Is Call Reluctance® choking your sales effort?

You are browsing the archive for Prospecting.

Is Call Reluctance® choking your sales effort?

December 9, 2009 in Call Reluctance, Prospecting

Whether we are working for a private or public company, a “not for profit” or government institution, all of us are in some way competing for access to a revenue source to fund our existence.

How capable people are to take on the responsibility for improving the revenue line of a company is a hot topic in today’s competitive market.

Research shows that no longer can companies and their people rely on their technical competence, passive referrals, reputation, brand or blanket advertising to bring in new business and revenue streams as they may have done in the past. They also need to effectively self- promote and prospect for new business using professional and ethical sales strategies, and demonstrate real value for money.

Visibility Management
In short, we need to be visible and manage our visibility so that customers know who we are and what we can do.

The research shows we need to make our competency visible to people who need to know about us. Therefore, companies and sales people must first be VISIBLE to be RECOGNISED for what they do well and they must be RECOGNISED before they can be REWARDED!

Social media is an emerging avenue that makes getting noticed and making our capabilities visible easier if done properly, however on its own it is unlikely to yield and drive the type of qualified sales leads we want in the time frame and volume we need to keep us viable. Social media is visibility management and an education and influencing forum, however it is only part of a prospecting strategy.

So, because of this we need to make sure that our sales teams are fully equipped to prospect effectively and regularly or else we are at risk of missing sales opportunities. Firstly, let’s quickly define Prospecting.

Prospecting is… The identification and pursuit of new business opportunities in new and/or existing accounts.

Prospecting requires sales people to establish contact with people who might buy your products or services. Whether it’s phone prospecting, face-to-face prospecting or group prospecting, in-bound or outbound, nothing gets sold until sales people get in front of or talk to potential buyers.

However, the sad truth is that many people find prospecting very hard work. In fact, research shows that only about 20% of sales people are fully effective when prospecting.

That leaves approximately 80% of people struggling with the function of prospecting. In most cases it is not due to lack of knowledge, skill, ability or talent, rather most people are afraid to prospect due to the attitudes and beliefs they have formed about prospecting over the years. This fear is known as Call Reluctance®.

So, why focus on Call Reluctance®?
Barrett has assessed over 50,000 people on their Call Reluctance® profiles and we can attest to the fact that most sales people have some form of prospecting hesitation or Call Reluctance® which affects their sales performance. Our work has allowed us to develop a deep understanding of prospecting hesitation and call reluctant behaviour and the accompanying attitudes across sales teams and businesses cultures.

If you are not convinced by our word, here is some of the research by BSRP which has been compiled over the last 40 years.

Across industries, the sales people who sell the most are those who are most willing to get in front of prospective buyers on a consistent, daily basis. They sell more because regardless of their talent, experience, or knowledge, they always have new people to sell to.
80% of all sales people fail to complete their first year because of prospecting distress with their energy directed towards coping rather than prospecting strategies.
40% of experienced sales people report one or more episodes of Call Reluctance® severe enough to threaten their career.
The hesitation to initiate first contact with prospective buyers on a consistent daily basis is responsible for the failure of more competent, motivated, capable, revenue generating sales people than any other single factor. Nothing else even comes close.
Despite content or quality, no training can earn back what it costs unless sales people initiate contact in sufficient numbers with new and existing clients.
Research indicates that a prospecting hesitant sales person can cost your company 15 new units of business per month.
Non-hesitant sales people are five times more productive than hesitant sales people.
The only significant predictor for success in sales is the number of contacts initiated with prospective buyers on a consistent basis!

The bad news
The bad news is that call reluctant behaviours are highly contagious as they are learnt from being around other people who are Call Reluctant®. It can take as little as 6 to 8 weeks to become contaminated.

