Allergies, Pain and Sales Hunting

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I’m a typical guy. I don’t go see the doctor unless somethings really wrong.

Until last week, I hadn’t seen a doctor since June 2005, when my wife strongly suggested I go in for a yearly physical. We had just gotten married and she said I should see a doctor. I visited my doctor and everything checked out fine.

The past month I’ve been struggling with sinuses and allergies and at times, I’ve felt miserable constantly blowing my nose and dealing with watery eyes.

(Compared to cancer and other illnesses, sinuses are very minor.)

So I found an allergist doctor and went in and got checked out and he made some recommendations.

It took me being miserable and slightly in “pain” to finally call the doctor and get in.

What does this have to do with sales hunting and sales prospecting?

Most prospects tend to buy solutions that solves their “business” pain before they buy solutions that will enhance their company.

People will reach for an aspirin to comfort their headache before they buy vitamins to make themselves feel even better.

When reaching out to prospects, ask them questions that brings up their “pain”.

Take care of their “pain” with your solutions and you’ll have success in sales.

Shaving My Head and Sales Positioning

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I have a confession to make.

I am bald.

BUT, I’m bald voluntarily. I started shaving my head in 2000 and am thankful I have a decently shaped head with no scars or nicks anywhere. I give credit to Bruce Willis who made being bald cool and in fashion.

Typically I get my head shaved every 10 days. I usually go to Great Clips and it cost between $5 – $14 depending on if I have a coupon or not. They serve the masses and Great Clips is not for everyone. My hairdresser, Carol, rocks and I request her every time I visit. She does excellent work and is a pro. After I get my head shaved, I go home and shower and get all the little hairs out and it’s highly convenient since it’s about 2 miles away. It’s very obvious who Great Clips targets as their customer.

Recently I received a complimentary hair cut coupon and decided to use it at The Gents Place in Leawood Town Center. I made an appointment and showed up. I get there, check in and the gal behind the desk offers me something to drink. Then she comes around and takes my jacket and puts in a locker and hands me the key. I finally get called to my hairdresser and as you may tell, this place caters to Leawood middle to upper class business men. It has a pool table and spa rooms and locker rooms and even a bar for members. Top notch and it definitely caters to a high end clientele.

I got my head shaved, massaged, rinsed, washed and completed with a hot towel service. I’ve never had that before and it felt great. Normal cost was $45 or so and I tipped my hairdresser and left.

So as a sales organization, who do you cater to? Who’s your ideal client?

Is it targeted towards anyone or do you have someone specific in mind?

Target everyone and you sell to nobody.

Is your product or service targeted to the masses out there like Great Clips?

OR

Do you have someone specific in mind with a certain income level, profession, geography, or type of business?

Take a few minutes and reflect on your ideal client. Do you have several transactions with small dollar amounts or fewer transactions with higher dollar amounts.

Happy Monday!

Are your sales reps Jayhawks or Wildcats?

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I’m a big college basketball fan. I enjoyed watching this year’s NCAA Tourney and I congratulate the Duke Blue Devils for winning their 5th National Title.

As a lifelong Kansas Jayhawk fan, I remember them winning the title in 1988 and again in 2008. 2 titles in 27 years.

One of Kansas’ bitter rivals is the Kentucky Wildcats who have won 8 National Titles. UK has a great basketball program and John Calipari is a great coach.

Kansas Jayhawks has the longest current streak of NCAA tournament appearances at 26. 26 years straight of consistency.

The Kentucky Wildcats typically make the post season tournament each year and were National Champs in 2012. BUT, they completely missed the tournament in 2013 as well as in 2009.

What does this have to do with sales?

In a word: consistency.

How consistent are your sales reps? Are they consistent or irregular? Do they consistently hit their numbers or are they all over the board with some great wins along the way?

Do they constantly hit their quota or sales numbers?

Which would you rather have?

Would you rather have a sales team that consistently hit their numbers year in and year out?

OR

Would you rather have a team that’s irregular and unpredictable BUT lands very big clients every now and then?

If you’re in sales or business development, are you consistent daily, monthly or yearly? If no, why?

Persistence pays off: A short story

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Hello everyone!

Back in December of last year, I called on a $100M plus publicly traded software company in California near San Francisco.

I called the CEOs office and his assistant directed me to a certain Senior VP. I referenced the assistant’s name and proceeded to call the SVP.

I left 5 voicemails and 5 emails over 5 weeks and closed the task in Salesforce.com. The next day he called me back and we had a short discussion. They have an inside sales team but were interested in training and that my timing was good. He asked when I was available and asked if I could come out in the next 2 weeks. I said yes and he said to call him in 2 days.

2 days later I called him back and got his assistant. She explained that it was a no go for the next 2 weeks after I told her why I was calling. There also was a reorganization going on and it was being tabled. And the SVP’s wife was having a baby any day.

Boo I thought! So she said to call in March. I thought I was being blown off. I figured I have nothing to lose by following up. Q2 got moved to Q3.  When I finally connected live with the SVP’s assistant, she said that it was no longer her boss’s decision and to call the CMO. She mentioned that the CMO had requested info from the SVP that I sent by snail mail earlier that year.

So I reached out to the CMO a few times and referenced the SVPs name. He finally responded and we finally spoke by phone and I gave an overview of my training  workshops I conduct for companies nationwide.

Long story short, we agreed t o terms and I flew out last Wednesday, conducted the workshop with 9 of the inside sales reps on how to make outbound prospecting calls and put a system in place for future use. And I also got paid 4 figures for the day.

I share this not to brag but to encourage you.  It was an 8 month sales cycle total. Can you relate? Half the battle of sales is persistence and follow up.

If your sales team needs training on how to effectively prospect and make outbound calls, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

I’m Ray Ruecker with Connect 5000.