Winning Edge: January 2017 - Timing it Right

I N ST I T U T E O F SA L E S M A N AG E M E N T

WINNINGEDGE Number 1 2017 | ismprofessional.com | £4.95

R A I S I N G T H E VA L U E O F S A L E S

BEAUTY PARADE WILL PR OS LIKE THE PECTS LO OF YOU? OK

GOING PUBLIC

TIMING IT RIGHT

WINNING IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

CUSTOMER EMPATHY

HOW TO BUILD UNSTOPPABLE SALES MOMENTUM

FACING BUYERS

Make the most of sales meetings

STEPPING INTO THEIR SHOES

WEIGH THEM UP More rules of negotiating

BUILDING VALUE

Redrow elevates its salesforce

success is:

achieving your goal, together.

Over 2 million sales professionals have been enabled by OS Solutions to accelarate sales performance and increase predictable results.

that’s the advantage.

picture that.

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CONTENTS

CONTENTS 32 cover story

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WINNINGEDGE NUMBER 1 – 2017 ismprofessional.com

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3 ISM Foreword 4 Sales Talk The latest sales news and research

6 Smarter Selling Practical advice for sales pros Institute of Sales Management 19 Eastbourne Terrace London W2 6LG Telephone: +44 (0)20 3870 4949 Email: enquiries@ismprofessional.com Website: ismprofessional.com Chief Executive: Jack Mizel Sales Director: Lawrence Rosenberg Head of Partnerships: Thomas Moverley Membership services: Susan Challenger Editorial: Marc Beishon, Tom Nash Design: Del Gentleman Advertising: James Lister Telephone: +44 (0)20 3870 4949 Email: enquiries@ismprofessional.com

11 Tools for the job The latest innovative tech kit

12 Points of view Careers: why to go into sales?

Telemarketing: quality data is key

14 Brexit strategy How to sell well in light of Brexit

20 Unlocking key accounts Identifying more major customers

22 Negotiating Big buyers may not be beautiful

Printed by: Ridgeway Press © ISM 2017. Opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by the ISM. The publishers endeavour to check all facts and figures prior to publication, but are not responsible for errors in material supplied to them for publication. Any article published will automatically be deemed to carry the sole copyright and be the property of the ISM. International Standard Serial No. UK ISSN 1746-6849

26 Face-off time Effective meetings with prospects

30 Educating Redrow How the upmarket housebuilder is building its salesforce

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32 Cover: Sales momentum It’s not just what to do that counts when selling, but when to do it

36 Public sector contracts How to identify public sector business and then secure it

40 Buyer empathy Seeing a sale through buyers’ eyes brings a vital new perspective

44 Prospecting How to woo buyers with an irresistible approach and offer

48 Social media Don’t be a social media outcast as online opportunities burgeon

52 Customer engagement Five key technology trends for successful customer contact

54 Presentations How good sales presenters can make themselves even better

56 Member profile Meet sales guru Andrew Davies WINNING EDGE 1

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INSTITUTE OF SALES MANAGEMENT | EDITORIAL

SALES AS A FORCE FOR GOOD JACK MIZEL is chief executive officer of the Institute of Sales Management (ISM).

JACK MIZEL describes the ISM’s ambitions and progress in spreading the benefits of acquiring sales skills and qualifications

W

elcome to the latest edition of Winning Edge. I am delighted to tell you that ISM membership is steadily growing and our plan to have closer relationships with training partners, rather than just endorsed or accredited centres, is going very well. We have already contracted with five approved training partners and we are confident we will hit our target of 30 in Britain and several hundred internationally.

March marked the first anniversary of my appointment as the ISM’s CEO. One of the things I’ve noticed in my first year is that I’ve had more requests to do interviews on mis-selling or unethical sales behaviour than on any other topic.

My position on this has always been clear: I think mis-selling is an absolute disgrace and a blight on an industry we love. But the fault often doesn’t reside with salespeople; it’s one of management.

Managers often do not invest enough time, effort or money in upskilling salespeople and giving them the tools they need to be as professional and successful as they can be. When you consider that 50-70% of turnover is spent on payroll – and yet companies invest less than 1% in training – the problem becomes crystal clear.

So, in order to tackle this head on, I am advocating, via the ISM, that businesses invest far more in training and development – and we are there to support them through our qualifications, CPD and resource centre. In addition, just as importantly, I’d like to share the long-term vision of the ISM: for sales to be seen as a vital force for good in society. I recently gave a keynote speech at the Sales Innovation Expo at ExCel London,

“I am advocating, via the ISM, that businesses invest far more in training and development” ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM

where this campaign was launched, and where I also announced our charity partners in the initiative.

Our plan is simple but vital: when you consider the attributes a salesperson needs to do their job – and these are things we often take for granted, such as resilience, tenacity, persuasion, the ability to be great listeners, and to be able to nurture and develop relationships – these are not just sales skills but fundamental life skills.

We will train those who are currently disadvantaged in some way: the unemployed, people using food banks, people trying to rehabilitate from prison, recovering drug addicts, and many others. We’re going to do this not only because by being seen to be doing something fundamentally vital to improve society we will have a chance to showcase the profession for all of its virtues – but also because, quite simply, it is the right thing to do.

In April, at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, we are launching our first major regional committee in Scotland, under the auspices of its new chair Iain Rose, who is working very closely with another of our members, Mark Gillanders, and they in turn are being supported by regional media such as the Scottish Business News Network. Part of this outreach programme, this community outreach – Sales as a Force for Good – will be spread far and wide through the regional committees.

However, the ISM’s regional committees are going to do much more than this: they will conduct regular meetings where the best business leaders and sales brains in any particular region will come together to cross-fertilise ideas and network so that business development can flourish.

Here’s wishing you a successful quarter and the start, for many of you, of a fresh financial year.

As ever, the ISM is here to support you.

If you have any questions, or just want to reach out, please feel free to contact me at jmizel@ismprofessional.com WINNING EDGE 3

SALES TALK INDUSTRY NEWS

SALES BEHAVIOUR

TIME TO TURN A DEAF EAR? Ignoring your customers can lead to more successful products STATISTICS

DID YOU KNOW…

34% HOW MANY MORE FIRST-YEAR REPS HIT TARGET IF THEY HAVE HAD POST-TRAINING REINFORCEMENT HOW MUCH MORE

74%

LIKELY POST-TRAINING REINFORCERS ARE TO COLLECT AND SHARE ‘TRIBAL KNOWLEDGE’ TO SUPPORT SALES STAFF

Source: Aberdeen Group report, ‘Once is not enough: Why sales training reinforcement is a must have’

15%

MORE LIKELY THAT TOP SALES LEADERS WILL SUPPORT POST-TRAINING EDUCATION

BUZZWORDS

BRAND VALUE… ... is defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary as, “The financial value of having customers who will pay more for a particular brand. A company’s brand value depends on its reputation.” According to the latest Brand Finance Global 500 report, the world’s most valuable brand is Google, recently ending Apple’s 5-year period at the top. Google’s brand is valued at US$109bn, an increase of 24% during 2016, while Apple’s declined 27% to $107bn.

4 WINNING EDGE

Salespeople are generally well-advised to listen carefully to their customers, but the same advice does not apply to companies when they come to designing products, according to research from Rotterdam School of Management (RSM).

Researchers looked into 132 recent innovation projects and found that including customers in the design process was only a good idea when developing radical innovations designed explicitly around functionality. Projects focused on aesthetics or emotional experiences – so-called “hedonic” experiences – or those tailored to the identity of the user, were more successful when customers were not involved in idea generation.

Jan Van den Ende, RSM’s lead researcher, says, “Developing products in cooperation with customers is currently a very fashionable practice in product design. But studies have yet to show conclusively when this is a good idea.”

He continues, “The results of our study showed that involving customers in product development

led to more market success for radical innovations that were utilitarian. But ‘hedonic’ innovations actually suffered in terms of success when the customer was involved.”

The research found that utilitarian products were better suited to customer cooperation because every step of the design process for such projects requires the company to make decisions on the technical aspects of the product. The customer plays an important role in idea generation and selection, with the company finalising the details.

The success of hedonic products, on the other hand, is generally the result of a complex social process – meaning it is difficult for customers to add value at the design stage.

“The reception of hedonic innovations is a complicated social process. For example, who is rooting for this product? Who hates it? What is the feedback from social media? What do expert reviewers say about it?” says Van Ende.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

TWITTER TWITS?

Top retailers are taking up to 17 hours to respond to Twitter enquiries According to new research, some of the UK’s largest online retailers are taking up to 17 hours to respond to customer enquiries made over Twitter.

Consultancy Brandwatch analysed tweets and responses for the nominated customer service Twitter channels of the UK’s top online retailers, to assess their response rates and speeds.

Arthur Wade, insights analyst at Brandwatch, says, “It’s quite shocking to see some of the average response times, including from some extremely well-known high street tech brands, which should know that it is likely their customers will be

conversing with them over social media.”

He continues, “Because of the immediacy of social media, there is an expectation of a quick response. For any brand to take 17 hours to respond to only half of all incoming customer enquiries on Twitter defeats the purpose of making that channel available. Even if a brand isn’t able to directly resolve a query, it should respond to acknowledge the customer and prevent things escalating. A quick response can also turn an easy-to-solve complaint into a positive, and ultimately you may create a brand ambassador from a complainer.”

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SALES TALK | INDUSTRY NEWS

Talking Point

SHORT SELLING N EW S RO UND- UP

SIMPLE PLEASURES

PHONE HOME “While employees at companies such as Capital One can enjoy ‘sleeping nooks’ in which to take rest breaks during the day, only 7% of UK workers would like sleeping pods in their ideal office. And while Google’s HQ features slides, basketball courts and playground equipment, just 8% of UK workers describe them as a key component of their dream office. What UK workers really want are simple environmental enhancements, such as windows that open to provide fresh air during the working day (49%), and separate eating areas (44%) in which to enjoy their meals away from their desks, in a relaxing social environment.”

Source: Survey of 1,100 UK workers by CartridgePeople.com

TRIBUTE

LOSS OF A LEGEND Sales world mourns ‘master motivator’ Richard Denny, the respected sales author, trainer and self-styled “master of motivation”, has died aged 76.

At his peak, Denny is reputed to have given 180 talks a year, with tens of thousands of salespeople motivated, and sold two million copies of his five books. His first book, Selling to Win, in 1988, made his name and, later, Winning New Business, aimed at professionals such as lawyers, accountants and architects, also became a global bestseller. His legacy continues through his writing, and also through his eponymous company, Denny Training.

A gifted communicator and raconteur, Denny often told a story of how he once wanted to buy a computer and saw three salesmen. “The first one told me about the latest laptop he had, about the gigabytes, megabytes, the lot. The second one did the same. The third came to my house and asked me why I wanted a laptop, what I used it for, and how often. After about half an hour of talking, he said he might have just the thing. He probably only had one laptop in his car all along, but the point was he showed interest in me. And he got the sale.”

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A study by customer insight firm Qualtrics finds 98% of customers across Europe want companies to put contact numbers on their home page or within one click.

SMALL OVERSIGHT

Research by performance marketing specialist Expressly reveals that less than 7% of small-medium businesses advertise on post-checkout pages, purchase confirmation emails or mobile app screens.

Unlike multinationals, SMEs are bypassing less accessible avenues of customer reach.

TOP TOOL PEOPLE MANAGEMENT

SALESPEOPLE SUFFER BULLYING

Companies need systems to tackle the problem Bullying in the workplace is having an adverse effect on sales staff and their businesses, according to sales expert Steven Timberlake.

The founder of sales pipeline management company SalesRadar, Timberlake cites research by the TUC showing almost a third of people claim they have been bullied at work, with 22% taking time off. “These are alarming figures, and high pressure positions such as sales, which have a big staff turnover, are particularly susceptible,” he says. “Bullying needs nipping in the bud before it becomes a huge problem leading to sick leave, tribunals and companies having the morale of their salesforce sapped.”

He adds, “Companies need to spend more time educating their workforce and build in codes of conduct into their organisation, so salespeople can work under pressure without the negative repercussions that can occur in such environments.”

Outside In Sales & Marketing’s (OISM) Dealsheet and its supporting selling tools have been recognised as a Top Sales Tool of 2016 by Smart Selling Tools. OISM’s managing director, Garry Mansfield, a Winning Edge contributor, describes DealSheet as, “an easy-to-use CRM application, helping sales teams to manage their opportunities better.”

SALES CONSULTANCY

OlsenMetrix Marketing has launched a sales consultancy division to help clients get the full benefits of their marketing activities. The new service is headed by sales strategist and trainer Alan Crouch.

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Online media coverage can be far more effective than search engine optimisation (SEO) at driving sales via generic Google search, according to media evaluation conducted by Crescendo Consulting.

OBJECTIONS IN HAND

A new application that helps you record and handle objections during a sales call or meeting has been launched by a firm called Closing Steps. The app allows you to record each point of interest and objection expressed by prospects.

GUIDE LINES

SRA Books has published new business advice books, including The Authority Guide to Presenting and Public Speaking by Steve Bustin, and The Authority Guide to Trusted Selling by Paul Avins.

WIIFM?

A survey by One4all suggests that one in four UK consumers asks ‘what’s in it for me?’ (WIIFM), expecting to be offered a gift or offer in exchange for their brand loyalty.

WINNING EDGE 5

SMARTER SELLING

LEAD MANAGEMENT

SORT YOUR CLIENTS OUT Shweta Jhajharia describes the five features of a qualified sales lead your prospects. Who among them has the worst problem that you can solve? That person is the one who is most likely to convert – because they need your help the most. Request prospects (in an automated way) to submit further information about their request for your solution, so you can better identify their level of need – and check that they actually have the problem you are solving.

3) THEY HAVE SUFFICIENT AUTHORITY TO MAKE DECISIONS

Before you use up any of your time, or your sales team’s time, you should always make sure that a buying decision can be made at the sales meeting – even if it won’t necessarily be made then. This is usually incorporated into condition 2 above – have them answer the question, “Who needs to be present to make the decisions in your business?”

Only book an appointment when all the necessary decision-makers can be present.

T

he goal of a sales machine is to be a pre-qualifying process. It should ensure that before the sales team picks up the phone, the person on the other end of the line is someone who is already appropriate for buying what you are selling. Here is a set of minimum qualifying conditions that you should have at the beginning of your sales process.

1) THEY UNDERSTAND THE VALUE OF YOUR OFFERING, AND WILL PAY FOR IT

We have all been there: a prospect clearly has the exact problem that you solve; they want your product; they know they need it; but they don’t want to pay for it.

There will always be people in the world for whom it will always be “too expensive” no matter how much they need and want a product/service.

To weed them out, create a “tripwire-priced” product. That is, price something nominally – and find out if they are willing to pay a ridiculously small amount for something of real value. If so, move them up the loyalty ladder. If not, it’s a good indication that they are going to be very tough to persuade to pay what your full offering is worth.

2) THEY WOULD BE TREATED FIRST IN YOUR A&E DEPARTMENT

In the accident and emergency (A&E) bay of a hospital, people are not treated on a first-come, first-served basis. They are “triaged”, treating those who need the most urgent attention first. Triage 6 WINNING EDGE

4) THEY CAN’T FIND YOUR SOLUTION ANYWHERE ELSE

SHWETA JHAJHARIA is founder and principal coach of The London Coaching Group. Visit www.londoncoachinggroup.com

A critical part of a successful business is its unique selling proposition (USP). What is there about your business that makes you unique to this prospect if they buy into your product/service. Something about what you do – as opposed to what your competitors offer – must appeal to your prospect.

If you’re not sure, conduct some market research to find out what your competitors are doing and identify the USP of your own business.

5) YOU MUST HAVE ACCESS TO THEM, AND THEY MUST HAVE ACCESS TO YOU

In order for a sales process to happen at all, there must be communication between you and the prospect. Even if they tick every other box, if the person is not able to communicate with you, how do you expect to be able to convert them? If you have a lead but you do not have contact details, the lead is junk. Whenever you collect leads, you must ask for contact details. Ask for as few as possible, but enough to be able to continue your sales process effectively.

These five features form the bedrock of your qualification process. Once you assess your sales pipeline this way, you are likely to find that your conversions will start clocking up faster, and your costs per conversions will drop – with a streamlined system that your sales team will love.

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SMARTER SELLING

Ask Anne

R EC RU I T I N G F O R A N I N - H O U S E T ELES A LES T EA M CUSTOMER RESEARCH

QUALITY OVER QUANTITY

When it comes to customer research, stick to the basics, says Jermaine Edwards You already know what your client does. Beyond this, here are seven things you should know about them:

1 2

Why they might buy from you. What is the problem they’re trying to solve or the outcome they want that they believe you can help with?

What they buy and how much they spend on it.

This is really helpful in knowing where their investment is going. How do they determine how much they’ll buy (is it reactive/proactive)? How much of their budget do they allocate to it?

How they buy and the stages for different levels of buying agreement. Who has typically been involved in purchases? Is it always the same people?

Who else do you need to be aware of when looking at a buying agreement above the normal spend of your client?

When they buy and why. This helps understand your client’s buying cycle. You’ll also see where you may be able to change buying behaviour and map out a more predictable forecast for purchases. Get your customer’s thoughts about the trend you’ve noticed.

What is most important to them about working with an external partner. Are the expectations between you and your client clear and being met?

This won’t always be evident so you have to check periodically. Communicate internally, so you can deliver on expectations every time.

What value looks like for them today and in six months. Based on their future needs, you must discover what the implications of your product or service might be. How do your customers see it working for them as their business grows or as they set different goals? The better you understand this, the more opportunity you can create upfront.

How they feel, think about and experience your company. What’s your brand? What weaknesses do they perceive you have? What wouldn’t they purchase from you because of such weaknesses?

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JERMAINE EDWARDS is a speaker, coach and author specialising in key account management. Email jedwards@jermaineedwards.com or visit www.jermaineedwards.com

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Recruiting the correct people for your in-house telesales team will mean the difference between success and failure. Here, I answer some of the most common questions on this vital subject I am setting up an in-house telesales department, so what kind of people should I be looking for?

I’m worried that there are no similar companies in the area where I might find the sort of people I need.

Even if someone has worked in telesales before, always record a telephone role-play and listen to it before making an offer. I would never recommend that you engage a telesalesperson without first knowing how they sound on the other end of the phone.

Should I pause before offering my preferred candidate a role?

My advice is not to offer on the spot. Listen to the role-play and take a little time to satisfy yourself that the person is right. Once you Don’t worry about recruiting are certain, go ahead with the offer people from a similar role or as soon as possible. I do it by background. You can always phone, normally only an find the right people if hour or two later.

