? How good?
basic customer interaction
How good are you at doing the basic things in terms of customers, such as personal presentation, answering and returning calls? Is this something you take for granted?
CRM
Do you have a Customer Relationship Management system and how effective is this in terms of focusing the business on the customer and their needs?
after sales service
How well do you treat your customers in order to keep them? Do you have a Customer Charter?
making it easy for customers to buy delighting customers
How easy do you make it for customers to buy from you and are there any barriers in place to hinder the buying process?
customer satisfaction and feedback handling complaints
Do you actively seek to gain customer feedback and measure customer satisfaction in the form of surveys?
sales and service at every level
How important is it for different members of your staff to be interacting with your customers staff and what steps have been taken to ensure this is done well?
Do you Delight customers rather than provide basic customer service? What do you do to Delight customers?
How important is the handling of complaints to your business and how well do you deal with them?
To analyse the priorities in terms of customer service go to the next page and establish any gaps and identify actions that can be taken.
An analysis of potential areas for improvement in your Customer Service. For each or the aspects subtract the score for how good you feel you are from the score you gave it in terms of importance. List the categories in order of the highest positive figure first. Any minus figures will be of lowest priority. For at least the top three note some actions to be made. Area
Score
Action (By Who? By When?)
360degree train considers the human resource within the business and the ability to sustain sales growth and customer satisfaction. It is likely that training will be required at different levels to maximise sales performance.
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- The way we do things round here and how it impacts on customers and customer service.
□ □
- A framework with which to analyse company culture. - Using Belbin questions adapted to highlight potential
strengths and weaknesses of sales ability.
□ □
- Adapted to assess strengths and weaknesses for sales potential. - A quick trick to assess a persons potential strengths and weaknesses when it comes to selling.
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- The importance of recognising the concept that every member of the
business has customers.
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- The powerful affect of allowing the outside world access to all areas
of the business.
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- A template for selecting and specifying sales training
requirements.
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- A simple way to assess and evaluate sales training.
The way we do things round here and how it impacts on Customers and Customer Service. Company Culture, put simply, is ‘the way we do things round here’. A fairly innocuous little statement but one that can have a massive impact on the business. While this section is about training and personal development it is really about people. Culture is the philosophy that guides an organisations policy towards employees and customers, the basic assumptions and beliefs that are shared by members of the organisation. Bearing in mind the company culture will have a profound affect on the way we interact with customers, and continuing customer service, the culture is critical to sales. And this culture is largely bought about by the board and management, so it is important to review our internal perceptions of the business from the perspective of the board, senior management and employees. Cultural problems manifest themselves in behaviour and attitude problems - the behaviour and attitude is not the issue to be addressed. Ten significant factors around company culture are highlighted below and form the basis for the Culture Mapping Exercise that follows. 1: Individual Initiative: The degree of responsibility, freedom and independence individuals have. 2: Risk Tolerance: How much are employees encouraged to be proactive, innovative and risk taking? 3: Direction: How much does the organisation create clear objectives and performance expectations? 4: Integration: The degree to which units within the organisation are encouraged to operate in a coordinated manner. 5: Management Contact: The degree to which management provides clear communication, assistance and support for employees. 6: Control: The degree of rules and regulations and the amount of direct supervision used to oversee employee behaviour. 7: Identity: The degree to which members identify with the organisation as a whole rather than their particular group. 8: Conflict Tolerance: How much are employees encouraged to air conflicts and criticisms openly? 9: Communication Patterns: The degree to which organisational communications are restricted to formal line hierarchy of command. 10: Reward System: How much are reward allocations based on employee performance criteria? On the following sheet, map out the answers of Management and Employees separately to define and identify the cultural strengths and weaknesses and the differences between management and employee perception.
Use the ten factors of culture to map where you feel the company is 0 = very low to 10 = very high
1: Individual Initiative 2: Risk Tolerance 3: Direction
4:Integration
5:Management Contact: 6: Control:
7: Identity:
8: Conflict Tolerance: 9:Communicati on Patterns 10: Reward System:
This exercise can be used to develop a plan to improve company culture and the above table should be used by senior management and employees to assess the impact of culture change planning.
Use the ten factors of culture to map where you feel the company is 0 = very low to 10 = very high Perception of Management / Employees Action Plans - To prioritise generally low scores or major differences
1: Individual Initiative
2: Risk Tolerance
3: Direction
4:Integration
5:Management Contact:
6: Control:
7: Identity:
8: Conflict Tolerance:
9: Communication Patterns
10: Reward System:
A tool to identify sales strengths within the sales team The Belbin self perception inventory is primarily used to analyse where people will fit in within a team in general. has adapted this exercise to identify strengths and possible weaknesses in personal ability to be in a sales team, and where they are likely to fit in. In this sense there are no rights and wrongs but merely points for consideration of roles within the sales environment. Belbin self perception inventory adapted by For each of the following sections distribute a total of 10 points among the sentences which you think best describe your behaviour - these can be distributed among several sentences or, in extreme cases, could be given to a single sentence. Then enter the points into the Sales Team Roles Table.
