APR 22nd 2009 / Issue 22

IS YOUR RAPPORT A BORE?

Build rapport with prospects and maintain

your credibility

LOOkIng FOR EFFIcIEncIES?Don’t forget your sales process!

InjEcT REALITY InTO YOUR SALES FOREcASTIng

nZ’s e-mag for sales leaders

nOw

BIggER AnD

BETTER EvERY

ThREE

wEEkS!

nZsM / APR 22nd 2009 / 2

APRIL 22nd / Issue 22

ThIS wEEkS MUST READIS YOUR RAPPORT A BORE?How to build rapport with prospects and maintain your credibility.

LOOkIng FOR EFFIcIEncIES? don’t forget your sales process.

nZSM cALEnDAR

TwO MInUTE TOP-UPInjEcT REALITY InTO YOUR SALES FOREcASTIng Brian Berlin on getting back to the basics of forecasting.

FOcUS On SELLIngEvER ThOUghT ABOUT SELLIng InSURAncE?In the second article of a two-part series, insurance expert Tom somerville offers some insights into what it takes to succeed as an insurance sales professional.

SALES TRAInIng DIREcTORY

BOOk REvIEwcUSTOMER FOR LIFEHow to turn a one-time buyer into a lifetime customer.

ThE cLOSE

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nZsM / APR 22nd 2009 / 3

What do you do when a customer can’t pay on

time? do you a) Take them to the cleaners and get

nothing? b) Accept the slow payments or possibility

of a bad debt thereby endangering your own cashflow? c)

Threaten to take them to the cleaners while accepting the slow

payments or possibility of a bad debt… thereby endangering

your own cashflow?

A timely question to be sure, and one that many salespeople and business

owners will be pondering. somebody owes you, which means you can’t pay

somebody, which means they can’t pay somebody, which means they can’t pay

your customer… where exactly does it end? Looking at it the other way round

is hardly any clearer. Your customer’s customer is in financial difficulty, which

puts your customer in financial difficulty, which puts you in financial difficulty.

Suggestions anyone? Now I wasn’t “around” in our last financial crisis and

neither were many of today’s salespeople. safe behind my desk in the secure

walls of a fine chartered accounting firm, the bursting of the “dotcom” bubble

in 2000 and ensuing financial disarray was something that happened to other

people. (needless to say during the Asian Crisis of ’91 I was headbanging

to nirvana and in the sharemarket Crash of ’87 I was still playing with my

Transformers.) But with customers succumbing left, right, and centre, what

can salespeople do when we still have targets to meet, budgets to achieve and

businesses to feed? Just stop selling? Give up?

The answer is of course, “no.” As sales professionals we get paid to achieve

results and as professionals, these are the times when a good sales person is

worth more than their weight in gold. When customer spends are falling, a

professional salesperson ensures that their company is getting more than “their

fair share” and thereby enables the rest of the company to keep their jobs. Just

as tough times present great business opportunities in the broader economic

picture, tough times also present great opportunities for true sales professionals

to shine. The point? Regardless of whether your company can help your

customers through lean times, unless you’re selling people things they don’t need

or can’t afford (finance companies take note), you need to suck it up and get on

with finding more customers!

But that’s enough ranting… More importantly those with attention to detail

will have noticed that nZ sales Manager is now “Bigger and better every three

weeks!” Yes we’ve finally rebelled against the dork who said it needs to be every

fortnight (me) and will now be delivering you a higher quality dose of sales

know-how every three weeks. Happy selling!

Richard

nZ Sales Manager is an Espire Media

publication

ABOuT /

short and sharp, new Zealand

sales Manager is a free

e-magazine delivering thought

provoking and enlightening

articles, and industry news and

information to forward-thinking

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edITOR / Richard Liew

ART dIReCTOR / Jodi Olsson

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nZsM / APR 22nd 2009 / 5

By Jeff Thull

T H I s W e e K ’ s M u s T R e A d

Most of us have been taught to build rapport at

the beginning of any sales meeting, but I doubt

if what we have all been taught actually works

anymore in the complex business situation?

Rapport is relating to people at a human level. It can

be defined as minimising the differences between you

and your client to establish a feeling of connection and

common understanding between two people.

establishing rapport is the vital beginning to building

trusting relationships – one of the foundations of selling.

