Ask The B2B Sales Coach
As sales professionals, we learn as much from each other as we do from our own experiences. We should never be afraid to ask!
Do you have a question for the B2B Sales Coach? Send an email to askthecoach@b2bsalesconnections.com
"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing." - Albert Einstein
B2B Sales Coach - Questions & Answers
- I seem to be using email more and more these days. Are there any email etiquette rules that I should keep in mind when writing my emails? - Melanie, Vancouver, BC
Dear Melanie: Email is becoming a very important business correspondence tool, however few people use it to communicate effectively. Here are some tips:
- Keep your email short and to the point. Always think to yourself, what is the purpose of this email? Know what you want and what you are asking for, and then make a short and specific request for it.
- If you are responding to an email, always answer every question that was asked. Just before you hit send, re-read the original email and make sure.
- Don’t make every email “high priority”. Remember the old story about the child who cried wolf? If you make every email urgent, none of them will be treated as such.
- Keep it on a business level. Smiley faces and shortcuts like “lol” are not generally understood, nor are they considered professional. Spelling and grammar also count. Using all capital letters is considered rude.
- Don’t copy someone in on the email unless it is absolutely necessary. This just clutters everyone’s inbox and can be confusing for the copied person because they may not be sure if they are supposed to respond or not.
For more excellent tips on email etiquette, check out www.emailreplies.com
Good luck and good selling!
- The B2B Sales Coach
- I am revamping my resume so that I can advance my sales career using your job board. Do you have any suggestions that would help? - Farhan, Toronto, ON
Dear Farhan: The purpose of your resume is to move you to the next step in the potential employer’s hiring process. I have seen hundreds, maybe even thousands of B2B sales resumes, the vast majority of which did nothing to help the applicants obtain employment. In fact, in most cases, it did the exact opposite! Here are some tips:
- Make sure you submit your resume in a commonly used file format like Word, PDF or text format
- No matter what, the length of your resume must not exceed two pages.
- Your contact information, including name, address, phone and email, must be front and center.
- The main headings of your resume should be: Employment History, Education, Other Skills and Activities, and you should lead with your strongest first. The headers, fonts and formats should be scannable.
- Your resume must be accomplishment based. Anyone can say that they are an “overachiever” or a “sales superstar”. However, if you do not quantify your successes and list your accomplishments, you are actually raising hiring red flags as opposed to lowering them.
For more information and a resume example, check out the article “How To Write A B2B Sales Resume” at www.b2bsalesconnections.com/resource_centre.php
Good luck and good selling!
- The B2B Sales Coach
- My New Year’s resolution is to become more productive as a sales representative. Do you have any ideas that would help? - Joel, Ottawa, ON
Dear Doug: I cannot think of a better resolution than to free up more time to sell! Studies show that sales people only spend about 25 percent of their time selling. That is actually only ten hours of selling time a week, or only 500 hours per year. If you have a $1 million quota, your time is worth $2,000 per hour!
One of the best ways to become more productive is to automate routine tasks. Proposal templates, automatic price calculators and automated sales reports are just a few ways to do this. Virtually anything you do over and over again can be automated, freeing your time to spend on more profitable activities.
You should also delegate non-selling tasks like administration or service issues. If you handle them yourself, before you know it, the whole day is gone, and you haven’t even picked up the phone! As a sales professional, you are the quarterback of the team, not the whole team.
Lastly, work your territory geographically by booking your appointments in the same geographical area every day. Time spent traveling in your car is unproductive, so minimize it!
Remember, when you become more productive, every hour freed for selling earns you $2000! Can you think of a better investment? I can’t!
Good luck and good selling!
- The B2B Sales Coach
- If you are new to cold calling how do you know when you are ready to pick up the phone? - Doug, Redding, CA
Dear Doug: The short answer to your question is when you have properly planned your prospecting approach and you have a phone number! More specifically you should have prepared the following:
- An opening statement that allows you to determine the right person you should be speaking with.