What I believe I can contribute to a team: A) I think I can quickly see and take advantage of new opportunities B) I can work well with a very wide range of people C) Producing ideas is one of my natural assets D) My ability rests in being able to draw people out whenever I detect they have something of value to contribute to group objectives E) My capacity to follow through has much to do with my personal effectiveness F) I am ready to face temporary unpopularity if it leads to worthwhile results in the end G) I am quick to sense what is likely to work in a situation with which I am familiar H) I can offer a reasoned case for alternative courses of action without introducing bias or prejudice If I have a possible shortcoming in teamwork, it could be that: A) I am not at ease unless meetings are well structured and controlled and generally well conducted B) I am inclined to be too generous towards others who have a valid viewpoint that has not been given a proper airing C) I have a tendency to talk a lot once the group gets on to new ideas D) My objective outlook makes it difficult for me to join in readily and enthusiastically with colleagues E) I am sometimes seen as forceful and authoritarian if there is a need to get something done F) I find it difficult to lead from the front, perhaps because I am over responsive to group atmosphere G) I am apt to get caught up in ideas that occur to me and so lose track of what is happening H) My colleagues tend to see me as worrying unnecessarily over detail and the possibility that CAM-CHANGE-07 things may go wrong
When involved in a project with other people: A) I have an aptitude for influencing people without pressurising them B) My general vigilance prevents careless mistakes and omissions being made C) I am ready to press for action to make sure that the meeting does not waste time or lose sight of the main objective D) I can be counted on to contribute something original E) I am always ready to back a good suggestion in the common interest F) I am keen to look for the latest new ideas and developments G) I believe my capacity for cool judgment is appreciated by others H) I can be relied upon to see that all essential work is organised
My characteristic approach to group work is that: A) I have a quiet interest in getting to know colleagues better B) I am not reluctant to challenge the views of others or to hold a minority view myself C) I can usually find a line of argument to refute unsound propositions D) I think I have a talent for making things work once a plan has to be put into operation E) I have a tendency to avoid the obvious and come out with the unexpected F) I bring a touch of perfectionism to any team job that I undertake G) I am ready to make use of contacts outside the group itself H) While I am interested in all views, I have no hesitation in making up my mind once a decision has to be made
I gain satisfaction in a job because: A) I enjoy analysing situations and weighing up all the possible choices B) I am interested in finding practical solutions to problems C) I like to feel I am fostering good working relationships D) I can have strong influence on decisions E) I can meet people who have something new to offer F) I can get people to agree on a necessary course of action G) I feel in my element when I can give a task my full attention H) I like to find a field that stretches my imagination
If I am suddenly given a difficult task with limited time and unfamiliar people: A) I would feel like retiring to a corner to devise a way out of the impasse before developing a line B) I would be ready to work with the person who showed the most positive approach, however difficult he/she might be C) I would find some way of reducing the size of the task by establishing which individuals might be able to contribute D) My natural sense of urgency would help to ensure that we did not fall behind schedule E) I believe I would keep cool and maintain my capacity to think straight F) I would retain steadiness of purpose in spite of the pressures G) I would be prepared to take a positive lead if I felt the group was making no progress H) I would open up discussion with a view to stimulating new thoughts and getting something moving With reference to the problems to which I am subject when working in groups: A) I am apt to show my impatience with those who are obstructing progress B) Others may criticise me for being too analytical and insufficiently intuitive C) My desire to ensure that work is properly done can hold up proceedings D) I tend to get bored rather easily and rely on one or two stimulating members to spark me off E) I find it difficult to get started unless goals are clear F) I am sometimes poor at explaining and clarifying complex points that occur to me G) I am conscious of demanding from others the things I cannot do myself H) I hesitate to get my points across when I run up against real opposition
Now enter the points into the Sales Team Roles Table on the next page
Differing roles for a sales team. Sales is a complex process and and there are differing skills involved in each stage of the process, the roles can differ between different market sectors and products
Leadership Roles
(CH) Good at sales management, not as good at creative sales (SH) Good as team leader to make things happen & deliver results
Chairman Shaper
(RI) Good at pure sales & getting a lead, not at sales management (TW) Good at internal relationships and getting things done
Resource Investigator
Negotiator Roles
Team Worker
Plant
Intellectual Roles
(PL) Source of original solutions & creativity, not at pure sales (ME) Good at technical sales peer to peer, not at pure sales
Monitor Evaluator
(CF) Good at detail, hard working and good at delivering sales (CW) Effective Organiser and with enthusiasm for sales delivery
Completer / Finisher
Manager/Worker
Company Worker
Fill in the scores from the Self Perception Inventory on the table below to identify which roles you most naturally fit SECTION
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Company Worker Chairman
g
a
h
d
b
f
e
d
b
a
h
f
c
g
Shaper
f
e
c
b
d
g
a
Plant
e
g
d
e
h
a
f
Resource Investigator Monitor / Evaluator Team Worker Completer / Finisher
a
c
f
g
e
h
d
h
d
g
c
a
e
b
b
f
e
a
c
b
h
e
h
b
f
g
d
c
TOTAL
TYPE
SYMBOL
TYPICAL FEATURES
POSITIVE QUALITIES
ALLOWABLE WEAKNESSES
Company Worker
CW
Conservative, dutiful, predictable and reliable
Chairman
CH
Steady, patient, self confident and controlled
Possible lack of flexibility which is required for selling, unresponsive to unproven ideas, concern to maintain the status quo No more than ordinary in terms of intellect or the creativity that can be a real bonus for sales
Shaper
SH
Highly strung, outgoing, dynamic
Plant
PL
Individualistic, serious minded, unorthodox
Resource Investigator
RI
Extroverted, enthusiastic, curious, communicative
Organising ability and common sense in selling, works hard at sales and has self discipline A capacity for treating and welcoming all potential contributors on their merits - could be better suited to sales management Absolutely sales orientated with drive and a readiness to challenge inertia / complacency dynamic and creative sales outlook Genius, imagination, intellect, knowledge, usually does the right things - good at technical selling Potentially ideal for sales with a capacity for contacting people and exploring anything new. An ability to respond to a challenge
Monitor / Evaluator
ME
Unemotional, cautious, analytical
Team Worker
TW
Socially orientated, rather mild, sensitive
Completer / Finisher
CF
Painstaking, orderly, conscientious, anxious
Judgement, discretion, hard-headedness, does things right - more suited to customer service than sales
Prone to provocation, irritation and impatience which can hinder customer relations if not kept in check
Up in clouds, inclined to disregard practical details or protocol, out of step with culture and doesn’t always empathise with customers Liable to lose interest once the initial fascination has passed could have a tendency to look for new sales rather than be keen on after sales service and customer management
Could lack the inspiration or ability to motivate others that is required for sales. Over concern with getting things right - too fussy - could be aimed towards customer service An ability to respond to Indecisiveness at moments of people and to situations crisis, being too kind to others and promote team spirit - or over anxious about good person to have individuals - may be better at around in sales back up roles A capacity to follow A tendency to worry about through. Perfectionism - small things, a reluctance to let Could be good at CRM or go - may not be dynamic customer service roles enough for pure sales
Table of norms for self perception inventory
Low 0-33%
Average 33-66%
High 66-85%
Very High 85-100%
Average Score
CW
0-6
7-11
12-16
17-23
10
CH
0-6
7-10
11-13
14-18
8.8
SH
0-8
9-13
14-17
18-36
11.6
PL
0-4
5-8
9-12
13-29
7.3
RI
0-6
7-9
10-11
12-21
7.8
ME
0-5
6-9
10-12
13-19
8.2
TW
0-8
9-12
13-16
17-25
10.9
CF
0-3
4-6
7-9
10-17
5.5
□ The Company Worker: The practical organiser of the sales group and good at customer service, they turn the ideas of the plant and the shaper into manageable tasks, sorting out what is feasible and possible and turning this into sales. They like a stable structure and happily work within a disciplined and well thought out sales team and strategy. Any sudden changes of sales direction may unsettle them. They are extremely down to earth and may be over competitive for status in the group within which they certainly know what’s going on. Possibly more of a leaning towards a sales office or sales office management environment.
