Sales Laundry

Posts Tagged ‘Partnership’

 

part⋅ner [pahrt-ner] –noun   1. what every book on sales says a salesperson or business owner should become in order to be successful and make cow choking quantities of money that one could not hide under a house, let alone a mattress.

 Webster’s Dictionary would define the word partner a little differently, I am certain, but we are not talking about the dictionary for normal people, we are talking about the Zigler-Hill Unabridged Dictionary for Sales Professionals & Business Owners.

 

What is a Partner? 

A partner is a trusted resource that can be counted on to assist on an as needed basis in a mutually beneficial, but not necessarily equal, relationship.  We help solve our client’s problems with our expertise and they help solve some of our problems with cash.

None of us are experts on everything we have to make decisions on in our daily lives.  We need partners, advisors, parents, attorneys, accountants, carpet cleaners, plumbers, electricians, cable guys etc. to help us make good decisions and keep our lives running.

By saying you want to be a partner you are saying you want to occupy that small slice of someone else’s life that you happen to be an expert in.  There are only so many available slots so how do you get to be that guy?

 

How do you become a Partner?  Here are eight thoughts to get you started.

• Acquire knowledge that your client needs but does not have the time/desire to acquire.
• Bring a unique and valued perspective.  If you deal with many clients in the same industry there may be instances where you have seen common problems solved many different ways that you might be able to suggest.  Your unique perspective in this instance is something your client cannot duplicate easily.
• Understand your clients business to the point that your client can just explain the issues without having to explain the business.
• Look ahead for your client.  There are so many fires to put out each and every day it can be difficult to look down the road and watch for issues or advantages that could impact a business.  Be the eyes for your client, keeping them informed of new laws, products, technologies or trends might impact their business.  The better you understand their business the more valuable this type of resource can be.    
• Be consistent and reliable.  You can only be a partner or trusted resource when you are there when needed.  If you are unreliable or inconsistent your customer will find another resource to help solve problems in your area of expertise.
• Make your client’s job easier.  Provide information, insight or resources that help your client do his or her job better.
• Go to bat for your client when needed.  Sometimes your employer’s interest or even your own personal interests can conflict with what is best for your client.  Sometimes your clients need a man on the inside protecting their interests. 
• Respect your client’s time.  If you call or stop by, have something worth saying.  If you want to talk about the latest wiz-bang features on your product then limit it to the features that would make sense for your client and explain them in terms of your clients business.

Establishing partnerships is a mindset not a mission statement.  The easiest way for me to remember to stay in the right frame of mind is to remember a simple line. 

“Help your client build his business so he is in a better position to help you build yours.”

Image courtesy of Visionpoint.dk

 

Discussion boards are rife with comments from business owners lamenting the problems they have experienced on their quest to find an exceptional sales professional.  Arguably, a person that is exceptional should, by definition, be hard to find.

 So how DO you find the right sales guy for your company?  Begin by defining your sales process and the role you need this new sales professional to fill.

 This is ONE aspect, mind you.  Future posts will define other aspects selecting and building a solid sales team for your business.

 I use the terms “hunter” and “farmer” in this post, I assume most are familiar with the terms, but just in case, here is a brief definition:

 Hunter – a sales person engaged in finding new opportunities with new clients.

Farmer – a sales person engaged in managing existing client relationships.

 

Sales Intern – Free to low paid position, the primary reward for this position being the resume worthy experience and references the position can provide.

 Hire for:  sales lead data entry, basic sales contact management, assist with proposal development, general support host for in office lunch meeting, answer the phones, take some messages, general sales gopher.

 

Telemarketer – Typical entry level position with higher than average turn over and typically the lowest rung on the sales job ladder.  Could be home based, office based or outsourced to a 3^rd party call center.

Role:  Sometimes Farmer; Rarely Hunter/Farmer; Typical Hunter

 Hire for:  Hire a telemarketer if you have plenty of leads, you just need someone to call them.  Hire this person to do simple product driven sales, call to set appointment, research, sales or service add-on’s, follow up or act in a supporting sales role or layer of marketing for a larger sales organization.

 

Inside Sales – Home based or office based sales professional of entry or mid-level career experience.

Role:  Typically Farmer; Sometimes Hunter/Farmer; Rarely Hunter

 Hire for:  Hire a person for this role as a training ground to develop future outside sales professionals.  Hire a person in this role to assist an outside sales team, cold call, develop leads, manage an existing client base, develop proposals, do sales follow up calls, or as your primary selling organization if you do not need to build strong client relations or an outside sales presence.  In many instances this role is blended with aspects of telemarketing.