- A headline statement that generates interest and tells the prospect what is in it for him to talk to you.
- Qualifying questions to determine if you truly have a prospect for your product, and if so, when are they most likely to buy it.
- A closing statement that obtains agreement from the prospect for you both to move to the next step of the sales process, and when that takes place.
You don't wait for all the traffic lights to be green before you back the car out of the driveway in the morning. If you run into a red light, you stop, and then start moving again when the light turns green. It's the same thing with prospecting. If you run into a red light with an unsuccessful call, stop, learn from your mistakes, and then make the next one. In other words, when in doubt if you are ready or not, pick up the phone. Good luck and good selling!
- The B2B Sales Coach
- Why don’t customers and prospects ever return voice mails? - Jim, Ottawa, ON
Dear Jim: Voice mail is a fact of life in our profession. Most sales people, however, don’t know how to properly leave a voice mail message. Below are some quick tips to improve your call back ratio:
- If you speak so fast that the recipient must listen to the message more than once to understand it, they will delete it before they will listen to it again. When you are leaving your phone number, write it down at the same time. This will ensure you are speaking slowly enough so the person will be able to write it down too.
- Cell phones can cut out. Sometimes all your recipient can hear is, “613-???-?295″ so they have no way of calling you back if they wanted to. Always say your phone number twice, once close to the start of the message, and again at the end.
- Your client may not have your number handy when they retrieve your message. No matter how well you know the person, always leave your phone number.
- Don’t always leave the same voice mail messages for prospects. Script a series of messages, each with a different benefit statement. With persistence, sooner or later one benefit message will induce the prospect to return your call.
- Tired of voice mail tag? Try leaving a detailed message on your first call. That way, if you are not available when your contact calls back, at least they can leave you the answer to your question on your voice mail.
Good luck and good selling!
- The B2B Sales Coach
- I want to purchase an off the shelf CRM software program for my home office. What should I look for when evaluating my options? - Carol, St. John’s, NL
Dear Carol: The first year I purchased CRM software, my individual sales increased 20%, so I think your decision to make this purchase will prove to be a wise one.
While choosing CRM software is largely a function of preference and budget, whatever program you choose should have the following abilities:
- The ability to add user-defined fields. This allows you to customize the program to ensure that you are tracking your specific target market characteristics.
- The ability to customize drop down lists within these user defined fields so that you could just choose the data being entered as opposed to having to type it in for each record. Not only is this a huge time saver, but it also ensures you enter the data the same way each time, making it easier to search your database later.
- The ability to make search the database across multiple fields. This can be critical to ensure that you are pinpointing your sales efforts in the right place at the right time.
- The ability to make certain fields mandatory for data entry. This allows you to decide what critical information must be entered into the database in order for it to be accepted. For example, I highly recommend “Next Sales Contact Date” be a mandatory field, otherwise you will be just creating a glorified phone book!
Good luck and good selling!
- The B2B Sales Coach
- A friend suggested I consider a career in sales. How do I know if I am suited for it? - Sam, Saskatoon, SK
Dear Sam: A career in sales can be very rewarding. Not only are good sales professionals always in demand in the marketplace regardless of economic conditions, they also earn well above average for Canadians according to Human Resources & Development Canada. Sales people are also more upwardly mobile, with 85% of today’s CEO’s, Presidents and senior executives coming from a background in sales.
It’s not difficult to find out if a sales career is right for you. A sales aptitude survey will tell you if you have the right personality and skills to be successful. Some can even suggest what type of selling would suit you best. Once you discover that you have the skills, then it’s just a matter of the right training and you’re on your way.
