National Research Project Asks Sales Reps “What do you want/need from your Sales Manager?”

EcSELL Institute seeking participants

The EcSELL Institute is conducting a national research project that looks at sales management through the eyes of a sales rep. It is asking sales reps, from across the United States and Canada, what they want and need from their Sales Managers. The research project is trying to define a “wish list” that Sales Managers can use to guide their own management behavior. The survey is open to any person who sells a product or service to a consumer (B2C) or a business (B2B). Anyone who participates in the research project will receive a complimentary copy of the final published report.

The research study takes 3 minutes to complete. Sales reps can participate by visiting to this survey page:

EcSELL Sales Rep Survey

EcSELL Institute is also making available, to qualified companies, the opportunity to sort the results by company. This will allow sales departments the opportunity to see specifically what the sales team needs and wants from sales management. To learn more, contact Bill Eckstrom, founder and president of the EcSELL Institute at 402-805-4238.

ABOUT EcSELL INSTITUTE
EcSELL Institute is a membership community that provides professional development resources, including best practice information, continuing education, fact?based research, and peer networking specific to sales management. www.ecsellinstitute.com

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Okay, but then why are my sales statistics still down

Unfortunately, the sales world has yet to catch up with the trajectory of the general economy. For most of us, sales levels are down, profit margins are lower, and sales cycles are longer than ever. And in many cases, sales people put months of work into a big deal only to see it end in non-decision. This is because while the economy may be improving, the general attitude that most prospects take towards purchasing is still very conservative.

The good news is that there are still ways to make sure that your sales team is able to take part in the economic recovery.

But you are going to have to adjust your thinking to make this happen. The CEO of GE, Jeff Immelt, said something last year that I think will help bring this into perspective. He’d noticed that business people seemed to be sitting around waiting for things to “get back to normal,” that is, for the economy to start working the way that it used to. But things aren’t going back, at least not any time soon, because “normal” is already here! We are now in “The New Normal” as Immelt calls it, the new normal state of affairs. And in this “new normal,” sales people are required to have a much higher level of expertise, they will have to find ways to communicate with people higher up in their prospects’ organizations than before, and they will have to make better use of their existing customer base. Essentially, you need to stop waiting for “normal” to come back, because it’s already here. Only now, it’s “the new normal.”

But how can sales people achieve success in the new normal?

Well, the first thing to be done is what we call an “installed base audit,” going back to your successful deals and finding out just what made them work. Only now that we are in the new normal, anything that you did before the recession started is rendered irrelevant. You need to go back to the few deals that you’ve made since the recession began and find out just what went right.

Go talk to the customers who have bought from you recently and ask them why they chose to buy. What essential executive level problems did your product solve for them? Their cash flow must have been tight just like everyone else’s, but for some reason they felt that it was worth it to purchase from you anyway. But why? In most cases, your customers will be more than happy to tell you. But make sure to actually speak to the person who was the final decision maker in the deal.

Now, that you know what types of new-normal-era problems your product solves, you can begin to look for further prospects who share these same issues.

The second thing that you can do to get your piece of the economic recovery pie is to change the way you communicate value to your prospects. This means basing your ROI predictions not on the value that your solution can produce, but the value that your solution can product over and above any other solution that your prospect might consider investing in. In the new normal, discretionary funds are much lower than they used to be. This means that you are no longer simply vying for the same funds as your direct competitors, but also against companies selling completely unrelated solutions. For example, if you sell a particular software solution, you might be competing for the same funds as someone selling a new line of printers to your prospect, even though these are two completely unrelated solutions. Your prospect is going to buy the solution that has the highest short term, low risk return.

There are a couple of very important implications of this trend. First, you can no longer assume that if your product is the best of its class this guarantees a sale. Second, this means that you need to be more aggressive about getting to the ultimate decision maker in your prospect’s organization. Why? Because you need to ask this person the following question:

“Of all of the solutions that you are considering buying, which of them has the highest return on investment?”