□ The Chairman: The social leader of the sales group, they clarify group objectives and set the agenda and may well be ideally suited to sales management in the office or in the field. They are likely to be extrovert, stable and dominant in a relaxed, non aggressive manner. They guide, co-ordinate and set criteria but are unlikely to be very creative in themselves. They are good communicators who can focus people on their strengths and are likely to have the respect of the group members. They are likely to be valuable as respected leaders with an ability to diplomatically smooth over any issues that may be caused by more ‘eager’ colleagues.
Detailed role descriptions
□ The Shaper: The task leader of the sales group, giving shape to the application of team effort, trying to unite ideas and produce patterns. They exhibit the characteristics of an anxious, dominant extrovert; they are full of nervous energy, easily frustrated and quick to challenge and question and to take up challenges. Intolerant of looseness in structure or ideas, they exude self confidence which often belies self doubts. They see the team as themselves, an extension of their own ego, they want to, and do, make things happen. They will often be suited to a sales team leader role although they must resist being too hard on colleagues. They certainly possess drive and sales ability suited to field sales and could be best suited to remaining in pure sales rather than management if the facility exists to reward them sufficiently.
□ The Plant: The ideas person of the sales group, the most imaginative and usually the most intelligent. They are likely to be very product orientated with original, innovative approaches but are themselves more interested in fundamentals and principles than in detail. They can be quite serious minded and are likely to be best suited to technical sales and interacting with customers of a similar intellect as a rapport can sometimes be harder to achieve generally. There is also a danger that they forget what the sales group is there for. They tend not to like criticism of their ideas - when this happens they may react aggressively or withdraw. The Sales Director / Manager may have to work hard to get the best out of them but careful nurturing will encourage their creativity. □ The Resource Investigator: These are potentially the best sales people of all. They are extroverted, enthusiastic and very good at communication. They are quick at developing a network of contacts and are very good at digging out new sales leads. They tend to be immediately likeable, very relaxed and sociable. They work well under the pressure of a sales environment and help maintain enthusiasm and morale. Their enthusiasm may wane as they can quickly lose interest in routine tasks so may not be ideally suited to ongoing customer care or sales office duties. If managed correctly the Resource Investigator can bring absolutely invaluable natural assets to some of the critical areas of the sales process and this is definitely to be encouraged as these are some of the most difficult areas to train people. □ The Monitor Evaluator: These are the analysts of the sales group, they may not produce original ideas but are the best at assimilating, interpreting and evaluating large volumes of data; they are likely to keep the sales activity on the rails towards it’s objective and to stop it from moving in spurious directions. They can be best suited to sales office, sales office management, data analysis and strategic sales planning, being able to judge all sales options upon their genuine merits to the business. They tend to be cool, dispassionate and the least motivated member of the group. This can lower morale when they are allowed to be a damper at the wrong time.
Detailed role descriptions
â–Ą The Team Worker: The mediator within the sales group. They are very sensitive to atmosphere and very aware of individual needs and worries. They are extremely loyal to the team, likeable and popular. They possess a great deal of diplomacy which can be a valuable asset within sales. They build on others ideas, listen and communicate well and encourage the other members. They manage conflict, smooth out difficulties or ruffled egos and their contribution is particularly valuable when the group is in difficulty. They may not be ideally suited to finding and exploiting new leads but are likely to be very good at customer service and ongoing customer support in whatever capacity. They are certainly good people to have around in general. The only thing to be mindful of is a possible tendency to be indecisive because of a desire to please all and worry too much about individuals. â–Ą The Completer/Finisher: The progress chaser of the sales group. They worry about what might go wrong and are only happy when they have personally checked every detail. They always seem to be in a hurry, working to a deadline and are compulsive about order and impatient and intolerant of the more casual and seemingly careless members of the sales group. There is a danger that they might get bogged down in detail (unlike the Plant) and their anxiety might bother the sales group, but they certainly help to keep it to its task schedule. They are likely to be ideally suited to the sales office and can be good at ensuring that deadlines for business as usual and separate project work are adhered to. They can have a tendency to keep their job to themselves and not share too much information, which can be a hindrance to an integrated sales approach.
As previously stated there are no wrong and right answers with this and, indeed, there are no types of personality that are automatically going to be good or bad within the sales set up. It is intended to provide a quick evaluation of where an individual may be best suited to fit in within the set up and the area which would benefit most from their perceived strengths (and accommodate any allowable perceived weaknesses). What I like about the Belbin exercise is the fact that it is a self perception and, while some exercises of this nature can sometimes be skewed by tactical answers, people are likely to unintentionally skew Belbin to be even more like their personality. They may exaggerate slightly what they perceive to be a desirable strength but even the fact that this is believed to be a strength will be revealing as to the personality traits of an individual. As with most exercises of this nature it is recommended that an impartial facilitator carry out the interpretation of results, especially if individuals are known to the business. This will avoid anyone reading into the results what they want to hear to back up their own preconceptions.
An exercise adapted to assess potential sales strengths and weaknesses. Honey and Mumford are best known for their learning style questionnaire - this was developed to give an individual an insight into what form of learning they most benefit from and, therefore, accelerate the learning process. It also allows a person to reflect on their own intuitive style of behaviour and consider different approaches that could be adopted. I have adapted the results of the Honey and Mumford questionnaire to reflect behavioural traits and learning styles within a sales environment. The questionnaire simply involves ticking all boxes that you feel strongly represent your own views.