“Even if someone you follow the correct Sometimes I can’t tell has worked in if someone is going procedures: telesales before, to be good or not. l Attract as many always record a What can help me applicants as possible, telephone rolemake the right and weed out anyone play before decision in these unsuitable for the role making an circumstances? at the interview stage offer” l Make your recruitment When someone is new to ads positive and upbeat – use telesales, it’s more difficult to phrases like “confident and positive be sure of them. Sometimes nerves people required to join our team” kick in and the role-play can be a l Avoid specific references to mess. In this case, listen for their salary. If you need to mention underlying ability. Things to look money, use a range like “salary for include a pleasant speaking from £X to £Y, depending on voice, no bad habits like constant experience”, so as not to alienate “erms”, reasonable confidence for experienced applicants, or set the at least part of the role-play, and a salary too high for lesser ones. voice that changes in tone and pitch. The last point is important, What is the best interview format? as someone who is monotone will It’s good to invite people in quickly never be right for telesales. once they have responded to your advertisement. In other industries, you might engage in a slower ANNE BAGNALL is managing director of process of looking through CVs Phonetic, a telemarketing before you invite someone for an company, and also of Pure interview, but in any kind of sales Sales Training, where she role, good people get snapped up advises clients on their immediately. By the time, you have internal sales departments. She is happy trawled through CVs, you will to answer readers’ questions. You can more than likely find they have call her on 07876 231868, email found a role elsewhere. anne@puresalestraining.com or visit A longer first interview that involves role-play is the best format. www.puresalestraining.com

WINNING EDGE 7

SMARTER SELLING

T he Sales Doctor YOU R P ROB L E MS A N S W ER ED

One idea that could work and doesn’t cost a fortune is a weekly sales ladder. You decide on a list of goals that you would like to incentivise your team to achieve, such as: l Highest number of proactive referrals gained l Most meetings made l Most business closed l Most valuable deal closed l Most testimonials received.

You need to allocate points to each category eg.

10 points equals £1. Only the person with the highest points overall wins, which allows you to keep your costs down. You then turn the points into a financial figure and buy the individual a gift to the equivalent value. This should keep them hungry to keep selling, even if they’ve hit their commission ceiling.

Q Duvet days: allow your top salesperson to come in late one day, once they have exceeded their commission limit

Q

There are grumblings from my sales staff that once they have hit their commission limit they have no reason to keep selling. How can I appease them on a tight budget?

Many salespeople are motivated by money and the commission is the only thing that drives them, day in and day out. But that’s not the case with all salespeople. As their manager, I would find out what their real motivations are and help them achieve these and focus on these daily. It could be numerous things, including recognition, career progression, job satisfaction, training and qualifications.

For those salespeople who are commission motivated, I would look to offer other things that don’t cost you anything. Examples of these could be: l Duvet days – allow the top salesperson to come in late one day, once they have exceeded their commission limit l Extra holiday days l An increase in their sales territory, so they have more business to go after l Leave early on a Friday l First pick on when they get to choose their holidays l Get to drive a director’s car for the weekend l Trophies for top performers.

I would communicate the message that one day the commission structure may change and you would want to reward the salesperson who keeps grafting no matter what the situation is. Sometimes salespeople should want to work hard for their company irrespective of commission, as this dedication will be rewarded in one way or another. This doesn’t apply for a commission-only position, but I doubt if there would be a limit to the commission in that situation.

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8 WINNING EDGE

TONY MORRIS is director of the Sales Doctor, a London-based sales training company he co-founded with fellow ISM member, Boyd Mayover. He is the author of several sales books including Coffee’s for Closers, The Perfect Sales Meeting and The Perfect Sales Call. Call 020 8906 6725, email: tony@salesdoctors.co.uk, or visit: www.salesdoctors.co.uk

Since I started a year ago I have been selling my product at low margins to get it out into the marketplace. Now I feel that the product is worth more. How do I raise prices without upsetting regular customers and losing their business?

It’s always a challenge when you enter the marketplace with a low margin to generate business. There are a couple of suggestions I can recommend.

I am confident in the one year you have been trading you would have received some testimonials about how great the product is and most importantly the benefits your clients have gained a result. Use these testimonials in all correspondence with any new customers, which will instil confidence and they will be more than happy to pay the price you feel your product is now worth.

Now in order to raise your prices with your existing client base and avoid upsetting them, they will expect something extra in return for the increased price, irrespective of whether you feel your product is worth more than a year ago. Think about what you can give away as extra value which is perceived as high value to your existing clients and something that costs you very little. As an example, as the owner of a sales training company, I have raised my prices and in return I’ve provided Skype calls with the sales managers to help them with any ongoing challenges they had with the sales team that I trained. I’ve also delivered a 30-minute webinar for a couple of months to refresh the team and give them the opportunity to ask me any sales questions. The only cost here is my time, but it allows me to charge my clients what I feel my training is worth, not what I charged many years ago when I first went to market.

For existing clients that you have a great relationship with, I would suggest having a face-toface conversation with them if possible. Honesty is the best policy. I’m sure if you explain that you cannot afford to charge what you did when you entered the market, most of them will appreciate that. But, unfortunately, it’s inevitable you will lose some clients.

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SMARTER SELLING

Coat Hanger T H E LI GH T ER S I DE O F S A LES

GOSSIP IS GOOD Brits have their best ideas when chatting to each other

LEADERSHIP

ALL IN IT TOGETHER

You’re their leader – but you’re not there to give orders, says Kate Mercer Callum was a successful medical sales executive, committed to helping people and passionate about his company’s products. He created strong, lasting relationships with his clients. This made it startling when, promoted to regional sales manager, Callum adopted a remote style of leadership, only emerging to deliver reprimands and orders. Within six months, his experienced team was demotivated, and results had plummeted. Why had this gentle, committed and personable man turned into Attila the Hun? Because of his flawed picture of what a manager should be.

THE IMPORTANCE OF YOUR MINDSET

Having good communication skills is not enough to ensure that people respond well to you. The thing that makes the difference in getting others on your side and sparking their enthusiasm and motivation is your attitude to them. Others will see through you if you are not coming from what’s best for them and the organisation. Explore honestly your attitude towards leading others: are you motivated by ego and self-interest, or by a genuine wish to lead a healthy organisation in which people thrive?

PARTNERSHIP AT WORK

Imagine what it’s like working in a team where partnership forms one of the core values, and where everybody behaves accordingly. Sadly, many people are managed as individuals, with individual targets, in competition with each other. But it is possible to have teamworking – if you flag up favoured behaviours and support them through a reward system based not on individuals, but on teams. Aim to work together and build reward and remuneration structures that support partnership.

KATE MERCER is co-founder of Leaders Lab and author of A Buzz in the Building. Visit: www.leaderslab.co.uk

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B

ritish workers no longer have their best ideas while sitting in the boardroom – or even when having team meetings, according to a new poll of office workers.

The survey, commissioned

by Crown Workplace Relocations, asked where staff came up with their best business ideas and found that casual chitchat is what inspires the majority.

Over a third of those polled say that chatting informally with colleagues is the best inspiration.

The boardroom proved to be the least inspiring environment of all, with only 8% saying their best ideas came from sitting around a table with their workmates.

However, don’t throw out the desks just yet. One third of those polled say they have the best ideas at their own desk. And before they have even reached their desk, one in five reckon

they have had an epiphany on their way to work, and one in 10 have had a “eureka moment” in the shower.

The top ten spots for lightbulb moments were: 1 Chatting informally with colleagues (35%) 2 At my desk (31%) 3 On the daily commute (20%) 4 At lunchtime or when having a break (15%) 5 Walking around the office (14%) 6 I do not tend to have business ideas at work (11%) 7 First thing in the morning (11%) 8 In bed (9%) 9 In the shower (9%) 10 In the boardroom (8%).

Timing is everything it seems – surprisingly, lunchtime proves to be the most productive time of day for business ideas, with 15% of office workers stating that’s when they have the most inspiration.

It’s a wrap, a bacon one

The UK’s 10 newest pieces of business jargon Research among 2,000 business travellers from Amba Hotels has unearthed the latest phrases adopted by business and salespeople: 1. BACON WRAP – when you take something good and elevate it to excellence by adding value to it 2. BUFFLING – speaking at length and off the point in a business context 3. DERP – a simple, ill-defined response to an ignorant comment or action 4. DUMBWALKING – walking slowly, without paying attention to the world around you, because you are preoccupied using a smartphone

5. HUMBLEBRAG – the practice of saying something apparently modest, which is really intended to boast 6. NOMOPHOBIA – fear of being without your mobile phone 7. POWER PAUNCH – a large stomach worn proudly as a badge of status 8. QWERTY NOSEDIVE – falling asleep at the keyboard 9. SUNLIGHTING – doing a different job on one day of the working week 10. UNDERBRAG – a boast that consists of openly admitting to failings to prove you are confident enough not to care what others think of you.

WINNING EDGE 9

I

SKILLS

f I knew then about hiring and developing my salesforce what I GET YO URS ELF know now our outcomes would T ES T ED have been significantly better,” A S SESSING SALES says Hugh Stafford-Smith, an ABILITY ex-managing director in the IT sector and now working with

By Marc Beishon SalesAssessment, the company partnering with the ISM for on-line skills assessment for members, both individuals and companies.

“I could have significantly lowered the risk of poor hirings and it would have been easier to improve existing teams and maximise their potential.

It would have been a no brainer,” he says.

The field of sales skills and talent assessment has changed radically in the past ten years, adds Stafford-Smith, such that salespeople can now qualification levels 2-3 in the current ISMM system. But as he says, offering have an objective assessment of where they stand this as a requirement for certified membership has not been done before by a before embarking on, or resuming, a continuing professional sales qualification awarding body, and the ISM is now positioned to professional development (CPD) journey. The help members and companies with CPD following this baseline assessment, as concept of CPD is of course well established in well as formal, accredited qualifications. “The two go hand in hand,” he says. other fields such as medicine and law, but relatively new in commercial roles – salespeople have been TAKING THE ASSESSMENT judged by sales made and repeat business, which The result of taking the assessment – which is done online – is a detailed skills hardly does justice to their professionalism and report. Each of the elements under the five headings are assessed separately and knowledge. The ISM’s new Professional Sales given a score and also illustrated on a slider (going from red, “strongly likely to Certification is at the centre the CPD process, and have a negative impact”, to green, “strongly likely to have a positive impact”) the organisation is offering four levels – Associate, and there is also a consolidated score for each of the five. If you don’t answer a Executive, Leader and Master, each specifically question you’ll get a red flag. designed to recognise and assess a sales For example, in “Exercising judgement and making decisions”, part of the professional’s current capabilities, skills and “Business skills” section, the skills tested include “Evaluating risk when taking knowledge – but as Stafford-Smith explains, action or making commitments to customers” and “Deciding when and how to everyone registering with the ISM for certification seek further information or refer to others”. will undertake a sales skills evaluation.

In “Communicating”, part of “Customer contact skills”, you’ll be tested on the ability to convey information and ideas so that customers and others STARTING THE JOURNEY understand the message. So “Expressing the message clearly” and “Active “The start of the journey with the ISM is listening” are two of the parameters. registration, which is when the skills talent See ismprofessional.com for more details. assessment is offered,” he says. “The assessment covers five core competencies, and allows you to see where your strengths and weaknesses are and THE ISM’S CORE SKILLS TES T so focus on those that need to be developed, as well as where you want to progress to in your Customer contact skills • Negotiating professional journey. The skills assessment is both • Spotting opportunities • Objection handling for individual members and for companies to • Using probing questions Information and activity get a understanding of the development needs of • Communicating management their salespeople. Because we benchmark the • Advising the customer • Paperwork management assessment, companies can also see where they sit • Achieving goals, objectives Customer engagement and targets with their peers in their industry sector, or overall.”

• Matching customer needs • Planning and managing to products or services See the box for details of the skills assessment. activities • Awareness of competitors As Stafford-Smith adds, this is a “levels based” Business skills • Understanding the customer’s assessment, and doesn’t match roles as such, which needs • Self management SalesAssessment also offers as part of its talent and professionalism • Testing and challenging management services, where it can dig deeper into assumptions • Problem solving the requirements for everything from what it takes • Keeping abreast of new products • Exercising judgement and to be a transactional seller through to a solution and services making decisions seller and up to a sales leader. The ISM skills • Resilience and follow Negotiation and closing through assessment is designed primarily to capture the • Influencing customer expectations majority of the field sales market, corresponding to 10 WINNING EDGE

ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM

ON THE MOVE

G A D G E T S F O R D I S C E R N I N G P RO F E S S I O N A L S

WHAT’S MORE

TOOLS FOR THE JOB | GADGETS

NOTEBOOK

DOUBLING UP

Dell just goes on putting out great notebooks, such as the XPS 13, which won a laptop of the year award for 2016. Now comes the XPS 13 2-in-1, a thinner version with a 360-degree hinge for multiple viewing options. The specs include Intel Core vPro processors, a QHD+ (5.7 million pixels) touch display, said to be a first for a 2-in-1, battery life up to 15 hours, a fingerprint reader (and an infrared camera to enable Windows Hello at a later date). You can buy a power pack that gives another 11 hours of battery time.

SMARTPHONE

KEY DETAILS MOTORING

MAXIMISING THE MINI

PRESENTER

Is it “mini” anymore? The new Mini Cooper Countryman is the biggest model to be launched in the brand’s 57-year history – a five seater that’s longer and wider than before and can now be counted among the choices for a company car and rep-mobile. At the top end of the range is a plug-in hybrid with a turbocharged petrol engine and an electric motor, reducing fuel consumption to 134.5 mpg but will shift the car to 62 mph in 6.9 seconds. There are also four wheel drive versions. Standard equipment includes Mini’s “acclaimed” satnav, and there is “broad scope” to personalise the Countryman with colour and trim options. Prices start at £22,465 but the top end is likely to be north of £30,000.

Logitech’s Spotlight Presentation Remote, “goes well beyond laser pointing”, and enables you to highlight and magnify on-screen content so you can underscore your point. It also has mouse-like cursor control to play videos and open links, and unlike a laser, the cursor and highlights are visible also to those on a videoconference.

There’s an app that allows you to toggle the pointer mode, set vibration alerts or control volume with hand gestures. It’s available from Logitech and Apple for £119.99.

HOMING IN

SMARTPHONE

GAME ON LG stole much of the early thunder at the Mobile World Congress with the G6, which has a 5.7 inch QHD+ (2,880 x 1,440 resolution) display and an 18:9 screen aspect ratio, said to be a first for a smartphone. This means that you can have a rather capable gaming and video device, as well as a business phone, of course. Other main specs are a Snapdragon 821 processor, a dual mode rear 13MP camera, front 5MP camera, non-removable 3,300 mAh battery, fingerprint sensor, and it weighs 163 g.

ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM

So you still want a keyboard on your phone?

Blackberry is back again, this time with the KEYone.

Above the keyboard is a 4.5 inch touchscreen, and it’s an Android phone with decent specs, including a good camera, and it’s claimed to be the most secure Android device there is.

PROJECTOR

CARRY ON

This tiny device is possibly the best projector you can get if portability is needed – it’s so small it will fit in a top pocket.

You’re looking at Sony’s MPCL1A, which measures only 3 x 6 x 0.5 inches and weighs 7.4 ounces, and projects at 1920 x 720 and gives a 40 inch picture at about 4 feet away, and one review says image quality is still good up to 120 inches. You can stream images by Wi-Fi. The lens cover doubles as a stand. There’s only 2 hours battery life but it’s easily chargeable via USB.

WINNING EDGE 11

SALES GIVES YOU LIFE SKILLS Sales is challenging. Lots of people who don’t work in sales feel awkward talking to strangers, find it difficult to negotiate deals, and struggle to get rid of cold callers. But for salespeople, these things come easily. They have critical qualities, including communication skills, confidence, enthusiasm and passion, all of which they continually develop.

OPINION CAREERS

I

n the UK, an estimated 7% of the working population is employed in sales, some 2.2 million people. Yet the reputation of sales as a career continues to lag behind other occupations. Only one university in Britain offers a degree in the subject, and the others give short shrift to it as a prospect for their graduates.

In fact, there is much more to sales than popular portrayal would have us believe. It is fundamental to business success and should be afforded the status and respect it deserves as a valued profession.

WHY GO INT O SA LE S?

By Lee Durham & Richard Lane

12 WINNING EDGE

SALES IS SATISFYING There’s no feeling like making your first sale, closing a big deal or winning a valuable new client.

Sales is a satisfying career with tangible results and a sense of achievement. In sales, you’re the one who makes things happen. You’ll never be a neglected cog in an uncaring corporate machine.

You may be a foot soldier, but your battles and victories will always make a difference.

SALES IS REWARDING Sales is a true meritocracy. Salespeople personally reap the benefits of their success. As well as often-generous basic salary packages, many sales jobs carry great perks – such as uncapped commission, bonuses, car allowances, travel opportunities and much more.

SALES BREEDS ENTREPRENEURS For Alan Sugar, it was car aerials; for Richard Branson, records; and for Duncan Bannatyne, ice cream. There are several reasons why so many entrepreneurs start out in sales, but the main one is that selling is the fundamental building block of commercial activity. If you can’t sell your product or service, you have no business. For many, it’s their first taste of business – an opportunity to learn how to build and manage relationships, how to broker a deal, and how to self-motivate.

SALES IS DIVERSE When many people imagine what it’s like to work in sales, they envisage sharp-suited, silver-tongued showroom staff, packed contact centres or door-todoor callers trudging up muddy footpaths on drizzly days. Sure, sales can look unappealing at times, but there’s so much more to it than these negative stereotypes would suggest. All products and services have to be sold: a painter and decorator on a house-call is making a pitch; a politician out canvassing is selling themselves to the electorate; a recruitment consultant has to sell their candidate to a hirer; and a tech firm must sell its software in an increasingly competitive market.

SALES IS A WORTHWHILE CAREER, NOT JUST A STOPGAP There are myriad opportunities for upward progression in sales. It’s not just a stopgap for people between jobs or deciding what else they would rather do when they finish formal education. Sales is a long-term, sustainable career – there are always products to sell, so a good salesperson need never be out of work.

LEE DURHAM (left) and RICHARD LANE are the co-founders of durhamlane, a sales performance consultancy offering training, coaching, outsourcing and recruitment services.

Visit www.durhamlane.com

SALES ISN’T FOR DUMMIES Delivering quality sales is a highly skilled occupation. It requires in-depth knowledge of products and services, top-notch people skills, and exemplary time management. Graduate recruitment schemes in the field are growing, and so are professional development, qualifications and recognition, through organisations such as the Institute of Sales Management. Success-hungry people, who want a foot on the career ladder, matched with ambitious businesses, with a training programme wrapped around them, need look no further than sales for a bright future.

