Unfortunately, a harsh reality in sales is that, on average, 30% of leads in your pipeline will not convert to close. While sales forecasts are certainly not always correct, because sales can be a very unpredictable line of business, they can be extremely helpful in bringing more deals to close.

Sales forecasts can be helpful for time management for sales reps, as they can highlight which accounts they should spend their valuable time selling to, and which accounts are not highly likely to buy. Then, over time, these forecasts provide historical data on close rates for a variety of types of leads. The more forecasting you do, the more accurate you can become with your predictions if you assess the actual closing rates against your previously forecasted numbers.

The debate of over whether sales forecasting is worth spending time on is a heated issue within organizations and even the blogosphere—and both sides of the argument are valid. It is true that most forecasts are not going to be completely accurate, but it is also true that forecasting accuracy CAN be improved, and also that they can be helpful when they are not 100% correct.

The real issue is how much you depend on your forecast, and even more importantly, what you depend on it for. The worst thing you can do is to treat your forecast as a prediction of the future; depending on not-yet-closed sales to operate your business is, obviously, extremely dangerous, like using a credit card that you might not be able to pay off. In this respect, yes, sales forecasting may not be a good idea.

On the other hand, using this data to analyze patterns in your sales cycle and improve upon the process is a worthwhile endeavor. Sales forecasting templates are a good way to keep this information functional, consolidated and ready to analyze, especially if your CRM system does not already have a sales forecasting functionality. The more you can compare forecasted numbers with actual numbers, the more value you will get out of your future forecasts, and the more accurate they will become.

With a template, you may begin to see patterns in what types of leads are coming to close, which of your products are selling better, and ultimately be able to see how much time you are investing into these deals that is either profitable or a complete waste. Taking the time to fill out a template on a daily or weekly basis forces you to think about where you should be spending your time, and how long it might take you to close the sale, so that you can allocate your efforts appropriately and efficiently.

- Carolyn Sebasky
carolyn . sebasky@salesquest.com
978.749.9999 ext. 107

©2012 Sales Intelligence Blog. All Rights Reserved.

With every aspect of life, there is an understood code of etiquette that determines how you should act to be “socially accepted.” These codes vary depending on if you’re with friends or at work, as well as if you’re out at a dive bar versus a formal event. The sales profession is no exception to these sets of standards; there is a manner of acting that will earn the respect of your prospects, strengthen your sales pitch, and help you to close more deals. That being said, straying from these protocols is how faux pas are formed.

While faux pas in the world of sales may not be as material as mismatching socks or flood pants, the implications of committing a sales faux pas are arguably more devastating. Committing these five “no-nos” will almost assuredly cost you the sale, or at the very least, will lengthen your sales cycle and hinder your ability to hit your quota.

1. Bashing the competition: Play fair; knocking down your competitors as the heart of your sales pitch only tells your prospect one thing—that you want their money. You should be selling AGAINST your competitors as a method of proving the value of your solution. It is not only classier and will earn you credibility, but when your selling points align with the problems within their organization, it will show that you truly understand their business needs.

2. Focusing on price: Only talking about price won’t convince anyone of ROI if you don’t prove value, no matter how much of an “awesome deal” you’re giving them. A sale means nothing without perceived value behind your product, and as a salesman, it is YOUR job to make that value understood.

3. Not taking the time to understand your prospect: Without a customer, your product is useless. Doing a little bit of research to make sure you solution is ACTUALLY a “solution” to you prospect’s problems can either help you close the sale or serve as a warning that you’re wasting your time trying to sell to someone who doesn’t need what you’re offering.

4. Pitching immediately: Getting the right decision maker on the phone is one of the hardest parts about selling; don’t waste both parties’ time by going straight to the pitch. Remember that this person is making a sacrifice to talk to you. They don’t want to hear about how great you think you product is, they want to know HOW your product can help them. Make sure you can answer that question before you get on a call, and catch his or her attention immediately.

5. Only talking about your product: No one cares! Delivering a standard pitch detailing how fantastic your product is accomplishes nothing, except likely annoying your potential customer. Taking the time to understand your prospect’s business needs before and even during an initial call will allow you to customize and tailor the value prop to their needs, which will greatly increase the probability that you close the sale.