In the role of sales professionals, building rapport is

important because people are more easily influenced

by people they perceive as behaving in a similar way

to themselves.

Rapport is built through effective communication.

The problem with typical rapport building lessons is that

they teach us to be observant as we meet the client in their

office, and then start a conversation about the photo of the

yacht on the wall, or the photo of the children on the desk,

or the signed rugby ball on the bookcase. That is, you talk

about something the prospect is clearly going to have an

interest in the hope that it will establish some rapport.

What we are talking about here is social rapport. The small

talk to break the ice.

The problem is that unless you are an experienced yachtie,

you are unlikely to be able to offer any opinion of quality

about yachting are you? You will just appear to be trying to

be nice.

IS YOUR RAPPORT A BORE?

The economy is tightening. getting appointments might be tough. If so, the first meeting with a prospect is even more critical. Blow it and you are gone, possibly for ever. get it right, and you’ll be welcomed back.

By Paul newsom

nZsM / APR 22nd 2009 / 6

Most of the people you meet really don’t want any more

friends, so trying to behave like a best mate discussing

things that you know nothing about can turn them off. It

can work down at the pub, but not in the corporate office.

executives can have no time or interest in idle chat, and

the attempt at rapport building in this way is often forced

and uncomfortable.

Look at it this way too. Given that most sales people have

been taught this way, think about the savvy buyer who

sees 5 reps a day, how many mind numbing and boring

conversations does he have about yachting in a day?

exaggerated yes, but you get my point.

Why be so predictable? These techniques are worn out and

it is time to be a professional! Even worse, you could talk

about the weather.

Don’t knock the weather. If it didn’t change once in a

while, nine out of ten people couldn’t start a conversation.

kin hubbard (1868-1930).

This quote has truly stood the test of time! So, to be different,

to be the one out of 10, we need to be prepared to start our

conversation and build rapport in a different way.

There is a more important kind of rapport building, one

that you must develop the skill for. This is professional

rapport. This is about establishing your credibility as

an expert in the industry, and beginning the journey of

building trust. This is what will make the difference in those

early moments of a meeting.

Professional Rapport

Professional rapport is built by talking about the

prospects business – maybe industry issues and changes,

regulatory changes, or news from industry associations.

You demonstrate from the first moment that you are

knowledgeable about their business.

You do this by preparing before the meeting so

that you can have an insightful conversation about

their business on something that will be topical and

important to them.

I was doing some coaching recently with a sales

representative. We made a visit to a client and were taken

to the canteen to get a coffee before the meeting started.

The sales rep knew the client reasonably well, and they

freely engaged in social rapport.

In walked the CeO, who the sales rep didn’t know so well.

Greetings were exchanged, and the CeO said, ‘so what’s

new (in your business)? The CeO wanted to talk, and was

looking for some professional rapport. The sales person was

totally unprepared. Their answer of ‘oh, business as usual

really’ got the response it deserved. The CeO said ‘good, see

you around’, picked up his coffee and walked out.

What a huge missed opportunity to make an impression on

the CEO!

I used to call on a lot of industrial sites where safety was of

prime importance for the business. Many have a sign up by

the gateway stating figures such as the number of days since

the last lost time injury. every employee on the site would

be safety conscious.

I found a good way to build professional rapport was to

have a conversation about safety on the site. Things like the

attitude to safety and where the main risks were. People

would always engage in this conversation, particularly

senior managers. (I was working in a hazardous industry,

but not selling safety equipment). The ice would be broken,

rapport built with credibility, and some trust established.

nZsM / APR 22nd 2009 / 7

1. Always be prepared. Preparation is the key. If you are

prepared, you will be more confident, be credible through

having better quality conversations, and you will build

trust quickly. Always be prepared to begin the conversation

by building professional rapport. If the prospect chooses

social rapport building time, then let this flow – that’s fine.

However your attempt to build social rapport is sometimes

best left for social situations, or meetings away from the

clients premises.

2. Be interested, and never appear to be following a

rapport building process because the manual says you

should. Be natural, genuine and empathetic.