 

Account Manager/Executive – Like the Inside Sales Representative, typically home based or office based sales professional of entry or mid-level career experience with minimal to no activities supporting other sales teams.

 Role:  Typically Farmer; Sometimes Hunter/Farmer; Sometimes Hunter

  Hire for:  Hire for this role if you need someone to manage all aspects of the sales process that can be accomplished bound to a desk.  A person in this role can work in support of an outside account manager(s), or be your primary sales weapon if you product or services can be sold without the need for an outside sales presence.

    

Account Manager/Executive – Outside Sales – Like the Account Manager, except working a defined territory, visiting a prospects place of business.  Typically mid to senior level experience.

 Role:  Sometimes Farmer; Sometimes Hunter/Farmer; Often Hunter

 Hire for:  Hire for this role if you need someone to engage with your client at their place of business, at networking events, seminars, trade shows or other external promotional events.  The person engaged in this role is typically a hunter.  In many cases these individuals are responsible for finding their own leads, sometimes this role is supported by an Inside Account Manager or Inside Sales person.  Sometimes leads for this individual are driven by Telemarketers as well.

 

 Business Development Executive – Can be another name for an Inside/Outside Account Manager but is a title typically reserved for those engaged in activities beyond selling a set product to a set market.  Typically mid career to senior level experience.

 Role:  Rarely Farmer; Sometimes Hunter/Farmer; Often Hunter 

Hire for:  Hire for this role if you need someone to create new lines of business, new markets for existing products, new applications for existing products or new partnership opportunities.  As with an Outside Account Manager, in many cases these individuals are responsible for finding their own leads and are sometimes supported by an inside sales staff. 

 

Sales Overlay/Subject Matter Expert – Role typically defined as a single product champion within a multi- product sales organization.  Typically mid to senior level experience.

 Role:  Specialist; Supporting Hunter/Farmer

 Hire for:  Hire for this role if you need to focus attention on one product line, if one product line is vastly more complex or difficult to sell than other offerings, or if there are too many products for your primary sales organization to promote consistently.

 

Sales Engineer/Subject Matter Technical Expert – Role

 Role:  Specialist; Supporting Hunter/Farmer 

Hire for:  Hire someone for this position if your sales cycle involves engaging with customer side technical teams to discuss technical aspects that are beyond the depth of what you expect your traditional sales team to address.

 

Sales Manager – Role responsible for managing single or multiple teams of the sales professionals comprised of one or multiple sales roles.

 Role:  Primarily Manager, Sometimes Farmer; Sometimes Hunter/Farmer; Rarely Hunter

 Hire for:  Hire someone for this role to manage an existing sales team, hire, train, develop, coach, motivate, teach, possibly set compensation models, manage forecasts and pipeline activity, possibly set strategy and marketing direction.

 

 Director of Sales – Role responsible for managing multiple sales managers within an organization.  Can set overall strategy and tactics 

Role:  Manager

 

 VP of Sales/Business Development – Title is in some cases interchangeable with Director of Sales.  Can manage multiple business units, sales directors, and sales management teams. 

 Role:  Manager

 Hire for:  Executive level position providing front line sales experiences with executive management team.  Sets overall sales strategy and company targets for the entire sales organization.

 

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The title or role of the sales professional is only one aspect you need to keep in mind when hiring the right sales professional for your organization.  Just make sure you understand the sales role you need to fill so you can identify the sales qualities you need to look for in your interview process.

 If you have a question, ask.  If you need a little more assistance, email me at val @ saleslaundry.com

Image courtesy of  http://stillhiring.ie

 

 Bonus Tip #1:  Watch for the 1-off partners who happen to be working in some other area of an account and get wind of an opportunity with your product and an existing partner.  It may make sense to put these deals together from time to time, but pay close attention to their activities.  A 1-off partner can suck up a lot of your resources better spent on partners that will drive consistent revenue.

 Bonus Tip #2:  If you find your channel partner coming to you for discounts to win deals consistently or selling on price and destroying your perceived value add in a given market find out why, find out why their own value add is not helping them hold margin, and be prepared to turn them loose.  Again, there are exceptions to every rule.

Image courtest of http://socialsalespro.com/

Hyundai has a problem shared by every car manufacturer; we are not buying new cars. 

 Sales are down 30%+ across the industry and GM, once the pride of American manufacturing is on the verge of being delisted from the stock exchange as shares trade under $1.00.

 The difference is Hyundai gets it.  Instead of gutting their value and defensively dropping their shorts on price, rebates and financing, they are on the offensive, effectively saying “Mr. customer, I dare you to lose your job.”

