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.

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.

It’s not unusual for me to hear sales people say that prospects “didn’t get it”, or “they are just plain dumb”. 

I always wonder what this says about the sales person making this statement.   It’s important for us to remember that we are conveyors of information…like a pipeline.  We are supposed to connect the flow of value through that pipeline between the prospect and our company.

Therefore, it’s unacceptable that we should expect prospects to know much, if anything about us and our organizations.   There is one area, however, the prospect DOES know a lot about and that’s their own situation and problems. 

Remember that true selling is helping people solve their own problems.  You must approach this task as the prospect’s partner - or equal.  Don’t be arrogant or cop a superior attitude - it will show through.

If your prospects aren’t catching on as quickly as you’d like, it’s your problem. It’s your marketing departments problem.  The actual problem is that your messaging isn’t as clear and compelling as it should be.  Until you come away from every interaction where the message was clearly received, you and your business have work to do.

The job herein is the align with the prospect’s intelligence, not to expect them to align with your existing message. 

If the prospect didn’t “get it”, that’s your fault.  Figure out how to make is clearer for the audience you’re speaking with.

 ~Brooks

One of the greatest challenges that recruiters have today in assessing the viability of a new sales rep is whether or not that individual is going to be able to learn the value messaging and deliver it in a way that will drive sales.  The problem with sellers is that we usually interview better than we produce on the job. 

I have met very few reps who do both well. 

Usually managers and recruiters work closely during the recruitment process for each rep.  This is (or should be) especially true for higher profile, larger quota positions such as field based roles or senior sales / executive account manager positions.

The more complex and mission critical the offering, the longer it can take for these sales reps to absorb and leverage all the resources around them to become successful.   For example, Telus has a new division whose new reps will probably take two years before becoming consciously competent, in my opinion. 

To make matter more risky for vendors, if a territory is not already well developed or has been badly neglected, it can take longer for that rep to come out of the ground.  In addition to the reality that many big application sale cycles  (such as those in the infrastructure and ERP space) are taking longer to close and harder to justify with capital expenditures, it become a very frustrating and patience testing process to know for sure whether or not a new hire is going to produce a return on the investment made in thier development and support.   This always adds to management pressure if development expectations aren’t clear from the CEO on down.

This is less true for applications that are focussed on the desktop level or are easier to buy such as the Software as a Service model.   When I was a Program Manager at Business Objects (now SAP), my business unit (World Wide Sales Operations) had a clear body of evidence that the cost of hiring, training and supporting a senior feild rep was well in excess of $100,000 by the time in you included all salary, benefits, travel, etc.   This was the price of hiring a new rep at the field level.  Further, we had lots of data to support that these individuals usually didn’t produce much in the way of meaningful revenue for at least 3 quarters on average.  In addition, attrition was very high (probably higher today) at close to 40%, which meant that every 2.3 years, we were working with an entirely NEW sales force.  So, if you do that math on that situation you can see why it was very important that we paid close attention to supporting reps skill and territory development to ensure as much success as possible.  

This was another reason why the direct sales force had a quota overlay of at least 2.5 times our number…we needed lots of room for error and attrition.  Unfortuntely, this kind of scenario creates a situation where big deals get all the press and hero worship is the order of the day…but that’s a whole other article.

It is farcical that we think because a rep came out of Oracle,  i2 Technologies, IBM, or Veritas with consitent W2’s in the $300,000-plus range, that they are going to be successful in your organization.  As they say in the Mutual Fund industry, ‘past performance is no guarantee of future results’. 

It is up to us as managers and those in Sales Operations functions to design and refine systems aimed at ensuring the success of rep development in the field.  We can’t expect that everyone is simply going to “get” our organization’s message and then deliver against multi-million dollar quotas magically. 

However, managers should be able to determine whether or not reps are going to make it.  Yet, it should not be exclusively their role to develop and deliver the mechanisms to ensure that success.  They should merely be the operators of those mechanisms.  That design and delivery role should be the function of a Sales Operations-type function.  These functions should be well developed in any company over 15 million in revenue.  In companies producing less than that, such as start ups, they’re likely going to be non-existent, which is why those guys need my book even more and should also be hiring reps and managers with same industry expertise.  

That way, it’s more likely their dogs will become successful and skilled at the hunt.

~Brooks

Cold calling is so dead.

There is no faster way for you to burn your company’s brand, waste precious time and mistake activity for accomplishment, than to spend time cold calling.

Nothing says to a decision maker that you:
1. Have no higher value activity to do
2. That you are desperate,
than to pick up the phone and randomly call someome you’ve never met before.

