NZSALES JANUARY | ISSUE 102
Managing Remote Sales Teams Page 8
NZ’S E-MAG FOR SALES LEADERS | WWW.NZSALESMANAGER.CO.NZ
From the Editor H “
appy New Year, and I trust the year is off to a good start for you. I came across these words from Neil Gaiman the other day, which work for me, and I hope for you too: I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're Doing Something. So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make new mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes.
Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life. Whatever it is you're scared of doing, Do it. Make your mistakes, next year and forever.”
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RICHARD LIEW www.nzsalesmanager.co.nz Managing Director
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ABOUT Short and sharp, New Zealand Sales Manager is a free e-magazine delivering thought provoking and enlightening articles, and industry news and information to forward-thinking sales managers, business owners and sales professionals. 02 |
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ISSN 2230-4762 EDITOR Paul Newsom GROUP EDITOR Richard Liew
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contents
JANUARY THIS MONTH'S MUST READ...............................................................................................................6 MANAGING REMOTE SALES TEAMS
THE MOST IMPORTANT JOB IN SALES........................................................................................12 CAN YOUR POWERPOINT PRESENTATION RIVAL TV ADVERTISING?..............................16
TWO MINUTE TOP-UP.......................................................................................................................20 HOW BADLY IS THE 'LOSS AVERSION SYNDROME' HURTING YOUR SALES SUCCESS?
BOOK REVIEW...................................................................................................................................22 Stronger: Develop the Resilience You Need to Succeed by George S. Everly Jr
QUICK FIX..........................................................................................................................................23 It’s not what you sell, it’s how you sell
EVENTS CALENDAR...........................................................................................................................24 DID YOU KNOW?................................................................................................................................24 THE CLOSE........................................................................................................................................25
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MUSTREAD
Managing Remote Sales Teams Words by Tracey Christian
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f you work in sales, then managing a remote team is often simply a fact of life. And while working with a distributed team is never ideal, there are ways to make it work effectively. Here are a few suggestions that can make your remote sales team run like a well-oiled machine:
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Begin with the Best Employees It might sound obvious, but one of the best ways to keep your entire team on task is to assemble a team of employees who are driven and good at remaining on task. If you aren’t around to oversee the team at all times, then it becomes that much more important to find the absolute best employees. In the best case scenario, your team will need almost no motivation to stay focused. In the worst case, you will be able to provide all the oversight they require, even during your minimal interactions with them. Either way, it’s important to embrace the fact that you won’t be able to oversee your employees all the time, and hire people who work well independently.
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Set Clear Priorities and Goals One of the most common complaints employees have is that their managers have not given them clear, direct goals. This is trouble for any business, but especially for a distributed team in which employees are working with minimal supervision. When goals are vague or non-existent, two major problems can arise. First, it’s difficult for employees to stay on task because they aren’t even sure what their task is. Second, employees become frustrated by the uncertainty about what they are supposed to do. This is particularly problematic among the most driven and determined employees since they more than others genuinely want to do their work. If you are managing a remote team, you can avoid this by simply articulating very clear goals and directions, both for the short and long-term. This ensures that your employees feel a sense of purpose and that they always understand what their next task is, and don’t waste time waiting around for directions. www.nzsalesmanager.co.nz |
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Use Time Tracking Software Along with tracking your employees’ tasks, you should track the time they spend on particular tasks or with individual clients. In the past, this would have required timeconsuming paperwork that was hard to keep organised, especially with your employees on the road all the time. But with the advent of mobile devices and cloud software, Use Task-Tracking Software time tracking is easier than Building on the previous point, remote teams are perfect ever. Systems like Harvest candidates for using task-tracking software like Google Tasks, allow your employees to Campfire or a CRM system such as ZOHO. track minutes they spend on These products are cloud-hosted and allow you and your anything, no matter where they employees to create shared 'to-do' lists, which are accessible are, simply by tapping a button and editable from anywhere. Using task-tracking software, you on an app on their phone. Not can quickly assign work to one or more employees, and they will only is it easy for them to use, receive an immediate notification on their mobile device. but as a manager, you can see their timesheets updating Then, they can refer to the task later on for more information in real time. If you need to about what you need from them. You can even 'chat' about a particular assignment by leaving messages or attaching files invoice a client on an hourly to that assignment’s page within the app. In this way, the taskbasis, you can easily export tracking software serves as an appropriate source of information your employees time entries about what you need your team to achieve. as invoices. And if you want to You can give them explicit directions from anywhere in the country reimburse your employees for expenses (or bill their expenses or even world, and anything you say or send to them is saved for future reference. If you use software like this well, your employees to your clients), the system will track those too, and then will never find themselves in the situation detailed above, where they are unsure about their next goals or tasks. It also allows you add them to invoices or your employee’s payslips. to monitor when a task becomes overdue.
