Maximum Sales

By: Steve Young, esm4, Inc.

After twenty-five plus years of sales experience working with companies as visible as Chevron, as prestigious as the production firm for the Oscars and Emmys, and clients whose names are among the most famous in the world—including Walmart, Estee Lauder, Coca-Cola, Intel, Viacom, Motorola—I can assure you that there is no simple solution for maximum sales.  Maximum sales is achieved by tapping potential.  

There are no simple answers to questions about how sales excellence can be achieved and sustained.  Any simple summation—“persist,” “follow-through,” “listen,” “maintain a positive attitude,” etc.—amounts to very little, since platitudes and references to specific practices are all that can be said simply.  Names of practices and platitudes constitute the superficial level of actual concepts.  And concepts have dimensions and layers that involve complex thought, which require explanations in order to be understood.  Although there are no simple answers, answers do exist.  The following article offers answers to the questions about how to maximize sales and achieve sales reliably. 

Starting Point

In order to achieve maximum sales, you must pursue maximum sales; incremental growth is no longer a sufficient accomplishment for your business.  Prepare accordingly:  your Sales operation must include the following four “sales pillars”: 

Sales strategy

Strategy provides the rationale for engagement and the nutriment of sales opportunities;

Sales process

Process provides developmental procedures for the “what,” “why,” and “how” of sales activities;

Sales training

Training provides relevant instruction to sales representation according to the strategy and process;

Sales management

Management safeguards—monitors, evaluates, nurtures—sales progress. 

These sales pillars are required elements for maximum sales for virtually every revenue-oriented company.   With your sales pillars in place, the next step to consider is your sales standard.

The Standard of Sales Excellence

If you employ salespeople or proactively sell a product or service by another means, you have a sales standard.   Sales improvement is satisfied with an increase in qualities and quantities of various sales activities.  Optimization satisfies a company’s potential to sell its products and services to its full extent.  Improve your sales standard and you will improve your sales.  This applies to every business, regardless of its type, size, or the number of salespeople employed. 

In any given company, parts of a Sales operation may include:

·    The salesperson or sales team

·    The sales manager or person who manages sales

·    Support staff

·    Sales materials

·    Sales goals

·    Organizational system—CRM

·    The competition

·    The company’s market position

·    Sales support data

Your sales standard is an aggregate of three distinct criteria:

            (1) Performance—the minimum performance level that you require from the various parts of     

            your Sales operation;

            (2) Response—the requirements for how those parts should interact with one another;

            (3) Application—the means by which results/products from those parts (such as leads, sales       opportunities,             analytics, etc.) are evaluated and used by you or your management team. 

Here are a few examples of parts of a Sales operation and a Performance, Response, or Application correlative, as it may relate to another part of the operation or company:

The sales quota	Management’s response to subpar performance
Support materials	How Marketing is informed of and responds to Sales needs
Sales data	Management’s interpretation and use of statistical information
Sales skills	Management’s acceptance of competency differences within the team
Communication systems	Quality of information recorded

Similarities among companies exist (such as the industry they share), but each company is unique.  Your company’s uniqueness includes its advantages and disadvantages in a competitive marketplace or sales situation.  Within your uniqueness resides your potential.  Potential can be improved when the parts of your Sales operation are made more productive; potential can be optimized when the parts of your sales operation function most effectively and efficiently according to your sales standard. 

Think Broadly

Since many business owners and sales managers do not think about their sales potential in terms of their sales standard, they focus on symptoms of deficiency in their operation.   As a result, their Sales operation becomes imbalanced—like a high-performance sports car with an engine from a lawnmower!  

If you think of your Sales operation only as consisting of certain parts (such as your referral program, salespeople, Revenue Line, sales materials, CRM) rather than as a comprehensive and interdependent system, you set yourself up for eventual breakdown in your productivity.  Strengthening one link in the metaphorical chain of your operation creates imbalance, which weakens the chain.  You can maintain a more profitable company through balance among the parts of your Sales operation.  Suggestions:

A solution for issues with lead generation should include development of a salesperson’s ability to convert qualified leads into a sale. 

A solution for issues gaining appointments with key prospective clients should include development of effective presentation materials and a salesperson’s presentation skills.

A solution for issues with advancement of sales opportunities should include development of a salesperson’s ability to up-sell, cross-sell, and gain referrals.

A solution for issues with obtaining accurate sales data should include development of data management systems, reporting requirements and procedures, and an assessment criterion for sales management. 

These are just a few of the topics related to your sales standard.  Here are some additional considerations:

What limitations preclude your company’s ability to manage greater sales?

