Recently I’ve taken the time to look around the web take in how much material is being developed to push information products or marketing systems that are unproven.  I’m amazed at how much ‘get rich quick’ stuff I’m seeing lately.

Human nature being what it is, I suppose that I shouldn’t be all that surprised. 

New Economy Selling.com is NOT a get rich quick scheme.  Nor is it a book that will then urge you to buy my DVD or another up sell.  It’s the real deal - it’s stuff that IS proven and works. 

Can you expect overnight results?  Instant benefits?  Probably not.  Short term improvements in how you sell and produce results for yourself and your company?  Absolutely.  Some great ideas on marketing, selling and insight into where the professional of tech sales is going - I believe the answer is yes. 

Anyway, I have been solicited like mad the last few weeks by what I would call the internet hucksters and I have politely turned down all of their invitations to “join” their movements. 

There’s no such thing in my mind as “overnight income” and I don’t want to be associated with the type of people who would have you believe there is. 

New Economy Selling is a solid investment of your time and money if you are in sales, marketing, management or sales operations for a tech company.   

If you don’t think so, then check out my better than money back guarantee.

I don’t profess to know everything about the profession or the industry.  However, I am convinced (mostly from the feedback of those who’ve read my book and worked with me personally) that you are going to find value worth many times the price of the book and the time you’ll take to read it.

If you are looking for a make-money-fast system or scheme, this is NOT what I or my book is about.  

~ Brooks.

Let’s face it, there comes a time when some applications just aren’t competitive anymore.  In this business, it’s very true that you ‘can’t put lipstick on a pig’.

Recently I worked with an organization that was trying to increase market share with an application that was Windows based in a marketplace where their main competitors were offering the same functionality either with off-site hosted/ software as a service or as a web enabled deployment model.

The CEO of this company solicited feedback as to how they could increase market share and we were able to help them - but not much - due to the changed landscape of their market place.  What was worse, the CEO got rather upset when he was told that the product was no longer competitive due to the reasons above and a few others (like missing functionality that product management was incapable of building because the application because they were too busy fixing issues in the existing feature set). 

We were able to increase revenues with upselling existing customers modules of the Windows application to their existing deployments and increase interest in the brand with some good old fashioned SEO and a new website. This was a short term, sugar coated fix to a bigger problem. 

However, when it came right down to it, that software was not longer saleable in the marketplace in my (and other’s opinion) and the time had come to put the company in maintenance mode or invest in a whole new, web enabled product line.  This was a decision that was clear to most, but not easy for this CEO to make.

Ego, jobs and personal interest in a publicly traded company were larger issues.

To make matters worse, this organization remained convinced that if they could just hire some really good sales people, that they could blow the doors off and grow revenues dramatically. 

We tried that and failed, despite best in class efforts. 

I told them that the business has to be a team effort…that product management and sales need to collaborate in order to bring products to market that people needed and wanted.  This wasn’t happening and it caused a chasm of communication internally.

Don’t get me wrong - I don’t like it when Sales is constantly complaining that “if I only had certain features I could sell more”.

This wasn’t the case here - sales couldn’t sell anything new because it was missing some major elements available from other vendors, for less money.

I think the lesson here is if you are considering a position with any company, you really owe it to yourself to see if you’re being hired to put lipstick on a pig.

Look closely at the competitive landscape, do your research and compare other vendors to your prospective employer and see what’s going on out there.  Make sure their value message matches the viability of the product or service.  You don’t need the stress of being hired only to find out that your product isn’t saleable and have the entire management team tell you that you’re failing, it’s your fault sales aren’t happening and you’re not as good as you think. 

~Brooks.

Recently I was talking about prospecting with my cousin in Los Angeles.   I think that these thoughts are universal for anyone getting back into the habit of prospecting in person, by email, over the phone or a combination of all three.

 1. Call high. 

Call high enough in the organization that you can speak with someone who can say “yes” to your offering.  Most people don’t do this and it’s too bad.  They call just high enough and speak with someone who can say “no” assuming that person can also say “yes”: this isn’t always the case.  Another benefit of calling high is that it’s generally easier to qualify or disqualify quickly because you’re dealing with the (or a) decision maker. This is a big time and energy saver.  Further, the issues that you need to be familiar with when dealing with people high in the organization are fewer and simpler than those lower in the food chain.  Usually issues at the executive level include making more money, saving more money and something to do with strategy. 

