Are you a good selling or business development professional? What distinguishes you from the remainder of the pack?

With over 27 years of experience working with those that develop business and sell for a living I find the following characteristics:

1-    Those that seek relationships not a commission check

2-    Do not procrastinate, using the hours in the day wisely to be with prospective and current clients

3-    Do not waste “windshield time” on wasteful things or nothing

4-    Reads voraciously to understand competitive intelligence that aids the client

5-     Establishes a strategic account profile to understand prospective client opportunities and limitations

6-    Knows the economic buyer in their accounts and does not waste time with gatekeepers

7-    Think strategically not tactically to engage buyers

8-    Learning the client’s business and discovering methods to assist them now and in the future

9-    Prepare provocative questions that engage and enlighten

10- Knows when to listen and when to speak

11- Networks constantly to meet new buyers

12- Engages a sales process

13- Creates emotion and has a passion for the sales process

14- Believes in what they are selling

15- Nurtures relationships with proper customer service, returning all calls and emails in a timely manner

16- Uses and respects the relevance of CRM reporting useful data to upper management

17- Understands the importance of customer to customer influences on account management

18- Thinks in terms of client outcomes, not units sold

19- Dresses professionally and is ready to engage with every client

20- Has poise and flexibility to engage gatekeeper and buyer ethically

Use the following as a checklist for your selling professionals if you are a manager or for you personally if you sell for a living. Check back periodically to determine methods to make you a more effective seller to alleviate time and develop more business.

©2010. Drew Stevens PhD. All Rights Reserved.

There are seven secrets for selling effectiveness. Click here For a Free Report 7 Secrets to Selling Success

Drew Stevens is one of the world’s leading authorities on business development and customer satisfaction. Drew is the author of the successful sales process book Split Second Selling. He is also the creator of the Sales Leadership Certificate one of only 14 programs in the United States offering an accredited degree in the profession of selling and has a top ranked podcast called Sales Fitness. To discover how Dr. Drew can assist your organization to increase their business development skills visit him at www.stevensconsultinggroup.com

During a recent analysis of a selling organization, I conducted a mystery-shopping excursion to determine the best practices and limitations of the sales group. What I found is common in most organizations.

How often do you listen to your voice mail? How often do you change it? How often do you obtain specificity in the message?

Voice mail services two purposes: 1) to enable your caller to leave a specific message for you and 2) for you to leave specificity on your return call. However individuals will not leave specifics if you do not disclaim how. For example during my mystery excursion the following message was left [name changed to protect the guilty] “Hello this is Rhonda please leave a message at the tone.” The last time I heard this was 15 years ago when voice mail was introduced.

Proper business voice mail should stipulate your name, the firm name, what you want your caller to do and the actions you will take upon receipt of the message. I tell callers to leave a brief message, the best telephone number and time to ring them and that I return their call in 90 minutes. Action is required otherwise your message becomes driftwood in a sea of eternity.

Your voice message must depict your professionalism, your ethics and your responsibility.

The second common selling issue is the identity of the firm when calling a main switchboard. During recent client analysis I ring up the reception area only to have been immediately placed on hold or immediately transferred to another party. Emergency responders take more time to diagnose my issue!

Reception is the first line of organizational identity. Rushing parties off the line, placing them on hold, using mechanistic approaches are methods that destroy prospective client interactions. 45% of every customer interaction involves some level of customer service. Do not allow prospective customers to judge a book by its cover, make a good first impression and treat ‘em right!

©2010. Drew Stevens PhD. All Rights Reserved.

There are seven secrets for selling effectiveness. Click here For a Free Report 7 Secrets to Selling Success

Drew Stevens is one of the world’s leading authorities on business development and customer satisfaction. Drew is the author of the successful sales process book Split Second Selling. He is also the creator of the Sales Leadership Certificate one of only 14 programs in the United States offering an accredited degree in the profession of selling and has a top ranked podcast called Sales Fitness. To discover how Dr. Drew can assist your organization to increase their business development skills visit hime at www.stevensconsultinggroup.com

Recent issues (politics, economics, technology) constantly provide change in today’s marketplace. Change is terrific as long as you individually decide to keep pace with it. One of the best tools to mitigate change is overhauling skills.  Improving hard and soft skills enables one to be more marketable in a competitive global economy. Rejuvenating skills provides self-mastery, which also helps to improve upon confidence, poise, presence and professionalism.

One is never too old or too busy to attend an educational experience. The time is an investment in your future earnings and potential. Similar to the manner in which automobiles must be maintained, your cognitive skills require a bi- annual checkup to increase your professional investment. Enroll in something today to invest in a better tomorrow.