Sales is neither a soft option, nor something to be ashamed of. It’s a vital part of today’s business infrastructure. It’s demanding, it’s rewarding and it’s developmental. It has little to do with the unhelpful stereotypes of used car or double-glazing salespeople – and everything to do with selfimprovement, self-worth and professionalism.

In short, it’s a choice worth making.

ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM

Y

OPINION

ou will often hear the argument these days that TELEMA RKET ING telemarketing is a dead end, that it doesn’t work, D ATA M A K ES and it’s for people who T HE D I F F ER EN CE can’t think outside the box. There are complaints and qualms

By Andy Dickens galore about this sector. Admittedly, if you have a history of telemarketing failures, either in-house or agency-based, and you’re spending money on a service that consistently doesn’t deliver, it makes sense to run as far as possible from the problem. But before we throw the earth on telemarketing’s coffin, let’s take a look at a few of the reasons people have started to think this way.

PEOPLE DON’T LIKE TO BE PESTERED WITH PHONE CALLS Telemarketing is always going to be a divisive sector, with some people preferring one-to-one conversations, and others disliking the cold calling approach. Clarity is useful here, as people often get confused about telemarketing and telesales. They are very different: telesales sells your services directly to customers over the phone, while telemarketing serves your business by generating interest, creating opportunities and arranging appointments over the phone, which you then follow up. The reaction you get from your prospective clients is often based on their initial assumption that the two sectors are the same, so it is a good idea to establish exactly what you’re calling them for at the start of the conversation.

generation needs to be delivering high quality, interested and engaged leads, but this level of quality isn’t solely dictated by the amount of money you invest. In general, the more money you invest, the more leads you will reap in return, but you need to find the right balance between how much you invest and where you invest it. You must ensure that the investment you make in a third party lead generation specialist is going to a company with a proven track record. This goes back to the point above about data quality, because if the data isn’t up to scratch, the rest of the campaign will suffer as a result.

WE CAN’T EXPLAIN OUR PRODUCTS/ SERVICES PROPERLY OVER THE PHONE This is simply an excuse. You most certainly can talk about your products/services on the phone – what makes it difficult is whether people are willing to listen or not. You must ensure that either your in-house telemarketing team, or the telemarketing company you outsource to, is proficient and confident in your products/services and the language used in the sector.

OUR LEADS LACK THE QUALITY WE’RE LOOKING FOR If you aren’t happy with your leads, you need to take a closer look at your lead generation, whether it’s in-house or outsourced. The data gathering stage of telemarketing is crucial, as this goes on to create your pool of potential clients. If this data is sub-par, you’ll be wasting your time and money contacting people with little or no interest in your services. Data quality is a huge factor in the success or failure of your campaign, and it is imperative that you concentrate on procuring the right leads.

If you outsource your lead generation, you should look for a company with a history of sourcing and securing top quality leads, and with proven experience in your industry. Ideally, it should know your sector and its influencers as well as you do.

THE LEAD RESULTS YOU GET AREN’T WORTH YOUR INVESTMENT So, you’re spending a large portion of your budget on obtaining leads, but you’re not seeing any return. Does this mean that your investment isn’t worthwhile, or is the problem actually the means by which you’re obtaining those leads? The lead ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM

ANDY DICKENS is managing director of Virtual Sales Limited (VSL), experts in telemarketing and lead generation. Call 01403 788480 or visit www.virtual-sales.com

WE TRIED IT FOR A FEW MONTHS, BUT NOTHING FRUITFUL CAME FROM IT Telemarketing is not an overnight fix, but given the time and attention it needs you can reap the benefits of a well-structured campaign. As a general rule of thumb, three months is the minimum time it will take to see tangible results from your telemarketing efforts. This will give your telemarketers time to establish high quality leads, engage prospects professionally, and build a rapport that will enable you to follow up and convert.

So is telemarketing dead? No, not by a long shot, and with the focus on marketing now leaning towards the data side of things, ensuring that your telemarketing campaign is strategic in its data collection is more important than ever.

WINNING EDGE 13

FEATURE | BREXIT

BRITAIN GOES IT ALONE

PATRICIA SEABRIGHT considers the ongoing implications for sales leaders of the UK’s decision to leave the EU

14 WINNING EDGE

ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM

BREXIT | FEATURE

W

ell, it came as a FREEZE, FIGHT OR FLIGHT? shock… like What we know about humans facing the Spanish sudden or dramatic change is that we inquisition, no experience it at a visceral level as threat. one, (least of all, Yes, in business we’ve all been socialised perhaps, David to pay lip service to it, to say we embrace Cameron) expected it. Brexit, like the change and know it to be “a good thing”, idea of electoral success for Nigel Farage, but deep down, the majority of people Jeremy Corbyn and Donald Trump, consciously or subconsciously experience seemed too far from the norms of reality it as threat. We also know that when to be taken seriously, yet here we are. faced with threat, all mammals do one of Could the tide of populism sweeping the three things: freeze, fight the threat, or Western world bring further upsets in run away from it. So, as a commercial upcoming elections this year in France, leader, what are you going to do in the Italy and Germany? Where then for the face of Brexit? And how are you going to euro and the EU? react to the advent of President Trump?

What we do know so far is that we’re Are you going to freeze? Are you going living through a period of seismic change to put all plans, investments and – and, of course, that “Brexit means development activity on hold and wait Brexit”, whatever that ultimately looks and see what happens, and how things like. Similarly, we know that Donald look like they are going to pan out?

Trump is US president, but given that his Are you reacting with flight? Are you campaign contained more slogans than going to run away, to move offices to policies, no one knows for sure what will happen next. All we can “The job of leaders, not least sales say certain is that major change is leaders, is to rise above instinctive afoot in the Western world.

Brussels perhaps, or shift people and resources elsewhere?

Or are you going to fight change, lobby against it and hope against hope that Trump backtracks on his more extreme measures, while Brexit evolves into “Brexit-lite” or “Brexit-soft”, retaining some semblance of the status quo?

In any challenging situation there is almost always opportunity as well as threat. The job of leaders, not least sales leaders, is to rise above instinctive reactions to look at the bigger picture, then figure out a proactive strategy to take their organisation forward.

Leadership research from Oxford’s Said Business School* talks about “ripple intelligence”, which is the ability to anticipate and judge how, when, and why contexts may interact to fundamentally disrupt a business, to discern and connect disparate events, discover patterns, and anticipate distant threats or opportunities. It is about leaders being able to rise above the noise and clutter of “here and now”.

reactions to look at the bigger picture”

ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM

WINNING EDGE 15

FEATURE | BREXIT

pound to export more? How do you identify more international opportunities? How can you do more with your international partners? What new partners might you need to work with? How do you build a robust international pipeline of new opportunities and bring those to revenue-generating fruition? It might take a rethink of your pre-Brexit growth strategy. It might require changes in infrastructure, investment and approach.

THINK CREATIVELY It might feel counter-intuitive to be contemplating ambitious international growth when conventional wisdom is telling you to pause and retrench, but therein lies the competitive opportunity. Just like a contrarian investment strategy, commercial advantage lies in going against the crowd. While always remaining alert to threats, if you’re staying confident and looking “Just like a contrarian investment strategy, commercial advantage lies for opportunity too, when others are pulling up the drawbridge and in going against the crowd” watching and waiting, then it will be you who creates new opportunity and the first mover to benefit from it. Necessity is indeed the mother of invention, and history is littered with examples of progress and innovation being born out of challenging times.

BUILD A PLAN So, what will change for sales and commercial leaders, and what do you need to consider to build a robust plan for your organisation in a post-Brexit world?

For example, what needs to be done to: l Protect your business with EU customers? l Compensate for any unavoidable losses of EU-related business? l Ensure your employees from the EU are retained and protected? l Deal with a lower valued pound?

If your business is predominantly European and many of your customers, channel partners and consumers are European then you’re going to have to work harder than before to ensure that those relationships are kept strong enough to weather the storm. How do you do that? You make sure that, over and above being merely a vendor of products or services, you are adding value for your customers and partners. You make sure that you are genuinely contributing to their business in a way that sets you apart from your competition. This might require you to do things differently, to become a lot more customer centric and flexible, to enable you to adapt your offering to add better and more unique value.

That might be challenging, but it can be done, and now is the time to be thinking about how.

If travel visas and work permits are to become necessary for EU employees, then ask yourself what you need to do to manage that. Do you need to think more about your company’s remote working capability, or invest more in the latest systems for video and audioconferencing, or alter your recruitment policies?

If you have some business beyond Europe (or even if you don’t) then now might be the time to start looking at how you build your international business. How can you use the reduced value of the 16 WINNING EDGE

PATRICIA SEABRIGHT is director of Archimedes Consulting, helping businesses analyse and optimise their commercial processes and skills. She is also an independent consultant for the Miller Heiman Group. Visit: www.archimedesconsulting.co.uk

ACT DECISIVELY Of course, business leaders are going to have their doubts about taking action. Wouldn’t it just be safer to watch, wait and see what happens? Doubt is natural. Indeed, in Said Business School’s recent leadership report, 71% of CEOs questioned said they doubted themselves. But the research went on to reveal some vital insights: l Doubt is part of the “humanisation” of leadership, a positive, generative state that should be embraced and utilised, not feared l Transforming doubt into a decision tool helps leaders find comfort in the discomfort of making decisions when the outcome is uncertain.

Doubt should not lead you to inaction. Joe Nellis, professor of global economy at Cranfield University, outlines the dangers of taking a “wait and see” approach to business strategy: “While you wait you’re not investing, which leads to decline in competitiveness and productivity – and once you fall behind, it’s hard to get back on par with other competitors in Europe and beyond who are still moving forward.” So, are you going to sit back, watch and wait? Or are you going to be proactive?

You could start by reviewing and benchmarking your current commercial operations and identifying strengths and weaknesses, perhaps using something like the Miller Heiman Group’s sales best practice research. From that, you can build out a strategy for your organisation to survive and thrive post Brexit. * www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/ideas-impact/ceo-report ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM

BREXIT | FEATURE

CERTAIN UNCERTAINTY What lies ahead for UK firms? By Marc Beishon

S

o Article 50 has been triggered and have international trade, and the FSB the formal road to Brexit has begun reckons this could be doubled – and with – but how to proceed from the sales the potential for the UK to sign up to all and strategic sides of the business? What sorts of new trading agreements this is we know is that the referendum result clearly a big area for potential selling took nearly everyone by surprise, not least opportunities. It says companies would like businesses, and most large companies did to prioritise “Anglosphere” countries for not have a strategy prepared for exit. trade, meaning the US, Canada, Australia Since last June, though, there have been and New Zealand (and the US, along with various moves by banks and car makers Germany, are top targets). But there is a to highlight trading concerns about tariffs growing attraction towards certain and the possibility of relocating staff, emerging markets as trade destinations: the which if widespread could have a major UAE, South Africa, and especially impact on supply chains and existing China and India. customer relationships with suppliers – Tariffs currently play a role the knock-on effects could be big for for about half of exporters, many smaller companies. and there could be a But overall, economic conditions have deterrent for EU trading if not been dented much by impending WTO rules apply. Other Brexit. As the Financial Times has reported, rules, such as complying political stability was restored fairly with rules of origin, could quickly after Theresa May took over as also be a real challenge.

PM; fiscal and monetary policy has Things get more boosted confidence (and the Bank of complicated with factors such as England was not required to do much VAT and exchange rates, with the latter “firefighting”); global growth has been already increasing the cost of selling faster than expected, goods with which has also helped “Overall, economic conditions imported parts.

Britain’s economy; And as one have not been dented much and consumers have company boss by impending Brexit” been resilient in their said: “I’m spending, which has concerned surprised economists. Much remains because [Brexit] is another layer of unknown, though, but companies, confusion in the market and the kind of especially SMEs, which are the engine people that I’m involved in selling to are room of the economy, can look at a looking for any excuse not to make a number of areas for action. decision.” An increase in firms deferring major decisions is likely.

VIEWS OF On global supply chains, a SMALLER FIRMS majority say they are not in Good research comes from one but the FSB reckons this is the Federation of Small an underestimate and that many Businesses (FSB), in a report will not realise they could be released in March, “Keep trade affected. In short, the FSB wants easy: what small firms want the UK to secure the easiest and from Brexit”. It finds that, not least costly access to the EU surprisingly, of firms with single market and identify and international trade, the EU is protect vulnerable small firms. the leading trading partner, It suggests export vouchers, but a majority also trade which could be spent on outside the EU. But only translation services, agents or about a fifth of small firms small business trade missions.

ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM

BREXIT SALES POINTS l A report from HSBC, “Exporting for growth: the SME perspective”, surveyed over 1,000 UK SMEs, and recommends that they need more help with accessing support services, more input into new trade deals, and networking with current exporters. l According to Mercer’s Workforce Monitor, not surprisingly the “accommodation and food services” sector has the most foreign born workers in the UK, at 33%, followed by manufacturing, transport and storage, ICT, and financial services. l Medium-sized companies are more likely to be looking to expand into new markets (76%) than small businesses (50%), notes the Albion Growth Report, from Albion Ventures. Transport, manufacturing and the tech sector are leading the way, as are London-based in firms. l It will be vital to get intelligence from the procurement side – these professionals will be among the best sources of knowledge about where the smart money is going as trade deals and exchange rates shift. l Talking of procurement, there is likely to be change in the public procurement regime, which will need close scrutiny for those selling to government entities. l And in turn there is also likely to be change in all sorts of regulations that affect both sellers and buyers.

THE PEOPLE FACTOR British firms may also face setting up new offices and recruiting salespeople with certain language and cultural skills, and competence in new types of distribution – there could be a lot more “middlemen” to deal with in selling to the US, for example. It may be more difficult to recruit salespeople with this experience if Brexit curtails workers from the EU and further afield, and top staff may also be tempted to work in countries such as Ireland with its direct access to the EU. There could also be lower morale among existing non-UK sales and customer service staff who could feel unwelcome.

WINNING EDGE 17

FEATURE | BREXIT

THE CUSTOMER IS STILL KING PAUL BLACK explains the importance of forging strong customer relationships in uncertain times

S PAUL BLACK is co-founder and CEO of sales-i, specialising in business and customer intelligence software for sales.

Visit: www.sales-i.com

ince the historic vote in favour of Brexit, businesses have learnt precious little about their future trading environment outside the EU. The Office for Budget Responsibility and the Chancellor of the Exchequer anticipate less investment, less trade, and a £59bn hole in public finances, while other sources predict a level of future economic growth that will handily outperform the Eurozone. Such contradictory positions leave the UK’s businesses in an awkward position. We do not know what the future holds.

But however Brexit turns out, it needn’t be a negative for your company. If you refocus your efforts on getting to know and understand your customers, you can both safeguard your business against immediate uncertainty – and also ensure it thrives in the longer term.

CUSTOMER-CENTRIC CERTAINTY Panic is an understandable response to uncertainty, but not an advisable one. It’s easy to get flustered and resort to short-term measures like raising your prices. This is not only counterproductive, but also counter-intuitive. When costs rise arbitrarily, it damages customer relationships – and forging strong customer relationships is one of the most reliable ways for a business to navigate uncertainty. After all, research from Bain & Company has demonstrated that increasing customer retention by just 5% can increase your profits by up to 95%.

So how do you forge stronger relationships? One of the most

18 WINNING EDGE

reliable ways is to lower your prices: a recent study from MIT’s Sloan Review indicates (unsurprisingly) that doing this positively influences customer satisfaction. But this isn’t always a practical option – perhaps you face rising import costs as a result of a weaker pound – and if you get into an escalating war of discounts with a bigger competitor you may well find yourself on the losing side.

The best option is to get to

“However Brexit turns out, it needn’t be a negative for your company” know your customers: their thoughts, their behaviours, their motivations, and their buying routines. When uncertainty is rife, the best thing to do is gain as much certainty as you can.

KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER AND KNOW YOURSELF So, how can you do this?

Technology can automate much of the process, but in practice, it’s essentially a matter of putting the information your business is already accumulating to work. You need to identify trends on an individual and market-wide level because, in doing so, you’ll be able to provide a specific, personalised service – thereby retaining your customers’ trust and loyalty.

Knowing the times and conditions that correlate with certain customer behaviours is a considerable advantage – and can offer vital clues about the next steps to take with the relationship. Say you’re a clothing retailer that irregularly sells winter wear to a specific customer. Certain correlations

will be obvious to you immediately: that they buy in winter, for example. Others, however, will only be understood when you take a closer look at their history with your company. It’s helpful to know, for instance, if they always buy gloves and hats together; and this might enable you to offer them a discount that you could not afford to give on just one item. If they prefer to buy through digital or physical channels, or a combination of both, you can target your communications accordingly.

When you encourage more purchases in this way, you gain more vital information.

Most companies have vast amounts of data available on their products and clients, comprising everything from product factsheets to feedback from former customers.

Salespeople should use this information when targeting new business to highlight the best aspects of their products.

ONLINE INFORMATION OFFERS POWER But it doesn’t stop there. People increasingly live their lives online, which means that a significant amount of free information about their activities is available. A quick Google search could give a salesperson insight into the challenges a company is facing, and information they can use to emphasise how their solution addresses those challenges.

They can also research the price their competitors are asking for a product and then offer it to its customers at a discount.

Understanding customers is something sales professionals should be doing regardless of Brexit, but today’s political and economic uncertainty is a strong incentive to commit to it.

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FEATURE | KEY ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT

UNLOCKING KEY ACCOUNTS

NEVIL TYNEMOUTH shows how you can win more key clients

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any businesses don’t stop to consider who their major clients or key accounts might be. If you haven’t got a clear idea of what accounts you’re aspiring to win, then you don’t stand much chance of securing them.

IDENTIFY TARGETS So how do you identify, target and follow up on the key customers you want to win and retain?

Well, it’s simple: sit down with your team and map out the characteristics of the clients you really want. A key client might be different to you than to others. With this in mind, here are three areas to consider when looking for key accounts: ✔ Could it be a major brand – a household name that you want to win as a customer? Just think of the PR benefit that goes with winning and delivering to that major client. ✔ Is it a customer/client that might place a single, very large order with you that would be a game-changing transaction for your company? ✔ Will it be a major customer who will give you lots of repeat business? It might be an initial deal followed by regular further orders over a long period of time, giving you steady income.

Some key customers can offer an added and unusual benefit – by spurring the creation of new products and services. We have experienced this ourselves at New Results, where a major customer asked us for a three-day course for its management team, but also a new one-day introductory course for its supervisors. This gave us the push to design that new course.