Are your salespeople comparable to one another in their skills, in their performance, in their efficiency?  If not, why not?  And can performance standardization be achieved?

Which of the issues has management recognized as being related to hindrances to enhanced sales productivity, and which options are being considered as resolutions to those issues?  What is the rationale for the favored or chosen solution?

How effective and efficient is the communication between the departments of your company, and how might communication be improved?  What benefits could communication improvements provide your company?

Sales Support Services

If you seek the advice of a sales “expert,” proceed with caution.  You are unique!  Your business is unique.  Your company’s uniqueness includes its advantages and disadvantages in a competitive marketplace or sales situation.  In order to optimize sales, the parts of your sales operation must function most effectively and efficiently according to a standard.  So, when considering a sales solutions service, beware: virtually every sales support resource—books, seminars, consultants, webinars, etc.—offers a template-based sales program or system that is to be “tailored” or superimposed onto a business.  These services are designed to provide sales improvement, not sales optimization.  Therefore, I advise business owners and sales managers to avoid sales consultants, and to demand a quality of service that delivers original, company-specific solutions.   

·    No premade, template-based sales programs or systems

·    No outdated sales model that has been “updated”

·    No limitations of service

·    No “tailored” solutions

Service providers will evaluate your situation by the limitations of the service(s) they sell.  Instead of considering merely the symptoms of weakness in a part or parts of your Sales operation, consider, instead, your sales solutions options as they serve your Sales operation as a system.  Your sales solution must apply specifically and broadly across all dimensions of your Sales operation.  You lose sales when breakdown occurs in even one link of your operation, and from the impact that the broken link has on other links of your Sales operation.  Some examples…

You lose sales when your salespeople cannot…

(a)  generate quality leads	and  (b)  cannot engage their prospects
(a)  intrigue their prospects	and  (b)  cannot advance a sales opportunity
(a)  leverage a sale	and  (b)  cannot nurture sales opportunities
(a)  up-sell, cross-sell, and re-sell	and  (b)  cannot deliver satisfactorily
(a)  work more efficiently	and  (b)  do not work effectively

You can optimize your sales and achieve reliable sales growth.  The course to maximum sales exists and may be easy to follow, depending on the condition of your company.  In order for any sales solutions provider to give you meaningful direction for sales optimization, their direction must be “state-specific.”  State-specific direction refers to specific conditions or existing situations in a company such as its place in the market, its brand identity, its resources, products, services, competition, salespeople, etc.   The most valuable sales solutions are based on state-specific details, which directly relate to a company’s actual sales potential and commitment to a performance level. 

Summation

If the vision you have for your business includes fulfillment of your sales potential, your sales standard, the four pillars of sales, and a state-specific sales program aimed to achieve optimal synergy among the parts of your Sales operation, then you are on the right track for maximum sales.  

Sell well!

Copyright © 2014 esm4, Inc.  All rights reserved

Author:  Steve Young is founder and President of esm4, Inc., an original sales solutions company dedicated to the greater sales success of its clients, and setting the standard for high-quality sales solutions services. 

If you’re interested in more information on this or another sales-related subject,

we invite you to contact us: service@esm4.com.

Climate Change Book ZERO-FIFTY Explains
How to Make the World Zero Carbonby 2050
By Alexa James-Ratzlaff

UK based designers create a graphically charged book that tackles climate change head on, providing an all-encompassing global proposal on how to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2050.

Award winning sustainability designers David James Arnold and architect Alexa James Ratzlaff have officially launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund their upcoming climate change book, ZERO-FIFTY.

Designed to look like a magazine, ZERO-FIFTY presents the complex issues of climate change in an innovative, playful, and appealing way, with content that includes future city visions, ground-breaking energy generation technologies, and enlightening infographics. Its chief objective is to educate audiences of all disciplines, not only about the problems the planet is facing, but also the solutions. Take a look at their video trailer by clicking the image below.

Climate change has been described as the biggest challenge mankind has ever faced, and scientists believe that if the world continues to emit carbon at the current rate, our planet will be beyond salvation in less than a decade. “The question is however, what can we do about it? Most books and documentaries that tackle climate change only write about the problem, not the solution,” David explains. “ZERO-FIFTY aims to bridge that gap by demonstrating what it really takes to reduce man-made carbon dioxide to zero and prevent climate change.”

