Strategic Sales Management

Business-Collaborative puzzle

Bottom line – Delegation makes your business more profitable by; 

• training your staff to do their current job better
• training your staff so they can grow into a new position.

Businesses become great because the team is great. 

 So how do you delegate? What make delegation successful. 

1. Pick the right person for the job.
   Do they have the right skill set and are they the right personality for the job. For example it is pointless to ask a shy person to get on the telephone and call everyone you met at a trade show and book appointments for you.
2. Explain in clear English – skip the industry jargon
3. Ask the person to repeat back to you what you said and clarify misunderstandings
4. Set a date for an Progress Report 
5. Set a Due Date
6. Clarify the importance of the job
7. Outline the consequences of failure to attain Progress Reports and Due Date deadlines. Do not save them. Only set the consequences you are prepared to enforce.
8. Include review of successfully completed jobs and unsuccessfully completed jobs into your yearly review of employees.

Bonuses 

1. Get help – cross train to maximize the time you are taking to train
2. Get even more out of your training – Document your training for future reference and self training. Build systems.
3. What gets measured improves – Set goals and give feedback
4. When things go wrong do not wait – get the issue out on the table right away. Whether it is an employee or a client, come clean with the details of the situation right away.

Is you business growing or are you preparing for growth? Are you experiencing some challenges as your business tries to manage the increased complexity of the structure of your business? 

Through a process of inquiry and dialogue, I go about finding the underlying logic behind the structure by investigating how employees interact with the process of how your business operates.  

I look at all the things that employees do and then find or build the pieces(s) that enable your business to operates smoothly. I also find out where people commonly leave the road and therefore cause information to become bottle necked in a process or in a job function. 

Once we know what the best case scenario road is, where we can be solid, we can then adjust to situations and be flexible. At that point I go through a process of extracting the ‘common sense’ from employees. At the end of the project you will have the process and structure documented into a Process Manual which you can use to train your staff to do their current job better and grow into a new position. 

Business do not grow through the efforts of one person.
Businesses become great because the team is great. 

To grow your business you need to put a GPS-Growth Positioning System in place so you can build a great team and grow a great business together. 

Are you confused about the new sales automation tools and which ones you need to grow your business? If so, you are not alone!

Over the past several years there have been so many changes to the traditional sales and marketing methods and many new Internet tools.  As a result, more time is needed to not only keep track of all the new sales automation tools but also to investigate each product’s features and decide which one is the best fit for your business needs.

Here are 3 tips to help with your investigation and set the stage within your business for growth.

So what is your first step?

1. ASSESS your current business processes to determine where you are today and discover areas where information may not be flowing smoothly. Do you have a CRM Customer Relationship Management tool in place?
2. BRAINSTORM ideas to address the current bottleneck areas you found in Step 1. Look at both people and business processes. The goal is to get internal information flowing smoothly again. What resources are currently available that you can access?
3. DEVELOP a strategic map of tasks outlining a step by step plan in each step. That way you will have a path to implement the identified ideas and move toward the changes. Do not forget to also include investigating features of the new sales automation tools.

These initiatives will set the stage and get your business started down the road to implementing change and also gather the information you’ll need to choose which technology tools best fit your improved business processes. 

One of the challenges in business today is to not only keep up with the fast pace of change but also continue to implement improvements into your business processes. Processes need to change within your business to help utilize the advancements in technology to enhance your marketing and sales funnel and set the stage for growth.

Along the way you also need to maximize knowledge flow through improved business processes if you want to gain business growth in the new Innovation Economy. Which specific process should you look at first? Which technology should you apply for maximum effectiveness in your business?   Without a strategy, it can seem overwhelming.

When developing a strategy, one of the first steps I take to help a new client prepare to move forward is a current state accessment. I often start with the foundational processes and then progress to optimizing the way knowledge flows within the company. As a result of requests from my clients I will be launching a new business called BusinessKnowledgeGPS to help clients get started. If you would like to be kept up to date, just go to the site and send me your email address.

The goal of the Follow Up Services I offer for sales follow up and sales automation is three fold.

1 – EXPERTISE & RESOURCES that help people within the business understand the basic concepts of automation and
2 - GET ORGANIZED to start implement the changes necessary, then
3 – TRAINING that helps people start moving towards utilizing the tools to maximize their business development investment, marketing and open the door to greater sales.