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Use Internal Messaging Software To further coordinate your company’s sales activity, you should have a company-wide messaging system that allows you to voice chat and SMS with your employees, either individually or in groups. Some services will provide this functionality, but perhaps the most famous is Skype. Although mostly thought of as a means to video chat and make phone calls through your computer, Skype has mobile apps and an excellent text messaging ability. Its user interface makes it easy for sales teams to chat with each other, either individually or collectively. And the VoIP calling system, which allows calls to be placed over the Internet, can save on your phone bill, particularly if your team works over a wide geographic area.
Along with tracking your employees’ tasks, you should track the time they spend on particular tasks Coordinate Your Sales Team with CRM Software or with individual The last piece of your management puzzle is finding a good CRM or customer relationship management system. A CRM will let you clients... with the track sales leads as your team cultivates them and turns them into advent of mobile actual customers, and then manage your sales communications devices and cloud with them, once they are paying customers. By checking your software, time CRM, you can see how a particular lead or customer responded to a phone call, a face to face visit, or an email. Over time, the system tracking is easier accumulates data that can then be used to determine how your than ever. If you team should handle a particular client for example. need to invoice a As the attitude of operating out of a single office change and more client on an hourly businesses save money and engage employees with a flexible and basis, you can dynamic working lifestyle it is becoming more important to find easily export your ways to manage remote teams. Getting the most out of a team that can’t be directly overseen isn’t a recipe for disaster so long as employees time you use some of the suggestions in this article. • entries as invoices
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www.themarketingcompany.co.nz
The Marketing Company are passionate about helping others succeed in business, coupled with achieving record-breaking sales. Tracey Christian is their General Manager. www.nzsalesmanager.co.nz
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The Most Important Job in Sales Words by Miles Valentine
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recently had a terrible 'AHA' moment, a moment where I realised I’d messed up, for a long time. I suddenly knew that sales recruitment was probably one of the most important things I’d ever done. I’ve often viewed it as a chore, and a chore that I haven't put enough emphasis on. I’ve asked impromptu, hastily thought of questions, done too much talking, relied on the halo effect (allowed one or two things to make up my mind), and relied on references amongst a bunch of other dumb things. About the only thing, I’ve done right is the psychometric and aptitude testing.
Most people rely on the wrong things – CVs and references. Whoever gives the name of a bad reference? Maybe we need to ask, “Can you give me a reference for someone you didn’t get on so well with at your last role?” That could be interesting. I like Mark Roberge’s model he outlines in his book 'The Sales Acceleration Formula'. He uses a role-playing technique for much of the first interview, getting the candidate to 'sell' to him. Depending upon how they handle it (they had better start by qualifying him) he then coaches them and gets them to do it again. He gets to learn what their core sales skills are like, how coachable they are and how quick they are on the uptake. The more I think about this, the more I like it as an interview technique. You can learn so much from this one stage. So, if you’re a salesperson reading this, take that on board. Always start with the qualification phase. You should also be prepared with your list of questions.