At last count there are 12 Call Reluctant® types that can keep people from prospecting effectively due to fear. Here are some of the marker behaviours from the more common types that may give you clues that you or some of your people may be suffering from Call Reluctance®:

Over-reliance on information such as brochures and technical specs; over-invests energy in always getting ready; never enough information or feel adequately prepared; over-analyses and under acts
Nagging guilt and shame associated with being in a sales career generally based on negative stereotypes; may use ‘deflected identities’ to disguise the sales role; tries to be overly positive and instead comes across as insincere
Hesitates to prospect or close sales due to fear of appearing rude, pushy or intrusive; says ‘yes’ when should say ‘no’; avoids confrontation and needs to feel liked; can gossip to remain ‘in the loop’
Overly-concerned with professional image and credibility; may see prospecting as demeaning and unnecessary; doesn’t listen; may talk over people; needs to be seen as better than average

The good news
The good news is that prospecting hesitations and fears can be overcome and unlearnt, thus freeing people to prospect in a consistent and confident manner. Whether you identify prospecting hesitations and fears via a purpose built assessment or your own observations, the first step is to recognise and acknowledge if prospecting hesitation and Call Reluctance® is holding your or your sales team hostage.

The second step is to put in place strategies to eliminate these unhelpful attitudes and behaviours. This can be done by giving people access to effective prospecting skills training that shows how to confidently and competently prospect in a professional manner. If hesitation or fear still persists, then we suggest that you invest in training and coaching that gives people insight into their specific prospecting hesitations and access to well researched, behavioural changes strategies that can be applied to overcomes these specific types of fears.

Prospecting hesitation is preventable so watch who you let near your mind.

PS Don’t forget to complete the Barrett poll on The 12 Sales Trends of 2010. We want to know what you think will be the number one sales trend in 2010.

We will publish the results of the most important Sales Trends for 2010 in January. Make sure you are subscribed to our blog to receive in depth articles on The 12 Sales Trends of 2010, starting in January with the No. 1 trend as voted by you our readers.

Remember: Everybody lives by selling something.

Author: Sue Barrett is Founder & Managing Director of BARRETT

2 Comments »

Getting prospects to talk to you

June 25, 2009 in Prospecting

Do you take time to really think about why you are calling a prospect or a client? Do you reflect on how effective you have been post the call?

Making prospecting calls to new prospects and existing clients is still one of the most important sales and business development activities you can do on a daily basis. Even with all the electronic communication and marketing options at hand most businesses still need to have someone prospecting for them to build and forge real business relationships. Top performing sales people make sure prospecting is part of their daily repertoire.

Like many things prospecting is a process and as a business development person, you will need to do over and over again approximately 500-1,000 times in a year at least!

However most people do not prospect effectively and many find it a daunting experience. Much of the controversy about the ‘do not call’ debate, in my opinion, is centred around the quality of calls being made. Most of the people who are being complained about are not prospecting effectively at all. They are usually calling and imposing themselves and their agenda on others with no regard for the other person and their wants or needs. Their prospecting calls are usually all about them not about you.

Prospecting Rule # 1: If you want to connect with another person and have them interested in you and what you have to offer you must first be interested in them.

By contrast, if a person rang you, explained (very briefly) who they were, showed some respect for your time commitments by asking you if you were in a position to speak to them now or later, and then quickly and respectfully stated why they made the effort to call you (all stated from your perspective and for your benefit of course) then you might give them a minute just to see if what they were calling about was worthwhile in engaging in a discussion or not.

From the customer or prospect’s perspective there must be a Valid Reason for them to want to speak to you. Something that will make their lives better in some way. Sure you want to work with them because they may fit your target market or maybe a great client to get on board for revenue, reputation, etc. but these are all your reasons and are all directed at how you will benefit.

Instead think about why a customer or prospect would want to speak to you. Do some research into their business and think about why they would want to take the time to connect with you. In other words put yourself in their shoes first.

Yes you could be their savior, but if they don’t know they need saving and you don’t position yourself to find out if they want to be saved of not then you are in trouble.

From the first phone call, to the thank you after your first meeting and subsequent meetings, each contact must add value to the client. Each contact must have a valid reason behind it.

The phone call is typically the first point of contact with a potential client. In preparation for that prospecting call you need to have two things ready:

1. A Call Objective – Your call objective is your reason for wanting to make contact.

As yourself why you want to connect with this person/ division/ company? What do you hope to gain or achieve by making this contact? i.e. You have heard there is new project on the agenda and you would like to make contact with the key stakeholder who is the main decision maker to see if you can get an opportunity to be considered for that project. Or you want to connect with the influencer who may give you an introduction to the key decision maker, etc.