Once you understand what a major client is, in terms of what you want as a business, then you need to start thinking, “Who do we want to deal with specifically?” Once you have an idea in your head (let’s say you decide you want to work with a major brand) it’s simply a case of mapping out those major brands that you might like to target.

NEVIL TYNEMOUTH is a director of New Results, which specialises in sales training, coaching and strategy.

Follow him @nevnrt, email nevil@newresultstraining.co.uk, call 0800 030 4323, or visit www.newresultstraining.co.uk

20 WINNING EDGE

TELL YOUR ORGANISATION To make this process as easy and effective as possible, look at every major brand in the market place that you want to be associated with and to win. With your team, create a list of 20 potential key accounts to start with, then from that list of

20, select the 10 that are most important to you.

Focus on these. Share them with everyone in your organisation, from your directors to your salespeople and business development team.

Have them written down and visible, so that every time you’re doing anything as a team or as an individual you ask, “Is this activity focused on moving us towards any of these 10 key names.”

If not, you might need to adjust, develop or improve your activity in that space.

WHY HAVE 20, NOT JUST 10?

The reason for having 20 is this: you list 10, you go after them, and perhaps you win one within the first six months. As a result, your target list is already down to nine. So you need another list in the background from which to top up, so you’re constantly chasing a total of 10 new key clients.

Equally, you might pursue a target, enter into negotiations with them, but fail to win them as a customer. Perhaps they decide to go with someone else. If so, you can pull from that top up pot and keep your number of targets at 10.

It sounds simple doesn’t it? And, it is. But it’s a powerful first step that will help you clarify your goals, get the team engaged and move you closer to winning a key client or customer.

DIG OUT YOUR TELESCOPE This is the technique you need to fully research potential clients. Brainstorming the key issues and opportunities that exist in their marketplace (not related to your specific products or services) gives you a rich source of questions. Perhaps regulation has changed in their marketplace recently, or there is a significant technical change – what might this mean to them?

Look at their website. OK, that’s obvious, but specifically look at their “about us” page, their vision, mission, and any value statements.

Research their team. And check out blog posts for their latest thoughts, ideas and tone of voice.

If your target has pushed forward their use of social media, look there for information. Things like their Twitter feed and Facebook page will give you an up-to-date flavour of the content they’re sharing, the issues they’re discussing, their own news and what’s going on in their world.

ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM

KEY ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT | FEATURE

FOCUS ON LINKEDIN LinkedIn is a great source of information, especially about the specific individuals you might be going to see. You’d be surprised how many key details you can get – not just their work role and what they do. If you dig down you can very often find hobbies, interests, previous companies they’ve worked at, the university where they studied and the degrees they’ve achieved. For example, I recently noticed that a sales director at a major technical company who I wanted to connect with had studied at the same university as me. I hadn’t ever met or communicated with this person, so I used this shared link as a conversation starter. Just one LinkedIn message and phone call later I had an appointment booked.

So, take some time to do online research.

You can also use Google news alerts to give you a wider range of information about the company and its marketplace.

Now it’s time to move offline and ask around your contacts and colleagues for further information. You’d be surprised how many times people know an organisation in some way. They may have worked with or for it, or have knowledge about someone there who they’ve engaged with as a past supplier, customer or social contact.

BUILD CREDIBILITY Now you’ve gathered plenty of information, what you know about this major organisation that you want to win as a customer becomes a very powerful tool. Equipped with this information, you can turn it into some critical questions for them. When in front of them, you’ll be able to demonstrate a huge amount of credibility and show a genuine interest in your customers, both of which are critical for sales success.

How do you build on this credibility when you are with your customers or potential customers?

Easy, you are a member of the Institute of Sales Management (ISM), the leading sales body in the world, dedicated to the sales profession and to those working within it. That’s why we at New Results work in partnership with the ISM, raising professional standards in selling and ensuring that sales and salespeople are ethical, credible, and reliable, and maintain the highest professional standards in everything they do.

ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM

WINNING EDGE 21

FEATURE | NEGOTIATING

WEIGHING UP CUSTOMERS SIMON BUZZA provides the next two rules in his series explaining the 12 key rules of negotiating RULE NUMBER 5 All customers and suppliers have a different value to you There are, of course, many ways in which sellers can categorise or segment their customers. By far the most common considerations are their size and revenue contribution, but these measures alone are simply not adequate if you want to determine how to manage a relationship or how to negotiate with a customer. Put simply, big is not necessarily beautiful, and small is not necessarily unattractive. As has often been quoted, size is not everything...

The fact is that not all customers are equally important or attractive, nor do they always hold the balance of power in a relationship. Suppliers can afford to lose some of their customers and may well be better off for doing so. Furthermore, some customers represent a huge risk, especially when they account for a sizeable percentage of revenue. Just look at the unfortunate case of Courtaulds, a long-established maker of branded and private-label clothing for the retail sector, which recently went into administration, losing hundreds of “The fact is that not all jobs. The main reason for the customers are equally demise of the company was the important or attractive, nor impact on it of the high-profile collapse of department store do they always hold the chain BHS, which was its major balance of power in a customer. So, having a “default relationship” setting” for dealing with all customers is not the right answer.

How then do we assess the value and desirability that customers bring? The answer is information and analysis. It sounds something of a dull cliché, but the old adage that “information is power” holds true. Now, I am acutely aware that we are all members of a wider market community. Therefore, the well-recognised suite of tools for analysing the market is vital. Analysis of the vast array of available financial and 22 WINNING EDGE

strategic information on the Internet, and measures like SWOT, PEST(LE) and Porter’s Five Forces to determine the position of a customer or supplier in the market, are all invaluable. In this article, however, I am focusing on the balance of power between two negotiating parties and will concentrate on two under-used analytical tools: “customer positioning” and “category market positioning”.

These two tools are explained in more detail in the boxes on the following two pages. Together, they offer a really good assessment of the balance of power and relative value of the customer and supplier, and who really controls “the fear of loss” in the relationship.

ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM

C U S TO M ER PO S I T I O N I N G M AT R I X HIGH

DESIRABILITY OF ACCOUNT

DEVELOP (and nourish) or RETAIN (and sustain)

KEY STRATEGIC ACCOUNTS

NUISANCE

NECESSARY

(Hygiene factors and motivators)

LOW

HIGH % OF SALES REVENUE

KEY TAKEAWAYS There are three vital lessons to be learned here: l First, information is power. But, remember this too: power is of no value unless you take advantage of it. (Power, in itself, is not bad – only the abuse of it is bad) l Second, customers and suppliers are all different, and have a very different value from each other. Understand this and you can control “the fear of loss”, and this will help you achieve your objectives in any given negotiation l Third, put yourself into the other party’s shoes and envisage life from their perspective.

You will learn a lot about them, and often a good deal more about yourself too, by doing so.

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The Customer Positioning Matrix (sometimes also referred to as the Portfolio Analysis or the Supplier Preferencing Grid) is a highly effective tool for assessing the relative value and importance of customers. Sales leaders take note, because this tool will influence far more than just negotiations, and will give you a level of clarity about your customer portfolio that you did not previously have.

The matrix itself, pictured above, is a standard four-box grid: l The horizontal axis measures the percentage of sales revenue, using Pareto’s principle for the centre line, whereby It is normal for 20% of customers to deliver 80% of the total revenues l The vertical axis measures customer attractiveness or desirability.

The matrix is, in itself, a valuable snapshot of the portfolio of customers. However, it is what we do with this information that governs how effective the tool is.

It can be used in many ways: l It helps in the allocation of resources to specific customers, and in deciding if the right resources are being allocated to the right customers l It can determine the style of relationship that it is appropriate to have with a particular client –

and whether the existing relationship truly reflects this l It can influence the amount of time spent with the client.

Interestingly, we often find that a disproportionate amount of management time is spent on “nuisance customers” (at the expense of spending more time with key strategic accounts) l It should significantly influence the price and profitability targets for specific customers l Last but not least, it should determine our negotiation style for different customers.

It is particularly interesting to note that the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) takes this model very seriously. It is taught on its programmes because professional buyers want to know how valuable they are as customers to their suppliers. Once they know this, they can improve the perception of their relative importance in order to strengthen their own position. Even more significantly, they analyse what proportion of their supplier’s revenue they account for – and if they account for more than 15% of it, this raises serious concerns around supply chain risk.

Curiously, buyers often have a better understanding of this crucial balance than sellers.

WINNING EDGE 23

FEATURE | NEGOTIATING

CATE G ORY MA RK E T PO S I TI ON I N G MATR I X HIGH

Market complexity

ENSURE SUPPLY

DEVELOP RELATIONSHIP

Time/cost to switch resources SIMPLIFY, EXPLOIT AUTOMATE OR MARKET OUTSOURCE OPPORTUNITY

Business impact if there is a problem LOW

HIGH % OF SPEND

negotiator has in the eyes of the other party. The other party will measure this by trustworthiness, authority, reputation and expertise l Pathos – empathy and emotional appeal – is the emotional appeal of your argument (verbal and non-verbal). This can be either positive (warm, emotive) or negative (coercive). Rich analogies, storytelling and humour are powerful emotional themes that have a profound effect on the other party’s perceptions l Logos – logic or factual information – is synonymous with logical argument. This can involve the use of facts, statistics and evidence.

There is often no shortage of this to support both sides of the argument (witness the recent EU referendum). The key is to make it understandable, logical and real.

Buyers use the Category Market Positioning Matrix (also known as the KEY TAKEAWAYS Supply Positioning Matrix) to determine the relative importance of their This all holds as true today as it did 2,300 years categories of spend. But understanding this model is a game-changer ago. There are two key lessons to draw: for sellers too, because they need to understand how valuable their First, the most powerful and persuasive products and services are in the eyes of buyers. In many ways, this arguments contain elements of all three types of model epitomises the conflicting strategies of proof. Ethics provides the professional buyers and sellers, with sellers credible foundation upon “Sellers need to understand how emphasising their value and differentiation to which your case will be valuable their products and enhance their negotiating power, while buyers built. For example, the use services are in the buyer’s eyes” counter this approach by focusing on price of reference material, and alternatives in the market. awards and third party Many professional buyers are masters of playing down the value endorsements all build credibility. Emotions are of their supplies and suppliers – even to the extent of trying to the primary reason for making a decision and commoditise them. Unwary sellers tend to fall into this trap, while those hence are extremely powerful. Emotional who have done the analysis properly and understand their true value decisions are made in the unconscious mind, can counter this approach easily. Similarly, ruthless sellers will try to which controls 99.9% of our activity. Witness beef up their differentiators when talking to unwary buyers. somebody falling in love, or buying a new car or Perhaps most sobering is the fact that, again, the buying community house – the primary driver is an emotional seems to have a deeper and broader understanding of these issues than connection. So, the use of positive and negative sellers. As always, information is power. emotion should be a cornerstone of our

RULE NUMBER 6 People buy from people – so, understand the three types of proof used by persuasive speakers Absolutely fundamental to negotiation is our ability to persuade others to accept our view. In 350BC, Aristotle identified that persuasion was “the art of getting people to do something they would not ordinarily do if you did not ask”. It is a shifting of attitude, of getting the other party to move their position closer towards yours. As such, it has a profound effect on negotiation and conditioning. He identified three types of proof used by highly persuasive speakers: l Ethos – honesty, sincerity and ethics – is a measure of the credibility or respect that the 24 WINNING EDGE

SIMON BUZZA is a founding partner of the NewDawn Partnership, an advisory service that focuses on delivering operational improvements to the buyer and seller interfaces of a business. Visit: www.newdawnpartners.com

negotiating and persuasion strategy. Logic is used to validate an emotional decision. Logical decisions are made in the conscious mind. They are rarely irrefutable and can be confusing. So, know your facts and keep it simple. If you watch Dragons’ Den you know that once the dragons see that the entrepreneurs don’t have their facts straight, they’re out.

Second, our negotiating, selling and buying propositions, websites, marketing and proposals should all reflect elements of these three types of proof. Take a hard look at your sales and marketing outputs to see if they really do contain elements of all three. If not, you are unlikely to compete effectively at the negotiating table.

(For more on ethos, logos and pathos, see Sarah Hinchliffe’s features in this and previous editions of Winning Edge.)

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ISM EDUCATION | CASE STUDY

THE REAL RETURN FROM SALES TRAINING DAVID BUTTERFIELD is head of learning and development at Aggregate Industries, a leading manufacturer and supplier of materials for the construction industry in the UK, Channel Islands and Northern Europe.

Visit www.aggregate.com

DAVID BUTTERFIELD of Aggregate Industries describes the real return on investment to be gained from training in the sales marketplace

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n today’s challenging trading conditions, businesses cannot afford to rest on their laurels and continue to use the same tried and tested methods and systems. Rather, regular training and upskilling is vital to ensure they retain a competitive edge and future proof their business.

Understandably, the initial time and monetary investment required when it comes to training and development can often be a deterrent for businesses, particularly in hard times. However, it is important to remember that a business’s greatest asset is invariably its people, and ensuring that employees reach their full potential is not only good for them as individuals but is also good for the business, often resulting in increased employee retention, improved production and enhanced profits. This is particularly important when it comes to ensuring a strong sales team, which is inherently critical to business success.

At Aggregate Industries, for example, among other initiatives, we have invested heavily in offering an Institute of Sales Management (ISM) qualifications programme to our UK sales division over the past three years.

One of the main reasons we introduced the

“There has been a significant improvement in both skills and behaviours” ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM

programme was to further develop the skillset of our salespeople, so that they continue to grow as individuals and boost company performance within a challenging industry.

Taking an innovative approach to learning, our training solution lies in a fruitful three-way partnership between ourselves, the ISM and Growth Engineering, an award-winning learning technologies company. Together, we created the Aggregate Academy, an online learning portal offering a full library of high quality ISMM Level 3 and 4 sales training content.

Our academy is made up of an e-library of sales modules – meaning participants can learn as and when they choose, when it is convenient for them to do so. It is ideal for our busy sales teams, who simply can’t afford to take a day off the road.

When combined with interactive workshops, the course provides an ideal environment for learning and achieving success.

As an added benefit, the introduction of the programme at Aggregate Industries has created a universal platform where all employees can discuss and debate ideas and issues surrounding their everyday roles.

The results really do speak for themselves. Since introducing the Aggregate Academy, all of our sales teams have become fully qualified, and there has been a significant improvement in both skills and behaviours. Better still, there has also been a sense of pride injected across the team for achieving an accredited qualification, helping to inspire the team to excel and go the extra mile.

As part of our ongoing relationship with the ISM, we also regularly assess our salespeople in relation to their individual continuing personal development plans, in order to ensure that they are maintaining existing skills and knowledge, and keeping up with new developments.

It’s through experience that we all grow and develop skills and this is certainly the case when it comes to training. In an increasingly competitive marketplace, regular training should be considered as part of a business’s broader strategy and for the continued growth of the industry as a whole. In this way, investment in people rewards businesses with a real return on investment.

WINNING EDGE 25

FEATURE | BUYER INSIGHT

26 WINNING EDGE

ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM

BUYER INSIGHT | FEATURE

FIT FOR THE

FACE OFF Professional buyer Tim Ussher provides the third feature in his series, this time advising on meeting buyers and pitching to them

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y introduction to this series to hand – it’s much better to be able to answer a asked if sellers really are buyer query on the spot than have to say you don’t doing everything they should know or will try to find out. to impress buyers, and it Technology plays a vital role these days in highlighted a key question presenting slideshows, charts of data or online for sellers to ask their demonstrations. Get these laptops turned on prospects: “What do I have to do to win this before the meeting, memory sticks ready, have contract?” In the second feature, we aimed to backup hard copies in case of PC failures, even ask improve our understanding of the buyer and their for access to the room to set up before the buyer drivers, and also the importance of information enters. I sat through a key meeting recently with a and preparation. Here, I talk about meetings with large team of 12 stakeholders, waiting almost ten the buyer, and pitching to them. minutes for the seller to get his PowerPoint finally Suppliers often underestimate the importance of sorted on his PC and matched with the projector. those relatively few meetings they have with the It was painful, and he had a lot of credibility to buyer. A typical tender process, pitch, negotiations recover after that (which he didn’t manage...). and business award, even one for millions of pounds, might only require three or four meetings.

FOLLOW THE FORMAT Even if each meeting is, say, an hour, that’s just A well-organised and transparent process will four hours over a period of maybe two to three usually be clearly explained by the buyer, so if they months in which the supplier has the opportunity give you topics to cover or a format they’d like you to be absolutely outstanding in front of the buyer. to follow – follow it. Of course, add any extra bits I believe the buyer also has everything to gain by you want to cover at the end, but don’t disrespect being highly impressive, them by ignoring their setting high standards and guidance on meeting “Buyers love sellers who can representing both themselves format – it’ll only frustrate ‘fix’ things and solve problems and their company in the them. It’s likely they’re – doesn’t everyone?” best possible light. For your comparing you against part, as a supplier, you must other suppliers, so embrace make the most of these relatively small windows of the opportunity to shine and make it easy for the face-to-face opportunity. The buyer is judging you buyer to pick you out from a crowded field. all the time, so here are some guidelines for meeting and pitching to the buyer.

MANAGE YOUR TIME Aside from the obvious rule of being there on BE PREPARED time, I remain amazed at the number of sellers Know what you want from the meeting, plan how and professional businesspeople who, despite being to get it, and agree an agenda beforehand, if told before a meeting how much time they have, possible. Ensure the members of your team all still find themselves incapable of managing this. know what is expected of them and how things They chat away for ten minutes while still on the will be presented. Rehearse, if necessary, and know first slide, or end up leaving the important final each other’s roles in the meeting. Have everything four slides with only two minutes to go, or have ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM

WINNING EDGE 27

FEATURE | BUYER INSIGHT

OUR BUYER

TIM USSHER has spent his entire career of over 30 years as a buyer.

He began buying for a large retail chain with 1,400 stores, moved to cash and carry and then over to manufacturing. He went on to become chief procurement officer (CPO) for several major companies.

In the UK he has been CPO for BSkyB and Virgin Media, where he managed procurement teams of over 75 buying staff. In addition, he has led global procurement organisations of up to 340 procurement staff worldwide for multinationals such as Hilton, Williams Cleaning and Security Group and Regus.

In 2002, Ussher won the inaugural Purchasing and Supply Chain Professional of the Year award from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS), the procurement industry’s top individual award.

In his current role of independent consultant CPO, he has carried out major reviews and established new or improved procurement functions for the London 2012 Olympics, EMI, Diageo and British American Tobacco.