3. starting a rapport building conversation with a senior

manager by making comment about the picture of the

racing yacht hanging on his wall, (or the weather or sport)

is risky ground. Your credibility could be shot within

seconds, particularly when you know nothing about yacht

racing. You are predictable sounding just like every other

sales person.

4. People are different by personality type. The socialisers

will allow rapport building time, the assertive and decisive

personalities won’t. Before you begin building rapport,

observe physiology before any words are spoken. You

will get a good indication of whether you will be getting

straight down to business or not.

5. Keep an eye on time, as you don’t want to eat up your

limited meeting time on rapport building discussion,

particularly of the social kind.

5 qUIck TIPS TO BUILDIng RAPPORT

Paul newsom is Learning & Development Manager for the Rev Sales network. visit www.rsn.co.nz for more info

nZsM / APR 22nd 2009 / 8

Looking for Efficiencies?

By Brett Burgess

Don’t forget your sales process!

every business says they have a sales process,

however many of these businesses do not have

a process so much as an evolved way of doing

things. When asked what is working well and what is not

the answers are vague at best. It is very hard to measure

something that isn’t managed.

A major study in 2006 in the states found that 51% of

businesses do not have a standard operating procedure

(sOP) for their sales teams. From my personal experience

over the past 14 years I would have to say the figure in

new Zealand would have to be much higher.

The consequences for these businesses can be very

expensive.

Problems caused by the lack of sales procedure include –

InCOnsIsTenCY In sALes

Which means an inability to budget accurately

LACK OF sALes sYsTeMs And sTRuCTuRe

Which means reduced closing ratios

POOR CLIenT MAnAGeMenT sYsTeMs

Which means lost clients and opportunities

POOR RePORTInG And MeAsuReMenT sYsTeMs

Which means a lack of accountability

LACK OF A deTAILed sALes PLAn

Which means average results

sALesPeOPLe sPendInG ALL THeIR TIMe seRVICInG

exIsTInG And FAVOuRITe CLIenTs

Which means a lack of growth

LACK OF sTRuCTuRed PROsPeCTInG ACTIVITY

Which means inconsistent growth

While these may not all apply to you, any one of these

could be impacting your profitability.

nZsM / APR 22nd 2009 / 9

Brett Burgess is principal of Sales Impact group, a sales performance company based in hastings. visit www.salesimpactgroup.co.nz for more info

The advantages of developing standard operating

procedures for sales include –

A sYsTeMIsed PROCess FOR seLLInG

Which means – more consistent sales

A sYsTeMIsed PROsPeCTInG sYsTeM

Which means – increased numbers of qualified prospects

through referrals

InCReAsed CLOsInG RATIOs

Which means – most efficient use of time and increased

profitability

ReduCed sALes CYCLe

Which means – most efficient use of time and increased

profitability

sYsTeM FOR MAxIMIsInG exIsTInG ACCOunTs

Which means – reduced costs of sales

A sYsTeMIsed PResenTATIOn sTRuCTuRe

Which means - increased motivation and confidence of

the sales team

The key areas that need to be systemized are –

sales Planning•

Prospecting•

Presentations•

Follow-up and 90 day contact system•

In these so called tougher times businesses are looking

to reduce costs and increase efficiencies. The key area to

increased efficiency is in sales.

By developing a systemized approach to the selling process

you should be able to increase your sales team’s closing

ratio by a minimum of 10%.

What would a 10% increase in turnover mean to your

business?

My point is it is vital to the success of any business to

standardize their sales process. This starts with all of those

involved in sales using the same processes and this is

achieved through a customized sales training programme

which then becomes a standard operating procedure for all

the sales team.

Training is the first step – you learn process through

training then practice and eventually it becomes habit.

Training is the first step – you learn process through training then practice and eventually it becomes habit.

By developing a systemized approach to the selling process you should be able to increase your sales team’s closing ratio by a minimum of 10%.

nZsM / APR 22nd 2009 / 10

FRI 22 MAYTHu 21 MAYWed 20 MAYTue 19 MAY

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FRI 24 APRWed 22 APRIL THu 23 APRIL

sun 24 MAY

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nZsMCALendAR

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The complexity of the enterprise sale has led

many sales leaders to employ a creative

handicapping system for the different stages

of the sales cycle. For instance, a suspect is a 10%

opportunity, a Prospect has a 50% chance of buying

and a Closed Opportunity is rated at 100% (you

think?) The early stages of the sales cycle are based

on imaginary numbers since the sales rep has no way

of knowing the value of a deal at the suspect stage.