2. A Valid Business Reason (VBR) – A VBR must be meaningful and relevant to the prospect. It should be a reason why the prospect should want to speak to this person further. It must be of value and important to the prospect and answer the What’s In It For Me (WII-FM) from your prospects’ perspective.

VBR’s are not usually static, they tend to be dynamic and current. They should be updated depending on the current business climate, market trends, etc. VBR’s require sales people to get their heads out of their products and look at the markets and the broader world they operate in. There is not shortage of VBR’s out there.

Here a few different categories that may help you generate VBR’s:

Competitor Reality
Timing & seasonal fit
Category Success
New location/Expansion
Broaden their market focus
Referral – Personal intro
Site visitor fit
Events/opportunities
New concept/idea

Listen to anyone of those annoying prospecting calls people complain about and they do not use VBR’s.

Prospecting Rule # 2: To generate effective VBR’s get your head out of your products and into the minds of your prospects and customers.

Look at your customer or prospect’s business and see what’s on their mind or what’s happening in their market and you will have no shortage of VBR’s. Role playing VBR’s with your team is a great way to develop the ideas and skill of applying them effectively. This will have a dramatic impact on increasing your phone prospecting success.

An example of a powerful prospecting call that incorporates a VBR statement is as follows:

“Hello XXX, this is Sue calling from Company X, do you have a moment to speak?…”

If they say ‘yes’ proceed

….”Thank you for taking my call. We specialise in helping businesses like yours find ways to increase their annual business profits upwards of 20% with our inventory management systems. Given the rapid changes in business management and procurement I was wanting to know if this was a priority for you at present. If so I would like to arrange a time to meet with you and understand more about your business and to see if we can be of any service.”…

If they say ‘no’ then say this

….”I understand you are busy at present the purpose of my call is to let you know that we specialise in helping businesses like yours find ways to increase their annual business profits upwards of 20% with our inventory management systems. Given the rapid changes in business management and procurement I was wanting to know if this was a priority for you at present and if so when would be a good time to call you back to arrange a meeting so I can and understand more about your business and to see if we can be of any service.”…

Remember to position yourself favourably.

Before you can engage in any conversation with your customer or prospect, you have to give them a reason to want to talk you.

Don’t forget everybody lives by selling something.

No Comments »

Start small and really network

May 7, 2009 in Communication, Marketing, Prospecting

I have attended my fair share of networking events and more often than not, I find that I do not get any quality time to network and begin the process of building viable business relationships for the future. I find the time allocated to speak with people and start to get to know them is often too short, coupled with too many other distractions.

When attending these networking events I find I usually get the most value out of listening to the key note speakers. If I am fortunate enough to strike up a meaningful conversation in between the breaks with someone I am seated next to then great, but all too often there is no real focused time to listen and understand each other on a one-on-one level.

I aware there is plenty of advice on how to get the most out of your networking at these types of events and the advice is often very good so don’t stop going. I want to make it clear that I am not criticising the style of these networking events – they are what they are and you can make the most of them.

However, I have been on the look-out for other ways to really connect, understand, and collaborate with people who are interested in leveraging collective networks, especially in this current market.

I had the privilege the other day of being invited to a very different networking event. It was small in scale, focused, purposeful, coordinated, quiet, and for me, very meaningful.

The concept is a Multiplier Lunch.
Multiplier Lunches are a sandwich lunch held for four businesses at a time, one of them being the host company who invited me. All four businesses are non-competitors, and my case generally in the services sector, and are unlikely to require each other’s services. However, all work in similar markets.

The central idea is to act, where there might be an opportunity, as referrers to each other.

The purpose of the lunch is for the group to get to know what each other’s businesses do so that we can be effective referrers for one another. Each attendee has half an hour to tell the group about their business and to take questions.

Typically, each business representative will talk for around 15 minutes and take questions for the remaining 15 minutes. This works well. It is a very informal gathering and things are kept relaxed, so people do not prepare any formal presentations. Everyone was respectful of allocated time ensuring that the lunch finished on time.