Once you have the answer to this question, you need to show your prospect that your solution will provide a rate of return that is even higher. Subtract the ROI of the other solution that they are considering from your predicted ROI. Then subtract the value of any solution that your prospect already has in place that might overlap with your solution. The resulting figure is your “Sales Economic Value Added” or SalesEVA. This number is the return that your prospect can expect from your solution over and above any other solution they are thinking of purchasing. Therefore, it is also the amount of money that they will lose if they don’t buy from you. You’ve now made them an offer that they’d be crazy to refuse.

Congratulations, you’ve just cut a nice thick slice out of the economic recovery pie, all for yourself!

-Zebra Jeff

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Basically, we’ve taken the first component of our famous Zebra method and reduced it to its most important essentials. We are excited beyond measure to be able to bring this to you. You see, Chad and I want everyone to benefit from the Zebra sales philosophy, which is why we’re taking this important step toward making these methods more accessible.

Here are a few of the things you’ll learn about in the Building Your Zebra eBook:

The Seven Zebra Attributes

In this eBook you’ll learn about each of the seven attributes that go into identifying your Zebra, the ideal prospect that you should be looking for. Basically, you can think of this eBook as a worksheet that will guide you step by step through the process of understanding the characteristics that all of your best customers share. In the end, the result will be a comprehensive profile that you can implement across the board throughout your sales team. Once you know what these characteristics are, you will b that much closer to identifying your ideal client—what we call your “Zebra”—when you see it.

The Push-button Zebra

Plus, the Building Your Zebra eBook will give you detailed instructions on how to concentrate your Zebra profile into our Push-button Zebra spreadsheet. The Push-button Zebra, or PBZ, as we like to call it, is a quick and efficient tool for almost instantly rating the quality of any prospect. Since the PBZ is extremely easy to use, it is easy to implement throughout your entire sales team and across the sales cycle. This will all be explained in more depth in the eBook, but the most important thing is that the PBZ takes the guesswork out of your sales cycle. It gives you an objective measure (called a Zebra score) by which to rate your prospect at every stage of the sales cycle. In the long term, this will actually improve your ability to accurately predict your quarterly sales and the average length of your sales cycles.

Access to Power

Finally, you’ll learn about how your Access to Power affects your close rate. The push-button Zebra acts as a diagnostic tool for every aspect of your sales relationship with a given prospect, but it is the most valuable in assessing your Access to Power. If you don’t have access to the final decision maker in your prospect’s organization—the person we call Power—then won’t know whether your prospect is a Zebra or not. Again, we’ll go into much more detail about this in the eBook.

Building Your Zebra is live now and is available for just $19.95! So there’s no need to wait; you can download it right off our website by clicking this link.

-Zebra Jeff

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Sales and Marketing Professionals of Northeastern Wisconsin – (http://www.smpnew.org/)

SMP is hosting an evening with Jeff Koser and Chad Koser discussing the Zebra process and how to address your business issues to close more business even in these tough economic times.

• Date: Wednesday, April 21
• Time: 4:30 networking, 5:30 program, 6:30 dinner
• Location: Hilton Garden Inn, Oshkosh
• Presenters: Chad Koser and Jeff Koser, authors of USA Book News Award for Sales: Selling to Zebras

Program

Are your sales levels, margins and average deal size down? Are sales cycles longer and often ending in non-decision? This program is delivered by Chad and Jeff Koser, based on their work co-authoring the USA Book Review Award winning book – Selling to Zebras. Selling to Zebras helps companies solve sales related critical business issues.

Not a member? Not a problem! Attend as a guest up to two times per program year. The guest fee for one program is $40 and can be paid on the PayPal site you are directed to when you register online.

About SMP NEW

Sales and Marketing Professionals of Northeast Wisconsin (SMP NEW) is a professional organization for business leaders responsible for sales or marketing within their firms.

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Jeff Koser has been invited to speak at NAIFA’s quarterly event.

March 9, 2010 – 7:00AM
Radisson Hotel Milwaukee West
2303 N. Mayfair Rd.
Wauwatosa, WI 53220

7:00 am – Breakfast Buffet

7:30 am – Breakouts – Jeff Koser, CEO/Founder Selling to Zebras, LLC – co-author of the award winning book, Selling to Zebras

Selling in "The New Normal"
The “New Normal” which is the reality of business today as a result of the recent “Great Recession.” In the “New Normal” strategic professional organizations have learned that their best efforts and previous approach used successfully just a few short months ago no longer work; sales levels, margins and average deal sizes are down and sales cycles are longer many ending in non-decision.