These bad sales habits are a surefire way to annoy your prospect and potentially lose a sale; they have become no-nos for a reason. Of course, avoiding these bad habits will require extra time, effort and research in order to educate yourself before moving forward with an account. But, taking this strategic approach will allow you to ask appropriate questions, target your prospect in a way that will help them to trust you, and therefore make it easier for you to create a meaningful value prop and shorten your sales cycle. Just as you may cringe at someone walking down the street wearing socks with their sandals, a potential customer may write you off if you don’t make the effort to avoid these sales faux pas.

- Carolyn Sebasky
carolyn . sebasky@salesquest.com
978.749.9999 ext. 107

©2012 Sales Intelligence Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Sales enablement tools are your greatest assets when trying to accelerate your sales cycles and target your strategic accounts. Their purpose is to maximize a sales organization’s potential in order to better communicate value and differentiate their services in a clear and consistent manner. Sales enablement includes resource planning, training, sales force automation, lead generation and planning. Great sales enablement tools help you gain insight into which accounts you should target, their problems and initiatives, and what people you should connect with to start building relationships.

One of the most important sales enablement tools is sales intelligence; you must have accurate and up-to-date sales intelligence on your prospects. Sales intelligence tools will help you answer the who, what, where, why, and when questions in your planning process. If you have that information at your disposal, all you need to do is figure out the “how.” The “how” should be focused on relationship building. Using your sales enablement and sales intelligence tools you can start developing relationships with the key stake holders and decision-makers at the accounts you’re going after.

Relationship building is essential to earning trust and credibility with your prospects in order to convert them to customers. According to Lee Levitt’s IDC Sales Enablement presentation, only 16% of vendors do a good job with “solution selling.” Close to 60% of buyers stated that the vendor needs to better understand their needs and objectives to improve the value of the relationship with the potential vendor. One terrific tool that enables you to start the relationship building process, coupled with sales intelligence resources, is LinkedIn.

LinkedIn will help you determine what your customers are currently working on, what their interests are, group memberships, previous employers, education, their blog or web site, books they’re reading, and more. All the information can be leveraged to help you start the conversation and position yourself as being in tune to their needs. This will not only help you build the relationship better and faster, it will increase your productivity. Being prepared when you start the conversation will help you sell more effectively and will help instill trust and credibility in the buyer. They’ll value your knowledge of their company and them personally, and be more willing to provide you with answers to your questions. Treat the buyer the way you would want to be treated. Don’t hard sell or pretend to know what you’re talking about. Ask intelligent, informed questions that will keep the buyer engaged and wanting to know more.

- Mark Kilens
mark . kilens@salesquest.com
978-749-9999 ext. 118

©2012 Sales Intelligence Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Asking the right questions during the prospecting process, whether it be through outbound marketing, like e-mail blasts, or on a prospecting call, can help you save time and money by shortening your sales cycles and freeing up more time to spend with qualified leads and prospects. Understanding how decision makers qualify spending their limited budget is invaluable for two reasons: one, being empathetic to your prospect’s needs will build more trust with your potential client, and two, aligning your solution with a defined need within the company will show a clear-cut and more accurate ROI.

The best way to approach your research to ask the right questions is “backwards,” from the point of view of the buyer rather than the seller. Mark McDonald highlights the four drivers of IT budget that CIOs consider when making spending decisions on the Gartner Blog—approaching your pitch from the standpoint of the person that is spending the money will only strengthen your case. McDonald cites that:

• customers and markets,
• products and services,
• business process, and
• organizational structure

are the main drivers of IT spending. In creating a pitch, you should focus your research on which of these business problems your solution helps to resolve. Then, determine much as you can about the specific issues your prospect is having, whether it be a management restructuring or a new product implementation that is not going smoothly.

When you finally get a decision maker on the phone, you can fill in the blanks by asking specific, targeted questions. This will not only save you and your prospect time by avoiding introductory and basic questions, but your understanding of their needs will be clear, and your pitch will automatically be empathetic rather than “pitchy.”

Even in 2009, CSO Insights found that buyers felt that more than 25% of reps “needed improvement” in aligning their solution with the buyer’s needs, and less than 25% exceeded their expectations. Taking this approach to your sales pitch will not only ensure that you avoid falling into the “needs improvement” category, but it will help you to impress your prospect, earn their trust, and bring you that much closer to finding a perfect match and closing the sale faster.

- Carolyn Sebasky
carolyn . sebasky@salesquest.com
978.749.9999 ext. 107

©2012 Sales Intelligence Blog. All Rights Reserved.