A $100,000 deal at the suspect stage now becomes

$10,000. now all the imaginary numbers are being

handicapped and rolled up to a pipeline number.

Let’s say the rolled up number is $1,000,000.

Congratulations, you now have a million-dollar

pipeline. Or do you?

A handicapping system based on percentages and

incorporating imaginary numbers is a recipe for failure.

It creates a false sense of security and impedes the sales

management process. not to mention it can ruin credibility.

The sales cycle stage is meant to represent the progression

to Yes. The typical challenge question is “where are you in

the sales cycle with xYZ Corporation?” The typical answer:

“should come in this quarter.” What percentage should be

assigned to that answer?

nZsM / nOV 12TH 2008 / 11

InjEcT REALITY InTO YOUR SALES FOREcASTIng By Brian Berlin

Brian Berlin is the President & Founder of Straightline Strategies Inc, a US firm that helps companies to develop and deliver customer acquisition strategies and tactics for shortening time-to-revenue. visit his website at www.slssinc.com

distilled to its basics, a sales cycle has only three stages: Yes,

nO and MAYBe.

If you want to know where you really stand in the sales

cycle, try this exercise. Across the top of your war room

whiteboard, write the headings Yes, nO and MAYBe. Then

put your open deals under one of the categories. depending

on where you are in the quarter, most if not all of your deals

will end up under the MAYBe heading.

The percentage handicapping system would actually put

some of your MAYBe’s into the Yes column, simply because

the rep has rated the deal as high probability. This encourages

passivity about the true status of deals and encourages

creative upward communication about the real value of the

pipeline. MAYBe’s kill.

selling is about getting to Yes or nO. sales people hate nO,

so sales cycles always represent the steps to Yes. But nO

doesn’t have to mean, well, nO. nO is better than MAYBe,

but not as friendly as Yes. nO is out of the sales comfort

zone. Yet it does not mean THe end, it simply means nO.

Managing your sales cycle means working towards Yes or

nO. Arriving at nO removes MAYBe and means you will

have to determine if you can get to YES. The more efficient

and scientific you are at getting to one or the other will

determine how real your deals, and subsequently your

pipeline, truly are.

Oversimplification? I doubt it. A deal is, or it isn’t. Try the

exercise. Take the reality check. Get real about your deals

and your pipeline.

T W O M I n u T e T O P - u P

Toyota found a way of cost-cutting without compromising operational excellence. Since 1954 Toyota has been

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Learning from Toyota’s success, here’s a close up look at how continuous improvement in small steps can quickly

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All this is offered with our compliments!

This original presentation is for SME’s with 5 - 100 employees. It’s straight- forward, practical and illustrated. It details

strategies that you can begin to apply immediately to your business.

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Clive will meet you on your turf, for an initial, no-obligation discussion.

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Can your business

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nZsM / APR 22nd 2009 / 13

F O C u s O n s e L L I n G : I n s u R A n C e - P A R T T W O

To me the insurance industry is all about what is

really important but not urgent. This is as true for

our clients as it is for us. Trouble is, with this stuff,

when it becomes urgent it is usually too late. I’ve found

this can trap us in a really frustrating cycle.

Firstly as a broker, most of your time you should be

spent finding great prospects and cultivating genuine

relationships.

secondly you need to learn to ask in an appropriate and

comfortable manner for the sale. It’s really easy to get side

tracked and getting side tracked is our greatest enemy. The

most common time gobblers are report writing, admin,

processing of new business, and meetings that go on for

too long. It is really important to stop and recognize the

value of your time.

ever thought about selling insurance? In the second article of a two-part series, insurance expert

Tom Somerville offers some insights into what it takes to succeed as an insurance sales professional.

Finding great Prospects

To start with, any prospect will be fine. When I started I

would tell prospects that I was in training and ask would

they be happy for me to “practice on them”. Many

subsequently became my clients. My focus was always to

do such a good job that they would gladly introduce me

to their friends. As you improve you need to become more

selective and understand just what kind of clients you

really want, where to find them and how to get to know

them.