Members and Non-Members are invited to attend

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February 22-24, 2010
infoGROUP/Salesgenie Client Summit
Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa
702.797.7777
11011 W. Charleston
Las Vegas, NV 89135

Jeff Koser – Keynote – “How to Sell in the ‘New Normal’”

Jeff Koser was invited as a Keynote Speaker at this annual event sponsored by InfoGROUP/Salesgenie. Jeff will speak at the Summit on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 @ 1:00PM in room – Red Rock ABC.

The “New Normal” which is the reality of business today as a result of the recent “Great Recession” most sales organizations are experiencing longer sales cycles, decreasing pipeline close rates and smaller deals.

How big is this problem? Did you know that sales operates at 15% pipeline close rate efficiency?

∑ Sales Won
____________________

∑ Sales Won + ∑ Sales Lost + ∑ Non-decision

= 15%

That means that sales, pre-sales, sales support, sales management and executive management put time and resource.

WHY THIS IS A MUST ATTEND EVENT:
For the past two years, Salesgenie, a division of Infogroup, has sponsored a summit for its clients to help arm them with actionable strategies and tactics for creating and maintaining sales success. Due to its success, we have decided to turn the summit into an event that will be valuable and informative for all of Infogroup’s clients.

The current business climate has impacted nearly everyone and this year’s summit is focused on informing you of the various solutions our company offers for how to better target your sales for this challenging market. The summit is designed to empower you with a top to bottom view, from industry experts identifying the new trends in the marketplace, to hands-on interactive sessions on techniques that will drive your sales strategy.

Use this opportunity to network with expert users and exchange ideas with other sales professionals and take away proven strategies you can apply to your own business. We look forward to hosting what we hope to be a highly beneficial and enjoyable event.

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Joint Webinar with Selling to Zebras and EcSELL Institute. Jeff Koser, CEO/Founder – Selling to Zebras, LLC and Bill Eckstrom, CEO/Founder EcSELL Institute
Topic: Selling “In the New Normal”
Friday, February 19, 2010
Time 12:00Noon CDT – 1:00PM EDT

Did you happen to miss the webinar? If so, please click on the link below to view the webinar in its entirety. Thank you to EcSell Institute for sharing access to the event for those who couldn’t attend. EcSELL Institute – Selling to Zebras Joint Webinar 2-23-10

In the “New Normal” which is the reality of business today, as a result of the recent “Great Recession,” most sales organizations are experiencing longer sales cycles, decreasing pipeline close rates and smaller deals. Jeff and Bill will discuss the dynamics of selling in this new economy and how to be successful.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The EcSELL Institute provides professional development specific to sales management. It is made up of an exclusive community of sales management professionals, and all are committed to learning and improvement. Everything provided by the EcSELL Institute focuses on sales leadership and coaching, and managing the 6 Pillars of Productivity . EcSELL Institute believes that continual, professional development and the willingness to act on new ideas, are the essential ingredients for success. Ask your self, "What is your opportunity loss for not staying current?"

EcSELL Institute provides sales community leaders and its members with tools, training, and resources to help them stay abreast of the latest trends, strategies, technologies, and best practices in sales management .in order to improve the effectiveness of the sales process and increase productivity.

For more information on EcSELL Institute please visit their web site: www.EcSELLinstitute.com

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In keeping with that theme, this is a friendly holiday reminder from Selling to Zebras to adopt Santa’s strategy for your sales business in the new year…  Go through your list of prospects for pursuit in 2010 with a fine-tooth, zebra-striped comb, and make sure it’s only populated with  Zebras.

Don’t have a Zebra yet you say?! Well, in my opinion creating one and putting it to good use in your sales business would make the perfect  New Year’s Resolution!

On behalf of all of us at Selling to Zebras, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!

-Zebra Chad

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