Ussher is passionate about continuous improvement within both buying and selling to drive up performance and professional standards. As he explains, “I want salespeople to be better at what they do, because sellers on top of their game helps buyers do their job more effectively. That’s what buyers want – brilliant suppliers with outstanding salespeople.”

28 WINNING EDGE

to be reluctantly prompted by either their own team or the buyer on timekeeping. Plan your time and rehearse if necessary. The buyer is busy and may have another (more competent) seller waiting for their meeting slot.

They may also have agreed with their team not to time-keep for the seller as part of treating everyone the same. Poor time management simply scores against you, and the buyer may even start to wonder if they want the risk of dealing with someone so unreliable.

So that concludes my pitch… oh, did I run over?

Buyers expect presentations to be pretty amazing HAVE A CAN-DO ATTITUDE these days: to the point, with great graphics, and Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. well rehearsed. If yours isn’t, it’ll be remembered Buyers love sellers who can “fix” things and solve for the wrong reasons. If modifying a deck from a problems – doesn’t everyone? Try to respond to previous presentation to another firm, be careful issues or problems with “leave that with me” or not to leave any mentions whatsoever of the other “I’ll sort that”. A positive, helpful attitude really customer in the deck. Any feeling you may have wins over the buyer. Even if sometimes you come engendered in the buyer that they are special will back with less than the buyer wants, at least you’ve go straight out of the window. I’ve seen it happen... tried. You’ve empathised with their requests and it feels like you have their best interests in mind.

DO WHAT YOU PROMISED Buyers are offering a big contract, not getting Take meeting notes, which ideally should be quotes from builders who draw in their breath shared and agreed, and ensure you have carried mumbling how hard the job could be... One out everything reasonably expected or asked of salesperson, when pitching for an important you. The buyer wants to be dealing with someone award, stated halfway reliable, proactive, efficient through that they probably and trustworthy. Impress “If the buyer wants to ‘control’ wouldn’t be able to supply the buyer by fulfilling your their meetings, let them” us immediately as they were actions as soon as possible. so busy – unbelievable...

Keep them appraised of I once asked my procurement department how progress and completion – you can’t build a good they valued a seller’s experience compared with reputation on what you’re going to do “sometime”. their attitude. They started off by favouring experience, but as the conversations went on, they DON’T PRESSURE BUYERS swung right over to attitude being more important: Trying to put the buyer under pressure will usually “They may be knowledgeable, but no-one wants to backfire. They simply resent it. This review is their deal with someone who is unlikeable or arrogant.” process, they run it, they are the customer.

The end vote was 80% for attitude – a powerful Occasionally, the odd larger and more arrogant message.

PRESENT PROFESSIONALLY Tailor your slides to your audience. By that I mean format and topics to cover. Do they like facts and charts, or lighter bullets to talk through and pictures? Remember, a buyer will absorb everything on each slide within a few seconds, so the last thing they want is to have to sit through it being read out. Put bullet prompts on the slide for you to expand on and bring to life.

Don’t use moving pictures, cartoon GIFs or too much colour. Go for a clean, professional look, with white backgrounds. Place the buyer’s company logo with yours on each slide – this subtly starts to present your firms working together.

I completely forgot our meeting today, so perhaps we can use it to remind me again what you asked me to do last time?

ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM

BUYER INSIGHT | FEATURE

corporation (usually a software behemoth) still tells my team they can only do a discount if the contract is signed by the end of the month. Sounds more like a double-glazing salesperson to me.

Come on, what discount is there on a Wednesday 31st that disappears on the morning of Thursday 1st? We know suppliers have monthly or quarterly targets, and possibly a bonus at stake, but be patient. It just looks desperate if you try to impose deadlines on a buyer, who won’t let a discount be taken away once it’s been mentioned, in any case.

CONCEDE CONTROL, SOMETIMES Suggest and agree the agenda, and chair the meeting, if that’s what the buyer you’re seeing likes. But if the buyer wants to control their meetings, let them. There are no points on offer for a personality battle just to run a meeting. After all, it’s their meeting you’ve been asked to attend.

I’ll never forget sitting at the head of my meeting table and the supplier’s managing director deliberately sitting at the other end of the table, 15 feet away from me, because he wanted to be at the head of the table as well. It was embarrassing for him, his staff and me when I had to insist that he move down the table so he was closer to me.

NO SURPRISES Nobody, including buyers, likes surprises that catch them out, embarrass them or make things unnecessarily difficult. Again, there are no points for surprising a buyer. Quite the opposite; they won’t forget it. If you feel anything will be brought up that the buyer isn’t aware of – and it doesn’t interfere with your negotiation tactics – tip the buyer off in advance. They’ll appreciate it and you’ll earn some valuable trust points.

NO PETTY POINT-SCORING There are some salespeople who come in to see the buyer and seem to forget the end goal of making a sale. Instead, they concentrate on winning a war of words, where there’s absolutely no prize on offer. Of course, people must stand their ground and not be pushed around, but don’t try to make the buyer feel inferior. It might make you feel better at the time, but once you’ve left the office you may not be invited back again. Furthermore, buyers will ask the senior management of a selling company to change their account manager if they feel entirely unhappy with a particular individual.

I’ve never heard of a seller asking to change the buyer they deal with, so be careful.

SET AND GET YOUR GOAL Remember what it is you need to achieve from the meeting and do whatever it reasonably takes to get it, professionally, calmly, positively and courteously.

Buyers may have different agendas, so try to steer ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM

them towards the things you need to address, as well as items they want to cover. And no subjective pleading – buyers like to deal in facts and logic.

BUILD THE RELATIONSHIP Use this precious face-to-face time to build trust and a degree of familiarity, while always acting professionally. Find out if you have any shared interests, support the same team, or have children the same age. Anything you have in common will help to lower the drawbridge of the buyer’s castle.

Impress the buyer, share their goals and work with them – you both want a satisfactory outcome.

SHOW RESPECT Do not underestimate the buyer, but respect their position. A quiet, scruffy, uncommunicative buyer has just as much ability to reject you, or award a high-value contract, as the professional, smart, “top of their game” buyer. Just like you, they deserve some respect – they’re in an important position within their company, choosing suppliers and awarding large contracts for big spends.

There’s no harm in rolling out the red carpet for them – a little flattery can only help.

ADOPT THE DRESS CODE If in any doubt, ask the buyer what their company’s dress code is, to make sure you match it. Do they wear formal business suits, with or without ties, or are they smart-casual or casual – or perhaps casual only on Fridays? This is simple two-way respect, or mirroring. Once you enter the room you can’t change what you’re wearing, so it’s better to get it right first time.

Watch out for the final feature in this series in the next edition, which will cover those important topics of tendering and negotiating with buyers.

WINNING SELLING... TO IMPRESS THE BUYER!

by Tim Ussher gives a concise insight into the mind of the procurement professional, with no-nonsense tips, tactics and practical advice for salespeople.

Recently published, it is endorsed

by Lord Alan Sugar, entrepreneur and star of the BBC’s The Apprentice, who, having personally sat across the table from Ussher in sales negotiations, describes him as “one of the best purchasing professionals I have come across in business”. The book is available on Amazon as a colour paperback and Kindle ebook.

For further information, visit: winningselling.com

I thought “Don’t dress down” meant we should dress up WINNING EDGE 29

CASE STUDY | PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

BUILDING SALES STRENGTH MARC BEISHON describes how housebuilder Redrow has sharpened its selling edge

including sales manager and learning and development consultant. She has since transformed sales training and continuous development for around 300 sales consultants and managers at Redrow.

“What I found in terms of sales induction training was comparable with the rest of the industry. It was largely generic classroom training that was not specific to Redrow,” she says. “I have a strong training and coaching ethos and I’m a firm believer that each company needs to develop its own sales process to follow.”

REWORKING THE SALES PROCESS Kate quickly identified that the sales process did not clearly define and address the buying stages that customers go through, in particular the emotional and psychological aspects involved in making such a major decision. By doing so, Kate has created a unique sales training programme that is changing the way Redrow approaches and engages with its customers.

“It is important that we don’t go racing through the sale and lose the customer in the process – there is much more to why people prefer one house to another than we were finding out. Each customer is different – and it isn’t enough to just take basic information from them and hope we hit istorically, buying a house the mark. We need to tailor offers to their represents the largest purchasing situation – and that means uncovering a lot of decision that a person will ever detail about them.” make. One company, Redrow, has One major component of the reworked sales consciously and radically changed process was in recognising and acknowledging the focus of its salesforce to ensure it interacts exactly where Redrow’s potential customers had more effectively with home buyers to match them come from, analysing those sources and tailoring with the right their sales approach properties, by accordingly. Redrow’s “There is much more to why people introducing a sales developments are prefer one house to another than process that properly marketed in a variety we were finding out” qualifies their needs. of ways, locally on Redrow is a FTSE billboards, on property 250 company that focuses on new build sites such as Zoopla, and on the firm’s own site – developments in England and Wales, including there is also My Redrow, an online system that combining houses modelled on traditional designs allows customers to select their favourite house with more contemporary and open plan interiors. types. Customers can book appointments through Employing almost 2,200 people, Redrow has My Redrow, or often they just arrive at the sales worked tirelessly to maintain and develop market centres, so it is important that salespeople are able share since the recession, with brands such as the to react to the variety of potential customers, Heritage Collection, based on the “arts and think quickly on their feet and change their sales crafts” movement. approach depending on the individual’s To lead the sales training, the company circumstances. The fact that most houses are sold recruited Kate Hopkins as leadership and sales before they are built adds another dimension to training manager. Kate came from Yell, the the challenge. business directory firm, where she had roles Kate added that Redrow’s sales training

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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT | CASE STUDY

approach also takes into account the backgrounds of the sales consultants themselves, ensuring that they all receive the individual support needed depending on their level of previous experience.

Many sales consultants have come from sectors outside of other house builders and estate agents, from areas such as retail and travel, or as returners to the workforce.

While the training also incorporates technical elements such as instruction on understanding plans and drawings, new recruits undergo an intense two-week sales induction programme at one of Redrow’s training centres where the new tailored and customer-centred sales aspects take centre stage. “The first module is on preparation – not just on how to prepare the site or marketing area, but how to mentally prepare to meet the next customer,” says Kate.

RATIONAL AND EMOTIONAL NEEDS The next core element of the programme involves the qualification of both rational and emotional needs – essential in the business of selling a potential lifelong investment. This is both the most challenging as well as rewarding module, says Kate, as it involves getting “under the customer’s skin” through a two-way consultative communication process.

She continues, “We aim to find out the underlying reasons for people wanting specific features – a necessary fourth bedroom may be due to the prospect of an elderly parent moving in years down the line, for example. If we don’t fully understand the ‘why’ behind the detail we cannot truly understand our customers and provide them with a first class service. Once the conversation changes to what’s really important, our sales staff become consultants who can demonstrate our products and bring to life the features that will work for them according to their priorities, which is the next step in our sales process.”

Identifying added value should be at the heart of all successful sales – and it’s no less important in selling houses, where the “extras” that Redrow offers turn the house into a bespoke home. To help build the skills to uncover added value, Kate has instigated practical demonstration during training. “The sales team create their own scenarios – a majority own their own home, so they can use their own reasons and motivation to show whether they had a good or bad buying experience.”

Identifying real needs and demonstrating how they can be fulfilled, and then getting customers to reserve and commit is paying off for Redrow, which is seeing a boost in sales. As part of its continuing development process, the company is operating “mystery shopping” at its sites – where “buyers” engage with sales consultants.

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Performance scores have shown an increase of 20% when measured before and after the revamped training, with particular success in the most complex area of qualification of customers.

Sales managers in each Redrow division also take the training programme, with the more experienced staff able to access elements as a refresher. In addition, Redrow offers further support to its sales managers on how they can continuously develop their people. “We offer a workshop for sales managers to help them know whether their salespeople need training or coaching – the ‘skill or will’ issue – and how to close gaps in the sales process quickly and effectively.” All employees also have access to an online learning system called Evolve, which provides a wide range of courses and materials, and, as a heavily regulated industry, important instruction on compliance with consumer law.

The change in emphasis is working, highlighted by the “snapshot” interviews on Redrow’s website with its salespeople, where a number of themes are apparent, including job variety, satisfaction of taking customers through the buying journey, autonomy when trusted to work alone on sites, and access to training and career development.

All of these positive changes will benefit from what Kate calls “the ultimate seal of approval” – endorsement by the Institute of Sales Management (ISM) against its new Quality Endorsement System, which allows companies to benchmark their training programmes and map them against the National Occupational Standards for Sales. Successful assessment against the ISM’s Quality Endorsement System will demonstrate a level of excellence within Redrow’s salesforce and, importantly, give confidence to its customers that they are dealing with a T H E IS M ’S QUALITY professional and ethical company. Redrow is EN D O RS EM EN T SYSTEM currently in discussion QES is a new way for companies to add value to with the ISM regarding their sales training and learning programmes. the assessment process, It allows them to benchmark training programmes, map them against the National Occupational which Kate is looking forward to implementing. Standards for Sales, provide evidence that their training is well designed and delivered to “It is a goal to have what consistent standards, and meets business needs we produce accredited in the real world. It also promotes professionalism in this way – it will and excellence within the salesforce, and gives mean a lot to our sales confidence to customers that they are dealing with consultants and a professional and ethical provider – and so creates managers that they are a competitive edge. The endorsement approval engaged in a programme process is rigorous, and includes examination by with a quality seal for an auditor to confirm compliance with ISM quality requirements, a certification process concerned continuous professional with trainee achievement, and ongoing quality development, and it will assurance. See ismprofessional.com for details. show we are committed to their development.”

WINNING EDGE 31

COVER STORY | SALES PROCESS

BUILDING MOMENTUM STEVE HOYLE argues that, while most salespeople consider what the best things to do during a sale are, too few think about when to do them

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SALES PROCESS | COVER STORY

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uring a series of recent box below) and lack of one is a huge lost sale reviews, the warning to us. The more subtle signs of term “time and its absence, however, are difficult to confusion killed the discern, and lead us to examine more deal” kept cropping up, closely what is increasingly referred to as and this often-quoted the “momentum” of the deal. phrase indeed summarises many of the Momentum is not to be confused with issues that face account managers who the concept of velocity, used mostly by have lost major deals. sales operations to help inform progress Confusion in the buying process is of deals through a funnel, which can be a normally quite easy to spot, with warning powerful method of analysis, particularly signs evident, such as different views from of early stage activities (investigating, individuals on the customer side as to the decision-making process, lack of “Without momentum, deals get clarity on the roles or responsibilities stuck in a buyer’s ‘important but and boundaries of the buyers, or no not urgent’ tray, and wither away” firm business case to fall back on when evaluating different options. All of these, and many others, will start qualifying etc). Velocity is normally sounding alarm bells for an account associated with speed through the sales manager. When examining the “time” cycle, which could be allied to, but is elements, however, the signals that all is different from, the dynamics of the not going well are sometimes more customer buying process. difficult to spot.

What we mean by momentum is the Everyone understands the importance force involved in driving decisions to a of having a strong compelling event (see satisfactory conclusion within the buying

organisation, and without it, deals get stuck in a buyer’s “important but not urgent” tray. Here, while not being formally stopped, they just wither away, losing their energy in a downward spiral, while customer time and energy are focused on other more pressing projects.

Momentum in general English language usage is variously described as the strength or force that something has when it is moving, or the strength or force that allows something to continue or to grow stronger or faster as time passes.

In physics, momentum is defined as the property that a moving object has due to its mass and its motion. In selling, momentum could be defined as the force that the deal has because of how quickly it is moving towards a conclusion in the minds of the buyers.

There are a number of components involved here: l The speed with which things are moving l The relative importance of the solution in the minds of the various

CO MPELLING EVEN T S The importance of a compelling event cannot be overstated, as time and time again when we conduct analysis of missed forecasts, or look at pipeline and forecast accuracy, the number one issue is that deals slip (and often evaporate entirely) due to lack of some event forced on the decision-makers.

Although almost universally used, the concept of a compelling event is sometimes misunderstood. It is something external to the buying team, over which they have no or very little influence, but which forces them to make a decision by a certain time.

Good examples of compelling events might include an office move, product launch, or a presentation to investors. The presence of an implementation deadline on an internal project plan is not normally a compelling event if there is nothing to stop the plan being changed. Always, the question to ask when discussing compelling events is: “What would be the consequence for the key stakeholders if the event slipped?”

Of course, as sellers we understand the importance of creating the compelling event, and even the most respected sales organisations sometimes stoop to the rather tacky approach of offering end of month/quarter/year discounts, just as if they were selling double-glazing door to door.

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COVER STORY | SALES PROCESS

players involved within the buying organisation l The clarity of a decision timescale bringing everyone to a common point.

Momentum is a key component of most complex B2B sales and, interestingly, almost certainly in B2C selling as well – if you don’t close the customer in front of you right this minute, then the chances of them coming back are slim.

In the B2B case, momentum is particularly important when you have multiple people involved, all with different priorities. Buying processes are increasingly complex and long-winded, so unless you can get everyone involved to move it up their priority list (ideally into their “important and urgent” box) it is probable that projects will slip,

enter a downward spiral and, as events overtake the original perceived need, eventually disappear.

Some of the most common mistakes found when analysing lost (or “gone away”) deals where momentum was a major factor, include: PEAKING TOO EARLY This is very common, especially in technology sales, as sellers rush to discuss the solution they can offer before building a cast iron case for the buyers.

Indeed, in some organisations salespeople are actively encouraged to get to proposal stage as early as possible (a velocity metric), but if this is not aligned with the customer’s buying cycle then an early gain will invariably lead to problems later.

BUILDING MOMENTUM: GEMMA’S STORY second month in the quarter, and presumed that it was one of the follow-on deals that we had planned to come to fruition. I was feeling pleased that the account plan was obviously working, until Gemma started describing the very same initial deal in the R&D division that had supposedly been “in the bag” all those months ago.

While all of the sales managers and sales ops people in the room were doing a good job of examining Gemma’s qualification of the deal, “We drew up a customer and sales focusing timeline involving all key players, on what focused on building momentum” needed to be done We had not looked at the deal to bring it in, I was looking in much detail as it was “already backwards and wondering totally committed”, and we what could be learned from the were tasked with figuring out fact that it had been dragging the best way to use this initial on for all this time. success as a springboard into It turned out that the the rest of the Belinga empire. business case had always been “overwhelming”, and that budget had been allocated to DEAL DELAY the project. The initial slippage Recently, almost a year later, 12 months ago was very I was helping BLC Systems unfortunate and the result review its end of final quarter pipeline, when Gemma came of one individual in the into the meeting to present her procurement department being sales funnel. I noticed that there off work with a bad illness for was a big deal for Belinga over three weeks, meaning that forecast for the end of the the offer put forward by I first met Gemma during a workshop and was immediately impressed by her easy-going but professional style together with her obvious determination and proactive approach. At that time, we’d worked through her account development plan for Belinga, which, while still a prospect at that time, was just about to sign a first major contract in its research and development facility for an intelligent building control system that Gemma’s company, BLC Systems, is well known for.