During this transition, additional expertise resources may be needed to analyze the sales cycle and determine the best course of action and tools needed. Ultimately, the goal is to standardize and optimize the sales process from first contact through to the 5th – 12th contact where 80% of sales are won.

The outcome goal is an integrated system that once set up, runs automatically in the background to maximize the business development investment and marketing assets, optimize the sales cycle, increase the volume of qualified prospects and ultimately increase the likelihood of won sales that grow your business. The combination of components and the route to attain that goal varies for each business.

One of the components I recommend is Swiftpage which provides 2 things.
1 – an HTML program that builds newsletters and drip marketing campaigns for example and
2 – an email blaster that sends email campaigns and compiles statistics based on opens and click through traffic for campaigns.

You have the option to integrate Swiftpage with ACT a CRM or you can utilize Swiftpage with an excel spreadsheet as the source for the contacts. When using ACT all your email stats can be loaded back into the contact records.

To learn about these are concepts , attend Follow Up Training- Automate Your Follow Up Process.

Third annual Small Business Showcase: a Bridges to Better Business event taking place on Wednesday 7^th October, from 2pm – 9pm at the Waterloo Inn Hotel,Waterloo ON features small businesses from Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph and beyond!

The details as posted on their site;
The 2009 Small Business Showcase is made possible by the generous support of our sponsors. We’d like to take some time to recognize their contribution and helping to make this year’s event more successful than ever!

Firstly, our recently announced title sponsor, Scotiabank, will not only be sponsoring the event, but hosting the Bridges to Better Business seminar for Showcase exhibitors. Scotiabank is a proud supporter of small business and promise to share some insight from their “Get Growing for Business” initiative.

Tibor Shanto of Renbor Sales Solutions, Inc. is sponsoring one of the Showcase Seminar sessions. As a widely recognized sales expert, Tibor will be asking, “What’s in your pipeline?”.

Martin Buckland of Elite Resumes is sponsoring another of our Showcase Seminars, where he will be talking on the topic, “Help Build Your Business and Your Brand in a Competitive Environment”.

(Just a reminder, Showcase Seminars are FREE to attend, for both exhibitors and the visiting public!)

Last, but my no means least, Adam Smith of My IT Guy is sponsoring our refreshments–that’s right, he’s keeping the exhibitors running strong throughout the day!

The July August 2009 issue of this great regional business information publication features Southern Ontario’s Mayors Speak Out. Tom and Wendy Peters do a great job of publishing this long standing newspaper that promotes business in Mississauga and the surrounding area. The circulation is 30,000 – from Mississauga to Windsor..

For this issue they also sent a copy to the Prime Minister and the Ontario Premier’s Offices as well as to all the MP’s and MPP’s located in the distribution area of Southern/South-western Ontario.

As a result of my association with HAPPEN (Halton and Peel Professional Executive Network) and Hugh Black of HMB Communications, my article “Build Your Business With Networking In An Economic Downturn” was included on Page 16 of this issue.

If you are interested in advertising in the Mississauga Business Executive for October 18 – 24, 2009 which is Small Business Week, please contact Tom Peters, t.peters at busexec.com. He mentioned that this website is averaging 100,000 requests per month which is excellent for a B2B publication.

Like you, I sometimes wonder, how well is my marketing promoting my business? I keep at it. I keep sending out Executive View Newsletter, connecting with my network and looking for opportunities to not only promote my business, but also helping my network through my expertise or passing along opportunities I think might be a fit for others.

One of my network groups is HAPPEN in Mississauga, Halton and Peel Professional Executive Network. There are many wonderful professionals “in transition” in HAPPEN. They are a great group that offers help while they are looking themselves and also after they land. One member, in particular, who helped me is Hugh Black from HMB Communications Group. Contact hughblack at cogeco.ca

As you can imagine, conversations have been ongoing regarding unemployment numbers. Hugh Black used his expertise in communications, to network with reporters at The Toronto Star on behalf of HAPPEN. Yesterday, all the random pieces starting coming together when the new Canadian statistics for employment in April 2009 showed that unemployment stayed the same and there was an increase in the self employed numbers. As a result of Hugh Black’s efforts; I was interviewed as an example of someone who had transferred their skills and started their own business,  Executive Sales Support. My business helps sales and business professionals get out of the office to see more clients and close deals. As a result of this interview, an article was written for the front page of The Toronto Star’s Business section on Saturday May 9, 2009. Yahoo, marketing pays off!

