March 24, 2012:
One of our top reps left this week. This was the second company we had worked for together. Really going to miss him being on our team. He had about 10 very good buying accounts with lots of deals on the table.
So this weeks blog is about; What do you do when taking over someone else's account? How do you establish your brand and your style while keeping a customer happy?
Over the last 20 years there have been literally hundreds of sales reps leave the companies I've been with. The algorithm that I've learned over those 20 years is: 33% of the customers stay, 33% of the customers leave and 33% of the customers are up for grabs.
What can we do to maximize that 33% that are up for grabs?
First, identify who the flight risks are. If you're the rep taking over the accounts you need to quickly make appointments with everyone that will meet with you. You're going to have to dig in. I like meeting with the field staff first and on very friendly terms. Happy hour, sporting events, somewhere away from the office. I need intel and these guys generally have it.
Second, ask the "champion" in the account what they liked about their old rep. If the departing salesman and the champion went to grade school together, just hope your former co-worker didn't go to a competitor. What we're looking for here is, if the champion likes our company as much or more than they liked the previous sales person. Also, we need to refine our intelligence gathered from the field staff.
Third, meet with the decision makers and get your brand established. Here it is very important to find a new project or continue any current project with military precision. The execution of this project is, I think, key to keeping this account.
It is also very important that already established relationships with engineers, product managers, executives get revisited during this transition. It's going to take a team effort. Don't go down alone. Make sure that all eyes and hands available touch this account and make them feel important because, THEY ARE. We all know the old axiom, "it is far easier to keep a customer than to find a new one".
With that, I picked up three of my friends accounts. Next week looked like a nice leisurely swim into the end of the quarter but, not now. I'll be on the phone and in the car meeting with my new customers.
Stay persistent my friends.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
Luck be a lady...
March 19, 2012
Do you ever wonder how many times you've been lucky in sales? I know, I know, preparation meets opportunity, blah blah blah....but, sometimes it's just good ol' craphouse luck.
I was assigned a big target customer about 3 weeks ago. I haven't thought two seconds about them since they were assigned. Figured that I'd try to close the quarter out strong and tackle them next month.
Then I got lucky. Prospect called a good integrator partner they've worked with for a while asking for a skill set that they didn't have. The integrator's VP came from one of my current customers and VOILA, I have a new customer. Just like I said, craphouse luck. I will take it, thank the Lord above and go about executing this project with my new customer.
All of that being said I still believe that you make more luck than not. Persistence is the key. Here is one of my favorite quotes from Ray Kroc - The Milkshake Mixer Salesman who made McDonald's a household name:
"Press on. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."
Stay persistent, my friends.
Do you ever wonder how many times you've been lucky in sales? I know, I know, preparation meets opportunity, blah blah blah....but, sometimes it's just good ol' craphouse luck.
I was assigned a big target customer about 3 weeks ago. I haven't thought two seconds about them since they were assigned. Figured that I'd try to close the quarter out strong and tackle them next month.
Then I got lucky. Prospect called a good integrator partner they've worked with for a while asking for a skill set that they didn't have. The integrator's VP came from one of my current customers and VOILA, I have a new customer. Just like I said, craphouse luck. I will take it, thank the Lord above and go about executing this project with my new customer.
All of that being said I still believe that you make more luck than not. Persistence is the key. Here is one of my favorite quotes from Ray Kroc - The Milkshake Mixer Salesman who made McDonald's a household name:
"Press on. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."
Stay persistent, my friends.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Dealing with frustration
Feb 27, 2012
My muse has escaped me for the last few days but what days they've been. Picked up one new customers and two new prospects. That's pretty salty. Again, contacts from the partner community have paved the way. If you're not meeting with your partners, your force multipliers, at least a few times a week, you're missing the boat. Why make it hard on yourself. Spend the time to get to know the folks that you work with outside of your company. You'll be surprised.
How many people are sick of hearing about the "cloud". I know I am. However, I'm starting to understand the "why" of the cloud. Now that I've walked through with a customer moving their crapplications (pure commodity apps) to the cloud and hitting the = button on the calculator with them. I GET IT!!!!! If your customers are having a hard time getting it. Educate yourself on it, get with your partners, and show them the light. They can save a pile of money.
Speaking of educating yourself. How much time to you really spend on the web or in a book learning. I try to at least squeeze in one hour per night. A colleague of mine does something very interesting around this. He tries to spend 4 hours of uninterrupted time just coming up and brain panning new ideas. Incredible. He shared some of his ideas recently and they're awesome. Where he finds 4 hours without a golf course, fishing boat or hunting blind is beyond me. I'll have to try that one for myself.
That's if for tonight.
Stay persistent.
My muse has escaped me for the last few days but what days they've been. Picked up one new customers and two new prospects. That's pretty salty. Again, contacts from the partner community have paved the way. If you're not meeting with your partners, your force multipliers, at least a few times a week, you're missing the boat. Why make it hard on yourself. Spend the time to get to know the folks that you work with outside of your company. You'll be surprised.