 

 they are on the offensive, effectively saying 

“Mr. customer, I dare you to lose your job.”

 

Hyundai already has a sales strategy and marketing message that I would think would play well in this economic environment.

 That message being “We build stylish high quality, inexpensive cars, and we back it up with a strong warranty” which was designed to solve the problem of “I don’t have a lot of money, but I need a car that is better than what I am driving now.”

 That message has a lot of appeal, but apparently not enough to keep sales from falling off of a cliff. 

 Hyundai took a deeper look at why business was slumping and thought way outside of the box for ways to solve a problem weighing much heavier on the minds of their prospect than the problem their current value statement was solving.

 That deeper problem being “What happens if I lose my job and cannot pay my bills?”

 The answer until now has been “The car gets repossessed.  I lose my transportation.  It would be harder to find a new job.  My credit gets ruined, and I won’t be in a position to buy a car on credit when I do get back on my feet.”

 Final decision:  “A new car would be nice, but there is just too much downside right now to justify it.  I will keep my old car; at least it is paid for.”

 So what did Hyundai do?

 Hyundai Assurance Plus:  If you lose your income, we will make your payments for 3 months.  If that is not enough time to work things out, you can still bring the car back within a year.  By the way, you still get the 10yr warranty.

 I have no idea how this strategy is going to play out for them, though I assume it will be fantastic as long as legal did not pack the contract with too many outs.  I can, however, tell you how it makes me feel as a consumer.

 I feel like Hyundai is a company that gets it.  That they understand and they are offering up a legitimate “bail out” for the little guy if it becomes necessary.  More importantly, I feel like Hyundai cares.  Hyundai is willing to step in and help out if life’s challenges get a little too big for a while.

 Hyundai is going to earn some respect and get a look by a segment of the market that would not have looked at a Hyundai before and Hyundai is going to win a deep loyalty from the customers they end up helping out.

 More sales today, more happy customers and more market share tomorrow.

It is an aggressive move in a market that finds most of their competitors retreating to a defensive position of low price.

 Ask yourself, does your present value statement carry the same weight it once did?  Is there a bigger problem in your customers mind than the one you are presently solving?

Identify that problem, find the solution, and then figure out how your company can help deliver that solution alone or with strategic partnerships.

 If I were an independent car dealer right now I would be calling my financial partners to see if we could put a “Hyundai Solution” in place for my dealerships.

 What is the creative solution for your industry?  Get it right and you will be the one rewarded with customer loyalty and market share. 

I am looking forward to reading your thoughts.

“I want to be a partner for my client not just a vendor.” – Joe Salesguy

I say “Prove it.”

“I am in it to help my customers business be successful.” – Joe Salesguy

“Yeah, right.”

“I do not have to understand my customers business in order to sell my product.” – Joe Salesguy

“Your right, but you might have to if you actually want him to buy from you.”

You cannot be a partner with your customer if you can’t understand life from your clients’ shoes because being a partner implies you bring a desired expertise to the table that is not only valued but preferred to other resources available to your customer.

If you do not understand your clients business, you are no different than every other Account Manager or Consultant that knocks on his door. You are indistinguishable. You look the same and smell the same as every other guy out there pitching similar gear.

Failing to understand your potential clients business makes you lazy, stupid, or ignorant. I can fix ignorant, the rest of you are on your own.

With the wealth of information at your WWW fingertips you should have a basic understanding of your clients business before making the call. With a little bit of reading you can even get up to speed pretty quickly on your clients industry and any news about his company in the last year.

If you want to be perceived as being smart, ask smart questions. Take some time to write down some questions ahead of time that will not only demonstrate you are not an idiot but will actually begin to give you a better understanding of the type of environment you client faces.

If you ask “So, what do you do here” you should be show the door with a size 10 footprint on your backside.

Want to know why the best reps in your office can actually get their clients on the phone when they call them? It’s because the client places some value in what that representative has to say.

Or, of course, there is always the possibility that the client could have just accidentally answered the wrong line.

Be helpful, be entertaining, add value if you want your client to consider you valuable.

Right now, think about what you typically say to a prospect in a first meeting. Gut check time. Would you really want to sit there listening to that for an hour?

If not, change what you say. Don’t be boring. Bring value or just don’t go.

The client gets absolutely no value out of the initial questions you ask on an account call.  He only tolerates the questions because he assumes there will be some value coming from your yapping at some point to make it all worth it.

Don’t disappoint.

 

If you have a story where you have legitimately brought the value, I want to hear it. If you have a story where you got schooled, but learned a good lesson, I want to hear that, too.