ZERO-FIFTY starts off by providing a vision of what our world would look like if mankind chooses to do nothing, business as usual – climaxing to a vision of the earth when global average temperatures rise by up to six degrees in 2100. The rest of the book then focuses on how this can be prevented by reducing the amount of energy the world consumes over the next 35 years. This includes explaining how to substantially reduce the amount of energy buildings, vehicles, and factories expend with minimal disruption to modern lifestyle. Finally, the book demonstrates how to power the remaining energy demand using existing zero carbon energy generation technologies and a selection of highly innovative urban energy generating towers –
transforming cityscapes around the globe.

The authors have decided to self-publish – “We want to publish ZERO-FIFTY both as an app for tablet devices and a physical book. Most publishers weren’t too keen on that idea. On top of that, with all the parties involved, the book becomes more expensive than it has to be, and, by publishing ZERO-FIFTY independently, we can print the book just the way we want to – using certified recycled paper and vegetable inks,” Alexa explains.

To self-publish, ZERO-FIFTY is currently raising funds on the popular crowdfunding website Kickstarter.com until March 1st. On Kickstarter, anyone can pledge towards ZERO-FIFTY in exchange for a variety of rewards, including signed copies of the book, personalized postcards, presentations to companies, and invitations to the ZERO-FIFTY launch party. The catch is however, ZERO-FIFTY must meet its goal of £20,000 by March 1st or it will not receive any funding. “We believe that ZERO-FIFTY will have a really positive impact on the way people think about Climate Change,” says Alexa. “That’s why we are really hoping to gather enough interest so that our backers can help us help the planet.”

More information at: http://www.zero-fifty.com/

World Entrepreneurship Summit 2014: South America and the CaribbeanMercy College, Feb 18th, 2014

By Malko Ebers, Madeline Tanamal

The World Entrepreneurship Summit (WES) 2014 showcased South America and the Caribbean and was attended by entrepreneurs, country representatives and thought leaders. The hostr New York Business Consultants believes that the region offers amazing business opportunities not just in tourism and offshore banking but in sustainable agriculture, infrastructure investments, retirement and energy.. WES 2014 aims to promote entrepreneurship and to bring investors, partners and opportunities together.

The first session of the summit was presented by Mr. Eduardo Urdapilleta, the director of business analytics at Citibank. Mr. Urdapilleta outlined several opportunities and challenges of doing business in Latin America. Latin America is characterized by a growing export economy, growing middle class and stronger participation in the global market. However, to succeed in the Latin American marketplace it is important to understand the specifics of culture, regulation, taxes and consumer preferences. Partnerships are key!  


The second session discussed the project development and investment opportunities in Belize, presented by the Assistant Vice President at US Oil Properties, Mr. Lovoy Rubin. Petroleum oil is the major pie of Belize's export, around 29% of it. Other big upcoming projects/ investment opportunities are the areas of agriculture, tourism and eco-tourism.


After the second session, our keynote speaker Ms. Karen Hoyos from Colombia shared her entrepreneurial success story in media, training and coaching. The participants were blown away by her testimony and finding her life's purpose. Karen's seminar quickly lift up everybodys spirit and ended with the final message to believe in yourself to make dreams come true.


Session three looked into the topic of energy and sustainability.  Mateo  from MADEL International Corporation talked about a green business project that will solve Haiti's trade deficit and that will bring jobs and prosperity to the country through sustainable greenhouse farming. The project will include building a sustainable farming operation, training school and housing - a sustainable community that will be not only to able to support its own food production but also able to export food to the world. The energy discussion continued with a presentation of Prof Peter Fusaro from Columbia University on how to bring renewable energy to the Caribbean, in which biomass and sun energy are seen as the solutions to Caribbean's high electricity price and dependency on oil. As for cleantech opportunities in Brazil and the Americas, Mr. Antonio ValleNetto, US/ Canada manager of Bunge Environmental Market suggested solar and wind energy as the prime energy sources for the Caribbean..


The summit ended with a panel discussion with three Caribbean entrepreneurs, an amazing entrepreneurial couple  behind the success story of Kreyol essence, Mr Stephane Jean-Baptiste and Ms. Yve-Car Momperousse. The discussion was modertaed by Bertrand Gervais of Success Mentor Education. Kreyol essence is a all-natural women's beauty products and uses all ingredients from the Caribbean.

Performers for the summit included Argentinian musician Mr. Guillermo Silveira and alive ministry singer Dr. Nyjeri Norman. Art exhibitions by award winning artist Mr. Vicente Gomez and sketches by Ms. Elllen Stedfeld.


The World Entrepreneurship Summit 2014: South America and the Caribbean was sponsored by Mercy College, Colure, Tiffin Wine, Organo Coffee, Karen Hoyos International and Ampleen. 