This is a great industry because you can mould it serve

you personally. What I mean by this is that you should use

it to grow your own interests. Having passions makes us

all more interesting and will lead us to meet new people

with similar interests. I suggest you get involved, take

leadership, get known and get to know more people.

nZsM / APR 22nd 2009 / 14

Tom Somerville is a co-founder and director of Brokers Independent group. visit his website at www.biggroup.co.nz.

If you are interested in golf join a club. If you don’t have

any interests then take some up, it’s probably about time.

Build fun into your week and create that work life balance

everyone talks about. For me this means fishing on a Friday

afternoon any chance I get. doing business with those

whom we know and like is the name of the game. Action

and activity are at the heart of this.

Cultivating relationships

This is a learned skill and some are more natural at it

than others. I look for people who are already busy and

involved in their community because at the heart of this,

these people have a genuine interest in others. They are a

valuable catalyst for connecting people.

The skill of asking

I was told that, “If you don’t ask, the answer is always

‘No!’” This statement made a lot of sense to me. Often

people are afraid of being pushy and so they should be

because no one likes to be “sold to”. By the same token we

need to constantly have the courage to ask. Knowing how

and when to ask is essential.

I say courage because every time we ask we put ourselves

at risk. The risk of being rejected and as a result being hurt.

If you ever feel uncomfortable when asking for a sale, it’s

likely you are coming from the wrong point of view and

asking in the wrong manner.

The key is three fold.

Firstly understand why you

are asking for a commitment

from your client. When I meet

them for the first time, I honestly believe that 80% of

people have inadequate or inappropriate insurance. My

new clients are usually in agreement with this, otherwise

why would they be doing business with me? As a result

anyone they introduce me to is likely to be thankful for an

introduction. You need to be enthusiastically on a personal

mission. Believe me, people know if you are insincere,

that uncomfortable feeling you will get is because you are

selling instead of serving them.

secondly set expectations of what you are going to be

asking for. If they know they will need to make a phone

call as part of your process and agree that would be

acceptable, when the time comes for you to ask it isn’t a

surprise.

Thirdly understand you should come from a position of

non attachment. In ancient Japan, samurai Warriors would

enter battle with no fear of death and preparing their minds

like this was the essence of their success.

When asking for that commitment, position your request

as a pure invitation. From this position you give people

complete freedom to choose for themselves. I think of

it like asking a good friend to come to the movies with

me, whether they say yes or no, no harm is done to our

friendship.

The last thought I’d leave you with is about friends.

surround yourself with the kind of people you want to

become, if you want to be the best, work with the best. Be

your own best friend and like a friend be kind to yourself,

after all you deserve it.

nZsM / APR 22nd 2009 / 15

nZsM / APR 22nd 2009 / 16

R e s O u R C e C O R n e R

drawing on his incredible success in transforming

his dallas Cadillac dealership into the second

largest in America, Carl sewell revealed the

secret of getting customers to return again and again

in the original “Customers for Life. A lively, down-to-

earth narrative, it set the standard for customer service

excellence and became a perennial bestseller. Building on

that solid foundation, this expanded edition features five

completely new chapters, as well as significant additions

to the original material, based on the lessons sewell has

learned over the last ten years.

sewell focuses on the expectations and demands of

contemporary consumers and employees, showing

that businesses can remain committed to quality

service in the fast-paced new millennium by sticking

to his time-proven approach: Figure out what

customers want and make sure they get it.

His “Ten Commandants”

provide the essential

guidelines, including:

- underpromise,

overdeliver: never

disappoint your

customers by charging

them more than they

planned. Always beat

your estimate or throw in an

extra service free of charge

- no complaints? something’s wrong: If you never

ask your customers what else they want, how are you

going to give it to them?

- Measure everything:

Telling your employees to

do their best won’t work if

you don’t know how they

can improve.

cUSTOMERS FOR LIFE By Carl sewell and Paul Brown

Published by Broadway Books

$32.34 from

“ “

To me, the function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one’s potential

Bruce Lee

By Ken Blanchard Published by HarperCollins Business