Change is the watchword of progression. When we tire of well-worn ways, we seek for new. This restless craving in the souls of men spurs them to climb, and to seek the mountain view.

Ella Wilcox – American Author and Poet

©2010. Drew Stevens PhD. All Rights Reserved.

There are seven secrets for selling effectiveness. Click here For a Free Report for the 7 Secrets to Selling Success

Drew Stevens is one of the world’s leading authorities on sales and customer service. Drew is the author or the successful sales techniques book Split Second Selling. He is also the creator of the Sales Leadership Certificate one of only 14 programs in the United States offering an accredited degree in the profession of selling and has a top ranked podcast called Sales Fitness. To book Dr. Drew for a workshop or keynote or to obtain his Secrets of Ultimate Business Success visit his website www.stevensconsultinggroup.com

As a sales manager or a director did you ever wonder why your selling professionals are not meeting quota? Is the ability to create outstanding client value withholding your team from reaching its audacious goals?

There might be a simple answer to this question and it just might shock you! The issue might be you – the manager.

In the last several weeks I am seeing a recurring issue that all sales managers must be aware, accountability is crucial to meeting quota. Managers must know what the leads in the pipeline are. Managers must know whether selling professionals critically understand the difference in a suspect, a prospect and a customer. Not many I recently surveyed clearly do. And, most importantly sales professionals must be held to a specific number of calls, appointments, proposals, conversations etc.

Sales professionals fail when accountability lacks. Selling professionals must have quantifiable goals clearly outlined by management with timeframes. Managers that meet regularly with staff and convey strengths and limitations are exemplars to others.  Key Performance Indicators allow representatives to understand where they are and where they need to be. Similar to the GPS that is fully charged, accountability provides a roadmap to the final destination.

Albeit there are some obstacles in the path, accountability allows representatives to circumnavigate around environmental issues that affect the accounts and revenues. Without proper accountability, sales representatives are no different than a sailboat caught in a violent storm with no port in sight.

Create the ray of light that guides selling professionals so that they achieve higher levels of success.

©2010. Drew Stevens PhD. All Rights Reserved.

There are seven secrets for selling effectiveness. Click here For a Free Report for the 7 Secrets to Selling Success Drew Stevens is one of the world’s leading authorities on sales and customer service. Drew is the author or the successful sales techniques book Split Second Selling. He is also the creator of the Sales Leadership Certificate one of only 14 programs in the United States offering an accredited degree in the profession of selling and has a top ranked podcast called Sales Fitness. To book Dr. Drew for a workshop or keynote or to obtain his Secrets of Ultimate Business Success visit his website www.stevensconsultinggroup.com

With all the folly placed into selling, one must understand that through the banter, there are only four simple steps to help you sell. However, 92% of most individuals selling do not know of these steps, nor do they comprehend how to integrate into a process.

Selling requires that you have a path that begins with customer introductions and interactions and end with customer involvement. Unless selling professionals follow the path in a linear manner, their future sales will falter. Each requires the other to understand client’s wants and needs

1. Prepare to Present
2. Uncover the needs
3. Manage Rapport and Objections
4. Provide Closure

I have used these principles for well over 27 years and they work. I have trained over 100,000 selling professionals and have helped them achieve over a billion dollars in gross revenues! These principles work for them and they will work for you.

Here is a just a brief synopsis of each.

1. Read current journals, periodicals and annual reports to comprehend the issues of the prospective organization and have strategic conversations with key decision makers.

2The ability to prepare well creates the ability to prepare proper and provocative questions aimed at the clients business needs and improving their competitive position.

3. Asking questions, remaining confident, knowing your products and services and controlling the conversation with value are keys to success. You must understand how to move forward to create further interest so they trust you!

4. The most fascinating yet most daunting part of any sale is closure. Procrastination and indecision are a part of like. Moreover, many professionals are afraid to ask for the business. The best way to make money and get more members is to ask. Never forget to ask the secret question, “How do we proceed?”

©2010. Drew Stevens PhD. All Rights Reserved.

There are seven secrets for selling effectiveness. Click here For a Free Report for the 7 Secrets to Selling Success

Drew Stevens is one of the world’s leading authorities on sales and customer service. Drew is the author or the successful sales techniques book Split Second Selling. He is also the creator of the Sales Leadership Certificate one of only 14 programs in the United States offering an accredited degree in the profession of selling and has a top ranked podcast called Sales Fitness. To book Dr. Drew for a workshop or keynote or to obtain his Secrets of Ultimate Business Success visit his website www.stevensconsultinggroup.com

How to Prospect Successfully

The act of selling is comparable to gold mining. The original gold miners searched everywhere and labored to discover gold. They got their hands dirty, sloshing through mud and mountains in search of destiny. They simply exhausted themselves.