1) I often take reasonable risks if I feel it justified 2) I tend to solve problems using a step by step approach, avoiding any fanciful ideas 3) I have a reputation for having a no nonsense direct style 4) I often find that actions based on feelings are as sound as those based on careful thought and analysis 5) The key factor in judging a proposed idea or solution is whether it works in practice or not 6) When I hear about a new idea or approach I like to start working out how to apply it in practice as soon as possible 7) I like to follow a self disciplined approach, establish clear routines and logical thinking patterns 8) I take pride in doing a thorough, methodical job 9) I get on best with logical, analytical people, and less well with spontaneous, irrational people 10) I take care over the interpretation of data available to me, and avoid jumping to conclusions 11) I like to reach a decision carefully after weighing up many alternatives 12) I’m attracted more to new, unusual ideas than to practical ones 13) I dislike situations that I cannot fit into a coherent pattern 14) I like to relate my actions to a general principal 15) In meetings I have a reputation of going straight to the point, no matter what others feel
16) I prefer to have as many sources of information as possible - the more data to consider the better 17) Flippant people who don’t take things seriously enough usually irritate me 18) I prefer to respond to events on a spontaneous, flexible basis rather than plan things out in advance 19) I dislike very much having to present my conclusions under the time pressure of tight deadlines, when I could have spent more time thinking about the problem 20) I usually judge other people’s ideas principally on their practical merits 21) I often get irritated by people who want to rush headlong into things 22) The present is much more important than thinking about the past or future 23) I think that decisions based on thorough analysis of all the information are sounder than those based on intuition 24) In meetings I enjoy contributing ideas to the group just as they occur to me 25) On balance I tend to talk more than I should, and ought to develop my listening skills 26) In meetings I get very impatient with people who lose sight of the objectives 27) I I enjoy communicating my ideas and opinions to others 28) People in meetings should be realistic, keep to the point, and avoid indulging in fancy ideas and speculations 29) I like to ponder many alternatives before making up my mind 30) Considering the way my colleagues react in meetings, I reckon on the whole I am more objective and unemotional 31) At meetings I’m more likely to keep in the background, than to take the lead and do most of the talking 32) On balance I prefer to do the listening than the talking 33) Most times I believe the end justifies the means 34) Reaching the group’s objectives and targets should take precedence over individual feelings and objections
35) I do whatever seems necessary to get the job done 36) I quickly get bored with methodical, detailed work 37) I am keen on exploring the basic assumptions, principles and theories underpinning things and events
38) I like meetings to be run on methodical lines, sticking to laid down agendas 39) I steer clear of subjective or ambiguous topics 40) I enjoy the drama and excitement of a crisis
How to score
Put a tick in the appropriate boxes against the statements with which you agreed and add up the totals. Then use the table on the following page to assess your behavioural preferences.
1
4
12
18
22
24
25
27
36
40
Total Activist
8
10
11
16
19
21
23
29
31
32
Total Reflector
21
7
9
13
14
17
30
37
38
39
Total Theorist
3
5
6
15
20
26
28
33
34
35
Total Pragmatist
Activist
Reflector
Theorist
Pragmatist
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
20
20
20
2
1 0
Very Strong Preference
19 19 19
18 18
18 17 16 15 14 13
17 16 15 14 13 12
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Strong Preference Moderate Preference
Low Preference Very Low Preference
Explanation of Behavioural Characteristics adapted to Sales Learning and Sales Performance Activists Activists involves themselves fully and without bias in new experience. They are potentially the ideal nature for sales as they tend to be enthusiastic about new things and enjoy the hear and now. Generally speaking, they are open minded, not sceptical and their philosophy is ‘I’ll try anything once’. They will tend to be very active in seeking out new sales leads and their days are filled with activity. The only issue may be that as soon as the excitement from one activity has died down they are busy looking for the next, as they tend to thrive on the challenge of new experiences, but can get bored with implementation and longer term consolidation. This can lend itself towards field sales and new business development which needs to be managed, rather than sales management or sales office. They are gregarious people, constantly involving themselves with others but, in doing so, they can seek to centre all activities around themselves, which can need some keeping in check.
Explanation of Behavioural Characteristics adapted to Sales Learning and Sales Performance (continued). Reflectors Reflectors like to stand back to ponder experiences and observe them from many different perspectives. As such, this is not likely to be ideal for for sales which relies on a more intuitive and creative approach. Reflectors collect data, both first hand and from others, and prefer to think about it thoroughly before coming to any conclusion. The thorough collection and analysis of data about experiences and events is what counts and this can be better suited for sales strategy or business intelligence. They can, however, have a tendency to postpone reaching definitive conclusions for as long as possible and their philosophy is to be cautious. They are thoughtful people who like to consider all possible angles and implications before making a move. They prefer to take a back seat in meetings and discussions. Their ability to listen to others and get the drift of the discussion before making their own points can be a benefit in terms of strategic analysis and can be useful for sales management but they tend to adopt a low profile and have a slightly distant, tolerant, unruffled air about them. In terms of sales management they can see and act in relationship to the wider picture which includes the past as well as the the present and others observations as well as their own. Theorists Theorists adapt and integrate observations into complex but logically sound theories. This lends itself more to technical sales where the buyer is likely to be on the same intellectual and theoretical level. They also tend more towards problem solving sales rather then any commodity type product. They think problems through in a vertical, step by step logical way. They assimilate disparate facts into coherent theories and this can be valuable if the buyer has a problem to solve. They tend, however, to be perfectionists who won’t rest easy until things are tidy and fit into a rational scheme which is not ideal for dynamic or pure sales. They like to analyse and are keen on principles, theories, models and systems thinking. The drawback in terms of sales is their tendency to be detached and overly analytical but their objectivity can be a benefit in terms of sales strategy and sales office. Their approach to problems is consistently logical. This is their ‘mental set’ and they rigidly reject anything that doesn’t fit with it. Another possible drawback to pure sales is a requirement for certainty and a lack of comfort with subjective judgements, lateral thinking and anything flippant. Pragmatists Pragmatists are keen on trying out ideas, theories and techniques to see if they work in practice and these can be very positive assets in terms of sales at all levels. They positively search out new ideas and take the first opportunity to experiment with applications. They are positive in terms of approaching new leads and good at ongoing customer service. They relish new ideas that they can try out in practice and, as the name suggests, they can get the job done. They like to get on with things and act quickly and confidently on ideas that attract them. In terms of any negativity they do tend to be impatient with ruminating and open ended discussions. They are essentially practical, down to earth people who like making practical decisions and solving problems. They respond to problems and opportunities ‘as a challenge’. Their philosophy is: ‘There is always a better way’ and ‘If it works, it’s good’ and I very much like these philosophies when it comes to sales in any form.