Is a sales career right for you? I think it is certainly worth investigating. Mind you, after 20 plus years in sales, some might say I am biased! - The B2B Sales Coach
- As a sales representative, how should I keep myself productive in the summer time? - Richard, Montreal, QC
Dear Richard: No matter how much we wish it wasn’t so, business slows down during vacation season. If a prospect isn’t on holidays, chances are he is covering for someone who is. Even still, there are plenty of productive activities sales reps can do to keep busy.
Summer is an excellent time to build your prospect list and sales funnel. Make more prospecting telephone calls and knock on more doors. If the decision maker is on holidays now, at least you now have that valuable contact name to call in the fall.
Visit your current customers. Even if your contacts are away, always leave a business card so that they know you were there. Although you may not meet with them, just the fact that you took the time to stop by can increase customer loyalty. If you do manage to see your contact, why not ask for a reference letter and a list of referrals while you are there. Again, these are great prospects to call in the fall.
The summer is also one of the best times to invest in you. Perhaps you could brush up on your product knowledge or you could take a sales course to improve your skills. Perhaps you should take some time off too. A week of vacation can recharge your batteries and make you more productive in the long run.
Lastly, you need to ensure that you know the timing of the sale for each company on your hot prospect list. Ask your prospects if they are planning any vacation time this summer, and if so, ask when. You can still sell during the summer, you just need to make sure that you have enough hot prospects on the go that when one is going on vacation, another one that you can sell to is returning. Good selling! - The B2B Sales Coach
- My competition is offering free trials to prospects before they buy. Should I as well? - Ian, Edmonton, AB
Dear Ian: In some industries, it is common for prospects to request free, on site trials of the product before they make their purchasing decision. Whenever possible, regardless if it is commonplace in your industry, do not agree to these trials. The dealership would certainly not allow you to drive a car for a month before buying it, nor would a real estate agent allow you to live in the house before you bought it.
Sometimes, prospects use these free trials as a way of getting free use of a machine for an extended period of time, without ever having the intention of actually purchasing. If there are six possible suppliers and each offers one month free trial, the prospect just got a free machine for half a year! Even if this is not the case, the prospect should be able to make a decision without an extended on site trial.
A better strategy for these situations is a limited time conditional order. Conditional orders are a very effective way to ensure that you are working with a serious buyer. “Yes, Mr. Prospect, you can try this equipment before you purchase. I will post date my sales contract for one week. After that time, if the product has done what we promise it to do, we will exercise it. If not, we will tear it up. Does that sound fair?”
If the customer says no to this, chances are he was not ready to buy at the end of the free trial demonstration anyway. However, if the sales process has been followed, including a thorough fact find with a properly fit solution, chances are that the customer will say yes. Then your trial is not merely an on site demonstration for a prospect, it is actually operator training for a customer! - The B2B Sales Coach
- My order processing department says my paperwork is a mess. Any suggestions? - Ray, Oshawa, ON
Dear Ray: It is a common misconception that sales people are not good at sales order paperwork. In fact, the top sales producers, those that are making the highest incomes, are often also those that produce the cleanest paperwork. Why? They know that sloppy paperwork wastes time, is embarrassing in front of customers, and delays commission payments. Therefore, they simply choose to do it right the first time.
Whenever possible, have all the necessary paperwork to complete your sale filled out before you arrive at the customer’s office. This is much less stressful than trying to complete everything when t he prospect is watching you.
Take the time and double check everything before hand. If you are not sure what you have done is correct, ask your order processing department before you visit the customer. Perhaps they could give you samples of properly completed paperwork for you to have on file when you need to reference it. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!
Always carry in your briefcase at least two blank copies s of every piece of paper a customer may have to sign. If you make a mistake while in front of the customer, at least you have a back up that you can use without having to run back to the office.
The next time you are running out the door thinking that you do not have enough time to properly prepare for your closing meeting, stop and think again. If you don’t have time to do it right the first time, when you going to find time to do it right the second time? - The B2B Sales Coach
- When is it acceptable in sales to use abbreviations and acronyms? - Jack, Vancouver, BC
Dear Jack: An acronym is a word formed from the initial letters of the several words in the name. For example RRSP is an acronym for Registered Retirement Savings Plan.
