Are you a football fan? I’m a New Orleans native, and although we are winning now, for many years we had a “losing” mindset. It showed in how the team approached the big games. Similar to how many small-to-medium sized businesses approach sales, only in the sales game, the losing mindset is called “Feast or Famine.”
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In our newsletters, we have shared the overview of the CODE Sales process with you. Four phases, beginning with Lead Generation. One goal: to keep the pipeline filled and moving.
CODE, the Breakthrough Sales Training Tool
If you’ve been in sales, you know that there are prospects who you want to stay connected to. They aren’t buying now, but they will at some point. They need to be thinking of you when that time comes. In the meantime, you need to be slowly moving them through the pipeline.
Make sure you have systems in place to maintain regular contact. In our line of work – consulting with an emphasis on developing strong leadership and systematic processes for business results – we use newsletters, blogs and periodic phone calls.
On the other end of the spectrum, a good friend in the construction industry has a much more “homey” approach: cookies! Before you write off this idea as “half-baked”, I will say that my friend is the head of sales for a company whose business has GROWN during the recession. He simply purchases a set of plastic cookie boxes at the local Sam’s Club, puts a company label on the outside of the boxes, then stores them in the trunk of his car. When he is doing his “check in” sales calls, he stops by Subway and purchases a couple dozen fresh-baked cookies. In his words, “the prospect associates me and my company with something good. When I show up, I ask if I can share these with folk in their office. I end up being escorted around and usually am introduced to the decision makers.”
Blogs, newsletters, cookies, whatever. The key is that we EARN the right to stay in contact with our prospects by providing them something that they value. We also continue to build a foundation of trust so that, when buying time comes, we’ve crossed that barrier.
This also means looking at sales as a longer, relationship building process. We’re convinced that – at least in our industry – this is the only viable strategy. With the internet, our clients can google “management consulting” or “ executive team building” or “problem solving and decision making training” and see thousands of talented competitors. To get the business, we MUST provide outstanding service and real expertise. AND we have to earn the buyer’s trust. We need the relationship.
You do too.
I authored an article for RainToday entitled “How to Deal with Lost Sales: A Lesson from the Links.” In it, I shared lessons I had learned about how to systematically drive sales, even when one “slips away.” Briefly, those steps included the following (and for more elaboration, check out the RainToday article here):
A careful reader, Daniel Holland “the Funnel Coach”, offered an important addition. His comments, in their entirety, are reproduced below. Thanks, Daniel!
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Dear Rob, I humbly suggest adding add a# 7 to your list: Recycle! In your ‘no thanks’ example, a short withdrawal response on your part might go something like this: “While we regret that we’ve been unable to help you on this occasion, we respect your decision. We will leave you alone for a while, but we obviously want to keep in touch and be ready to help you should the need arise in the future. “Here’s what we propose: I’ll ask a colleague (NOT A SALES PERSON) to give you a call once a quarter. Each time he calls, he’ll ask you just two questions: ‘have things changes relative to <the problems/situation you previously discussed> – and may I send you another case study on the subject to help your background thinking?’ “Would that be OK with you?” So start your recycling as soon as you can after they have leaked, and maintain the rhythm.
Tactics will vary depending on where in the buying & selling journey they were when they leaked (or when you leaked them). I try to touch base with probable buyers at least every two months, but communicate as frequently as weekly in other circumstances and in certain markets. But you need to take care that your tactics are welcomed and not resented. If you are sending emails, make sure they are loaded with true value – not just promotions and “product flog” that holds more interest for you than for them.
What sort of communications work?