Here is the link to the article “Self-employment: The ‘do-it-yourself recovery’  Jobs increased last month, largely through people embracing self employment, The Toronto Star’s Business section on Saturday May 9, 2009.

Trying to bring in more sales to your business? Find out how you can get into your clients’s head and heart without going out of your mind!

Join my business coach, Michel Neray from The Essential Message, for the next Essential Message Workshop Sales Telepathy –  April 22 - 4pm EST. You can still get the Early Bird pricing $27.77 which includes the workbook. Michel always gives great content and value for your money.

If you’re a coach, consultant, financial advisor, business owner or if your livelihood depends on sales in any way – and that probably includes everyone except government workers – then register for this teleclass now. This is going to be fun and a great way to build your business!

Your employees show up day after day and often go that extra mile for your business. During tough times, many employees are looking over their shoulder expecting a pink slip could be in their future.

All it takes is a moment to recognize the contribution your employees make to your business everyday. This Valentines why not make a small effort and reap big rewards by recognizing this contribution. Not only will you raise morale and instill confidence but I bet you will raise productivity too!

Make it FUN! Pick up a box of those kid Valentines! Think of each of your employees and jot down a few lines to recognize something they have done over the past weeks that contributed to your workplace.

Call a meeting and make a splash with a cake if you feel inspired. It is almost impossible to go too far. Call upon each employee and read out those lines while presenting them with their Valentine.

As the heart of your business your employees represent your business. They interact on a daily basis with your valuable customers who are placing orders. A sincere gesture such as recognizing their contribution, can go a long way to not only motivating employees to help make your business the best, but also making it a business that stands out. The business your customers will continue to patronize and recommend to others.

Happy Valentines Everyone.

How do you maintain sales momentum during tough times?
Do you step back or step it up?
Have you been listening to the news and feeling the emotions around you? Maybe, like other business professionals, you have started thinking about ways to cut costs. Decreasing the dollars spent on marketing is often one of the strategies considered. Is this really the wisest choice?

I research a lot. Sometimes I laugh at myself for being an information junkie. I read everything; newsletters, newspapers, books and magazines. Lately, I have noticed two differing thoughts. Some businesses are focusing on the outcome, staying the course and continuing to implement marketing activities and develop the relationships critical to building and maintaining sales momentum. They may also be proactively ramping it up to cast the net wider and bring in more prospects to fill their pipeline.

Other businesses are reactively cutting back on marketing activities in an effort to lower costs.
The activities within your marketing plan are designed to play out over the course of time, keeping your business top of mind within your target market and generating leads for your sales pipeline. If you implemented activities last month when you thought the economic times were stable but not this month when you may think they are not, you are tampering with that consistency and therefore the flow within your pipeline.

Another factor is the length of your sales cycle. When times get tougher your sales cycle may be lengthening by an extra 30 – 90 days. Your marketing strategy may change slightly to take into account this extra time. However long your sales cycle may be, you need to stay in contact with your target market for the duration. I recommend to my clients, who are looking to maximize their follow through, to stay the course, maintaining the current level of marketing activities and also proactively implement more ideas rather than be reactively implement less.

Now is the time to change the game and do more with what you already have. Help your prospects and customers choose your business by adding more value. Look for ways to demonstrate this added value and ways to let your target market hear about it.

Below are several ideas you could implement to demonstrate added value.

• Highlight your great service with success stories. Do not just say you have great service, go one step further and demonstrate by gathering testimonials that showcase your service. Why keep it a secret. Interview your current happy customers. When you write the resulting story talk about the longevity of your business and the mutual benefits of the partnership you have with customers. If you can, demonstrate your positive impact on your client*s business with statistics or example of specific problems solved.
• Identify good, better, best solutions and why the chosen solution worked for that client*s problem.
• Look for client businesses within your target market that are doing well. Find out what they are doing to drive sales. Gather information about what they are doing through spotlight interviews or surveys. Use the information to build a story to send to your target market about how your industry adds value.
• The process of collecting the above information could lead to joint ventures and cross promotions within your existing customer base or bring to light opportunities for new ways to support clients with your current products.
• Reward your customers with a gift card at various sales volumes. Always nice to thank customers who give you a testimonial or an order. People not only love to receive a free gift but they love to pick a gift. No one returns a gift they choose for themselves.
• Run a sales promotion for your team and reward sales volume and testimonials collected. Gift cards are great and very timely with the holiday season approaching. Added bonus, they fit easily into an envelope and you can include your business card!
• Highlight the cost of the lost opportunity if your customer does not use your product or service. Contrast this with an example from the above testimonials.
• Go back and dig out those business cards from the last trade show or networking event that you may have lost in a folder.