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Gemma for an end of quarter deal could not be taken up.

The deal was then going to be signed in the next quarter, but Belinga suffered a major loss in its South American division, which meant that all capital expenditure was frozen.

FORCING THE ISSUE Gemma was unsure when the expenses ban was lifted, but had managed to revive the project a couple of months ago during an update call with her main contact. She had then done what looked like a good job of contacting all of the various stakeholders and found them all positive, and got her support team to revalidate the numbers in the business case, which turned out to be even more convincing. She had also managed to find a compelling event, in that most of the users all took holiday during August, so the facility would be very quiet at that time, meaning that the implementation could be done with a smaller team and less budget – provided that Belinga could be persuaded to place an order in time.

Gemma had actually hoped to get the order in right at the end of last quarter, but it had slipped off the agenda of the final executive team’s monthly

meeting, which was needed to gain final approval. Now the deal was forecast as a very high probability for the middle of this final quarter. It was obvious that, although in classic qualification terms the deal was scoring highly, there was a distinct lack of momentum, which pointed to it probably slipping again. Questions Gemma found difficult to answer included: “How often do the stakeholders meet to discuss this project without you initiating the meeting?”, “Has anyone told you that they would take personal responsibility for driving it through in the next few weeks and by the forecast date?”, and “Does your main contact’s boss see this as one of the top initiatives to be progressed this month or quarter?”

Knowing the nature of the problem, we were able formulate a plan to bring it in within the desired timescales.

We drew up a customer and sales timeline involving all of the key players, with a focus on building momentum to peak just before an exec team meeting scheduled for four weeks’ time, allowing two weeks to get the final paperwork through the system following the final validation.

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SALES PROCESS | COVER STORY

EXAMPLE OF A SIMPLE TIMELINE Timelining is not a complex tool, but can be a powerful one if it is used rigorously. Here is an example timeline that Gemma (see case study opposite) could have used. The trick is to make sure that you consider customer activity first, and use the tool to check alignment of selling and buying activity, as well as ensuring that momentum is building, particularly among the buying organisation’s key decision-makers.

CUSTOMER ACTIVITY

WEEK

SELLING ACTIVITY

Best and final offer received

27 January

Submit best and final offer

Proof of concept

3 February

Presales team on site all week. Our team reviews the business case and prepares suggestions

Reference visits

10 February

Reference visits; CEO meets CIO and CFO meets FD

Project manager finalises technical report

17 February

Additional references; review business case with analyst

Finance team finishes business case; project team submits final recommendations; FD agrees business case; group purchasing approval

24 February

Meet with group purchasing and clarify issues; agree additional groupwide volume of business allowance; CEO call to CIO; implementation workshop with customer project team

Group CIO sign off

3 March

Social event with CIO influencers

Final validation by exec team

10 March

CFO call to FD

Raise PO

17 March

Calls to implementation team

24 March

Contingency

31 March

Last day for booking this year

This is a simple example. For more complex cases, involving large numbers of people, or different groupings (centre versus subsidiaries versus procurement etc) you may want to split the customer activity into different individuals/entities with separate columns for each.

USING YOUR AMMUNITION TOO SOON Ammunition includes executive engagement, proof of concept studies, and reference visits. If all are used to gain early interest, you will have little new to offer to gain access and an opportunity to increase momentum towards the end of the project.

NOT GAINING ACCESS TO FINAL PHASE PLAYERS IN TIME This is often an early stage mistake. While you need to hold some ammunition in reserve, you generally ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM

STEVE HOYLE is a sales consultant, coach, trainer, interim manager and author specialising in helping clients grow the capability of their sales teams in complex B2B environments. He can be contacted on 07785 381563 or at steve.hoyle@linksdev.net

need to initiate relationship-building early. Trying to get to a C-level validator at the end of the cycle is both very difficult and, as you do not have an established relationship, also means that there are only limited discussions that can take place. Often price is the only thing that your sales executive can give at this advanced stage.

DELAYING/ACCELERATING TO SUIT YOUR NEEDS, NOT THE CUSTOMER’S As salespeople seek to manage, or at least influence, momentum in the sale, they often delay (and sometimes accelerate) issues to suit their own needs, such as quarter ends and availability of resources.

This may be valid, but highly successful salespeople take much more account of the customer’s needs, seeking mutually beneficial momentum by tying in their own needs with those of the customer.

“Momentum must be nurtured throughout the sale, and in particular, renewed after a stall” LACK OF A COMPELLING EVENT As described in the box on page 33, this is the biggest single factor we discovered, and while there is only so much that you can do as a seller in this case, it points to issues with the qualification process.

LACK OF A COMPELLING BUSINESS CASE Another common factor: momentum can easily stall because of perceived weaknesses in the business case. This could stem from a variety of areas including health and safety, procurement, HR and risk management. Just one stakeholder in the buyer organisation questioning the business case can be disastrous if it is not watertight.

NO CHAMPION The individual who will drive the deal internally through the buyer organisation is increasingly vital.

We found that, while identifying a champion has always been a key issue in traditional qualification, their role now is not just to make the case but also to drive momentum within their own organisation.

NOT RESELLING AFTER A STALL A stall can often be overcome, especially if there is a compelling event and a compelling business case.

But there are many instances where, although the ingredients are all there, salespeople fail to go back and resell to all stakeholders on all aspects of the sale relevant to them personally, on the assumption that if they were supportive and helping to drive momentum earlier, then they will continue to be so.

In reality, momentum must be nurtured throughout the sale, and in particular, renewed after a stall.

WINNING EDGE 35

FEATURE | PUBLIC SECTOR CONTRACTS

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PUBLIC SECTOR CONTRACTS | FEATURE

GOING PUBLIC PHILIP NORMAN outlines some simple measures to identify great public sector opportunities for your business and turn them into solid contracts

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ast year the government So, first and foremost, how do you published a target that, identify the opportunities that are by 2020, £1 in every £3 most relevant to your business? A of public procurement simple and effective way to find the expenditure will be with right contracts is to make use of the small businesses. Could this mean online portals available to allow that 2017 will be the year for winning organisations to search for public your first public sector contract? It sector tenders. These allow you may not be as out of reach as it to enter search terms and key seems, and the right help is at hand if information, which will then suggest you know where to find it. which contracts you might be able to The many types of organisation open to “There are always plenty of tendering public procurement opportunities available to businesses include government within most sectors across the UK” bodies and quangos, local authorities, the NHS, housing associations, charities, go for, as and when these come up. schools, universities and colleges. As The best-known portals for public you can imagine, these organisations sector business are: l Contracts Finder have vast and varied contract (gov.uk/contracts-finder), which is requirements, so there are always free plenty of tendering opportunities l Tenders Electronic Daily available to businesses within most (europeandataportal.eu), which is the sectors across the UK. online version of the Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) C ASE STUDY: l NHS Supply Chain TIDY TE ND ERING (supplychain.nhs.uk) Direct Cleaning Services (DCS) based in Corsham, Wiltshire provides its quality l Procontract cleaning services to a wide variety of public and private sector organisations (procontract.due-north.com). throughout the South West. Its contracts vary greatly in size and its customer-focused There are also several other staff are dedicated to providing consistency of service to all clients. paid-for portals.

Back in 2013, DCS was eager to grow its business by obtaining more sustainable Opportunities are hugely varied supply contracts over a wider area. Specifically, it wanted to win public sector and a wide range of different contracts for educational establishments, but like many small businesses, it didn’t businesses benefit from winning have the time, resources or skills to pursue public sector bids on its own. Bidbetter public sector contracts each year. Of stepped in to strengthen and simplify the bid process, tailoring its services to DCS’s course, you’ve got to be in it to win it, budget and timelines, and assisting it in winning over £600,000 worth of contracts so why not sign up to a free portal from an investment of around £4,000. and have a look at what’s out there?

DCS’s experience shows that sensible investment in the bidding process has There is nothing to lose and you potentially massive returns, not least for the thousands of small to medium-sized could quite possibly win a sustainable enterprises that drive the UK economy. DCS is now able to produce its own successful contract that will give your business public sector bids based on Bidbetter’s suggested model, while Bidbetter continues to offer DCS specialist advice and to review bids before they are presented.

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WINNING EDGE 37

FEATURE | PUBLIC SECTOR CONTRACTS

a real boost. Once you have identified an opportunity you would like to pursue, you will need to put the appropriate planning in place at an early stage to ensure you are maximising your chances.

Effective early engagement and profiling are essential for a successful outcome.

Treat the tender as a project, putting in place effective project management tools, key milestones, and measures to ensure the smooth running of the process. Investing time at this stage will pay off in the long run, particularly if your competitors are not putting the same amount of time and effort in.

Ensure you have the right people involved in the project. Whether this means using your own staff or investing in outside help if there is a knowledge gap, if you do not have a combination of the right skillsets working on the job, you will be missing out on valuable advice and experience that could cost you the contract. Bid consultants and dedicated bid writers have seen hundreds of different types of tenders – some have even been involved in scoring them – and know exactly what needs to be included, and how it needs to be written, in order to gain the highest possible score for each section. Investing time and money in this type of expertise upfront can really pay off in the long run and put you streets ahead of your competitors.

Do also obtain buy-in and sponsorship from as high up in your organisation as possible, otherwise you may find yourself left without the necessary resource allocation and with your colleagues not taking the project as seriously as it should be.

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PHILIP NORMAN is founder and managing director of Bidbetter, a consultancy set up in 2013 to help businesses, both large and small, win public sector contracts. The company has since won £370m worth of business for clients, with an 80% success rate.

Call 01202 237506, email philip.norman@bid-better.co.uk or visit www.bid-better.co.uk

When it comes to completing the tender documentation, ensure that you are well prepared: develop a project plan and stick to it. A key piece of advice is to work out exactly what the buyer is looking for in their tender responses – don’t assume you know what they want to hear. This information is all laid out within the tender document itself, but if you are in any doubt, ask the buying organisation. Every live tender has a function to ask questions within certain timeframes. This is also a good way to influence and raise your own credibility with the buyer, so could be invaluable.

Don’t allocate the writing of the bid to the only person in your organisation who has the time to do it, as they may not be the best person for the job.

The person who writes your bid must be able to write well and understand the business and the customer. Ensure that you engage the right people within your business – experts on the subject matter – to feed into the writing process.

Once you have completed the document, ensure that you check it thoroughly and ask others to have a good look over it too. The document must be submitted on time, preferably 24 hours before the final deadline. If it is late, it will not be considered.

After submission, you must wait for the “decision of intended award outcome” to find out who has won the contract. The timescales for this will be published in advance. The final announcement will be made online and you will also receive a letter to let you know whether or not you have been successful. If you have, the organisation will communicate with you when they are ready. If you are unsuccessful, you may want to find out why, so that you have more success next time. Occasionally, it may be possible to challenge the decision if there are sufficient grounds.

And that, in a nutshell, is how to bid for public sector business. I hope I have clarified some of the key points for you, and encouraged you to consider bidding for these contracts. Good luck!

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PUBLIC SECTOR CONTRACTS | FEATURE

CHECKLIST OF DO’S AND DON’TS: DO… ✔ Complete the tender in full and do exactly what is asked of you

✔ Complete the tender in a particular format, if asked to do so ✔ Hire a consultant to help you complete your bid if you do not have the time or experience ✔ Enter into dialogue with the buyer if you are unclear of any aspects of the tender.

The tender will provide instructions for communication ✔ Be creative – work out your unique selling point and make your response relevant to the requirement ✔ Price at a point that is sustainable for your business ✔ Send your tender in 24 hours prior to the deadline.

DON’T… ✘ Go for contracts that you can’t definitely fulfill, or you will be wasting your own time and that of the public sector – and buyers can have long memories

✘ Confuse the pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) and invitation to tender (ITT) phases (see jargon buster, opposite), where both of these stages are used in a process. The PQQ is about selection criteria and shortlisting. The focus is always backward looking, so you need to demonstrate your credentials as a company before getting the chance to actually bid for the work on offer. The bidding is through an ITT, which is forward-looking and focuses on how you will seek to perform the contract

✘ Ignore the word count or fail to fill in any part of the tender

✘ Submit stock corporate sales material and standard copy

✘ Include bold statements that cannot be backed up with the appropriate evidence

✘ Introduce inappropriate or ill-prepared people. If you are invited to undertake or receive a presentation, your representatives should all be well versed in the requirement and in your company, and of course, be presentable and affable

✘ Submit your tender late ✘ Forget to inform your nominated referees, as this gives a poor impression and you may even end up with a bad reference.

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JARGON BUSTER AWARD CRITERIA – evaluation criteria used to inform and justify the decision-making on which candidate supplier(s) can be awarded contract(s) CLARIFICATIONS – written discussions with candidates or bidders for the purpose of clarifying or supplementing the content of tenders – the clarification must be circulated to all relevant parties CONTRACT NOTICE – a notice, published via OJEU (see below), to inform the EU market of an opportunity to win a contract CONTRACT AWARD NOTICE – a notice, published via OJEU, to inform the EU market of which contract was awarded to which supplier CONTRACTS FINDER – the system where all new government contract opportunities can be found EVALUATION CRITERIA – high level selection criteria and award criteria found in the PQQ and/or the ITT (see below). May be broken down into more detailed sub-criteria EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (EOI) – a formal notice to potential suppliers that a prospective buyer is planning to acquire goods or services and inviting interested suppliers to register their interest FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT – a general term for agreements with one or a number of providers that set out terms and conditions under which specific purchases can be made throughout the term of the agreement (usually 4 years) INVITATION TO TENDER (ITT) – a special procedure for generating competing offers from different bidders looking to obtain an award of business activity in works, supply, or service contracts.

This is sometimes preceded by a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) where allowed (see below)

MOST ECONOMICALLY ADVANTAGEOUS TENDER (MEAT) – factors other than, or in addition to, price, such as quality, technical merit and running costs can be taken into account in evaluating bids. This is an alternative evaluation option to lowest price OJEU – the Official Journal of the European Union, where new public sector invitations to tender are published online, along with information on the latest tendering regulations PRE-QUALIFICATION QUESTIONNAIRE (PQQ) – a tool used as the first part of a twostage procurement process to enable public sector procurers to identify the most suitable suppliers to invite to tender (or quote) for contracts in the second part of the process SELECTION CRITERIA – evaluation criteria and sub-criteria used to inform and justify decision-making on reducing the quantity of candidate supplier(s) to pass through to next selection stage, which will be based on award criteria SPECIFICATION – a document contained within a contract setting out clearly the client’s specific requirements for the goods or services in question STANDSTILL PERIOD (OR ‘ALCATEL PERIOD’) – a 10 calendar-day period (15 days where not electronic) prior to the award stage to permit unsuccessful bidders to seek further information about the award decision and take action in the courts where they have sufficient grounds WHOLE-LIFE COST (WLC) – the total cost of investing in an asset, evaluated by taking into account not only the initial outlay but also all the costs of owning, operating and disposing of that asset.

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FEATURE | BUYER EMPATHY

STEPPING INTO THEIR WORLD In the first of a three-part series, SARAH HINCHLIFFE considers Roman Krznaric’s thoughts on empathy

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ollowing my feature in the last edition, looking at how Aristotle’s three persuasive appeals – ethos, pathos and logos – can be used to create winning proposals, I decided to dive deeper into pathos. This led me to Roman Krznaric’s fascinating book on the subject, Empathy. The two key features of the book are the “Six habits of highly empathic people”, and the plethora of examples of empathic people. In this article, I skim the surface of Krznaric’s six habits and pick my favourite characters or scenarios to illustrate each of them.

SARAH HINCHLIFFE is a director of i4 Sales Performance,* a business focusing on helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) achieve sales and bid excellence. i4 is a Shipley Business Partner. See i4salesperformance.co.uk or email sarah@i4salesperformance.co.uk *i4 Sales Performance is the brand name of the services supplied by i4 Consultancy and Design.

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EMPATHY DEFINED Empathy is defined as, “The art of stepping imaginatively into the shoes of another person, understanding their feelings and perspectives, and using that to guide your actions.”

So, empathy is all about discovering, understanding and accepting different tastes and views. We learn that there are two types of empathy: “affective empathy”, which is a shared emotional response, and “cognitive empathy”, which is about perspective taking. It is important to develop both. And there is a distinction between empathy, which can relate to positive or negative situations, and sympathy (or compassion), which typically “Do not judge your only has a negative connotation neighbour until you relating to pity or mercy in a bad idea that humans are naturally walk two moons in situation. selfish and aggressive – we must his moccasins” A whistlestop tour of empathy compete to survive. through the ages confirms that it In modern times, who hasn’t Cheyenne saying isn’t a new fad. We find empathyheard the phrases “looking after related words and sayings from number one” and “what’s in it for different languages around the world that stem me?” (WIIFM). Instant gratification, happiness from centuries ago. through therapy, and craving to be slim, We are all wired for empathy, but it’s been beautiful and fashionable are hallmarks of swamped for centuries by a growing focus on today’s society. All this is fuelled by marketing “self ”. Over four centuries, eminent scholars such and social media. Yet many people are still as Thomas Hobbes, Adam Smith, Charles dissatisfied and unfulfilled. Tuning back into our Darwin and Sigmund Freud have reinforced the empathic brains could be the answer.

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nature, and that it can be expanded throughout our lives.”

Habit 1 is really all about tuning into and recognising empathy. To convince us that it’s really there in all of us, Krznaric describes three groundbreaking advances in understanding empathy, as follows: l First, neuroscientists have identified an empathy circuit responsible for cognitive and affective empathy – it includes mirror neurons, which allow us to feel what other people feel or do what others are doing in a form of imitation or mimicry. Examples include yawning when you see someone else yawn, or flinching when someone is hurt l Second, evolutionary biology has proven we are naturally cooperative and empathic, like primates (and other animals). Research into apes shows how they groom, protect and comfort each other l Third, child psychology shows that even small children can see things from others’ perspectives.

My favourite example is a child who learnt to give her brother his favourite toy when he cried rather than her favourite toy, which had been her first inclination.

The good news is that we can all learn to be more empathic early or late in life. Training doctors to have a better bedside manner has produced benefits for doctors as well as patients – doctors feel more fulfilled and patients feel more satisfied with the care they’re getting.