I found this to be a liberating and enjoyable, alternative networking experience!
Sincerely, your advocate for selling the right way.

No Comments »

Exceptional Prospectors

April 22, 2009 in Call Reluctance, Prospecting, Sales Skills, Success

“My most important appointment is prospecting and I do it first up every day.”
“I qualify all leads I generate and have an approach to handle those that aren’t ready yet.”
“People appreciate a professional sales approach and are able to make an informed decision to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ because I clearly explain, up front, my reason for contacting them using a customer centred approach. They need only say ‘no’ if they’re not interested.”
“I have a list of categorised prospects or influencers and a set approach for each category.”

Is this what you say, and how you feel and act about prospecting?

These four points about an exceptional prospector support our findings from over 40 years of international empirical research into prospecting behaviours.

Over the past 14 years, my team has conducted thousands of psychological assessments and interviews with both managers and salespeople about their prospecting and sales behaviours.

Our research has consistently revealed that salespeople often experience their greatest difficulties, dissatisfaction, and anxiety at the prospecting stage of the sales cycle. Meanwhile, Sales Managers repeatedly express their frustration that they cannot find salespeople who are competent, confident, and motivated to prospect for new business.

Prospecting requires sales people to establish contact with people who might buy your products or services. Whether it is phone, face-to-face or group prospecting, inbound or outbound, nothing gets sold until you get in front of and/or talk to potential buyers.

Definition of Prospecting

Prospecting is looking for, qualifying, and pursuing potential sales opportunities with new and existing customers and appropriately developing viable prospects into profitable sales.

40 years of International Empirical Research in Prospecting
(Research Reference: Behavioral Sciences Research Press)

The research showed that the main predictor for success in sales is the amount of contact initiated with prospective buyers on a consistent basis!

Across industries, the sales people who sell the most are those who are most willing to get out and get in front of prospective buyers on a consistent daily basis. They sell more because, regardless of their talent, experience or knowledge, they always have new people to sell to. They are visible and they manage their visibility so that customers know who they are and what they can do.

The hesitation to initiate contact with prospective buyers on a consistent daily basis is more responsible for the failure of competent, motivated, capable, revenue generating sales people than any other single factor. Nothing else even comes close.

Despite content or quality, no training can earn back what it costs until and unless sales people initiate contact in sufficient numbers with new and existing clients.

It is a reality that in order to achieve and exceed sales targets through attracting new business, a significant part of the process is going to come down to how well a sales person is able to apply themselves to the prospecting process.

So Prospecting Comes First!

Prospecting is not the only part of selling, or even the most important, however if you want to grow your business it must come first. Unless a sales person will consistently prospect for new business, what difference does it make if they are empathetic or knows the product?

The Good News

While most sales people, by far, experience their greatest difficulties, dissatisfaction, and anxiety at the prospecting stage of the sales cycle, the good news is that many of their issues can be overcome and usually boil down to 2 key areas:

Lack of training in how to prospect effectively: most people are thrown in the deep end and not given adequate training in clear processes and tools to show them how to prospect effectively.
Misconstrued beliefs and attitudes around prospecting: leading to people generating fear-based thoughts, and responses towards prospecting – in other words they avoid prospecting because they are scared of it. These attitudes and subsequent behavioural responses are entirely learnt and can be easily unlearnt with the right support.

If you are at all concerned about your prospecting effectiveness, don’t worry you can address your concerns by using the right approach:

If you don’t know how to prospect but are not scared to have a go then get skills training specifically covering a structured prospecting process and techniques.
If you are afraid to prospect whether you are trained in a prospecting process and techniques or not then you would benefit from gaining insight into your beliefs and attitudes around your hesitation to prospect. (This can be achieved with purpose built assessments and qualified feedback)

If you want advice, coaching or skills training on prospecting process and techniques call us on (+61) 03 9532 7677 or email contact@barrett.com.au

If you want to read more about effective prospecting go to Peak performance in prospecting

Sincerely, your advocate for selling the right way.