The world will stand aside to let the people who are focused through.” – Unknown

Are you interested in implementing these ideas – or similar ones from your marketing plan – but you are getting bogged down by the details without the time, knowledge or expertise on staff to move forward? You will need a system that keeps warm leads in your sales pipeline long enough to develop from prospects to clients.

No problem. Contact Cheryl or call now at 866-642-5145 to book your “Get To Know You” appointment. We can explore ideas to leverage your prospect and customer relationships, build a plan to implement your marketing activities and help sustain sales momentum.  Flexible support is available  “as needed”.

If you would like to reprint this entry, please ensure you include a bio box to linked to  Executive Sales Support .

Interested in generating growth but facing the fact your existing team can only accomplish so much in any given day? Here is information to build a strategy and grow your team and achieve your goals. Click this link to read a great article from Jeremy Miller at Leapjob.com. Also you can see Jeremy interviewed on CP 24 regarding building the Next Generation Leaders. Surround yourself with great people and get the power of collaboration working for you.

If your business could utilize support on a flexible basis while you are out seeing clients and closing deals contact Cheryl Scoffield at www.ExecutiveSalesSupport.com. We will collaborate with you to build a system of support that works with you, increasing your effectiveness. Start planning and take the steps necessary to delegate work outside of your area of expertise.

Consistently communicating your message is an essential part of your marketing and a key element of sustaining momentum within your sales pipeline. Everyday your customers and prospects are become busier, therefore your message would benefit from being delivered on multiple channels. You may not know which channel will reach through and deliver the message that tips the scale, bringing your business to the top of their mind.  Increasing the channels you communicate through and the frequency of that communication, increases the chances that when your customer is on a burning platform and looking for solutions, your message will be there to solve their problem.

Email, phone, direct mail letters and email campaigns can all play a part within your communication package. Last newsletter I mentioned I use ACT as my contact database and SwiftPage to deliver email campaigns. For example an email campaign was used to deliver this newsletter message. You may have considered sending a campaign for your business. This newsletter, we will look at email campaigns and how analyzing the statistics they generate, can help sustain sales momentum.

We might think of email campaigns as the direct mail of the internet, although there are several added benefits when you utilize email to deliver your message. Benefits such as delivering your message to more customers and prospects and delivering it faster are some of the first I think of. These benefits alone help sustain sales momentum simply by increasing the number of customers and prospects that hear your message.

Delivering by email campaign gets your message working overtime in several additional ways. Most importantly, email campaigns generate statistics. Let us take an overview look at how analyzing these statistics can improve the effectiveness not only of your message but also your follow through.

One way to start utilizing campaign statistics is to implement split testing to improve message targeting. Split testing is a method that sends your message with two slightly different wording and uses statistics to determine which message drew more attention. Another important factor about email is that it enables you to highlight words within your message. The highlighted words, called hyperlinks, take the reader to places such as your website where more information about your business and the products you offer can be found. As these links are followed, statistics are generated. Analyzing this statistic, gives you insight into generally which products interests your customers and prospects and specifically who is interested in those products.

In summary, email campaigns improve your ability to sustain sales momentum by not only delivering your message to more customers and prospects and doing it faster, but also by producing statistics. Analyzing these statistics, gives you insight into what interests your contacts, enabling you to target your message more effectively and improving your follow up by equipping you with statistical knowledge.

While you are out seeing clients and closing deals, do not forget to ask how your customers and prospects heard of your company. Their answers will enable you to track which communication channel is providing impact.

If email campaigns are an initiative you would like to investigate or implement for your marketing and sales cycle, but time or knowledge has been holding you back, take this opportunity and learn more on our dime. Email today for your consultation Cheryl at ExecutiveSalesSupport.com

If you would like to use this article please include this bio box – Written by Cheryl at Executive Sales Support.com