The use of abbreviations, acronyms and jargon are not as acceptable as most sales people think. The reason is that not all people assign the same meaning to the abbreviation itself. We all have different experiences and frames of reference so many of us assign different meanings to the same acronyms.
For example copier reps often use the term ADF when referring to document feeders. The first time I heard this however, I thought they were talking about a mutual fund. When another rep abbreviated his company name, I thought he was talking about what many people put with jelly on their sandwiches!
If it is a generally understood abbreviation, then it is acceptable. GST and RRSP are very common terms in Canada, however using those same terms with someone from the US is not a good idea as they would not know what you are talking about.
As a general rule, if the abbreviation is a company or industry specific term, then don't use it. If you didn't know its meaning before joining your industry, chances are your prospect won't either.
If you insist on using abbreviations, always define it the first time you use it. For example, “I work with the Sales Professionals of Ottawa or SPO for short.”
Bottom line, when in doubt, don't use the abbreviation! - The B2B Sales Coach
- My sales manager tells me I need to do more prospecting calls but the days don’t seem long enough. I am already working long hours each day so I don’t know where I can find the time? - Linda, Toronto, ON
Dear Linda: To survive in sales, finding the time to prospect is not optional! The best way to do this is to arrive at the office Monday morning with your week already booked.
Use a calendar which shows a whole week on one page. Seeing the whole week at a glance is critical. If your PDA can’t do this, use a paper calendar instead.
Go to next week’s schedule and schedule your booked appointments, including meetings with customers, sales meetings and personal appointments. When doing this, also write in the geographic location of each appointment using the postal code.
Book in time for office duties next. This should be in non peak selling hours like either first thing in the morning or after 4 in the afternoon. Preparing quotes, answering emails, and completing sales paperwork should be completed in this scheduled time, but only in this scheduled time.
Lastly, book at least one hour per day for prospecting. Remember, this is a scheduled appointment just like a meeting with a prospect. You wouldn’t cancel on a customer, so don’t cancel on yourself and your future sales success.
Now prospect this week to fill the holes in next week. Book your new appointments in the same geographical locations as the existing ones so you minimize travel time.
With some proper planning and time management techniques, you can fit more into your day. The key is that you need to work this week to book next week! - The B2B Sales Coach
- Tax time is coming and I have this shoe box full of receipts. I have no idea what my deductions are and I don’t know how much I should put into my RRSP. Any ideas as to how I should organize to make things easier? - Brad, Mississauga, ON
Dear Brad: Unfortunately this year, you have a big sorting job ahead of you. For next year, however, I would recommend throwing the shoe box away and replacing it with a filing system for your deductible expenses.
I am by no means an accountant, but here is a filing system that was recommended to me to organize receipts for sales representatives. Create a file folder for each of these categories: Automobile (gas, parking, washes, insurance etc.), Charitable Donations, Home Improvements, Internet Service Charges, Meals, Medical, Office Supplies, Other, Postage, Telephone/Cellular and Utilities.
Put your receipts in the appropriate file at the end of each day. When it comes time to submit your taxes, all the sorting is done! You just have to total up the receipts.
If you need to keep a mileage log, and most of us do, simply enter your starting and ending odometer reading in your day timer or PDA each day. At the end of each week, month, or year, simply subtract the opening and closing mileage readings.
Wondering how much you need to contribute to your RRSP this year to minimize your tax bill? One of the best Canadian tax calculators that I have found is available on line at www.taxtips.ca/calculators/taxcalculator.htm. Regardless of what province you live in, this tool will help.
Now prospect this week to fill the holes in next week. Book your new appointments in the same geographical locations as the existing ones so you minimize travel time.
