CriteriaForSuccess Blog

Should You Really Underpromise & Overdeliver?

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:33:17 -0400

by Elizabeth Frederick

How often do you hear the suggestion to “underpromise and overdeliver”? As a service organization, and more specifically as a consulting company, that’s something we hear pretty often. The expression makes sense – it’s always great to hear that you surpassed someone’s expectations!

On Friday, we held a strategic offsite planning meeting to discuss our offering, our value, and how we should position ourselves moving forward. We had a breakthrough that I wanted to share with you.

In principle, “underpromise and overdeliver” is a valid point. It’s definitely better than the alternative; you never want to overpromise!

The problem with taking this to heart, though, is it becomes difficult to fully articulate your value, and you may find it hard to justify your clients’ investment if you are unable to clearly communicate the values and benefits of your offering. You can get stuck in the trap of constantly feeling like you need to add more and more value, often significantly exceeding the agreed-upon scope of the project.

I think many of us are afraid to sound like the stereotypical over-the-top salesperson, constantly spouting features and benefits and using phrases like “best-in-class” and “industry leader” without anything to back it up.

It’s not arrogant or inappropriate to acknowledge the amazing and unique values you provide to your clients! One way to communicate these is to share success stories from your previous clients. Stories resonate with people, and it’s easier to understand the true value of a product or service if you hear stories of how other people in your situation have benefited from it.

Have you ever fallen into the trap of consistently underpromising and overdelivering? Share your stories in the comments below!

Installment Four ? Keep Busy & Stay Focused

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 20:30:51 -0400

by Charles Bernard

This is my fourth installment in this month’s series dedicated to increasing sales in economic recovery. At the bottom of this post are links to the previous entries in the series.

A slow period in your business is a good time to focus on other projects that you’ve been putting off. Some of these might include developing a new marketing strategy, improving existing products and services, revising your proposal templates or sales letters, or redesigning your PowerPoint presentation.

Map your selling processes and train your salespeople. This is the time to invest in sharpening their skills and making them even more focused.

Recruit
Don’t forget to be a talent scout! Now is a good time to find good salespeople that were hard to get before. Look for talent and experience, but the most important quality is chemistry. Make sure that they are a good fit for your culture. The least important is experience, which you can augment on the job.

Document Best Practices
You can also work on your sales system. Most companies have a payroll system, an HR system, and an accounting system. Rarely do I see a sales system. Create a sales PlayBook to document your best selling practices.

Include everything from generating the lead to closing the deal, and all the steps in between. Orient selling towards problem solving, create a 30 second commercial, a list of common problems that you solve, a list of 10-20 best-practice problem-probing questions, meeting agendas, email templates, etc. Use these tools to shorten your sales cycles, disqualify opportunities, gain trust, and ultimately demonstrate your professionalism.

At Criteria for Success, we help clients develop their sales PlayBooks using an online wiki-based platform. This allows sales teams and their managers to constantly keep selling techniques fresh and suggest improvements by changing the content themselves. It operates like a sales knowledge ecosystem that constantly evolves with your business.

Rank Your Customers
Rank your customers, and target sales and marketing efforts to each level accordingly. If you follow the Pareto principle, 80% of your business comes from 20% of your clients. These clients are in a class of their own, but what about everyone else? Create all the levels that define someone who does business with you, or has the potential to do business with you. These might be labeled as “suspects,” “prospects,” “customers,” “clients,” “advocates” and “partners.”

Once you’ve ranked your customers, focus on specific selling activities at each level. For instance, at “suspect” level, have the junior members of your team make calls to qualify opportunities. At “partner” and “advocate” level, ask higher executives in the organization to call on them. Incidentally, “advocates” are the best source of referrals, testimonials, and case studies.

On the marketing side, at “partner” level, form a Client Council to brainstorm new ideas about new offerings that you might provide. Use the council to measure the level of satisfaction with your firm. Do joint planning with them. These are some of your most trusted clients.

How are you staying focused?

6 Strategies for Increasing Sales in Economic Recovery

Introduction

Revisit old clients and reactivate old leads.
Help clients create new sales for you.
Add more value.
Keep busy and stay focused.
Prospect more.
Be positive.

Installment Three ? Add More Value

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 17:07:19 -0400

by Charles Bernard

This is part of my ongoing series of 6 strategies for increasing sales in economic recovery.

One way to generate some extra profitable business is to encourage clients or customers to add on to existing purchases. For example, if one of your clients is placing an advertisement with you on a new product, they could probably use an accompanying press release or even a new PR campaign. Maybe you can do both projects for a bundled price. This is a nice approach because you’re investing very little extra sales effort.

If you sell a commodity item, you can add value by offering faster delivery than your competitors, a wider selection, more options, easier payment terms, etc.

There is no need to do a fire sale and promise an excessive amount of add-ons. You want a little extra effort or service on your part to be perceived by the client as adding significant value.

What do you do to add more value?

6 Strategies for Increasing Sales in Economic Recovery

Introduction

Revisit old clients and reactivate old leads.
Help clients create new sales for you.
Add more value.
Keep busy and stay focused.
Prospect more.
Be positive.

Life in the Fast Lane

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 13:30:37 -0400

by Wyeth Killip

Auto racing has awarded accolades to champions of Formula One, Targa Florio, Paris-Dakar and the ever popular NASCAR. While each has its own set of rules and competitive parameters, there are a few things they all have in common that keep them reaching maximum performance. Some may think that it must be the driver, the best sponsorships, the car itself, or a well oiled pit crew, but the elite class excels in all of the above.

