A Sales Compass – A Blog by B2B Sales Connections

I have been trying to track down a billing issue with a company for over a month.  After sending yet another follow up email to my account manager today, I finally received a response.  It started out by saying “So-and-So is no longer with our company…”  The first thing that crossed my mind was how long has So-and-So been gone, and more importantly, how long have emails from his customers been going unanswered.

This reminded me of a time when I ran into an ex-colleague who said, “I was really getting upset with you.  I was trying to solve a customer’s admin problem.  I left you voice mail messages for weeks before someone happened to mention that you were no longer with the company.”

Situations like these are very frustrating to both your internal and external customers.  Not only can you lose them forever, the frustrating part of it is that their loss was completely preventable! 

When an employee leaves your company, here are 5 tasks that every manager should do immediately.  When I say immediately, I do not mean within the week, I mean the same hour, or at the very least, the same day.

1. Set an auto-responder on the ex-employee’s email address stating that the employee is no longer with the company and who the customer should contact now.  Just deleting the email address all together will only create an automated undeliverable email message and create further frustration.
2. Change the ex-employee’s voice mail message stating the same as the automated email message.  Also, ensure that you change both the office phone voice mail, as well as the message on the company provided cell phone.
3. Send an internal email memo to all employees in your company stating that the employee is no longer with the company and who will be handling his accounts until a replacement is found.
4. Change all the office locks and security codes that the employee had access to.
5. Change all passwords to all computer programs that the employee had access to.

It’s inevitable.  One day a sales representative will leave your company for good.  Be it by his choice or yours, you have to be prepared and act immediately to smooth the transition.  If you don’t, your own lack of action could cause your company irreparable damage.

Aim Higher!

For a free copy of our white paper How To Recruit The Best Sales Professionals, visit our Download Centre at www.b2bsalesconnections.com/download_centre.php.

Do you need an expert sales management coach who is affordable and accessible?  For less than an average dinner out, you can consult with us every day and receive the personal direction you need.  For more information, check out www.b2bsalesconnections.com/coaching_services.php.

Susan A. Enns, B2B Sales Connections

www.b2bsalesconnections.com, www.linkedin.com/in/susanenns, or www.twitter.com/susanenns

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Do you always have to wait for a few stragglers to show up before you can start your sales meetings? The key to fixing this problem is to start your meetings on time, every time, no matter what. Nothing rewards tardy behavior more than making those who showed up on time wait for those who are late. When the meeting start time rolls around, just shut the door and start the meeting. You will only have to do this once or twice before your entire team will be in the board room 5 minutes early waiting for you to start the meeting.

Aim Higher!

If you would like some more ideas as to how to make your sales meetings more interesting and productive, register for our free webinar Sales Meeting Ideas at www.b2bsalesconnections.com/webinars.php.  Webinar doesn’t fit your schedule?  View the presentation video in our Download Centre at www.b2bsalesconnections.com/download_centre.php. 

Do you need an expert sales management coach who is affordable and accessible?  For less than an average dinner out, you can consult with us every day and receive the personal direction you need.  For more information, check out www.b2bsalesconnections.com/coaching_services.php.

Susan A. Enns, B2B Sales Connections

www.b2bsalesconnections.com, www.linkedin.com/in/susanenns, or www.twitter.com/susanenns

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Experience has shown no matter where you set your minimum selling price, a sales representative sooner or later will ask you to lower it.  The question is not whether you will be asked permission to discount; the question is when should you say yes.

One of the best examples of this is highlighted in an excellent article “Making Sales and Losing Money” by Brian Jeffrey.  The article highlights a case where a sales rep, after obtaining his largest order to date, actually loses money on the sale.  Not only does Brian discuss how this could easily happen, he also discusses excellent ideas on how you can prevent it from happening to you.  You can read the article at http://ow.ly/27HXi.

Your company’s fixed costs must be paid whether you make the sale or not.  Therefore, any time a discounted selling price contributes at least one dollar towards paying your fixed costs, it is considered profitable.  As long as all of your variable costs are covered, including the cost of the goods sold plus any variable sales commissions, the discounted price can be accepted.

The Minimum Selling Price Calculation Worksheet available for sale in our eStore will automatically calculate a product’s minimum selling price to contribute at least one dollar towards the payment of fixed costs, given the cost of goods sold and the commissions to be paid on the sale. 

As most managers would agree that making a sale for only a dollar is hardly worth the effort, the spreadsheet also shows how much gross profit is being made if you sell the product at a certain price.

Aim Higher!

Need ideas for your sales meetings?   Join our free webinar where we discuss quick and easy ways to make your sales meetings more interesting and productive.  To register, visit www.b2bsalesconnections.com/webinars.php.