In about 30 seconds draw a farmyard pig on to a post it note or piece of paper The Results : If the pig is drawn towards the top of the paper, you are a positive and optimistic person which
is a major asset for selling : If the pig is drawn towards the middle of the paper, you are a realist which is not a bad thing in
sales but do remember that sales requires a lot of enthusiasm : If the pig is drawn towards the bottom of the paper, you are a pessimist and have a tendency to
behave negatively which are not ideal traits in sales so do think about this : If the pig is facing left, you believe in tradition, are friendly, and remember dates and birthdays -
good assets for sales but consider that sales is also about innovation and creativity : If the pig is facing forward (toward you), you are direct, enjoy playing the devil’s advocate and
neither fear nor avoid discussion, all good traits but consider that sales is also about friendliness, empathy, innovation and creativity : If the pig is facing right, you are innovative and active, but have neither a sense of family, nor
remember dates - the innovation and active nature is ideal for sales but also consider the friendly aspect to sales and the need to ask for the order : If the pig is drawn with many details, you are analytical, cautious and distrustful - being techy
can be a great asset but also consider the emotional side to selling : If the pig is drawn with few details, you are emotional, naive, care little for detail and take risks -|
this can be ideal for sales but do remember to back things up with detail : If the pig is drawn with four legs showing, you are secure, stubborn and stick to your ideals -
good for you, but remember that not everyone is in this position and empathy is a major factor in selling : If the pig is drawn with less than four legs showing, you are insecure, or are living through a
period of major change - try not to let this impact on your sales ability as the buyer needs to feel a sense of security from you to buy : The larger the pig’s ears you have drawn, the better listener you are - a very good thing in
selling / the ear to mouth ratio should be maintained : And last, but not least... The longer the pig’s tail you have drawn, the more satisfied you are
with the quality of your sex life!! Not everything in life is about sales. Of course, it’s just a bit of fun - or is it?
Every person in the business has a customer that needs to be satisfied. The concept of internal customers is long established, but it is worth emphasising, as it can have a real impact on sales culture throughout the business. There can be a tendency in some organisations to think that the only ‘customers’ that need to be looked after are those that are the buyers of our product or service and that, to some extent, it doesn’t really matter what else happens as long as the job gets done. The concept of Internal Customers makes every member of the business a customer of at least one other person or department within the business and the values of customer satisfaction and service can be applied in the same manner as with external customers. This process does, however, have to be applied with a certain amount of delicacy, and probably over a period of time, as there are likely to be people or departments that this will be a completely alien concept to, and who will feel that this is a way of checking up on them. It should be remembered that, at a start up stage, a business can have a very strong internal customer philosophy, but imposing this principal on an established business may be a slower process towards cultural change. A starting point for this process is to map the personnel / departments and their internal and external customers and the customer satisfaction requirements, and possible measurements that could be bought into place with a desirable time scale for this.
Person / Department
Internal / External Customers
Possible measurement of Customer Satisfaction
The powerful affect of allowing access to all areas. This is a bit of a plea on my part which is by no means a necessary state of affairs but, I believe, can be an extremely powerful tool in terms of sales and sales culture. It is primarily concerned with B2B selling, which does not necessarily require a ‘shop front’ but can benefit enormously by being accessible in every way. I have run businesses and visited countless businesses as an adviser - I have also invited visits from potential buyers / procurement officers / directors of businesses I have been seeking to sell to. There is nothing better than having the confidence to allow access to all areas of the business premises. This section also relates to While I totally agree that the official route to all this acceptance is through the routes of ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and even ISO 18001, there can be an opinion that all this is nothing more than sophisticated lip service. When we are dealing with sales we are still, thankfully, talking about people getting to know people and getting to know businesses; and this can involve an element of trust and interaction far beyond an ISO. The benefits, as I see them, for this freedom to roam are below:
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Customer Assurance - Whether your potential customer takes you up on the offer, or not, it creates a level of assurance just to make the offer - an offer to come to your place of work and see every aspect of the business. And if this offer is taken up, there can be a very powerful message in the fact that your business can be accessed in all areas without any doors to the works that you are not allowed to go through. This can create a level of partnership and assurance that is highly desirable.
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Customer Interaction - If you are lucky enough to get potential buyers to come to your place of work you are also lucky enough to have a captive audience - as long as the audience will see what they want to see. A potential customer coming to you is worth a lot more than you going to them, so you must make the absolute most of this, and set up the business to take advantage of it. If a customer or potential customer is even prepared to come to you it is clearly showing you a level of faith, and inviting an opportunity for you to sell to them - they will only need convincing in terms of reassurance. And buyers away from their own place of work are likely to act differently than when they are at their base (especially as you will be spoiling them a bit, in way you couldn’t do at their offices).
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Company Culture - The assumption (even if it is never the reality) that a potential customer will be able to access all areas, can have an affect on company culture. I would like to start every day with the assumption that your biggest customer is going to come round and look at everything you do. To instil a sense of pride in all members of the workforce that they want to show customers what they do is more a case of the board, or management, creating the pride within the workforce, rather than using any heavy handed tactics. You may be surprised at how incredibly good your workforce can be at selling what they do and how well they do it. And if a buyer is interacting at this level and seeing a pride and commitment, this can be a very powerful addition to your sales force.
A template for selecting and specifying sales training requirements. Pretty much all of the content within this manual, and a lot more, can be delivered in the form of Sales Training. Consultancy work can be anything from getting a job done that you don’t have the resources to do, through to coaching and training. Rather than doing things by instinct, it is important that sales training is considered, and that the results will have true benefits for the business, and the benefits should be subsequently measured. Below is a template for the consideration of this training.
Question
Factors for Consideration
This is the main question and the question that will be answered by following the rest of the template. This specification needs to have input from all of those involved from the board / management to the trainees. It needs to identify what it will ‘look like’, what difference it will make and how you will know if it has worked. Who will be involved in This will include anyone on the board or management that are commissioning the training, any other departments that are likely to be the training? affected (eg finance) and, most importantly, the expectations of the trainees - it is desirable for all parties to agree on the nature of training. What must the Sales Training achieve?
What are the time The issues to be considered are the timescale for the training itself, the scales for the training? timescale for follow up and the timescale for measurement of impact assessment. Don’t be too ambitious with time scales. What is the budget?
This will include total budgets for the project and budgets per trainee. Any quotations should include a full cost breakdown including the apportionment of costs between venue, accommodation, materials, design, delivery, evaluation and assessment.