Prospecting need not be labor intensive, but it does need to be done- lead generation is contingent upon it. Prospecting helps to maintain the pipeline so there is a continuous flow of leads in the queue, this is especially useful when selling based on monthly net. However, research supports the notion that many selling professionals not only do not take the time to prospect but they do not prospect well.

One of the best items used for prospecting is The Wall Street Journal. If you are in sales and you want to meet economic buyers then you must read the daily business bible. The Wall Street Journal provides you with content of competition, the industry and economic environment. Articles provide data on industry trends while also providing a platform for better conversations. Reading the journal assists in finding those buyers that need your services, while using current events that help you articulate value.

Another abandoned prospecting staple is a company annual report. These widely regarded research tools contain an abundance of information about an organization. The three vital elements are the letter from the Chief Executive Officer or President indicating the firm’s strategy, the second is the financial strength of the company and the third includes risk and growth areas of the business. Business prospecting is refined by not only understanding who to speak with but what to say after hello.

Finally, the proliferation of the Internet allows plentiful data to arrive in your daily email inbox. There are services such as Factiva© from Dow Jones, Google Alerts© and others that allow selling professionals to discover new information about both accounts and industry trends. These resources are not only information savvy but easy to use. Simply subscribe to the services, develop personal alerts and await the information to be sent. More importantly with the need for knowledge today, information quickly informs you of imperative market changes, economic issues, political influences, acquisitions etc. Imagine having content that places selling professionals at a competitive advantage. In addition, calling the right prospect with competitive information only increases chances of creating prospecting opportunities.

Prospecting today does not require the same labor as earlier decades however there is a need work smart. Selling professionals that know where to mine the data remain at a competitive advantage because they have content economic buyers want to discuss. Prospecting involves connecting with the right people while creating the right levels of provocative conversation. Begin to mind your territories, and increase your intensity with the proper resources to get you the golden opportunities you seek.

©2010. Drew Stevens PhD. All Rights Reserved.

There are seven secrets for selling effectiveness. Click here For a Free Report for the 7 Secrets to Selling Success

© 2009. Drew Stevens PhD. All Rights Reserved.

Drew Stevens is one of the world’s leading authorities on sales and customer service. Drew is the author or the successful sales techniques book Split Second Selling. He is also the creator of the Sales Leadership Certificate one of only 14 programs in the United States offering an accredited degree in the profession of selling and has a top ranked podcast called Sales Fitness. To book Dr. Drew for a workshop or keynote or to obtain his Secrets of Ultimate Business Success visit his website www.stevensconsultinggroup.com

If you or one of your selling staff where pulled over by a police officer and arrested for being a selling professional, would there be enough evidence to convict you or the others?

The purpose of selling is meant to create relationships. Selling requires building trust and asking provocative questions that instill dialogue to gain customer understanding. So why then are there so many floundering, failing and simply annoying many. Too many selling professionals today fail to do the required homework to have any intellectual discussion. It is criminally negligent to not conduct the necessary detective work and discover information to assist conversation.

In two recent and hellacious examples one seller was an SEO firm seeking to assist me my web efforts. However he knew nothing of my Google ranking. In the other, one sales professional did not get past hello because of the rote script she was reading from. This folly conveys ignorance and most of all laziness. Selling requires research and knowledge before engaging conversation. Anything less results in rejection.

Before you pick up the phone to say hello, make certain that the actions you take can convict you of being a professional, ethical and knowledgeable selling professional.

Quote of the day
To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge. – Benjamin Disraeli

The current recession has selling professionals and their management seeking alternatives to increase sales. One issue that continually arises is selling to the C Suite. There is a belief that if selling professionals increase their abilities to corporate executives both closure and sales revenues will increase. That may or may not be true.

The first item to consider with attempting selling products and services to corporate executives is whether the individual occupying the office is truly the buyer. Many selling professionals get fooled into believing that title encourages the sale. While CEO’s are responsible for a myriad of activities their main priority is a focus on customer acquisition and retention as well as a return to stakeholders. It is simply impossible to be involved in every vendor decision, and it is considered micromanagement. Take some time to understand your true buyer before wasting time.

Selling professionals by nature are tactical and invariably spend time with those that might influence but do not make decisions. However the approach for selling to decision makers in the C Suite must be more strategic. Before embarking on cold calling and using rote sales principles, take the time to prepare. Selling professionals must adequately prepare before calling an executive. I suggest reading current versions of The Wall Street Journal to comprehend environmental (i.e. economic, political, technological, etc) issues as well as competitive pressures. In addition, reading the organizations annual report is essential for understanding the firm’s strategy and industry acceptance. Finally a quick review of corporate, industry and other competitive issues enables a representative to have articulate conversations with senior executives.