Having set the scene, Krznaric introduces us to the six habits. Let’s run through them. And remember, this time around we are just getting familiar with the theory – next time we will apply it in our world. But just for fun, I’ll set some little challenges along the way, which you can ponder with personal or professional examples.

HABIT 1: SWITCH ON YOUR EMPATHIC BRAIN “Shifting our mental frameworks to recognise that empathy is at the core of human ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM

CHALLENGE 1 Think about times when you have mirrored a feeling or understood another person’s perspective

HABIT 2: MAKE THE IMAGINATIVE LEAP “Making a conscious CHALLENGE 2 effort to step into other Have you jumped to a conclusion about people’s shoes – someone, and later including those of our revised your opinion? ‘enemies’ – and to What changed? acknowledge their humanity, individuality and perspectives.”

Habit 2 takes us to the next stage – really tuning in to other people. But we meet four barriers that tend to prevent us.

First, prejudice, for example in the form of stereotyping, tends to cause us to pre-judge people and jump to conclusions, often negative ones. This can prevent us appreciating good qualities. Then, authority often gets in the way of people’s empathy – poor behaviour is often blamed on simply “following orders”. And then there are the barriers of distance and denial.

We have less empathy with people if they are distanced from us through their location, community or social position – we care more about those who are close – and it’s easy to turn a blind eye, especially when they are a long WINNING EDGE 41

FEATURE | BUYER EMPATHY

way away or we feel disconnected from them.

Highly empathic people tend to be more open-minded and prepared to defy authority.

They treat everyone they deal with as individuals and humans, even those they dislike or fear.

HABIT 3: SEEK EXPERIENTIAL ADVENTURES CHALLENGE 3 “Exploring lives and Think of examples of cultures that contrast experiential adventures with our own through that you have participated in or direct immersion, heard about empathic journeying and social cooperation.”

Habit 3 is about taking a bigger step towards understanding and really stepping into someone else’s shoes. Krznaric tells of people who have travelled and lived, often in disguise, to experience first-hand the lives of others. Sharing these adventures often contributed to major social reform – take Gunter Wallraff, a German who posed as a Turkish immigrant, cleaning toilets. His book, Lowest of the Low, charting his abuse by employers, citizens and authority, sold 2m copies and led to changes in protection of foreign labour. Other empathic journey-folk changed corporate attitudes. A 1970s designer, Patricia Moore, changed the face of design after taking on the persona of an 85 year-old woman over three years to understand age-related issues and inform the design process.

HABIT 4: PRACTISE THE ART OF CONVERSATION CHALLENGE 4 “Fostering curiosity Think when you dashed off an email or about strangers and text, then wished you’d radical listening, phoned or spoken and taking off our face-to-face emotional masks.”

If habits 1, 2 and 3 are about tuning in, refining the frequency and observing from behind a mask, habit 4 is about really engaging.

It’s about being a genuine, interested enquirer.

It’s about asking questions, caring about the answers and showing some vulnerability.

In the age of email, text and social media, picking up the telephone is hard enough, let alone actually making eye contact and starting a conversation with a stranger. But that is what we need to do to re-engage with society and each other in a truly empathic way. Anything less and we risk being remote and superficial. Contrast the inspired idea of the lady called Sarah, who 42 WINNING EDGE

was brave enough to invite all the other Sarahs in her office block to meet for a chat, with the impersonal concept of Chatroulette, where you take pot luck with an online conversation and just drop it for another if you get bored.

HABIT 5: TRAVEL IN YOUR ARMCHAIR “Transporting ourselves into other people’s minds with the help of art, literature, film CHALLENGE 5 and online.”

When were you last moved to action by Although habit 5 risks being something you saw, second-hand experience, heard or read? “armchair empathy” has history and merit. Theatre, films, photos, books and songs have aroused emotion and inspired action throughout the ages.

Well-targeted and used carefully, our senses can be developed and refined by different media.

When fired up, empathy can help to modify views and change attitudes. Who hasn’t been moved by books like To Kill a Mockingbird and Uncle Tom’s Cabin? In their day, they brought injustice into sharp relief.

We must just be mindful that our emotions can be dulled by too much emotional fatigue and we can drift into sympathy rather than empathy, or even back to distance and denial. We need to tune into our media sensitively.

HABIT 6: INSPIRE A REVOLUTION “Generating empathy on a mass scale to create social change, CHALLENGE 6 and extending our empathy Is there something skills to embrace the natural you would like to world.” radically change?

Habit 6 is somewhat ambitious What could you do to raise awareness? and I’m not about to suggest we all revolt. However, Krznaric takes us into the final furlong with examples of major national and global change that were fuelled by mass empathy. The abolition of slavery and civil rights reforms would never have happened if people hadn’t started to really understand the experiences of others. In more recent times, global charities and environmental movements have helped protect people and places – think Live Aid and Greenpeace.

NEXT UP, EMPATHIC SELLING Krznaric’s book runs to 244 pages, not including the notes and acknowledgements. I doubt I have done it justice in this short article. But it did inspire me. Next time, I’ll share my thoughts about how the habits map onto selling.

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FEATURE | PROSPECTING

ARE YOU IRRESISTIBLE? DARREN SPENCE explains how to approach and woo your sales prospects Let us get straight to the point: l Successful prospecting requires being able to connect effectively with new customers and forge meaningful relationships l Prospecting a new customer is a journey, not a sprint l Relevance rules l Salespeople need to have built credibility and a rapport with their customer before they can expect an order.

SALESPERSON 1’S BAD APPROACH “Hi [whoever], I work for [whoever]. We’re big, have lots of awards and can save you money blah, blah. Can I come and see you and tell you all about us?”

If you’re this salesperson, you’re making a bad approach because your prospect doesn’t really care who you are or whom you work for.

They care only about how you can help them – and at this point you’ve done nothing whatsoever to suggest that you know anything about them, their role or their company.

Prospects want to be wooed a bit before committing their time. Tease them a bit first, and gradually draw them in…

SALESPERSON 2’S MUCH BETTER APPROACH “Hi [IT director], thanks for taking my call.

My company is currently putting together a networking group of progressive IT directors.

I thought this might be of interest to you. The current thinking is that the group will meet every couple of months to discuss pertinent topics. We’re also looking to include industry thought leaders and experts from a variety of fields to make the sessions as relevant, engaging and interesting as possible. We haven’t decided on the initial invitee list yet but wondered, if there is space, whether you would be interested in being included?”

So we know what is good and what is not, but let’s now pause for a moment to consider why people decide to buy anything, ever.

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CA S E S T UDY 1 MA RT IN MES S ES UP Martin was given a new account to try and open – the Jalapeno Food Company. He added the account to his database and set aside Wednesday morning to make 100 calls to his prospect list.

On Wednesday morning he was working through his list and came to the Jalapeno Food Company.

He found the switchboard number online and called it. When the receptionist answered, Martin asked for the name of the IT director. When given the name, Paul, he then asked to be transferred. The receptionist agreed and put Martin through.

Paul answered the call and was greeted by a slightly unprepared and surprised Martin, who hadn’t thought he’d get through.

Martin proceeded to tell Paul that his company was a market leader and that it had helped companies like Paul’s save thousands of pounds.

Paul asked Martin whether he knew anything about the Jalapeno Food Company and whether he’d read its recent press release on its website, which outlined its strategy. Martin said he had seen it (he hadn’t), but couldn’t remember all of the details.

Paul suggested Martin spend time reading it and call him back. Martin called back 10 minutes later.

Paul’s phone rang for a while and went to voicemail.

At the end of his calling session, and despite phoning back four times and leaving messages each time, Martin failed to reach Paul again. He made a note to call Paul during next week’s call session. This pattern was repeated week after week.

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PROSPECTING | FEATURE

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FEATURE | PROSPECTING

“mission critical” priorities, as they are sometimes known) are those things that, when met, will enable the company to get to where it needs to be. l The strategic priorities will have been decided upon based on the strategy of the company. If, for example, the strategy of the company is to float on the stock exchange, the strategic priorities will include such things as ensuring there is robust corporate governance, risk management and financial controls in place, and that there is a clear growth plan for the future. l The strategy will be based on the motive, or motivation, of the shareholders and/or the company directors. For example, if the motive of the shareholders is to realise some capital (cash) then an initial public offering (IPO) – or stock market flotation – could be the strategy used.

THE ‘MOTIVE TRIANGLE’ To answer this, let’s take a look at the motive triangle (see diagram above).

The motive triangle tells us that: l Every purchase a company makes is considered by them as an investment, not a cost. When we think of purchases as investments it helps us understand that our customer is expecting some sort of return on their investment (RoI). l Every investment is part of a considered activity or project. Purchases are not made without thought. Remember, it’s the company’s money that is being spent, not your prospect’s. Reckless spending will almost certainly lead to disciplinary action. l Every activity (or project) will have a success measure behind it. This will typically have formed the basis of the initial business case. “This project will be deemed successful if…” l The success measures will have been decided upon based on a problem that currently exists in the business, or one that is anticipated to happen in future. These will be summarised in the strategic plan.

The strategic plan will detail the current and future state of all manner of operational matters, and will detail what needs to be done to transition from one state to the other. l The strategic plan’s purpose is to deliver against the strategic priorities of the organisation. The strategic priorities (or 46 WINNING EDGE

CA S E S T UDY 2 LA RIS S A LATCH ES O N Larissa was tasked with opening up a read recently about your acquisition brand new account, coincidentally, the plans and thought the attached article, Jalapeno Food Company. She wasn’t “Ten things IT directors should consider given any information about it, and prior to an acquisition”, might be there was no previous trading history. relevant? Kind regards, Larissa.”

After being given the account, she Paul responded positively to Larissa’s spent 10 minutes studying its website, email and thanked her for the article. two minutes setting up a Google Alert Larissa didn’t push for a meeting but on it and following its company pages over the next couple of weeks on LinkedIn and Twitter, and another continued to forward relevant and 10 minutes reading some relevant news interesting articles to Paul. Eventually, stories she found about the industry. she called him, introduced herself and Using information she found on invited him to an event her Jalapeno’s website and online, organisation was running Larissa listed six people she entitled “The future role of felt could be relevant to IT”. Paul responded well to INSANITY: her, and used ContactOut the call and agreed to Doing the same to discover their email attend. He also asked thing over and over addresses. whether he could invite a again and expecting Finally, she spent 10 couple of his colleagues. different results minutes familiarising Larissa didn’t commit Albert Einstein herself with recent news straightaway, but said articles relating to the roles she’d need to check, as of the people she had places were limited. She identified as potentially relevant. called Paul back a short while One of the articles Larissa had read later and confirmed his colleagues was a statement by Jalapeno outlining could attend. She asked for their names, its intention to acquire two companies. phone numbers and email addresses, She decided this would be a useful however, and also permission from Paul piece of information on which to base to call them to understand a little more her initial approach. about their interest in the event and to To ensure she created the right first check it was relevant to them, as she impression, she went back online and didn’t want to waste their time. Paul found an independent article that listed was happy to oblige her. ten things IT directors should consider Larissa’s research and approach paid prior to an acquisition. She then crafted off, as she was quickly identified as a short email to the IT director, which someone who could be valuable to Paul, simply read, “Hi Paul, I was interested to his team, and his company.

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PROSPECTING | FEATURE

LEVERAGING THE MOTIVE As every investment therefore maps back to the overarching motivation of the shareholders, the more salespeople can relate their proposition to the motive, the more relevant they will be.

If, for example, a company has decided it is going

PROSPECTING DO’S ✔ Sign up to or follow information services to ensure you’re kept up to date about the account you’re prospecting. This could include using Google Alerts and following the company pages on LinkedIn and Twitter.

So, be account-relevant ✔ Sign up to or follow information services to ensure you’re kept up to date with the role of the person you’re prospecting, so these could include CIO.com if your prospect is a CIO/IT director, or similar services. So, be role-relevant ✔ Sign up to or follow information services to ensure you’re kept up to date with the industry your prospect is in, so if they’re a law firm, for example, find and follow the best service that serves the legal market.

So, be industry-relevant ✔ Join relevant groups on LinkedIn. Don’t pitch though, or you could find yourself ejected from the LinkedIn group ✔ Share relevant publicly available information with your prospect, such as interesting articles you’ve found about their role, company or industry. Ask for their view, “I saw this and wondered what the impact may be on you and/or your company” ✔ Ask your prospect if they’d be willing to participate in relevant surveys, events and networking groups ✔ Work on your persona so it screams that you’re credible, interesting and relevant ✔ Work with your wider sales and marketing function to build up a database of assets you can use (whitepapers, research surveys, blogs, articles etc.)

PROSPECTING DON’TS ✘ Talk about how great your company is, unless it’s directly linked to how it is relevant to the strategy or strategic priorities of the prospect you’re targeting

✘ Vomit information. You are not trying to close a deal at this stage, but simply seeking permission to engage in a further more detailed conversation. Remember, draw your prospect in, tease them a little, and keep them wanting to hear more from you

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to acquire two companies as part of its growth strategy, a strategic priority could be to ensure its future shared services, such as finance, IT and HR, are sufficiently organised to enable the acquired companies to be efficiently integrated. The strategic plan therefore may outline a transformational project that will see paper-dependent processes being replaced by electronic ones.

The success measures of the project may therefore be to: l Reduce the order to invoice time from 25 days to 14 l Reduce the debtor days (the time it takes customers to pay) from 40 days to 30.

The activities then will be to find suitable solutions that will enable these success measures to be fully met.

Salespeople may then be engaged and asked to provide a proposal outlining how they can help provide an invoice scanning and workflow solution.

Salespeople and suppliers who stand out from the competition, therefore, will be those that qualify and reference how their solution will better enable the acquisition strategy, not just the pre-defined need around invoice scanning.

HOW TO BE RELEVANT So, let’s bring this back to the issue of prospecting excellence. To be successful at prospecting, salespeople need to work hard on “the relevance multiplier” – as the diagram above illustrates, this means understanding as much as they can about three relevant and heavily interrelated subjects: the account they are prospecting, the role of the person they are prospecting, and the industry in which the account is operating.

With this information to hand, the salesperson can start to share relevant (but limited) information.

They can then also begin to engage their prospect in meaningful conversations and networking groups, each designed to help establish the salesperson as an interested party with something valuable to offer.

DARREN SPENCE is founder of Sales Gym 360 and Boost Performance, and author of the SalesGym360 app on iOS and Android. Contact @4eyedSalesGuy, darren.spence@salesgym360.com, call 07771 598578, or visit www.salesgym360.com or www.boost-performance.co.uk

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FEATURE | STRATEGY

SOLD ON SOCIAL MEDIA? If you’re not, you need to be, as online opportunities burgeon, argues KENNETH LE MEUNIER-FITZHUGH

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he explosion of communication customers. Sales has a valuable contribution to play channels provided by the Internet in the customers’ journey, as well as in the design is revolutionising sales. While of content of webinars and case studies. The information systems that help the marketing function still has primary responsibility organisation to manage the for managing brand value, creating an online buzz customer portfolio are well about the organisation’s activities, and managing established, the use of social media in selling is still general communications. But many organisations an untapped opportunity in many organisations. still need to establish processes for including sales in Social media can be used by today’s selling customer interactions, and for handing over organisations to enhance the effectiveness of their enquiries to the sales team at the appropriate sales team. Modern salespeople are as likely to moment, so that the customers’ journey is not engage with the customer via email or social media interrupted as they move from general enquiries as they are through the telephone or face-to-face. into buying activities. As well as marketing, sales You now have the option of using social media to should also be involved in the creation of links with create virtual sales relationships with new and the customer through social media and other online existing customers. Social channels, so that they media interactions can can feed into the “Many organisations still need to also establish you as an interaction with the establish processes for including expert in the customer’s customer when sales in customer interactions” mind as you engage with appropriate, and follow the wider community up on sales enquiries. through blogs and online conversations. These Managing the customer journey through developments offer major rewards to the selling interactions with social media and social networks organisation, and sales managers should be finding can be used to guide potential customers into ways of integrating social media into traditional engaging with the organisation’s offer, by creating sales activities. interest in the brand values, becoming a fan and providing feedback. These activities can feed THE PLACE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN “prepared” customers into the sales pipeline, THE CUSTOMER JOURNEY complete with insights into their interests.

Marketing has traditionally played an important The early stages of contact with potential customers role in the creation of interactive web content and may be enhanced by communications through in attracting new customers’ attention. However, general media tools, eg. Reddit, Twitter, Facebook there is a danger that the sales function is excluded and YouTube. Advertisements can be placed on from early online interactions with potential suitable web pages, which are aligned to

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STRATEGY | FEATURE

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“Many salespeople are still struggling to integrate social media into their activities”

the interests of the target segment.

Once the potential customers are engaged, it is possible to use sales technology to match customers with various sales processes and to improve the organisation’s visibility through conversations on LinkedIn groups, email subscribers and Pinterest on relevant topics. Finally, towards the end of the sales pipeline customers can be encouraged to move into buying activities through email blasts, landing page optimisations and sales calls. When potential customers are looking for information about products and services, the key factor is to make sure that their online searches link to the organisation’s offer.

BUILDING ONLINE RELATIONSHIPS Research shows that salespeople who can create personal connections with their customers through a number of channels, and leverage social networks are able to build robust customer relationships (see also Darren Spence’s article on page 44 in this edition).

The trick is to find areas of common interest or establish what is important to the customer, for example connections with key figures within the industry or what their concerns are at that time, so that you can engage in online conversations that are relevant to the buyer and establish the framework for their purchasing activity.

By becoming an Internet “friend” it is possible to create a trustworthy persona that the customer will contact when they have a problem to solve.

Establishing an online interaction can be effective in both B2C and B2B settings. Recent data from LinkedIn indicates that online communications between buyers and sellers in B2B contexts can improve sales performance by as much as a third.

You should join relevant social communities by posting opinions in industry blogs and social streams, as well as contributing educational materials linked to the organisation’s brand name, 50 WINNING EDGE

to attract interested and potential customers.

Participating in discussions on sites like LinkedIn, to keep abreast of new ideas and themes, will help to associate the organisation and yourself with particular topics. Answering online questions, or adding extra information to discussion boards and blogs can lead to extended interactions and establish your expertise. Creating a knowledgeable persona will also help to confirm you as a trusted source of information and should act as an initial introduction to potential buyers, reducing the need for future cold calls.

POTENTIAL DRAWBACKS While there are many benefits of engaging with potential customers through social media, there are some drawbacks too. Some salespeople may find that they are required to constantly be “at work”, as social media is active 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Further, the aptitude and appetite for an online life may be more attractive to younger employees who have been brought up with social media, than for older salespeople. Those who have worked hard to create sustainable relationships with their existing customers may be challenged by the virtual relationships offered online, perhaps finding them rather impersonal. However, as it is the norm to communicate by email, the answer may lie in a gradual introduction of e-communication channels into existing relationships, initially to keep the connection current between physical calls, and later to establish online discussions that are valuable to the participants.