I can’t understand why this one prospecting method won’t die. It’s just so counterproductive. There’s so many other ways to build a solid sales pipeline. Such as:

• Selling more services and products to existing customers (any good I.T. company “should” have a sales force that sells 30% of its revenue from the existing customer base)
• Asking happy, existing customers for referrals or introductions to others who might benefit from your offerings (properly implemented, this only method could keep you very productive and effective at new business development. This should represent at least 20% of your sales pipeline)
• Following up on inbound leads (if you are considering working for or work at an organization that isn’t capable of generating a steady stream of inbound leads, this is a red flag. In a well run organization, this should account for at least 25% of your pipeline).
• More proven ideas can be found in New Economy Selling.

On these last points - I must share the following: Marketing departments in this industry have had it way too easy for way too long. They must be held accountable to sales production. I KNOW from experience that the right marketing program, properly integrated with “mind of the prospect” messaging, can drive tremendous interest.

If sales is not seeing a steady trickle of interested parties ringing your company’s doorbell, this is a major red flag. Please note - I did NOT say “qualified” parties, that’s your job; to qualify or dis-qualify.

Anyway, if you’ve been presented with the modern day equivalent of ‘pounding the pavement’ or ‘ working the phone book’ as the main business development activity for your company, you are on the wrong team. You are merely re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic of your soon to be burned-out and then sunk sales career.

Please stop cold calling. It’s bad for your company’s brand. It’s bad for your self esteem. It’s bad for the public image of sales people. It’s bad for productivity. It’s a bad addiction that must be stopped. It’s just plain bad and it hasn’t worked for over a decade.

In this extremely tight labour market, it seems like great talent is getting harder to find and retain.

Something I’ve seen for the last decade seems to increasing in intensity - people being promoted to Sales Manager positions when they’re not ready or equipped for the role. When this happens, it is usually to help retain people who are usually good sales performers. The idea seems to be one of rewarding these top sales people with a promotion with the hope that they will teach their ways to to those they are now expected to lead.

However, this isn’t always the case. In fact if often backfires and torpedoes morale and performance. In really poorly run sales organizations this sales manager is then ‘demoted’ back to a front line sales position. This is usually followed abruptly by this individual quitting and moving onto another organization.

All of the above is generally avoidable if two things happen:

1. Organizations put in the time and effort to help people become good managers.
2. People becoming sales managers understand what they are getting into.

The best transitions I’ve seen from rep to manager include some kind of ‘job shadowing’ or manager in training program. Becoming a sales manager is not easy work…and it’s a completely different type of work than direct sales. You are always balancing team performance with never ending operational requirements.

I like how Jack Welch (of GE fame) describes a managers mandate in his awesome book Winning. Jack says that managers have to do two things very well, they have to be able to continually squeeze revenue and growth out of the operation AND manage the operation.

Not easy work. But when you get it right, you can derive a lot of personal satisfaction out of seeing other people succeed AND make some good cash through the combined efforts of others.

Teaching people what all this means is the responsibility that good organizations must do. Those who don’t understand this responsibility just promote our peers to our managers because they’ve been around for a while and have shown consistent sales performance. But those who do aren’t always those who can teach.

You’ve seen it happen so many times. The person who worked the next desk becomes your manager and then has no credibility with you professionally. The relationship dynamics get off the rails and suddenly the person who was your friend is now the person telling you your numbers aren’t where they should be.

This kills morale, team performance and simply doesn’t work. This is because that person hasn’t developed the requisite skills and abilities to manage a sales team.

Your manager (actually your company) fails you.

Being a sales manager isn’t for everybody. It is a role with many moving parts and a HUGE requirement to teach, do in addition to leading PEOPLE.

If you have the opportunity to become a manager, seek out the adivce and guidance of those who can help you with the transition. Don’t just jump into and bask in the glory of your new title.

I think that in enterprise tech, sales teams should be about 8 reps to a manager for most inside and field sales teams for decent territories. This model will generally produce at or above quota performance in most organizations where 2 reps are producing above target, 4 are at or near expectations and 2 need to be either managed up or out the door. Experience has taught me repeatedly this is a fairly common configuration in tech organizations running what I call an “absolute”sales model. A well trained manager can handle this many reps without burning out.

If you find yourself reporting to someone whose experience and ability doesn’t match the title, you have to make the choise as to whether you’re going to see this as a problem or an opportunity. I’ve done both and suggest the latter.

The problem is that your sales manager has failed you and is incapable of helping you and you’re on your own. The opportunity is that you can see this a chance to learn what the role is all about and support that person so that if you ever choose to become a sales manager, you’ll be far better equipped to succeed in that role.

If there’s one thing in this business (or just about any business for that matter) it is the concept that if price is your only competitive advantage…you’re dead before you begin.

When selling technology, you HAVE TO manage the only four resources available, to your advantage.

