CBI Group – Leaders in Recruitment

I think it’s a fair statement to make – every business needs more customers. I take calls all of the time from organizations that want more sales; that need higher revenues. The answer to the problem requires all of us to rethink what we have learned from our experiences.

All of us (unless we are sales people) hate the stereotypes of sales. When we are in the office and someone says, “Sales representative from ABC Company on the phone for you”. You and I both know we do not want to take the call. Why? We are going to be sold. We all are taught early on NOT to be sold to. Your shoes could be falling off your feet and a sales person could call offering the shoes you need and I bet most of us would not buy. Most sales people are never let in and never told the real problem their product could solve. If they are let in and lose the sale, they are never told why.

This can be attributed to a simple fact. Selling and the cold call have become abused. The words “consultative” and “solutions” have been overused to the point where they mean very little. Today the right trend involves creating followers – social media is leading the way. We all need portals or hubs where potential and current customers can find information that adds value to their world and enhances what you do for them. Knowledge is, and always will be, the key to differentiation in your pursuit of a new customer.

Let’s revisit the cold call. Should it be dead? I am not so sure. I think it needs to evolve and we need to change the mindset that selling is okay. Most of the time the perception, even for the seller, is that it is not okay. There does not have to be a negative connotation. You have to start somewhere in your relationship with your prospect. We can send a letter; we can come see you. We want your business and we know we have to earn it.

Why not treat your prospects like customers? Imagine if your process and your information was more customer driven and actually offered value. The real key? Changing the sales steps to be focused on relationships. Have a great story to tell and be a good company that is of value – obvious but hard to do. Next? Change the selling steps and put the emphasis on building relationships. Focus on earning the right to discuss your customers challenges. Change does not come easy; take small steps in the right direction.

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Every organization that I come across today – whether they are partners, vendors, clients or prospects – all rank driving new revenues and raising their top line as a top goal of their organization. Today’s organizations have lost more than 6 years. What do I mean? Most business are operating with top line revenue numbers in line with their 2004 reporting and staff levels on par with where we were in 2000. The toll of the recession has been six years of economic penalty and taken us back almost 10 years in terms of staff growth.

What do I do as a small business owner? Rethink sales? Make more commitments to marketing? Maybe add new services or kill non-performing offerings? All of us are in need of more and new customers.

Most simply increase their sales activity. We tell sales staff to make more calls. To see more customers. To send more emails. It is just a numbers game, right? The more you do the more you have in potential sales pipeline. Not!

I propose that we need to rethink the notion that more effort will get you more result, as there is a point of diminishing returns. Most importantly, is your sales process as customer friendly as the rest of your company; do you treat sales like you treat paying customers? Are you “earning the right” to build new relationships?

Earning the right involves building relationships. Earning the right means you must focus and shift to consultative sales. Earning the right is about learning about your new customer’s business. Earning the right is about being authentic. It is being credible by doing what you say.

Earning the right is NOT just about doing more.

If you are thinking about how you go to market and how you differentiate your business in the early stages of your companies relationships than perhaps you should do an “earning the right” audit.

Go sit next to your sales force. Are they earning the right or simply doing more of the same?

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