How will you measure There needs to be an agreed measurement for the success. Will this be in terms of extra sales or extra profit or increased customer satisfaction? the success of the are on the next More details for training? page. Identify the best form of delivery for the training. This can be in the form What are the most appropriate learning of seminar, workshop, in the work place (not ideal) and can vary from styles for the trainees? generic to bespoke to the business (this is likely to affect the budget). What characteristics should your Sales Training Provider possess?
How would you describe your ideal sales provider and methods? Consider the values and philosophy and the way that progress and measurement will be reported. Also consider contractual commitments and payment arrangements.
Methods for evaluating the success of sales training. are firm believers in results, their evaluation and returns on investment. Based on the Kirkpatrick four levels of sales evaluation is the evaluation and feedback template.
Evaluation Type (what is
Evaluation Description and
Examples of Evaluation
Practical Relevance
Reaction
How the delegates felt about the training or learning experience, did they enjoy it, feel it was relevant, was it a good use of time, the potential for applying the training.
Satisfaction sheets and feedback forms, verbal reaction surveys and questionnaires.
This is quick and easy to obtain and not expensive to gain or analyse. Positive reaction to the training is desired and the fact that trainees were not disappointed.
Learning
The measurement of the increase in knowledge - before and after. Did the trainee learn what was intended to be learnt, is advancement in the direction intended?
Behaviour
Results
This is relatively easy to Assessment or tests set up and is clear cut before and after the training, interview and for quantifiable skills observation. Methods but less easy for more do need to be aligned complex training such as attitudinal change with the aims of the which requires more training. Reliable investment and scoring is needed for thought to evaluate. consistency The evaluation of Observation and The extent of applied knowledge on the job - interview over time to behavioural change requires a degree of the implementation of assess change, skill from managers / change of relevance there Was the training. directors and well and sustainability of a noticeable and designed systems of measurable change in change. Snapshot assessment from the not are assessments this is and behaviour outset. reliable. sustainable? The effect that the trainee has on the business. This can include turnover, margin, customer satisfaction, return on investment.
These are available through normal management reporting but need to be related to the influence of the trainee and the training.
Quantifiable results can be measured for an individual but the business as a whole can be affected by internal and external changes so there is a need for clear KPIs.
Most businesses think they should sell more, and we agree and can help you achieve this. But 360degree is an unique programme that not only works with you to improve sales but also looks at a rounded overview to ensure that sales growth is achievable and sustainable in terms of finance and the resource and processes within the business.
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- The potential affect that an increase in sales
could have on the finances of the business.
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- Forget profitability for a while and worry about cash flow.
Remember the old adage that Cash is King.
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- How the Sales Forecasts will be included in the business planning and the implications of achieving them.
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- How will current systems cope with growth? - Will the additional skills be available to achieve growth? - Is there the production capacity to supply the growth and what plans
can be made?
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- Awareness and planning for increased demands on suppliers. - The potential impact of sales growth on Customer Service.
The likely effects of Sales Growth on Cash Flow When we talk about Sales Growth it is almost universally assumed amongst businesses that this is a good thing. And to achieve business growth there is a certain inevitability that this will involve selling more. My business is to help companies sell more but there are some cautionary notes and things to consider that even I, through a lot of experience, would say are essential. Before getting on to cash flow, I will mention another couple of measures in terms of growth. When we want to sell more we are actually talking about Revenue Growth - and this is just a reminder that revenue growth (and sometimes quite significantly) can be achieved through charging more for your product or service - see The other factor that needs to be considered before careering headlong into Sales Growth is to consider growth in terms of Profitability. Profitability is, of course, your bottom line and your reason for being in business and it would be foolish to be dramatically increasing sales of products or services that could be more profitable. This is likely to be achieved by the controlling and reducing of costs and overheads and, hopefully, combined with increasing revenue through pricing. So before you increase sales just be aware
At last - we SELL MORE and our problems are over - or are they just beginning? Sales growth is Cash growth and the reality is that it is CASH OUT before it is CASH IN. During a period of sales and business growth it is imperative to understand how the cash flow will work and any shortfalls that may occur when money goes out before it comes in. The working capital requirement to fund sales growth must be seen coming and there needs to be a way to finance this capital requirement. The good news is that if you have any sort of understanding of the finances of the business then cash flow forecasting for sales growth should not be rocket science. The bad news is that if you don’t have this sort of understanding then this is BAD NEWS. Even if it is not your direct responsibility to control the financial implications of growth you should, at least, be aware of the implications and the potential effects on cash flow. The simple fact is that, generally speaking, businesses do not go bust through a lack of profitability, or even through a lack of orders - they go bust because of a lack of money. Someone, somewhere needs to be producing Cash Flow Forecasts (see the next page) to review what implications all of this sales growth will have on the finances. And when your sales go through the roof and everything seems great will you be financing this in terms of cash and the buying in of resources to the point where your gross profitability is actually non existent. The thing to be avoiding here is overtrading - when a business expands so quickly that it does not have enough capital to pay it’s debts / wages / expenses etc. - what was, at first, seen as a nice problem to have can, if not allowed for, lead to potential liquidation.
Forget profitability for a while and worry about cash flow. Remember the old adage that Cash is King. As we have previously mentioned, lack of profitability is bad as the profits are one of the biggest reasons that we do all this. So if we accept that lack of profitability is bad then lets think about something that could be catastrophic - a lack of cash. I refer to the adage that ‘Cash is King’ above but I think the true meaning and implication of this saying are often misunderstood. You can have profitability in terms of lovely looking Profit and Loss sheets but if the cash isn’t there to pay for growth then you are sunk and risk overtrading. Even if you are not going to produce Cash Flow Forecasts yourself, the principles need to be understood, and you need to ensure that someone is doing them. They are basically, as the name suggests, just an illustration of the anticipated flow of cash in and out of the business on a monthly basis and should highlight any points at which there is a cash requirement that may not be able to be fulfilled by the current cash within the business. These need to be foreseen as much in advance as possible and financial arrangements be made to accommodate this cash shortfall. If they can be foreseen and there are arrangements in place then this should not be a problem at all. The principles of the cash flow forecast are given below - templates are available to produce these and accountants or other financial advisers (including associates of ) can assist. This will not be part of an accountants general duties on your behalf so you need to ensure that someone is carrying out this analysis: For at least the next 12 months (and the figures done for every month) the following needs to be calculated: Receipts: Cash sales, Cash from Debtors, VAT Repayment, other income, Bank Loan, Capital introduced, HP Loans, Family Loans, Grants etc. MONEY IN Payments: Payments to Creditors, cash purchases, Employment costs, Drawings, PAYE/NCI, VAT payments, Corporation Tax, Mortgage payments, Rent, Rates / Water Rates, Heat Light and Power, Telecoms, Postage and Carriage, Stationery, Advertising, Motor and Travel expenses, Repairs and Renewals, Professional Fees, Insurance, Licences, General expenses, Bank charges and interest, Leasing costs, Equipment expenditure, Bank loan repayments, Family loan repayments MONEY OUT Net Cash Flow:
THE DIFFERENCE + or -
Opening Bank Balance:
£oo0.00?