The economy of South America and the Caribbean offer many business opportunities today. Contact us now and let us help you take advantage of these opportunities as well. more information at www.newyorkbusinessconsultants.com

Disruptive Technologies - DON'T FOCUS! 

In a globalized world be open for opportunities!

By Malko Ebers, Feb 10th 2014 - New York City

In our 'uber-rational' world we underestimate with timelines, deadlines, balanced scorecards and management by objectives we very much underestimate trial and error and luck in business.

You can have as many focus groups and do as much market research as you want weather your new cereal bar, slogan or car name will be accepted and successful is hard to say and you have to experiment, try and improve through continuous improvements and an efficient feedback mechanism. This is what Kaizen, the Japanese management practice means: Continuous improvements. 

You might say this is probably true for the high tech industry, where drastic improvements in technology are the norm? Wrong, actually the food industry is the most innovative one and one of the toughest to predict product success. You just have to throw an innovation at the market and listen very carefully to the customer's response. If you focus too early you will not receive necessary feedback and opportunities to learn and improve.

One might say business is like fishing - you focus on fish as a category not a single one. When a customer catches your bait, when what you offer is attractive and they show interest then you focus your attention. The metaphor is useful because it shows that we have to be patient and diligent when it comes to innovation and where and how to focus our attention in business. 

As teenagers we have probably all been told to focus by parents, supervisors, teachers, colleagues. Because others want to figure us out, want to put us in a category they can comprehend. What do you want to do, what is your specialty? In a market environment where jobs, technologies and consumer demand changes constantly it makes sense to be able to wear many hats, to have various product and service options that meet customer demand. A lot of innovation doesn't originate in organizations but by the customer himself. This so called lead user innovation (Eric von Hippel, MIT) is something that more companies should appreciate and capitalize on. Only when the leadership of an organization encourages this open attitude and doesn't focus too early an organization can comprehend these innovations at the fringes of their attention span.

Of course 'focus', division of labor and very specific job descriptions and roles are the very essence of the traditional organization this leads to high efficiency, economies of scale, specialization and greater output. Since Adam Smith and later Henry Ford's production system this is no secret and these principles work very well. However companies build around these central paradigms for example 'copies/minute' (Xerox) very often miss disruptive innovations in the market that can challenge or destroy their market. Leica dominated the camera market but missed the digital revolution, Xerox was synonym with making copies but missed small mobile printers and Nokia dominated the cell phone market and missed the smartphone revolution. All because these huge, powerful companies focused and optimized so tightly that they became huge bureaucracies, efficient and standardized but not open minded and innovative enough. Small competitors could operate below the radar of the large organizations and their innovations finally challenged and often destroyed a market to replace established paradigms.

Sales REPS Vs. Sales PROS 

By: Steve Young, esm4, Inc.

Sales professionals are among business owners’ greatest assets.  These talented and tenacious individuals advance the frontline of a business in the marketplace.  Their work is vital to the success of the businesses they serve.  Unfortunately, these individuals are becoming increasingly difficult to find.  The sales occupation continues to change from the influx of sales representatives into the workforce.

 

In recent years, the sales occupation has sustained a different kind of salesperson, which I refer to as the sales representative. While there are several types of salespeople, there are but two fundamental classifications of salesperson—the sales professional and the sales representative.  The difference between these groups is important for business owners and sales managers to understand, especially if they are interested in growing a business by acquiring new accounts. 

Most business owners and sales managers cannot distinguish a sales rep from a sales pro.  Unlike other professions such as accounting, the profession of sales is not formalized; there is no required certification process, and therefore, no criteria defining the differences between the levels of proficiency existing among those in the profession.  While these two groups—reps and pros—perform many of the same functions, the differences between them account for many of the problems business owners have in growing their businesses. 

Drawing the Line

The difference between sales reps and sales pros can be expressed in terms of a degree of quality.  Sales reps will present your products and services to prospective customers, identity, qualify, and follow-up on sales opportunities.  They will create presentations, schedule sales meetings, and, in the process, occasionally receive a sale.  The sales of the representative are incidental to their work, which is more mindless (as of a routine) than it is mindful (as if engaged in to ensure the fulfillment of an objective).   By contrast, the sales of the professional are orchestrated results of his/her work, which is thoughtfully pursued with the intent of achieving a specific result. 

Vision, preparedness, investment, and skill provide categories for good examples that can more clearly highlight the differences between sales reps and sales pros. 