2. Be Clear on who you are and what is your brand.

This simply means say (or write) “My name is Brooks Van Norman, author of New Economy Selling”.  Doing this is far more important that asking “how are you today” or some other time wasting pleasantry.  It also sets you on the path to being treated like a professional… a business peer.

3. Whether or not you’ve met your prospect before or not.

In this case, it’s very important to let busy people know how you found out about them or if this is the first time they’ve heard about you.  If someone they know (like another customer/ friend/ acquaintance) thought you should talk to that person - then say so.  Something like “Your business associate at Les Deux thought I should contact you”.  Or if you haven’t talked to this person before, then say something like “You and I haven’t spoken before…”  The value of doing this is to disconnect the human instinct to start the mental Rolodex of trying to place your name and lose focus of your message. 

4. Explain your business model quickly and simply

Here you would say what ever it is that you do which can help address the common issues of your prospects likely concerns.  Something like “We help companies turn their unsold inventory into cash by matching up our large mailing list of buyers online who are interested in what you have that otherwise wouldn’t know about it”. 

5. Share the typical results you have provided.

The idea here is to paint the picture of how much value you can provide based upon the results you or your business has already created.  You could say, “Typically we can turn your inventory into cash for you within 45 days at 85% of your last sale price”.    What ever it is, this needs to be your most compelling, clear as possible value statement.

6. Name Drop.

In today’s world, people want to know who you’ve helped to feel more comfy even considering you and your services or products.  You would say something like, “Some of my / our customers include [company or persons name and company or person’s name].  Usually two is enough to make the point - the key is to ensure they would be known to your prospect. 

7. Ask for feedback.

The point here is that you’ve been talking for about 30 seconds now and it’s time to give the floor to your prospect.  A question like “Is this something you could use in your business?”  or “Is that a need that we / I can help you with?” It doesn’t matter how you phrase the question - but it needs to be closed ended and seem wrong that they would say no unless they already are partnered with someone who does exactly what you do.  In other words, the answer needs to be a ‘yes’ or ‘no’. 

8. Persist in following up.

It’s possible and very likely that the prospect is too busy at that moment/ wants to check out your references or would like you to forward some information and then follow up.  This is fine.  The key is how you manage it.  I would say something like “Ok, I’d be happy to forward some information and if it looks like what we do can be of value to you, I’d be happy to have a follow up conversation.”  Then send something that reinforces your brand and message and keep in touch by phone at least twice a week, with a follow up email once per week.  Each time you should rearticulate what you do and ask how you can help your prospect with your services or products. 

~Brooks.

In New Economy Selling I mention that one of the worst things you can do is rush the sale.   No matter what you sell, there are generally four major elements to every sales cycle: Qualification, Developing a Solution, Negotiation, Closing.

Usually, the part that takes the longest is the second part - developing a solution.  This is where most sales people feel the need to rush.  One of the best things that you can do to create patience for yourself and help the buyer along as well, is to document all the steps and checkpoints the buyer wants to see completed before they commit to buying your solution.

I suggest that these things be documented, with milestones dates attached to each event and co-managed with the prospect.  This does a number of things.  First, it shows that the prospect has some ’skin in the game’ because they’re willing to invest in and participate actively in the evaluation process.  Second, it creates a time based road-map of how long the sales cycle should take (which of course is always longer than we’d like).  Lastly, it helps you to manage your manager (and helps managers manage their bosses) because you can show this table of events to them as they are being checked off week after week. 

This is a great way to manage down the usual pressure that comes from above when your pipeline is being scrutinized.  If your manager says we need to close this business NOW, you will have a credible tool to show them why it’s not ready yet and why rushing would be a bad idea.  It also helps to “see” what is happening at each of those steps so that you can proactively manage success with each step.

I just love this approach. It has always worked well for me and is a great method to help you resist to succumb to the pressure of rushing the sale.  It also helps the prospect feel like they are working with a credible, professional organization who has their processes together.  

Sales cycles have only one agenda when it comes to timing and that’s the buyer’s.  If you’re feeling pressure to rush a sales cycle - don’t.  Instead, I suggest that you spend your time and energy finding more prospective business so that you don’t have apply pressure where it isn’t prudent.

~Brooks.