No Comments »

Professional Services firms are feeling the pinch

March 12, 2009 in Culture, Prospecting, Strategy, Success

Take note: Lawyers, Accountants, Engineers, Marketing Consultants et al

Professional Services Firms are struggling when it comes to keeping and finding business. This on top of the fact that many have to come to grips with the fact they need to sell. The market has definitely changed. You cannot sit there aggressively waiting for the phone to ring anymore.

In speaking with one partner from a well respected law firm, he vented his frustration at the lack of action being taken in his firm by partners and their teams in terms of driving the push to find new business in current and new accounts. He stated that some teams were just sitting around with no work to do and no one knows what to do about it.

“It’s so frustrating, they just don’t even know how to pick up a phone and call clients and prospects. They are just sitting there saying they have no work to do all the while our business is struggling to meet revenue targets. While I know some service areas have been hit harder than others there is still work to be done and if we could only just get talking to customers we would be ok. All I know to do is to get out and have coffee with as many clients as I can and even though I haven’t been trained in how to sell well am finding business. Although I would like to know how to do it better for sure”.

Despite the tougher market, there are market opportunities are out there. There is money to be made. There are clients to be won! However, many professional services firms are not realising their true potential.

Relying mainly on passive referrals for new business leads and glossy marketing materials, most professional services firms are not securing their current and future revenue streams. They have left themselves vulnerable and weak. In many cases they are not even accessing their existing client data bases to see what new business opportunities exist there.

And don’t even talk to them about cross selling and up selling other service lines – many remain trapped in the silo mentality.

Through our work and observations in the professional services sector, it appears many managing partners and principals are wanting more from their partners, directors, managers and associates when it comes to proactively building sustainable and profitable business relationships with their clients. The problem is many of them do not know where to start or how to do it. They have tried to make a start by putting on a Business Development Manager but it’s really the partners and managers themselves that need to be out there selling as part of their job.

Our research shows that no longer is it good enough for these people to rely solely on their technical competence i.e. being only a lawyer or accountant. Now and in the future, these people also need to effectively self promote and prospect for new business using professional and ethical sales strategies, demonstrating real value for money.

However, the sales function does not come naturally to most people in these professions and often they don’t possess the relevant tools necessary to make it work. They certainly weren’t taught this at university. In fact many were fed derogatory myths about selling and many still believe them to be true today. Which is one of the reasons they are in trouble.

We have found that many professional services staff have not been shown the right way to sell or taught the behaviours and skills necessary to put them in a position to win quality business. Often the sales function’s importance is undermined, underestimated or left to too few people, usually the most senior partner or “rain maker”, possibly leaving the business vulnerable to missed market opportunities, hidden revenue and competitor erosion.

Many firms lack the foundations to create a viable professional sales culture e.g.:

Inaccurate or poor perception of what good selling really is and its importance to business
Very poor skills in the sales area
Partners and directors lacking direct accountability for new business and revenue growth
Mixed messages: “I’ve got to find more business but if I don’t do my 6 billable hours I won’t meet my performance standards”. Partners are being caught in the billable hour performance trap and not using putting the time to get out and grow business they can then pass on to their teams to deliver.
No use of client data bases and a silo mentality limiting up sell and cross sell opportunities
No new business sales strategy or plan
No client retention strategy or plan
No sales model for people to learn, follow and apply
Sales limited to ‘pull’ prospecting strategies such as brochures, website, etc. at the expense of proactive prospecting and real professional relationship sales strategies
No Key Performance Indicators and Key Result Areas linked to sales, new business growth etc.

To name a few.

Given that professional services firms are operating in an increasingly competitive market place with more sophisticated clients expecting higher levels of service and value and some of their services are at risk of being commoditised:

What are firms doing to differentiate themselves?
How are they ensuring their future viability and success?
How are they making sure they are sales fit?

The ones who get it right NOW will set themselves up well now and in the future. Those that don’t will either be reduced to shadows of themselves or be out of business all together.

So to all you lawyers, accountants, engineers, and consultants out there, if you are not already, it’s time to get sales fit and learn how to sell the right way.

It will be worth it.

Sincerely, your advocate for selling the right way.

1 Comment »

Barrett Sales Blog

You are browsing the archive for Prospecting.