Most people rely on the wrong things – CVs and references. Whoever gives the name of a bad reference? Maybe we need to ask, So what is this article about? It’s “Can you give me a reference for someone you didn’t get on so well with at your last role?” That could be interesting. Apparently you’re about the importance of good not allowed legally to use an unintroduced reference – really!!?? recruiting. It’s about making And a technique that I learnt in the US, where the candidate sure you’re prepared, and if you’re a sales guy or girl you’re needs to prove their existing income. How many times has a going to get a free lesson on how manager heard that they need to match a package that sounds 'just too good'. to interview better! www.nzsalesmanager.co.nz
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“Ok, well, I may be prepared to match that, but I need to see your W2 (your IR5 in NZ tax terms)". If you were so much over quota and targets (that your CV or resume says you were) and your base was that high, your tax form will prove that, right? So, telling them from the outset that you want proof of existing income is an interesting test too, isn’t it! But the thing that I’m going to change, in fact, I’ve done it already with an interview this past week, is around my preparation. I am going to spend the time preparing my situational questions, I’m going to probe more, I’m going to not allow answers that say “we did this and that”. I will be asking what was 'your' specific role in the 'we' part.
I’m going to hire more slowly, ask better questions, observe more behaviours, continue testing and be more consistent in my appraisals of candidates. This goes beyond just hiring for sales. It extends to every role. I’m going to hire more slowly, ask better questions, observe more behaviours, continue testing and be more consistent in my appraisals of candidates. This goes beyond just hiring for sales. It extends to every role. The good news is that I’ve always tried to surround myself with people who are better than me, and I realised that having a strong team is one of our biggest roles in senior management. I was just always in a hurry when it came to sales people. If you’re a sales person reading this and preparing for an interview, you need to be prepared. Prepared with research on your prospective company, manager and their manager. You need to be ready to 'sell me this pen' by understanding the power of qualification questions and how to use them. But most importantly you will have educated yourself (by reading books, listening to podcasts, watching Jeffrey Gitomer on YouTube as examples) as to how to be in that top 5% of salespeople. When you’ve done that, this stuff all comes naturally because you do it every day. •
www.salessyndicate.co.nz
Miles Valentine is a serial technology entrepreneur, sales expert and co-founder of The Sales Syndicate. 012 |
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Can your Powerpoint Presentation Rival TV Advertising? Words by Sean D’Souza
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o you ever wonder why some PowerPoint Presentations are so much better than others? Why do some have incredible powers of persuasion, while others only bore you to death? TV commercials use these marketing strategies to hold and fascinate their viewers. You can too if you follow these tried and proven techniques.
Step 1: Kaboom Them Into Waking Up! Ever noticed how most presentations start with, “Welcome to this presentation…blah, blah, blah.” You don’t see too many TV ads do that. They slam into you at a zillion miles an hour and make sure you’re paying attention. So How Do YOU Do That When You Don’t Have A Moving Picture? The trick is to start with something that’s entirely disconnected with the presentation. For instance, you could be selling cars, yet you could start with, “One day in heaven…” That’s a real wake-up call for an audience that’s half asleep. You’re selling cars aren’t you? What has heaven got to do with cars? The dissonance of the idea has forced their attention. Now that you’ve got their attention, you’ve got to gently massage your message into it. For example, you could just suggest that God created man, woman, and then gave them a car. And that is only the start.