Vision

There are several main objectives in most sales sequences, including finding and qualifying prospective clients, scheduling appointments with prospective clients, profiling and identifying leveraging points, clarifying urgency to buy, and obtaining next-step commitments with a prospect.  As selling becomes complex, additional steps are required in order to achieve a sale.  Identifying and having a vision of the often arcane, prospect-specific steps can challenge a salesperson.  And an initial vision must often adapt in order to accommodate new steps as they arise in the pursuit of sales.  

Sales reps lack vision.  They give little or no thought to modifying general sales procedures.  Sales reps are not concerned with maximizing the effectiveness of their endeavors.  Sales professionals consistently strive to gain insight and advantages into sales situations and opportunities to ensure the success of their mission to convert potential sales into actualized sales.  

Sales reps can develop their vision and improve their sales by thinking more deeply, questioning, not settling with their assumptions, and reasoning the “why,” “how,” and “what” beyond the ostensible.  This thinking process accounts for the main difference between many sales successes and failures.

Preparedness

The basics of preparedness for most sales pursuits are: (1) having a breadth and depth of knowledge about the prospect and the sales opportunities the prospect represents; (2) strong leveraging points; (3) anticipation of a prospect’s responses to your presentation, and consideration of any peripheral issues that could impact achieving the sale; (4) a step-by-step vision for securing the sale; (5) a fallback approach for reengaging a waning prospect.  Sales professionals are prepared to engage and nurture sales opportunities.  Sales representatives mindlessly go through the motions of call, meet, and follow-up without sufficient preparation.  Sales is a numbers game for the sales representative who hopes that eventually something will come from “all of my work.” 

Preparing a salesperson to engage in a sales pursuit requires an investment of time and materials from the business owner.  If the business owner or sales manager isn’t supporting her/his salespeople in the activities essential for selling in today’s world, both the business and the rep will typically lose in competitive selling situations involving competition that is better prepared.

Sales representatives can improve their preparedness by asking and answering for themselves questions such as:

1.     What data might help me engage and intrigue my prospect?

2.     What is the main objective of my meeting with this prospect?

3.     What possible issues might be influencing my prospect’s buying decision?

4.     How can I create desire for my product in my prospect?

5.     What questions might my prospect ask me and how will I answer?

6.     What hurdles can I anticipate between where the sale is now and finalizing the sale?

7.     How will my presentation help my prospect understand the value I offer?

Investment

A sales rep rarely considers what his/her sales pursuits cost her/his employer.  Profitability is not a consideration for the rep.  Sales reps see a sale simply as a sale, and their effort in any sales work as equally valuable.  Sales professionals are more valuable to employers and will consistently outperform sales reps by simply knowing where and how to invest their skills.  Professionals know which prospects to pursue, when and why a sales pursuit should be abandoned, how to negotiate and achieve profitable transactions, and strive to improve their skills in order to maximize profits from their endeavors. 

Sales representatives can improve their value as salespeople by periodically questioning themselves:

1.     Am I on-track for reaching my goals, and, if not, how will I change that status?

2.     What overall value does this sales pursuit represent to me and my employer?

3.     What priority should I give this pursuit in helping achieve my goals?

4.     How does the work I’m doing right now rank in helping achieve my goals?

5.     What can I do in order to increase my productivity and ensure reaching my goal?

Skills

Salespeople must develop a multitude of skills in order to consistently bring sales opportunities to fruition.  Sales reps often neglect developing their skills.  Sales representatives and sales professionals, therefore, vary to the extent that they diverge in possessing the skills required to sell most effectively. 

Consider the components of most sales work and their respective demands:

Conducting research     Requires resourcefulness and creativity

Qualifying                     Requires logic, and breadth and depth of specific (industry) knowledge

Setting appointments    Requires technique proficiency, discernment, and assertiveness

Presenting                     Requires strategy formulation, positioning, and presentation skills

Nurturing business        Requires patience, resourcefulness, persistence, creativity, and subtlety

Selling professionally requires a multitude of skills working synergistically.  Those who possess and refine such skills become top performers.  Most people employed in sales, however, do not improve their skills, and thus, remain ill equipped to succeed consistently.  

When striving to improve the sales of your company, understand which skills are required to meet your specific challenges.  Consider your sales methodology.  Understand the rationale behind what you are practicing, and require the same exercise from your salespeople. 

The greatest sales skill that you can develop is the depth of your thinking.  Sales professionals are deep thinkers about sales situations and, therefore, are more capable of figuring out how to effectively manage those situations in order to achieve success.  Convert your sales reps into sales professionals with process-based sales training, performance standards, and appropriate support, and then enjoy greater sales success.