Prospecting Comes First – SEVT
Sales Essentials Video Tips Series
Sue Barrett explores the importance of prospecting in your sales efforts.
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Want to find & own uncontested markets? Try Blue Ocean Strategy
In today’s cluttered business landscape and global marketplace, finding uncontested markets to sell into and own, free of competition, at least for the foreseeable future, is getting harder, and harder and harder.
Developing innovative ideas that turn into something new, unique and viable, are not easy to copy, and deliver revenue and healthy margins is equally tough.
Rethinking our marketplaces, our traditional customers and non-customers, and how we sell and deliver real value to them, that they are prepared to pay for, well that’s another difficult challenge too.
Most businesses these days find that they are increasingly competing head to …
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Opening a Customer Meeting – SEVT
Sales Essentials Video Tips Series
Sue Barrett discusses how you can open a customer meeting to ensure you have the best chances of success.
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Opening a Customer Meeting – SEVT Read Post »
The differences between business, sales, and marketing strategies
This week we thought we would touch on the differences between business, sales, and marketing strategies. The reason for that is that there’s usually confusion between sales and marketing strategies. To avoid confusion, it’s always good to look at definitions.
Michael Porter defines strategy as the set of choices that define a company’s distinctive approach to competing, and the competitive advantages on which it will be based. There are two different levels: corporate strategy, which is the strategy for the business overall (the portfolio of businesses); and business strategy, which determines how each business will compete. Business strategy is a high …
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What are the biggest sales issues & opportunities for CEOs & Sales Leaders today?
Since late 2014, we have been rolling out the Sales Strategy & Operations Audit working with a wide range of businesses across industries in the public, private, and N4P sectors to help them sell better.
In 2017, we compiled the Barrett Sales Strategy & Operations Benchmark Report for 2015-2017 based on over 20 companies and found several trends emerging that are relevant across businesses and industries. We are also seeing this across many other businesses with or without the audit.
Here is what we found:
The biggest sales issues facing CEOs & Sales Leaders today:
What are the biggest sales issues & opportunities for CEOs & Sales Leaders today? Read Post »
Sales Trend 4: Buyer Behaviours, AI & the Future of Sales Roles
Sales Trend 4 from the Barrett 12 Sales Trends Report for 2018 is about buyer behaviours and the future of sales roles.
According to Gartner Research, by 2020 85% of interactions between businesses will be executed without human interaction. [i]
Automation has already diminished the number of people required for blue collar manufacturing roles; however, with the advent of AI (artificial intelligence), big data and algorithms, we are beginning to see sweeping changes happening across the once untouchable white collar sector, including the very people-oriented roles of sales, as many buyers shift part or all of their buying journey …
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What does Selling Better mean for customers and shareholder return?
I have to start with the bad news on this topic.
Are any of us surprised by the current revelations stemming from the Australian Banking Royal Commission?
Possibly not.
Are any of us surprised as to the extent of the unethical and illegal behaviours documented and admissions made by senior management into the systemic corruption of their businesses, especially in the financial planning sector?
Possibly yes.
It is utterly astounding, the admissions being made by senior management of the likes of AMP and CBA. Then comes the audacity of blaming growing shareholder returns as their excuse to exploit and deceive customers. Saying they were unaware …
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What does Selling Better mean to sales team’s retention rates?
What do you make of this statistic?
The average tenure of a sales representative across Europe and USA is currently 15 months.
Ouch!
There are other stats that also show the average staff turnover can be anything around 25-50% per annum, or more in some cases. Some call centres experience turnover rates of over 70% per annum.
These statistics are alarming because the costs associated with poor engagement and high staff turnover are monumental and can manifest in many ways including decline in sales, poor customer service, loss of reputation leading to more loss of customers and employees, and impaired recruitment. If not addressed, …
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Should clients pay for tender and RFP submissions?
In principle, and ideally in practice, yes they should.
Why?
Because there is a lot of time, effort, money and IP that goes into preparing a tender or RFP (request for proposal). This also includes RFIs (request for information).
The companies requesting these tenders, RFPs and RFIs are freely benefiting from the expertise of suppliers if they are requesting highly detailed responses and expecting to pay nothing for this information. With the advent of software these companies can easily compare offerings and strip mine the IP to serve themselves at the suppliers’ expense. Basically they are getting knowledge and expertise for free and …
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The Optimistic Sales Professional
Sales is a demanding profession. Top performers know that to sustain a high level of performance, they need to keep fit and well – both physically and psychologically. And there’s a body of research showing that keeping an optimistic outlook and having the physical energy to meet the demands of working in sales are critical to a salesperson’s effectiveness, success and overall well-being. Something many of us know intuitively, but good to have it validated.
Managing and overcoming setbacks is key to succeeding in anything. In sales we are tested every day. Without a sense of optimism it would make getting …
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