Step 2: Always Tell A Story Did you see Titanic, directed by James Cameron? Couldn’t you tell that story with reasonable accuracy? Most people can. All our movie and great TV commercials are in a story format. Do the same with your presentation. Think it through. Build up a story first, and then work your presentation into it. It will not only give your presentation some focus (and storyline) but will make it easier for your audience to remember the sequence of what you’re saying. For instance, where are Adam and Eve going in the car? Did they have a breakdown? How well does the air-conditioning work as they drive through the desert? www.nzsalesmanager.co.nz |
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Step 3: Use Suspense, Not Mystery Alfred Hitchcock was a master of suspense. He told you who the murderer was right at the start. So you and everyone in the audience knew who was going to kill whom. Everyone in the theatre knew, except the hero (or heroine), who was going to get killed. And that drove you crazy. How could they be so dumb? You all knew who the killer was. Why couldn’t the hero see it? That’s what kept you riveted to the screen the whole 90 minutes. If you establish the characters in your presentation early and work in an element of suspense, you can keep the audience on the edge of their seats.
Step 5: Reduce Risk Why do people say, “I’d like to Step 4: Don’t Bore Them with Your think about it?” The only reason Solutions. Bring Up the Problem! is that you haven’t reduced the Most communication harps languidly around solutions. You don’t risk to minus fifty. While there is want to do that. Look around you. People are obsessed with problems. risk, my brain is still doing a RAM They don’t walk around all excited and happy. Most people walk check. If there is no risk, I’ve got around with their heads in their hands. When you bring up their nothing to lose. particular problem they snap out of their slumber in a mighty hurry So, how can you reduce risk? and pay attention to what you’re saying. TV ads give money back What you need to do first is bring up that problem — and bring it up in all its glory! Paint a gory picture. You might want to read my article: Is your solution your biggest problem? Only after you have made them feel the pain, should you bring out the solution. The best TV commercials always make you feel the pain. As they say, “No pain, no gain.” Learn that, and use it. 016 |
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guarantees, trial periods, free test drives. Surely you can be more imaginative than some ad guy. Get that risk down low, like a limbo rocker. How low can you go?
Step 6: Let Your Audience Know They’re Not Guinea Pigs Hey! If you’ve got a product to sell, and you’re not using testimonials, you’re missing out big time. Even if the product is yet to be launched, you can have pre-launch tests. It all builds up expectations for your final pitch. This is also another form of risk reduction. If someone else has used your product or service and fallen in love with it, you need to go into the nitty gritty of that love story.
Step 7: Close the #@US$%*&^ Sale! I don’t know how many times I’ve seen a beautiful presentation that takes me to cloud nine and leaves me there wondering, how I’m going to get back to earth. You’ve got to close the sale! Every presentation should end with a call to action and decision on the client’s part. There are a zillion books and tapes on closing a sale out there. Brian Tracy has some amazing audio tapes on Winning Closing Techniques . Learn from the pros, and turn a la dee dah presentation into a full-blooded sale!
Step 8: Bring on a Quirky Finale! Every movie and every ad does it. They wrap it up in a way you never expect. There’s nothing worse than building up expectations, answering all the questions, and then having a weak ending. Your end has to be like lightning — unexpected, brief and brilliant! It will ensure that your product or service (or quarterly report for that matter) gets maximum attention. Otherwise, you’re just making a point with no power! •
www.psychotactics.com
Sean D’Souza helps you understand why your customers buy, and why they don’t. www.nzsalesmanager.co.nz
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TWOMINUTETOPUP
How Badly is the 'Loss Aversion Syndrome' Hurting Your Sales Success? Words by Jill Konrath
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et me ask you a question: What impacts people more – the threat of loss or, the possibility of gain? Recently I read a fascinating story, about a professor, that sheds some light on this.
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What Happened to Common Sense? The Experiment It all starts with the auction of a $20 bill to a group. There are only three simple rules. 1. All bids need to be in $1 increments.
Why would seemingly intelligent people (like you and me) do this to ourselves? Two reasons. Loss aversion – which is much more powerful than gain. But also, impacting this behavior is a commitment to the path they’re on. The end result? They get caught doing irrational things that hurt them. Certainly we can use a 'loss aversion' strategy with our prospects. But today I want to focus on YOU.