Closing Bank Balance:
£000.00?
There are possibly two main differences here from the Profit and Loss that is likely to be carried out. The inclusion of the Opening and Closing Bank balance should highlight any periods where there could be a shortfall in capital. The other being the element of forecasting - no matter how ‘live’ the Profit and Loss is it tends to be a retrospective measure of what has happened or is currently happening. For a growth business it is forecasting and measuring against the forecasts that is key.
How the Sales Forecasts will be included in the business planning and the implications of achieving them. Having looked at Cash Flow and its implications on the business in terms of not being able to fill holes in the cash requirement, we move neatly into the financial area of - the dreaded Sales Forecasts. Often seen as hopelessly optimistic so why were they there anyway, the Sales Forecast, in my opinion, is the critical factor of any business plan. It is by far the biggest potential variable in the plan and surely the one most likely to ‘let the side down’. The reality is that if these sales forecasts have been factored into finance, of whatever form, they probably need to be achieved to provide the repayments for debt or achieve the drawing down of grants. I have been involved in many, many deals that completely stack up and have attracted some serious finance and, within a few pounds or pence, the figures have all been achieved and realistic - the capital investment cost what it was supposed to, and worked in the way it said, the IPR was intact, the people and skills were there, the finance was available at the agreed times. BUT the major variable that is often hopelessly optimistic are the sales forecasts that have been built into the business plan. The first hurdle to a major growth project is the raising of finance - if this cannot be achieved then the project can’t go ahead. While this is bad news it is unlikely to have any really serious consequences for the business - in fact you could argue that it has prevented serious consequences. The second hurdle, and the one with the serious implications, is the achievement of the sales forecasts. This is the thing that could be predicted as 10,000 but, in reality, turn out to be less than 1,000 - nothing else in the forecast is likely to be anywhere near this way out. The problem with sales forecasting is that it can be derived from a number of different sources. And the first source is pure optimism and a complete lack of proper market research. This is why the sections on and are so important - optimism based on mates anecdotal evidence and the the things you like and must surely sell are just not good enough to enter as sales forecasts for business planning. Another thing to be wary of are sales forecasts in business plans that have been ‘manipulated’ to attract finance - especially if some of the finance is dependent upon hitting certain targets. A ‘finance ready’ plan, be it done by you or by a third party agent, is likely to err on the best case sales figures in order to attract the finance but you had better not fall for them yourself. Your actual (internal) business plan should be factoring in a less than best case scenario and a downright rubbish, worse case scenario. The thing to remember about sales forecasts is that they must be realistic, as realistic as humanly possible. There could be an argument for working them out the best you think and then halving them! And the thing that is almost certain is that if you start getting behind on the forecasts, even the worse case ones, then it is usually pretty foolhardy to think that you will make this back with a later surge of sales. If you think that any growth curves can be pushed back and get steeper and steeper you had better have a very good reason for thinking this. Or you had better re consider financial plans and have contingencies for finance in place - or possibly get in extra resource in terms of sales consultancy to get things on track. Tick any other boxes that you want but, to my way of thinking, there is no business today without sales, there is no business in the future without more sales and there is no way of real business growth without lots more sales.
When I am talking about the effect I am really talking about the effects of growth - as is primarily concerned with Sales Growth the impact we are considering is what future proofing is in place for the other areas of the business to accommodate this growth? In addition to the potential finance issues already looked at growth will have an impact on the processes and the actual running of the business.
How will current systems cope with growth? If the current systems are only adequate, or worse, currently strained then how will they cope with an increase in sales? The following areas will need to be considered to assess the potential impact of sales growth:
• Administration - The systems currently in place may be adequate for the present level of volume but could they withstand serious levels of growth? It may well be the case that you are using largely manual systems that you hurriedly put in place on day one and that are already a bit outdated. If we are envisaging this upturn in sales this could be a good time to be addressing the administrative function. Impacts are likely to be an increased number of customer accounts (with increased credit insurance if this is carried out), an increase in quotations, volume of invoices, requirement for credit control and getting the money in and (let’s hope not) an increase in complaints.
• Order Processing - Systems will need to be in place to deal with an increased level of traffic in a customer friendly manner. If this is predominantly a telephone operation is the system capable of handling this?
• IT Systems - This may be the time to review the whole functionality of IT within the business. There may be requirements for the back office and IT to be upgraded and more sophisticated software could be put in place to cut down on heavily manual elements of administration. The relevant term to remember, as mentioned above, is ‘customer friendly’ - any automation and more software based approach must not take away from the personal touch and the flexibility in terms of delighting the customer. This is one advantage that SMEs should always retain over the corporates.
Will the additional skills be available to achieve growth? An increase in sales is likely to require some increase in human resources. The relevance to this is not limited to finance and costs. While an increase in staff will have financial implications, either in terms of fixed costs for employees or higher unit costs for temporary labour, the greater implication could be the actual availability of the labour required, particularly if there are any specialist skill requirements. This is one advantage of up skilling your existing staff either through in house or external training. Future Proofing the HR for growth should include an analysis of the likely HR requirements and a plan that identifies the sources and availability of labour and skills. Sub contractors and temporary labour should be considered in terms of flexibility but the costs will need to be factored into the profitability.
Is there enough production capacity to supply the growth and what plans can be made? Does existing production capacity exist for a significant increase in sales? If the reason for the need to increase sales is because production is not at full capacity (which is often the case) then this is not likely to be an issue. But if the sales growth is to go hand in hand with increasing the production capacity then this will need careful management. There may be instances where the production can be streamlined or mechanised to increase productivity but, leaving aside the financial implications, the time scales involved, particularly for capital equipment must be recognised. Forward production scheduling will need to factor in the anticipated increase requirement and it is likely that there will need to be close cooperation between different departments to ensure that ‘buy in’ is gained to meet the levels of supply.
