As a business owner or manager, there are many factors that contribute to the success...or failure... of your business development processes. (I prefer to call it “sales”, but many folks are more comfortable with other terms, such as business expansion, client development, or rainmaking.) Here is a straightforward way of analyzing your processes to determine if some added attention in this area will lead to a stronger bottom line:

1. Does your company’s CULTURE foster a broad focus on new client development? Is it typical for the top management and others who create the culture to consistently block time for business growth?
2. Is the company’s MISSION clearly defined? Does it foster an emphasis on sales from all of the employees?
3. Has a VISION for the company been articulated? Do you know where you want the firm to be in three to five years? Does everyone else in the firm know it too?
4. With your current employees, do you have the “horses to pull this wagon up the hill?” Are your key sales and business development people bringing in the steady flow of new business necessary to attain the vision? Do you need more people, different people, or to help the existing people to grow?
5. What BEHAVIORAL CHANGE will be necessary to accomplish your vision? What do your people have to do, and how will they be managed, to assure that the vision will be met?
6. How will you PROFILE your existing staff to understand their strengths and weaknesses in the area of business development?
7. As you bring new people into the firm, how will you SCREEN them for an aptitude and strong motivation for the client development side of the business?
8. What TRAINING will you put in place to assure that the level of knowledge and skill necessary to grow the business to the heights you envision are attained?
9. How will you REINFORCE this training to be certain that their new capabilities are maintained and further enhanced during your climb?
10. Do you and your management team understand and implement “The Magic Sales Formula?” Here it is:

(Number of qualified appointments) x (% closed) x (Avg. revenue per account) = Sales Results

Seems like a simple formula. The magic comes not from looking at the absolute numbers in the equation, but in the ANTICIPATED CHANGE in each of the numbers. Let’s start by assuming that each of the three factors has a rating of one. Ask yourself what is a reasonable change you can expect in each area with the proper focus and training. Fill in your own estimates, but let’s try a model often quoted. Most companies are able to increase the number of qualified prospect appointments by 20% with a change in behavior and attitude. Closing ratios often rise dramatically, like 50% or more, with the appropriate new techniques in place, but let’s be conservative and say 25%. Similarly, a 20% increase in average revenue per account, brought on by better qualification, focussed prospecting, and up-selling, can often be attained. Where do all these numbers lead?

1.2 x 1.25 x 1.2 = 1.8

Reasonable and attainable “small” changes in each of these three areas leads to a near DOUBLING of the business.

Take your company through the process of answering each of these questions. As you do so, remember this: You are in control of the destiny of your company. You have the power to dream, the power to change, the power to grow.

For the next week, we will examine some of these issues in greater detail. Jeremy

Without a doubt prospecting is the number one problem for sales people. We spend plenty of time "trying" to close business. Probably because once we find someone with any interest at all we can feel comfortable with giving them lot's of reason's to buy.

Even when we get the "I need to think it over" reply, we would rather wait for them to "think it over" than go find someone new to speak with.

Its the effort of finding someone new to speak with that is the biggest problem. If you want to be more successful in sales, go out and find more people to speak with. lot's of them!

There is little argument that prospecting is one of the disciplines a salesperson must master. Perhaps the most important discipline. Why then is it the one least understood and most often neglected? The most likely reason is that prospecting takes place at the beginning of the selling cycle, but the reward for the time and effort invested are at the end of that cycle.

Many times, your prospecting efforts result in little or no gain at all. You must walk through many doors before finding one person with enough curiosity, let alone sincere interest, to talk with you. You disqualify several suspects before finding one real prospect that eventually becomes your new client or customer.

You can view prospecting from one of two perspectives: An activity filled with frustration and disappointment, or a journey where each unproductive step gets you closer to your ultimate goal and success. The choice is yours. Love it or hate it....just do it.

How do you know what kind of proposal to prepare for your prospect? There is only one type of proposal a prospect needs. Read below to see if you are doing it correctly.

Sales superstars are skilled at asking the right questions to quantify a prospect's pain. They lead the prospect through a journey of discovery by comparing the financial gap between where the prospect is today and where the prospect would like to be. Superstars walk through how big the issue is, what it costs the prospect in lost profits or productivity, and if the cost matters to the prospect. These steps help the prospect formulate the cost of the problem, present it in a way the prospect will understand, and help the prospect calculate the cost of doing nothing.

When dealing with the cost of a problem the superstar knows it has to be credible to the prospect. Superstars allow the prospect to do the math themselves, making the numbers belong to the customer. Prospects are also asked to be conservative in their estimates. Both the prospect and the superstar know the numbers are speculative so keeping the estimate conservative adds a layer of belief. Poor salespeople frequently assign their own numbers to a prospect's problem by asking, "Wouldn't you agree that this is costing $xxx?" By assigning this cost without any input from the prospect the poor salesperson loses credibility with the client since the problem may actually cost more, less or nothing at all.

The final thing that the superstar does is make sure the amount of money the problem is costing is enough for the prospect to care about. Superstars ask, "Is this enough to matter? Is it important enough to take action?" There is no sense in doing a great dog and pony show presentation if the problem is not important enough to fix or the prospect has no commitment to take action. Superstars make it a point to know the importance of the problem.

Be a superstar and quantify the problem. Help your prospect understand if there will be a return on the investment. By shifting focus from price to the real issue, the cost of hiring the superstar becomes a needed investment.

What the heck does Self-Esteem have to do with Sales? We believe it is a key ingredient to being successful at selling.

The single most important factor to believing that you can achieve your goals is self-esteem. Maintaining a healthy self-esteem is an important component of your Formula for Success.

Self–esteem is how you visualize yourself-your inner being. It's how you rank your worth as a person. We all started out with the greatest self-esteem possible. Over the years we have lost a lot of it- mostly due to negative messages from authority figures, acquaintances, and even ourselves.

As your self-esteem slips, your confidence and courage drop. You become less willing to take risks, to stretch outside your comfort zone. You no longer accomplish what you are capable of; you accomplish only what others have led you to believe you're capable of.

Here's a rule for those of you who are in need of a self-esteem boost: "Fake it 'til you make it.” By fake it, we mean "act as if": Act as if you're comfortable making cold calls; act as if you have no problem talking about budget; act as if getting past a telephone gatekeeper is no problem. The more you act as if, the more you weaken the old belief and strengthen the new one. At some point, you'll no longer be acting-it will be your new belief.

Excerpted from The President's Club Professional Development Program, Trainer's Guide © 2000 Sandler Systems, Inc. All rights reserved

Can you predict the Future?  Here is a strategy that can help you.

By the nature of their product or service, many salespeople are asked by their prospects to do some groundwork and present their findings at the next meeting. It might be compiling some preliminary figures, performing a site survey, creating a working diagram, or some other initial work. How often have you been in that situation? Wouldn't you like to know what is likely to happen at the conclusion of your presentation before investing your time and energy?

The Sandler "Let's Pretend" strategy will help you obtain that information. Here is an example: Prospect: I am impressed with what I have heard so far. I would like to see a preliminary plan for the project with approximate costs and estimated time to completion. Salesperson: I would be happy to start working on that. Let us pretend for a moment that when I come back with our preliminary plan, you are comfortable with our approach, the estimated costs are within your budget, and completion dates meet your deadlines...what would happen at that point?

Getting the prospect to describe the future today prevents you from being set-up. If the prospect cannot, or will not make a commitment that is in your best interest, you may not want to agree to the request.