1. Information

This is anything to do with your product or service. Information can be shared verbally or in a written format such as email, word documents, white papers, etc.

2. Resources

This is one usually falls under the category of people. They could be people who are referenceable customers for you. They could be pre-sales engineers or implementation consultants or subject matter experts.

3. Price

This one should be self explanatory. However, I believe that price should be introduced at a very specific point in the sales cycle. Usually sales people make the mistake of sharing pricing information too soon. Unless you are selling a simple subscription based service that doesn’t change or require any add-ons to complete then price should not be shared immediately. Another time when price should not be shared is if you are a service provider or consulting organization where you need time to properly build a scope of work. In short, you should never share price until it is clear to you that the prospect understands the

4. Value of your offering

In the absence of value, you don’t have anywhere to go and the prospect will assess your offering on the lowest common demoninator: price. Learn how to help buyers understand your value and you will win more sales. More importantly, you will disqualify time wasting prospects sooner. This is because research shows time and again that if you go the distance in a sales cycle with a buyer who doesn’t undertand and believe in your value, they usualy don’t buy. Then you have wasted valuable time and effort. So you might as well use value as the litmus test as to whether or not you’ll proceed with the client.

Too much of this type of ‘price-based’ selling is deadly. It is deadly because soon you will be commoditized in the marketplace and competitors who know how to sell on value will land your customers…and that’s why I say ‘don’t rely on price - it’ll kill you.’

At present, we are finding ourselves in a world where we’ve got less time to do what’s important. If anything, you and I are bound to our cell phones, pagers, emails, voice-mails, faxes, printers and monitors to name a few.

That’s why learning how to be effective is so valuable in today’s world. New Economy Selling is about exactly that. Now, more than ever we need to master the skill of sales effectiveness before we drown in a sea of mundane details.

I talk to people every week who are starting to realize that they just can’t keep up anymore. The supermom’s of the 90’s are burnt out from working and child rearing. The employee of yesterday is doing the work of 3 today. You know it’s true. Take a look around you. Mergers, acquisitions, downsizing, industry restructuring and doing more with less people is the basic tenet of the business world.

And the gap widens every year between those who have less and those who have more. The difference is no longer in working harder. I’ve learned from talking to people all over that a person can work hard all their lives and wind up at age 65 broke and confused. I’ve also learned that people are retiring today earlier than ever with substantial amounts of money - and many of them were sales people… I.T. Sales People!

The difference lies in personal effectiveness.

Working smarter not, harder is what today’s game plan is all about. That’s what this book is all about. You need this information today more than ever if you’re going to thrive, not just survive in today’s new world.

The good news is you’re a few clicks away from the foundation for moving towards ’smarter, not harder’. This book will provide you with simple, effective ideas on how to create the results you desire by going to work on five key areas:

1. Your sales mind
2. Your sales body
3. Your sales time
4. Your sales relationships
5. Your sales future

We’re hearing a lot today about ‘good time management’. We’re hearing that the way to the top is to have a smokin’ ‘to-do’ list. Well, that’s partially true, but it’s not all that’s you’re being told it to be. There is a distinct difference between efficient and effective. Let’s consider the use of a day planner for example. You know the kind…where you write down all of your ‘to-do’s’ and commitments for the day. Let’s say that you’ve got thirty things to do today.

You get them all done. Not a minute wasted. Wow! You think. If only I could get that much done everyday! However, you know that there’s no way you could do that every day.

Upon reflecting on this most busy day, you realize that you’re so tired. You can barely wait to hit the pillow at night. However, you’ve completed every item on your list and didn’t waste much time doing it. That’s efficiency.

The other way to look at a day full of errands and business like this is to say, well, I know how much effort this is going to take. Do I really want to spend the entire day running around on all this stuff? Isn’t there some way that I can avoid having to be present for all of these details?

The answer is yes!

You can! But it is going to take some advance planning and some thinking about how to do it. Let’s say that one of the items in your list is to get the grocery shopping done. I know from selling reporting software that most people buy the same things at the supermarket 90% of the time.

The supermarket in my neighborhood will deliver for free if the order is over $25 dollars. What’s better is that you can now purchase the odd items you don’t buy 90% of the time by looking at their inventory online and making use of your internet connection. You can even send an order in for the purchase which is guaranteed to be delivered within 24 hours.

There, you just saved about an hour. What did that cost?

Well, first you had to know what you buy most of the time you go to the supermarket. Next, you had to spend a few minutes checking out the other items you will need. And finally you simply needed to place the order and wait for it to arrive. Easy. The best part is that you’ve invested 10 minutes to earn 50 minutes.

See if you can do this for all of the other items on your list. I have found with some creativity and usually less than $10, I can get most of the non-face time errands done without having to do them myself and free up considerable time in the process for more important activities. Now THAT’S being effective!