Awareness and Planning for increased demands on Suppliers. This will be a consideration for any form of business. Clearly if you are buying and selling (wholesale or retail) then the supply is paramount and the supply and order volume agreements will be a key factor to the business, particularly if you are taking orders in advance of getting supplies. Manufacturing, in any form, is also particularly reliant upon the quality and consistency of its’ supply chain. What could be consistent at the current level of component supply may become an issue if this supply was to be increased. Are then any alternative suppliers for your products or components and should you start using them in conjunction with current suppliers? The supply chain, under any circumstances, should be very carefully managed but in a period of rapid growth this becomes particularly important. All suppliers should be listed, contacted to agree the availability of additional supplies if required (and obviously any discounts that can be gained for ordering more!). Alternative suppliers should be identified, where possible, and particularly where there may be doubts about the capacity of existing ones.
The potential impact of Sales Growth on Customer Service. All the above can possibly be muddled through one way or another - the systems may just about cope (most of the time), the staff work themselves into the ground, the production happens somehow, components were sourced from somewhere in a hurry and seemed pretty OK - and the business and the sales are booming! Great! Now lets consider the likely impact on customer service and retention. In a period of rapid Sales Growth there can be a tendency to think that you can do no wrong and customers are easy to come by - now let’s see how quickly you can lose them! The old line often trotted out is about ‘being a victim of our own success’ (which is probably just bad management). Have you really got a product so good, and so unique, and so irreplaceable that its’ deterioration through hurriedly increased production, extended lead times and poor customer service will see the customers coming back for more? I take my hat off to you if you have, but you still may find that, when an alternative comes along, the customers will soon disappear. The most important thing to remember is that the business will live or die by customers and sales.
The index for some of the mumbo jumbo that we sometimes speak without knowing it. Although I never thought I would be, I am now as guilty as the next person when it comes to taking for granted some of the business jargon and three letter acronyms that abound in business. This is my glossary of terms, not necessarily always a dictionary definition, but the way I interpret these terms and have used them within this book. - a third party that promotes or sells your product (usually to a group of customers that they already have a relationship with) while you retain your brand and handle the financial transaction - business to business transactions that take place between companies or business to consumer transactions i.e., selling to the public. - the selection of a supplier by asking (often three) potential suppliers to present their services and recommendations to your business. - measuring certain quantifiable things about your business and comparing them to data available about other businesses in the same sector - this can be misleading and, partly due to different accountancy practices, it is not always a true way of making comparisons. Many advisers will tell you to only worry about what you are doing - don’t worry too much about others. - a successful business in a market that is not growing that will not benefit from any significant further investment - so it is just milked for cash (with cost control). - asking for, and receiving, the order. - Content Management System: The ability to manage your own content on an established ecommerce platform that has been designed to suit your needs by your ecommerce supplier. - an exclusive set of rights granted to the creator of an original work for a limited period of time in return for public disclosure. Rights include the right to copy, distribute and adapt the work. - identifying, and selling, other products or services within your portfolio to sell to existing customers - good strategy in terms of marketing risk. - a customer that can act as a sales force and distribution channel and could be breaking bulk (eg buying full loads to then sell smaller quantities to end users). The distributor will handle the financial transaction which will also reduce administration. - an early customer for a product or technology - early adopters can often be used for feedback to refine the product. - a short statement that clearly explains what your business does. - a phrase I coined when everyone was obsessed with USP (unique selling point or proposition), the honeymoon USP is a business opportunity that CAN be copied but by being the first to market can carve out a niche and enjoy a head start of sales success. - Intellectual Property Rights - the group terms for legal rights granted to supply a certain product the design of which is the property of the business - this would include Patents, Copyright, European Design Rights, and the list goes on. - key performance indicator - a specific measure goal that is considered to be key to the success of the business (these are also described as critical success factors). - a group of customers that will be the most receptive to a product - see also ‘early adopter’. - Leadership And Management Advisory Service - can potentially provide financial support for board level coaching or expert advice. - management buy out, the selling of a business to a team of employees (often done over a period of time) to enable the current owner, or owners, to exit the business.
The index for some of the mumbo jumbo that we sometimes speak without knowing it. - new product development - pretty much what it says on the tin. - open source software (OSS) is where the source coding is publically available and users can adapt, change and often distribute the software. - rights granted to inventions of a technical nature that basically cover ‘how things work’ - the patent can stop others from making, using or selling the patented product for a specified period of time. - a list of potential customers that are in the sales process but are yet to place an order - the transformation of a set of inputs into desired outputs through a series of linked steps. - potential customers that have already shown some form of interest in your product or service. - the symbol used to denote a Registered Trade Mark which is covered by the protection of law. - (noun or verb) a defined sub division of a market sector. - Search Engine Optimisation. The often dark art of your web site being found through google™ and other search engines. - small to medium enterprise, currently defined as a business with less than 250 employees and a balance sheet of less than £43 million assets. - the use of internet blogging and networking sites to raise awareness of your product - someone that will not directly purchase or use your product or service but will ‘specify’ the use of it to others (e.g. An Architect) - a defined list of companies or people that would appear to have the ability and desire to buy your product or service. - the symbol used to denote an unregistered trademark. Generally speaking this is not covered by the protection afforded to a Registered Trademark but there can be rights associated if the product has a very significant position within the market (see registered trademark). - a way of testing the proposition and the buyers intent by asking a leading question - must be used with care as can look clumsy - the process of more of, or a more expensive version, of what was originally being enquired about - generally sound business but care should be taken if you have no intention of selling the product at the headline price and are only looking to up sell, this can range from clumsy to illegal. - unique perceived benefit, a mechanism of modern selling techniques. It is the equivalent of the USP as seen from the customer - what truly benefits them? - unique selling point, nice if you truly have one, would often relate to the ownership of Intellectual Property or unique processes or systems. As this comes from the product angle it has been superceded, to some extent by UPB which comes at it from the customer perspective. - one of the biggest things that will affect the capability of your business to sell more, more profitably is the value that is added between the inputs and the finished product or service.
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www.360degreesales.co.uk Contact Peter Cattermole on 07500 038358
www.360degree
.co.uk