Webinar does fit your schedule?  View the presentation video in our Download Centre at www.b2bsalesconnections.com/download_centre.php.  While you are there, be sure to download a free copy of our white paper “Creating Your Unique Value Proposition”

Susan A. Enns, B2B Sales Connections

www.b2bsalesconnections.com, www.linkedin.com/in/susanenns, or www.twitter.com/susanenns

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Does your team really need to memorize your product’s technical specs?  It is far better for them to know how the spec relates to a customer benefit than the spec itself.  For example, stating that a machine operates at 60 cycles per minute is just useless trivia unless the customer has identified the need and will benefit from faster cycle speeds. 

As a general rule, if it’s listed on the back of a brochure, they don’t need to memorize it!

Aim Higher!

If you would like some ideas as to how to make your sales meetings more interesting and productive, register for our free webinar Sales Meeting Ideas at www.b2bsalesconnections.com/webinars.php.

For a copy of our free white paper “How To Recruit The Best Sales Professionals” visit our Download Centre at www.b2bsalesconnections.com/download_centre.php.

Susan A. Enns, B2B Sales Connections

www.b2bsalesconnections.com, www.linkedin.com/in/susanenns, or www.twitter.com/susanenns

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Joint field work is where you and your representative make sales calls together.  The sales representatives benefit and learn from your knowledge and experience, yet they are still are not working without a net, so to speak.

The problem most sales managers have when doing joint field work is they end up taking over the call completely.  Some even forget the sales person is in the room!  This does nothing to train or develop the sales representative.  The real purpose of doing joint field work today is so your sales representative won’t need you on sales calls in the future.

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Do you require your sales reps to submit sales reports?  Do they like doing it?  Probably not. 

That’s because they probably think your sales reports are nothing more than a policing action.  In reality, you want them to think of sales reports as a GPS navigation system to help them get to where they want to go.  To do this, you actually have to use the sales reports. 

Don’t just file them away without looking at them.  Write some comments on the report and return it to the rep.  Sometimes a comment like “Wow, you really worked hard last week.  It’s just a matter of time until it pays off!” can go along way in terms of keeping members of your team motivated.  Remember, your team has to know that submitting sales reports is not just as an exercise in futility.

Aim Higher!

For a free copy of our white paper “How To Recruit The Best Sales Professionals“, visit our Download Centre at www.b2bsalesconnections.com/download_centre.php.

Looking for ideas for your sales meetings?  Join us for our free webinar!  Check out www.b2bsalesconnections.com/webinars.php for more details.

Susan A. Enns, B2B Sales Connections
www.b2bsalesconnections.com, www.linkedin.com/in/susanenns, or www.twitter.com/SusanEnns

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It used to be that face to face training was the only way to get things done.  Now, the best way that saves time, money, travel, and the planet is to meet over the web!  As such, B2B Sales Connections is pleased to now offer free webinars for sales and sales management.

Is attending a webinar easy? Absolutely! If you can browse to a webpage, you can join a webinar.  All you do is click on the link.  It’s really just that simple!

For a complete list of our upcoming webinars, check us out at www.b2bsalesconnections.com/webinars.php.  

Aim Higher!

Susan A. Enns, B2B Sales Connections

www.b2bsalesconnections.com, www.linkedin.com/in/susanenns, or www.twitter.com/SusanEnns

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Is sales training really necessary?  To answer that question, you need to look at the facts.  (more…)

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Do you need ideas for discussion topics for your sales meetings?  Create a file folder labeled “Sales Meeting Ideas” and keep it handy.  As discussion topics pop up during the week, just place a reminder note into the file.  On the day before the meeting when you are preparing your agenda, review your file and choose a theme for your next meeting. 

For example, if a new order process procedure is resulting in a number of questions from the sales people, you could write a note for your file to remind you to arrange for someone from the Order Processing Department to speak at your meeting.  Or if you read a newsletter with a great sales tip, put it in your folder so that you share it with your team.

As a general rule of thumb, if you receive the same question from two different sales people in a short period of time, it is an excellent topic for a sales meeting.  It’s not that the others on your team don’t want to ask the same question, they just haven’t gotten around to it yet.  Answer a question individually, and you will have to answer it several times, but answer it in a sales meeting, and you answer it only once.

Aim Higher!

Need more sales meeting ideas?   Join our free webinar where we discuss quick and easy ways to make your sales meetings more interesting and productive.  For more details, visit www.b2bsalesconnections.com/webinars.php.

For some sales tips that you can use in your sales meetings, check out our free sales resources at www.b2bsalesconnections.com/sales_resource.php.

Susan A. Enns, B2B Sales Connections
www.b2bsalesconnections.com, www.linkedin.com/in/susanenns, or www.twitter.com/SusanEnns

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