There is a further issue, in that many buyers may be unwilling to engage in social media interactions with salespeople if they are considered too personal and not related to work activities. But it should be possible to continue to engage with these customers through traditional communication channels to maintain relationships.

There is a huge variation in the use of social media in sales interactions and many salespeople are still struggling to integrate social media into their activities.

NEW FRONTIERS So salespeople are moving away from physical, personal interaction with their customers to more virtual relationships, conducted through social media and social networks. Although the move to virtual sales interactions can make it harder to build the personal relationships with customers that you have enjoyed in the past, this new type of engagement does allow you to manage many geographically dispersed sales interactions concurrently, and helps to disseminate intellectual capital from regional specialists to global customers.

You are not, therefore, limited to your own territory or region, but can access a range of communication ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM

STRATEGY | FEATURE

channels including apps, blogs, wikis and other social media to go beyond your traditional boundaries, and create new relationships.

processes. Customers are far more prepared to deal with the sales organisation, as they are able to use search engines, attend virtual tradeshows, engage in specialist blogs and visit your website to ask questions or participate in discussions, before they speak to a you. As a result many buying decisions are already made early in the process. Although social media and online selling have many advantages for selling organisations, there has been a loss of personal interaction that may create issues in trust and loyalty that could have long term consequences to sales and for future value creation.

MULTI-CHANNEL SELLING The advent of Internet selling has provided an interesting crossover channel for many sales organisations that are operating in both B2B and B2C environments. The option to buy online (a sales function) is usually managed through the website of the organisation and may fall within marketing’s responsibilities. Not only does this channel allow customers, both small and large, to MANAGEMENT AND TRAINING purchase directly from the selling organisation, but For sales managers, the development of multiit also creates the opportunity for online feedback channel communications with customers can mean about the organisation. The growth of word-ofthat the management of the team has become more mouth recommendations may be leveraged to complex. Salespeople who are expert at online improve the organisation’s visibility via comparison interactions may have to be encouraged to engage sites. Twitter, Instagram and Facebook also provide in face-to-face meetings, while more traditional consumers with the option to broadcast their own salespeople may have to be offered opinions of the organisation’s training and support to create product or service. The result of “Sales managers their online persona and manage engaging with social media and should be social media interactions.

Internet sales can be customer demonstrating total Resistance to new technologies is recommendations and positive common and an additional reviews that enhance the brand’s commitment to new problem for salespeople is that value, and generate repurchases. working practices” they may feel that their personal time is being eroded by the need BENEFITS OF CUSTOMER to engage with customers 24 hours a day (especially INFORMATION with international customers). Sales managers Customer data, knowledge of industry trends, should be leading by example by demonstrating and competitor information, are required in all total commitment to adopting new working selling situations, but the advent of mobile practices and providing training for their team, communications and Internet-driven transactions while understanding the additional pressures that and interactions has increased the speed of change social media can put on their salespeople. and is driving the need for current, real time, Training in the uses of social media should help customer/market information. An additional the sales team to integrate new communication benefit of using social media in selling activities is channels into their working practices. Any the wealth of customer information that can be inhibitions within the sales team to engage with generated by the media sites such as Google social media should be explicitly addressed, so that Analytics, LinkedIn and Facebook Insights. These any fears can be explored, and solutions offered. sites can also provide data for measuring responses Experimenting with social interactions within a to the organisation’s online activities. Customers can secure, closed system should take place and some of communicate and interact thorough a wide range the pitfalls of conversing online should be explored of channels and media, and advanced analytics can in a safe environment. Salespeople could also be facilitate information creation at a frighteningly fast offered social media mentors, which may also rate. Salespeople who are continuously connected help with building, stronger, cohesive teams by to the market, customers and consumers via the integrating traditional skills with new opportunities.

Internet have become a primary source of this critical information.

ONLINE OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS You can use this knowledge to engage with To sum up, the growth of social media in the selling customers to create customer value by combining environment offers many opportunities, especially market information with the personal information for younger salespeople who are IT savvy. Sales on the customer and their buying habits. Further, organisations need to get closer to their customers feedback from customers allows your organisation and consumers, so that they can enhance customers’ to integrate information with its intellectual capital sales experience and generate market growth. Social to improve the offer to that customer. media can create a more integrated marketplace Customers are also moving closer to selling that does not observe traditional boundaries. organisations and integrating with your systems and ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM

KENNETH LE MEUNIERFITZHUGH is senior lecturer in marketing at Norwich Business School, University of East Anglia.

He specialises in B2B marketing and sales management, focusing on improving the interface between the sales and marketing functions. He is co-author of The Oxford Handbook of Strategic Sales and Sales Management, and Achieving a Strategic Sales Focus.

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FEATURE | CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT

MAKING CONTACT COUNT

ANDY ROBERTS describes five key technology trends for effective customer engagement

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ustomer experience should be brilliant. There really is no excuse today for brands that don’t step up to meet customers’ service expectations, given the multiple technologies and expertise that’s available.

However, it’s hardly surprising that customers get frustrated, when so many organisations still operate and manage digital and contact centre strategies separately. That simply doesn’t make sense when we know that over 60% of customers today go online before engaging with a contact centre. Winning organisations will be those that work to close the gap between digital and traditional customer contact channels – effectively building their “digital front door” and evolving their contact centres into true relationship hubs.

In a world where the actual customer service experience offered is often the only differentiator between sellers, it’s imperative that organisations do as much as they can to get this right. To achieve this, organisations need to work on fixing the disconnects between their disparate marketing, digital and operational contact centre services – and that means the end-to-end mapping of customer journeys across all digital and humanassisted activities. Customer service must be integral to the whole digital experience – not just show up when things go wrong.

There are five key technology trends that I believe will be instrumental in delivering an improved customer experience: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) “Customer service must be integral to AND MACHINE LEARNING the whole digital experience – not WILL TAKE CENTRE STAGE AI and machine learning will start to have a just show up when things go wrong” much more meaningful impact in terms of intelligent customer contact. While previous generation virtual assistants were little more than front-ends to a knowledge base, today’s intelligent assistants are taking things to the next level with full conversational interactions – whether via chatbots in messaging threads or 52 WINNING EDGE

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CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT | FEATURE

through virtual assistants embedded into the web journey. What will have an impact in the short term, however, will be how organisations equip their assistants with the intelligence needed to reach out for live support as and when necessary.

Improving the links between the traditional contact centre and digital marketing will be a prerequisite to successfully taking advantage of AI across contact operations.

SMART BRANDS WILL START TO TAKE MESSAGING SERIOUSLY We all use applications such as WhatsApp, iMessage and Facebook Messenger to communicate with our families and friends.

What’s stopping us doing the same with the businesses that we deal with? The rise of “conversational commerce” is driving a growing number of sales organisations to recognise that the latest messaging platforms – with their powerful threads and the ability to extend capabilities with dedicated chatbot functionality – will prove an essential channel for customers now and in the future.

It makes sense to be where your customers are and, with Facebook’s combined WhatsApp and Messenger throughput alone now processing three times as many messages as traditional daily SMS volumes, it’s clear that messaging has an important role to play in the end-to-end customer journey. In consequence, the quality of integration with other digital and assisted channels will prove critical.

CONVERSATION WILL BE AT THE HEART OF INTEGRATED CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT Building on the theme of conversational commerce, we will increasingly be using our voices to communicate with machines to get answers to our questions. With speech recognition continuing to improve, voice control is on its way to becoming ubiquitous. Research suggests that being able to converse with automated systems can significantly improve the customer experience. Indeed with voice control going mainstream, and millions of customers already actively communicating via Siri, Cortana, Alexa and other voice assistants, it’s increasingly clear that customers are getting ready to engage via conversational commerce. Brands need to ask themselves: “Do we have a strategy in place to provide our customers with seamless access to relevant contextual experiences via a conversational interface?” Having access to the right interactive voice response, natural language, UX (user experience), and customer journey design skills will be vital if organisations are to ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM

have the capability to successfully deliver transformational conversational commerce experiences.

CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT WILL BECOME DATA DRIVEN As the amount of data generated continues to grow at exponential rates, talk of data becoming the new “oil”, powering the fourth industrial revolution, is no longer hyperbole. While the customer contact sector may have talked a good “big data” game for the last five years, it’s probably fair to say that in terms of really powering an end-to-end, data-driven customer experience the actual results delivered have often been patchy. Instead of concentrating just on mining web stats or harvesting customer feedback, organisations now need a more comprehensive data-driven approach, drawing together a broad range of data inputs from across both digital and human assisted elements of the customer journey.

It’s only by adopting a true customer engagement analytics approach – one that brings together web analysis, self-service analysis, workforce optimisation data, speech and text analytics, and customer feedback – that organisations can effectively map the whole customer journey from a reporting perspective.

Identifying bottlenecks in multichannel journeys is a key goal here, particularly when combined with broader contact centre metadata, to come up with specific actions for service improvement.

SOCIAL CUSTOMER SERVICE WILL START TO GET SERIOUS Social networks are already busy building out their messaging platforms, and will increasingly start to open them up to commercial brands that recognise this is increasingly where their customers are likely to be. With platforms like Facebook Messenger already supporting voice for peer-to-peer communication, it is only a matter of time until this extends to businesses. Organisations therefore need to gear themselves up to support voice, video and messaging communication arriving directly from their social messaging applications. This trend is being pushed heavily by the leading social networks, which are transitioning quickly to provide customers with more direct communication options, with many seeing features such as click-to-chat or click-to-call as a great way of getting users to spend more time within specific social networks. To manage this demand, expect to see more social chatbot integration, as well as an increase in direct feedback and “provides support”-style indicators that allow brands to clearly signal those social media accounts that are dedicated to customer service support.

ANDY ROBERTS is CEO of Sabio, a technology specialist focused on delivering customer contact solutions that support outstanding customer experiences. Visit: www.sabio.co.uk

WINNING EDGE 53

FEATURE | PRESENTATIONS

SWEAT THE RIGHT STUFF

M

ost people have a terrible dread of presentations. And of selling. But I’m going go to go out on a limb here and work on the assumption that if you’re reading Winning Edge you’re probably not too freaked out by the prospect of either.

So... why write articles about presentations for people who aren’t anxious about them? Precisely because you aren’t freaked out. Stay with me for a minute…

Pretty obviously, if you’re anxious about your presentations, you try to minimise the time you spend in the spotlight, and that brings with it all kinds of problems. But for salespeople, who are generally confident and outgoing types who relish the chance to speak in front of an audience, there are risks that aren’t quite so obvious. Sadly, however, marketing and sales superheroes and heroines aren’t immune to mistakes, so here’s a scamper through some of the classic issues many sales professionals have when they’re over-comfortable about making a presentation to a client or prospect.

To be honest, the rules that marketing lives by, such as getting emotional buy-in before you try providing too much technical information, are also spot on for sales presentations. But all too often that kind of rational thinking goes out of the window when it comes to presenting.

SIMON RAYBOULD explains how good presenters can get even better

SWEAT THE RIGHT STUFF The traditional sales presentation starts with an attempt to establish credibility. Great, as far as it goes, but if your idea of establishing credibility is talking about your company, you’ve already lost me. Even things you might think are pure credibility builders, such as “We’ve got offices in 15 different countries and work with over half “Concentrate your presentation the Fortune 500”, won’t purely on the problem and, even make anyone care. Sorry. more so, on your solution” Think of it this way – if I put a pair of handcuffs on you, you’ve got a problem, right?

I’m fairly certain that you wouldn’t really care who solves your problem – you just want the problem to be solved. You want the key to those handcuffs, no matter who gives it to you.

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PRESENTATIONS | FEATURE

So, what should you do instead of talking about yourself and your company? You should establish the credibility of the solution you are about to offer. Concentrate your presentation purely on the problem and, even more, on your solution. People will happily test out your credibility for themselves if they’re already partially committed to your solution.

Yes, yes, I know… it’s common sense. But if it’s really common sense, how come it’s not all that common? Most sales professionals waste the first few minutes of their presentation talking about themselves. Why on earth do they do that when this is the time when they most need to grab the audience’s attention?

DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF And, let’s face it – it’s all small stuff. Trust me on this – unless you’re selling a cure for cancer or world hunger it’s more or less all small stuff.

But what’s not necessarily small stuff are the consequences of your sales presentation – and therein lies the rub. Time and again I’ve seen sales professionals get worked up over a presentation because of the consequences of a success (or failure). Don’t get me wrong here, just because you only spend 10 minutes preparing for a presentation worth £50, I’m not suggesting that you should only spend 10 minutes on preparation for a presentation that might net you £5m. I am simply suggesting that once you get to the presentation itself you let go of all thoughts of the possible consequences and focus entirely on the “gig”.

Think about the mindset of a professional tennis player.

It’s championship point at the Wimbledon singles final and the weight of the entire nation is on their shoulders... Sporting glory and millions of pounds are at stake... The BBC is broadcasting live around the world...

A nation holds its breath and prays... No pressure, Mr Murray! But the second he thinks about any of that, he’s lost. His muscles will tense, his shoulders will go up, and his natural flow will vanish, promptly causing a double fault.

ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM

On the other hand, if it’s just another serve, it happens like it’s supposed to, and he aces it.

(As an aside, this is how beginner’s luck works – beginners have nothing to lose.)

It’s exactly the same for sales professionals making a vital sales presentation. You must stay wholly focused on the job in hand. When you’re in the room, be in the room. Don’t be distracted by anything outside the room – and don’t start sweating the consequences.

SWEAT THE KEY DETAILS Not sweating the consequences aside, don’t forget about sweating the right details. All too often a confident presenter slips, unaware, into being an arrogant presenter, confident in their ability to cope with whatever comes up. That would be great, except for the way it interferes with their preparation and presentation.

There’s a thin line between confident and arrogant. Over-confident presenters: l Don’t check their slides (“Oops, that one shouldn’t be there!”) l Don’t pay attention to their audience (clue – if their eyes have glazed over, you’ve blown it and there is absolutely no way back) l Don’t notice who the real decision-makers are in the audience and generically pitch to the room. It’s brutal, but you should often ignore half your audience as “person-padding”.

LET’S TALK TECH Consider this: if you mess up your technology in any way (“How do I connect my laptop to your projector?”) you undermine your audience’s faith in your product or service. Let’s face it, if you can’t work the projector, how can you be trusted to work your widget-making machine?

I’ll be talking tech in more detail in the next edition of Winning Edge. In the meantime, here’s some basic advice on how to stay out of trouble: l Practise operating your equipment l Have a checklist of what to take to every presentation – and use it l Set up early, before the presentation begins.

I know this is blindingly obviously stuff, but you’d be amazed how many experienced, confident salespeople fail to do it.

LEARN FROM THE FEARFUL I’m not suggesting you should suddenly begin to feel the fear that most people experience when they’re forced to make presentations, but I am suggesting that you take a minute to think about what you can learn from the fearful.

SIMON RAYBOULD is one of the country’s leading trainers in presentations and also a professional speaker.

His clients range from one-man bands to major multinationals.

Visit PresentationGenius.Info

WINNING EDGE 55

ISM MEMBER PROFILE

HUMAN FACE OF SALES Winning Edge meets the founder of Touch Business Solutions, ANDREW DAVIES How did your sales journey begin?

It all started with a Saturday job in a local electrical shop when I was around 15. Within no time I realised I was quite good at selling. I found that selling was a huge thrill – and the commission really helped. By the age of 25 I had progressed from the world of retail to the IT service sector – and so began a long career as a sales professional.

Things all changed for you a few years ago – what happened?

This year I turn 51, so I’ve had more than 30 years of sales experience, which teaches you so many valuable lessons. However, during the early part of 2011 things all changed. Having returned home from a business trip I felt unwell, and the next day I was rushed to hospital fearing a stroke. This was quickly ruled out, but over the next nine days in hospital my condition worsened, with my mobility, speech and concentration all causing concern.

Eventually, following an MRI scan, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS).

all allow for faster communication and, in some respects, engagement. But sometimes salespeople forget that what sells is the benefit. The fundamental rules of selling should still apply no matter who the customer is, or what market they are operating in.

I am passionate about removing the B2B and B2C labels we rely on to categorise our customers.

I would much rather use “H2H” or human-tohuman, and remember that, at the end of the day, it is always a person who says yes or no to a deal.

If the benefits of our product or service satisfy the wants or needs of that person, or the business they represent, then we are well on the way to a yes.

Is being a sales professional still a worthwhile pursuit?

To simply be good at something is not acceptable to many of us – being the best, or at least the very best we can, has many more rewards. It goes far beyond financial remuneration – it can have a positive impact on our general wellbeing and stature in society. For my entire career I’ve considered myself a professional, and wanted acknowledgment from colleagues and clients alike. We automatically think of many other occupations as a profession, but sadly too few consider sales in these terms.

How did you pick yourself up?

After my diagnosis, I knew that there were going to be parts of my life that would never be the same, but having a passion keeps you focused. My passion is in fact selling – the thrill of the chase and the feeling you get from a win is very powerful. I knew How has ISM membership helped you?

I needed to develop my skills and knowledge for I use the mantra: “Knowledge is nothing without digital marketing, and after a more than a year of experience”, but getting the right knowledge is vital. researching and testing the market I was ready – The ISM’s wealth of knowledge has helped me and well enough – to launch my own agency and greatly, and I often refer people I meet to both the consultancy service. In January 2014 I founded information and the benefits of membership. It is Touch Business Solutions. also a very influential door-opener that can never I landed a couple of clients very quickly and the be underestimated. Coupling this with 30+ years’ feeling was tremendous. Since then, the business experience has had very good results for me. has continued to develop. I’ve been fortunate to have a couple of young, talented people working How do you feel about the future? alongside me. Each had achieved a marketing Although I know my condition will worsen over degree, but struggled to secure work due to lack of time, I’m very confident about the future. I’m still experience. It’s great that I’m able to pass on my very ambitious and driven – I know that this part of experience, while they bring creativity and a me will never disappear. Our clients are youthful outlook to the business. really seeing results, and the satisfaction “Knowledge is nothing without this brings, along with the relaxed experience, but getting the What are the biggest changes atmosphere we have at Touch Business right knowledge is vital. you’ve seen over the years?

Solutions, means that work couldn’t be I think the biggest change has been how we better. On the home front, I make sure I The ISM’s wealth of knowledge communicate and engage with our various take opportunities to relax and enjoy has helped me greatly” customers. The web, email and social media valuable time with my family and friends.

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