How many people are sick of hearing about the "cloud". I know I am. However, I'm starting to understand the "why" of the cloud. Now that I've walked through with a customer moving their crapplications (pure commodity apps) to the cloud and hitting the = button on the calculator with them. I GET IT!!!!! If your customers are having a hard time getting it. Educate yourself on it, get with your partners, and show them the light. They can save a pile of money.
Speaking of educating yourself. How much time to you really spend on the web or in a book learning. I try to at least squeeze in one hour per night. A colleague of mine does something very interesting around this. He tries to spend 4 hours of uninterrupted time just coming up and brain panning new ideas. Incredible. He shared some of his ideas recently and they're awesome. Where he finds 4 hours without a golf course, fishing boat or hunting blind is beyond me. I'll have to try that one for myself.
That's if for tonight.
Stay persistent.
Trust
March 8, 2012
How do you earn trust with your prospects and customers? It's essential to earn some trust before any transaction can be done. Do you rely on your past accomplishments and references? What about demonstrating that you can be trust worthy? How would you go about that?
Lately these questions have been running through my mind. I've sat with brand new prospects that didn't know me from Adam and guys that I had met through associates/associations over the last few weeks and was taking a mental inventory of what I was going to do for each of them to earn some trust.
The largest prospective customer couldn't have cared less what I or my company were bringing to the table. They had everything figured out and didn't need any of our services. Normally I don't take much offense to this but my employer has some of the most accomplished security practitioners on the planet, bar none. So I couldn't immediately earn anything with him but, I fed him a ton of information regarding our 3 or 4 most famous guys and what they're currently working on. Fish on!!!! Something caught his attention. I still haven't earned any personal trust but I've at least earned the right to talk to him some more because of my company's smart guys. Baby step.
Next guy was an IT Director for a very small shop. They don't spend a bunch of money on security but are about ready to. They're going to have to get their act together quickly because of industry regs that their largest customers are pressing down to them as part of vendor management. This one was easy. We just sat and had a long, long, long talk about what was going to be expected of them. I read the letter their customer had sent and then we went to the web for more info and resources. Instant credibility. Once this Director figured out that I was friend not foe and that I knew at least as much, if not more, than he did, we were set. I think we'll have a nice relationship.
What are you doing to earn trust? It's not the old days of seeing a pic of some kid playing baseball and striking up a conversation about baseball. I've always thought that was more IFF (Identify: friend or foe) than earning any trust.
I've recently re-discovered a small technique for gaining trust that I'll share. EARNING IT!!!! Execute on one thing. If it's a project, an assignment, an RFI...Whatever. Execute that one thing perfectly. Nothing will earn you trust faster. Now finding this opportunity can be tough. You'll have to ask lots of questions and listen but something will present itself. Know your product, prepare some questions and if I may briefly channel Jim Rome, "have a take, don't suck".
Sorry, I wish this one were a more profound blog but, it's not. Let's recap real quick.
How do you earn trust with your prospects and customers? It's essential to earn some trust before any transaction can be done. Do you rely on your past accomplishments and references? What about demonstrating that you can be trust worthy? How would you go about that?
Lately these questions have been running through my mind. I've sat with brand new prospects that didn't know me from Adam and guys that I had met through associates/associations over the last few weeks and was taking a mental inventory of what I was going to do for each of them to earn some trust.
The largest prospective customer couldn't have cared less what I or my company were bringing to the table. They had everything figured out and didn't need any of our services. Normally I don't take much offense to this but my employer has some of the most accomplished security practitioners on the planet, bar none. So I couldn't immediately earn anything with him but, I fed him a ton of information regarding our 3 or 4 most famous guys and what they're currently working on. Fish on!!!! Something caught his attention. I still haven't earned any personal trust but I've at least earned the right to talk to him some more because of my company's smart guys. Baby step.
Next guy was an IT Director for a very small shop. They don't spend a bunch of money on security but are about ready to. They're going to have to get their act together quickly because of industry regs that their largest customers are pressing down to them as part of vendor management. This one was easy. We just sat and had a long, long, long talk about what was going to be expected of them. I read the letter their customer had sent and then we went to the web for more info and resources. Instant credibility. Once this Director figured out that I was friend not foe and that I knew at least as much, if not more, than he did, we were set. I think we'll have a nice relationship.
What are you doing to earn trust? It's not the old days of seeing a pic of some kid playing baseball and striking up a conversation about baseball. I've always thought that was more IFF (Identify: friend or foe) than earning any trust.
I've recently re-discovered a small technique for gaining trust that I'll share. EARNING IT!!!! Execute on one thing. If it's a project, an assignment, an RFI...Whatever. Execute that one thing perfectly. Nothing will earn you trust faster. Now finding this opportunity can be tough. You'll have to ask lots of questions and listen but something will present itself. Know your product, prepare some questions and if I may briefly channel Jim Rome, "have a take, don't suck".
Sorry, I wish this one were a more profound blog but, it's not. Let's recap real quick.
- Have a take, don't suck (learn something worth sharing)
- Be an ambassador or conduit of information
- Execute that first thing perfectly
- Stay persistent
That's all for tonight...Let me know what you're running into out there.
Happy hunting.
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