2. The highest bidder wins. 3. The 2nd highest bidder still has to pay up. In short, he loses. Whenever he conducts this experiment, people jump right in. After all, it’s a great deal, again, to get a $20 bill for two bucks. But, at about the $12 to $16 dollar mark, people start seeing that they’re caught in a trap. When the bidding hits the $20 phase, it’s all about loss. Yet, believe it or not, the bidding continues, often up into the hundreds of dollars. And, this happens every single time he does this experiment.
How Loss Aversion Hurts Your Sales Research by SBI, a sales & marketing consultancy, shows that each month 60% of forecasted deals fail to close. I’m talking forecasted deals. How could this be? You’re no dummy when you forecast them. The truth of it is, that’s the loss aversion syndrome at work. We don’t want to lose good prospects, especially after we’ve invested so much time and effort working with them. So we mistakenly, and irrationally, keep thinking they’re going to close. Usually, they don’t. The longer it takes to close a sale, the less likely it’s ever going to happen.
The Challenge So here’s my challenge to you today. Look at that pipeline of yours. What’s real and what’s not? Get rid of those prospects that you’re hanging onto. When you do that, you’ll open the door for new opportunities to come in. And that will have a big impact on your sales success. •
www.jillkonrath.com
Jill Konrath is an international speaker, and author of three bestselling sales books: Agile Selling, Selling to Big Companies and SNAP Selling. www.nzsalesmanager.co.nz
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RESOURCECORNER
Stronger: Develop the Resilience You Need to Succeed
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rofessional athletes, surgeons, first responders—all perform remarkable feats in the face of intense stress. Why do they thrive under pressure, while others succumb? What separates the two is attitude. Resilient people meet adversity head-on and bounce back from setbacks. They seem to naturally exude an inner strength — but studies show that resilience is something that anyone can build. Analyzing the heroic exploits of U.S. Navy SEALs and others who succeed against all odds, Stronger identifies five factors that combine to unlock deep reserves of personal power: • Active optimism — Believe that you can change things for the better • Decisive action — You can't succeed if you don't take the leap • Moral compass — Face any challenge with clear guiding principles • Relentless tenacity — Try, try again • Interpersonal support — Gain strength from those around you
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Drawing on the unique perspective of a standout team of authors (a stress management expert, a skilled entrepreneur, and a Navy SEAL), Stronger explores the science behind resilience and explains how you can develop this vital trait for yourself. Whatever your profession, today's demanding world calls for a particular kind of strength. This revealing book holds the key.•
Available from Amazon
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By George S. Everly Jr
QUICKFIX
Are You Prepared for 2016?
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o, your 2016 sales plans are done, you are ready to go. What about your personal preparation? Here’s three things you should have ticked off too:
1. Clear out the junk – that’s paper and electronic. Maybe clean the holiday sand out of the car too? 2. Personal development plan – what could you improve upon, and what can you do about it? Don’t just wait for the boss to send the team on a training course. 3. Wardrobe – do you look the part? Look confident and you will feel confident. •
www.nzsalesmanager.co.nz
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EVENTSCALENDAR
DATE
NAME
PLACE
COMPANY
2 Feb
Effective Sales Prospecting
Auckland
PD Training
9 Feb
Overcoming Objections
Auckland
PD Training
16 Feb
Sales Performer
Christchurch
David Forman
16 Feb
Sales Basics
Auckland
Geewiz
16-18 Feb
Advanced Negotiation Skills Auckland
Scotwork
17 Feb
Advanced Serious Selling
Auckland
Geewiz
18 Feb
Negotiation Skills
Auckland
IMNZ
22 Feb
Sales Training
Auckland
PD Training
23 Feb
Sales Performer
Wellington
David Forman
23 Feb
Selling for non salespeople
Auckland
David Forman
DIDYOUKNOW
The typical salary for National Sales Manager roles is: • $130k - Auckland • $125k - Wellington • $110k - Christchurch • 022 |
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THECLOSE
“Why not go out on a limb. That's where the fruit is.” - Will Rogers
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