Upon completion of preliminary reading, selling professionals must establish a strategic corporate profile in order to better comprehend the corporate structure and align products and services you offer with the prospective organization. The strategic profile removes the tactical issues of product sales and creates a better ability to create long-term relationships. Executives will trust the ability to be more consultative. Formulating a corporate strategy creates provocative questions related to objectives and measurements for success, which are the conversations that senior executives desire. Dialogue focuses on organizational results and benefits to the customer, not product/service facts. Executives desire to hear about output and results.

Finally strategic selling professionals do not visit the C Suite with rote tactics of cold calling etc. While a myriad of books, audios and other materials exist suggesting such, executives are met through referral and networking. Individuals invest in those they know and trust. This requires selling professionals to shift direction and gain better momentum with strategic ideology. It simply requires change.

We are currently in a sea of rapid change and momentum. Recessions also enable organizations to develop innovative techniques. Now is the time to be a market leader and create techniques that allow innovation and renewal. Shifting to a new sales direction will take some time but as comfort returns, the organization will gain speed and velocity. The results will be worth it!

There are 7 techniques you can use daily to assist you preparation efforts. Get the 7 Secrets to Sales Preparation by emailing me today. Ask about our Free 30 Minutes “Sales Acceleration Coaching Clinic”!

©2009. Drew J. Stevens Ph. D. All rights reserved.

Drew Stevens PhD is one of the worlds leading experts in sales and sales skills. Dr. Drew is the author of six books including Split Second Selling and the soon to be released Ultimate Business Bible. With over 25 years of sales experience and business leader, Dr. Drew has extensive experience in assisting both entrepreneurs and selling professionals to experience higher efficiency and effectiveness. He is also the creator of the Sales Leadership Certificate one of only 14 programs in the United States offering an accredited degree in the profession of selling and has a top ranked podcast called Sales Fitness offering tips and techniques that immediately improve selling performance.

Recently a friend of mine was conducting performance reviews for her staff. She has 16 direct reports and when finished all received a superlative review. With the completion of her paperwork and interviews she provided the reviews to her manager for sign off. Trouble began. Her manager indicated to her that she would need to revise all 16 reviews because no one could receive a superlative- it would hinder the firm’s bell curve. I am not making this up!

Performance is based on individual observed behavior as it correlates to both goals and organizational standards. Employees are then reviewed based on prior performance to these issues. Therefore individuals are honored for their efforts to conform to these standards. Bell curves kill morale and performance because they not only compare but reward non-performers with performers. Two issues here 1) If individuals cannot meet goals and standards they need to be terminated. Organizations are too busy attempting to make profits. Further when individuals do not perform there is either a management/employee relationship issue or a hiring issue. 2) To get individuals performing at optimum efficiency seek the best practices of the best people and communicate more. Too many reviews are too little too late. Reviews are not confidential year end documents but rather monthly communication vehicles that assist in providing direction for employees.

To determine best practices for employee performance reviews email me for a quick 10 step tip sheet.

©2010.  Drew J. Stevens Ph. D. All rights reserved.

Drew Stevens PhD works with organizations to dramatically accelerate revenue. Dr. Drew is the author of six books including Split Second Selling and the soon to be released Ultimate Business Bible. He is also the creator of the Sales Leadership Certificate one of only 14 programs in the United States offering an accredited degree in the profession of selling and has a top ranked podcast called Sales Fitness with Dr. Drew. To gain a free 30 Minute Coaching contact Dr. Drew today get the proper prescription for your success.

One of the most common trivialities amongst business professionals is the inane desire to conduct thousands of things but do nothing well. Traction is not gained by conducting a plethora of things without focus. Developing business requires focus on two things- customer acquisition and retention. Doing so requires focus on sales, marketing and customer service. Beyond that not much else is required. Look around you and review items that withhold you from business development. Your labor can be severely decreased by conducting a few things well.

Quote of the week – Every organization is on business for one reason- the customer. – Peter Drucker

©2010 Drew Stevens PhD. All rights reserved.

If you want to know how to obtain 7 ways to become more productive in less time, click here for a free report.

Drew Stevens PhD is one of the worlds leading experts in business development. Dr. Drew is the author of six books including Split Second Selling and the soon to be released Ultimate Business Bible. With over 25 years of sales experience and business leader, Dr. Drew has extensive experience in assisting both entrepreneurs and sales professionals to experience higher efficiency and effectiveness. He is also the creator of the Sales Leadership Certificate one of only 14 programs in the United States offering an accredited degree in the profession of selling and has a top ranked podcast called Sales Fitness offering tips and techniques that immediately improve selling performance.