The differences here are slight. But the end result is tremendous and it gives two materical benefits in your sales career:

1. You don’t have to burn mental energy thinking about the administrivia of your life.
2. You have the choice to invest that time in either most sales activity, or other areas of your life which will improve your selling ability.

This stuff takes some thinking ahead. If you don’t already have a list of what you usually buy, sit down and write it out. Most of my clients never stopped to figure this one out. Yet, it’s such a productive little exercise.

If you can’t remember what you usually buy, then next time you hit the ailes, bring your journal or PDA along with you and make a note of all the items you purchase, or study your grocery receipts for the month. Look for recurring items. This one idea has the power to give you four hours per month. Find ways to apply this to all of your other non-critical activities.

The purpose of these ideas is to place you in the top 20% of people in terms of effectiveness. Then, once you get there, you’ll have the base, the foundation to go as far as you want with it. In my mind, I want to be in the top 20% of the top 20%, which is the top 4%.

Then, you really are living an effective life.

And it doesn’t matter what area of your life you’re going to work on. If you’re in sales, the results of these ideas are easier to measure. That is the whole purpose of New Economy Selling. By the way, once you get into the top 20% of this industry, you’ll never have to worry about money again.

…and you gotta love that!

Learn How to Listen Well

The reality of this skill, is that it has more to do with the other person, that it does with you. I think that’s the essence of selling: aligning with the other person. And it starts with you. In other words, the whole point of interpersonal sales situations is to have an impact on the other person. One of the most important ways to do this is by learning to listen well. This is a key philosophy of New Economy Selling.

This is one that you’ve no doubt heard many times over. However, it is a sad truth that of all the disciplines taught in schools today, none include as part of a regular program, skills on how to listen. Taking the time to develop this skill will improve every area of your life. I know. Before I knew how to listen well, I didn’t realise how poor the quality of my relationships and communications really were. In my opinion and experience, the five best rules to effective listening are:

1. Look at the other person. Don’t look over their shoulder. Don’t look at your watch. Don’t look away unless it is a part of the conversation. But don’t stare at them either! They’ll think you’re weird. Move your gaze from their mouth to their eyes. And look back and forth between their eyes. This isn’t easy because paying attention to anything, especially people (who generally talk way too much) is HARD WORK. But the rewards are well worth it. The point here is to focus on the person with whom you’re talking and that involves rule number two.

2. Focus your body directly at or generally towards the other person. Use your judgement here. If you’re having coffee with a friend, a body posture that you’d use in a job interview is sure to look odd. Just make sure that when you’re listening to someone, you LOOK like you’re paying attention. Pretend that someone is scoring your listening body posture from across the room. Sit in a way that shows you’re interested, even if you’re not! This is a very strong compliment to other speaker because it shows that you care enough to orient your body in such a way to maximize your relations with them.

3. Listen for emotions and ideas not words or poor speaking ability. It’s the message you’re listening for, not whether this person speaks like prince charming. You want to know what makes the other person feels good and bad. People are motivated only by fear of loss and desire for gain. If you listen for the things the other person wants and doesn’t want you’ll be on your way to making a friend for life. Then, if you can catch the reasons, or ideas behind why that is the case for the speaker, you will understand their point of view. This is a critical milestone in developing trust and confidence. All good negotiators and salespeople understand this. Everyone can benefit from this one!

4. Pause once the other person has finished speaking. Wait a few seconds. Let their words sink into your brain and use the second or two of silence to make sure they’ve said everything they can for the moment. I can’t tell you how many times I used this technique only to have the person say “AND…” Then share some critical piece of information with me. Next, in your own words, paraphrase what you’ve heard. If you’re unclear on some of the points, ask for clarification. Say, “I understood the part about how you got to the store, but I didn’t get it when you said…” You get the picture. These actions are the highest compliments that you can pay your speaker because it shows two things.

A. You were actually listening and heard what mattered to that person. (Emotions and ideas)
B. You cared enough to see things from their point of view and put it in your words. (Paraphrased their words)

5. Don’t finish other people’s sentences or give the word that they are looking for unless they ask for. It takes the ’sense’ of power and the spotlight away from the other person. Not a good thing to do when you want them to feel important. This is so hard to do because we are always thinking of what we’d say next or trying to figure out what the speaker is going to say next. The reason for this is simple. Studies show that people speak at an average of 200-300 words per minute. But since we think in terms of pictures, the verbal equivalent is that we think at a rate of 600-3000 words per minute. Now it’s easy to see why it’s so hard to focus on the other person and not our own thoughts and desires.

These are five rules that I rarely break in social and sales situations. I hope you find them as useful as I do.