Brad, I hope this helps. When in doubt, seek the advise of a good accountant! - The B2B Sales Coach
- When I am prospecting, I always hear “I am happy with my current supplier.” I can’t sell when I can’t even get in the door. How do you handle this objection? - Peter, Halifax, NS
Dear Peter: Of course you hear this objection over and over! Most prospects are happy with their current supplier. Otherwise, they would have called you before you called them! If by some chance the prospect was unhappy enough that he picked up the phone to call you, they would have also called your competitors as well.
Dig deeper into the prospect’s relationship with his current supplier. Ask how long they have been dealing with their supplier and why they changed to them in the first place. Ask what it is specifically that makes them happy with their current supplier.
You must also plan ahead by knowing what competitive advantages you have over that supplier. You can then develop questions which differentiate yourself. For example: “Mr. Prospect, some users of your brand of widgets have told us that they experienced an issue with _____. Have you ever experienced this problem? How did that affect your operation? Would it help if we solved that problem?”
By being prepared with questions for at least three competitive advantages for each particular supplier, you should create enough need in the prospect’s eyes so that you can get the appointment. If not, perhaps they were not the competitive advantages that you thought they were!
Don’t be surprised by this objection. Expect it and plan for it! Good Selling! - The B2B Sales Coach
- I am having trouble booking appointments to present my recommendations to my prospects. Everything goes well in my needs analysis meetings, but when it comes time sit down and present my solutions, the prospect won’t return my calls. Help! - Karen, Calgary , AB
Dear Karen: One of the biggest mistakes made by sales representatives is that they finish a needs analysis meeting or fact find with a statement like, “Thank you for your time, Mr. Prospect. I’ll get back to you when my proposal is ready.” Weeks of voice mail tag can go by before the next meeting, and by then all of the momentum created has long since been forgotten.
A better way to end your fact find is with a statement like “Thank you for the information today, Mr. Prospect. Based on our conversation, I believe that the use of our widgets can help you to acquire new customers and increase revenues. I would like to go back to my office, put my ideas on paper, and then return next week to discuss them with you. Are you available Tuesday at 10:00, or do you prefer Wednesday at 2:00?”
A fact find interview is only considered a success if you and the prospect confirm that the sales process should continue to the next step and when that will take place.
Eliminate voice mail. Always book the next appointment. Good selling! - The B2B Sales Coach
- I have completed my sales process, however the customers still are not buying, even when I am saving them money! Any ideas that can help me close these sales? - John, Toronto, ON
Dear John: Closing a sale should be a logical conclusion to your selling process. However if at the end of the process your customers do not see value in your solution, they will not buy, no matter what the price!
A closing question that works well is “Mr. Customer, in your opinion, is this proposal the right solution for your organization today?” If your prospect says yes, great! The customer sees the value of your recommendation. Pull out the contracts!
However, if your prospect says no, or hums and haws, he is not yet convinced of the value of your solution. You may need to resell the benefits of your solution, or you may need to rework the solution itself. The prospect may also need to see further proof that you can do what you say you can do.
Sometimes a prospect will disguise his no as something like “I don’t have the budget.” Just take the objection out of the equation. “Assuming you had the budget, Mr. Customer, in your opinion do you feel that this is the right solution for your organization?” If you still do not get a yes, you have not revealed the true objection.
Go back over the prospects in your sales funnel and ask the “Is this the right solution for your organization today?” question. If you don’t get an immediate yes, then perhaps you may need to go back to resell the value. Good Selling! - The B2B Sales Coach
Who Is the B2B Sales Coach
Susan A. Enns is managing partner of B2B Sales Connections Inc. She has a proven track record of success, with over 20 years of direct sales, management and executive level business to business experience. As the B2B Sales Coach, she writes and edits the company’s newsletter, AIM HIGHER.
Before co-founding B2B Sales Connections, Susan gained marketing, sales and general management experience in the business technology and office equipment industries. She also has experience in the group insurance industry, as well as owning and operating her own businesses.
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