As in sales, there are many factors that contribute to your success. An outsider may attribute one’s success to the superior product, or the sales reps’ experience, or a company that knows their sales process inside and out, to a world-class customer service team. Like in racing, the elite sales organizations excel in all of the above.

As a salesperson, think of yourself as the driver – you are in control of making the calculated decisions, and you are processing the bombardment of information and challenged to make the split second decisions. You are at the helm of a multitude of sales tools, resources, financial backing, marketing collateral, samples, demos, presentation skills, and selling skills. Over the years your organization has sourced the finest German-engineered components to build a maximum performance machine. Now you have been chosen to take the wheel and race to victory.

Few even get the opportunity to enter the race. Even fewer will reach the head of the pack once underway, but with the precise combination of a well-oiled machine, a seasoned driver, and superior pit crew support the elite performers will rise to the podium.

Let’s face it, if you are in sales deep down you know there is an element of excitement that is driving you to get out there and compete for business. Some are adrenaline junkies; they are in it for the rush of closing the big sale. Others are empowered by their ability to have a dramatic influence on the outcome of a major opportunity for their company, while others thrive in a fast-paced environment that has unlimited upside.

Many of us, myself included, come from competitive sports backgrounds. We grew up constantly challenging ourselves to set new goals and beat our personal bests. Our competitive natures drive us forward. We’ve found that our skills on the court or track translate to best practices in sales. For instance, our understanding of “team” is interwoven into the fabric of our being. It’s not just a matter of forming a team but how incredibly effective a team can become when it is firing on all 8 cylinders.

We grew up embodying the concept of team by surrounding ourselves with our “pit crew” or supporters that would be there to bolster our success. I challenge you to identify your pit crew, be it your family, your friends, your sales team that challenges you and sets the bar just a little bit higher each day, to your mentor or that colleague that poses the tough questions that force you to look inward and indentify your unique value proposition.

While you may not have immediate control over the product you sell or the experience you have gained thus far, you can build a supportive pit crew that will keep you reaching maximum performance time and time again!

I invite you to chime in with your thoughts. Who is your pit crew? What steps do you take to develop relationships with and enhance your pit crew? What other sports or competitive parallels to sales can you draw? I’d love to see your comments below!

A Positive Attitude ? Lessons from Sales

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 13:50:04 -0400

by Natalie Johnson

As an intern, the objective of your time spent working with a company is to gain a vast knowledge of the industry you are working in as well as valuable business experience for your future. The funny thing about an internship with a sales consulting firm is that you do not simply learn about one trade, but rather you educate yourself on several trades and the processes specific to each company you work with, especially the personal characteristics necessary for success in different environments.

For the past three months I have been interning with CFS and learning the sales world as well as how marketing plays a part in it. I became knowledgeable in the sales universe on Twitter, learned the basics of networking, and gained a tough skin from countless sales calls. But perhaps the greatest lesson I learned while working with CFS was that sales truly are a part of everything you do. College begins to teach you that marketing and sales are a part of more elements of your life than you can imagine, with the introduction of the resume and the brand you create for yourself on paper alone. But until you spend hours making calls, and begin constantly brainstorming to offer your clients something different, you have not fully understood the importance of sales.

You soon learn that anyone you meet can become a potential client, and the vibe that you give off can make or break your sale. Even while traveling to the office or stepping out for lunch, any of the hundreds of people I pass by everyday could be a prospective sale or future client. Keeping in mind that I represent a company and a service actually makes me smile more and make sure the energy I am emitting is positive.

This business is all about the ride – the ups and the downs, both equally important, are what make you the salesperson you will become. It is important to celebrate our successes, but even more important to learn from our failures while still maintaining an optimistic attitude. If working in sales has taught me anything these past few months, it is that your enthusiasm creates and completes your sale and it is the key factor in what gets you through the many obstacles you will face along the way.

Installment Two ? Help Clients Create New Sales for You

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 13:23:38 -0400

by Charles Bernard

Here is my next entry in this month’s series dedicated to increasing sales in economic recovery.

Help Clients Create New Sales for You
I don’t usually suggest that you give away free consulting. But if business is slow, there's nothing wrong with throwing out a few tips or bright ideas which are obvious to you and could be valuable to your client.

Example
When one of my clients introduced a new business class phone service, I immediately suggested that he put his sales team on a referral request quota to generate some quick leads. I also suggested that he add an MBO (Management by Objective) that specifically pays additional commissions for closing new business in this service. The idea resulted in him asking us to create a new prospecting program as well as revisiting his entire sales compensation plan.

Your approach is, "I have an idea that can help you, Mr. Client (and by the way, I'd be happy to implement it for you)." Not, “please give me business so I can keep busy and make money."

I welcome any feedback or comments that you have!

6 Strategies for Increasing Sales in Economic Recovery

Introduction

Revisit old clients and reactivate old leads.
Help clients create new sales for you.
Add more value.
Keep busy and stay focused.
Prospect more.
Be positive.

Reinforcement May Be Your Best Strategy

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 10:06:32 -0400

by Natalie Johnson

In sales and marketing one of the biggest concerns is the customer. Are the customer’s needs being met? What else can you do for the customer? Will the customer become a repeat buyer?

But maybe the best approach to pleasing your customers is to start within your own company, especially in a down economy, where buyers may be looking for a little something extra.

Lately, I have been responsible for collecting best selling practices used by the sales team of one of our clients. The experience was not only beneficial for me, but also for the individuals telling the stories. Although these were success stories I was receiving, so the salesperson already knew they did something right, repeating the story was a great reinforcement of what was done right by the entire team. Reiterating the successful actions of others emphasizes what was done correctly, and what can potentially be repeated with other clients for future sales victories. Not to mention, this practice will strengthen the group bond that is created during a sale, which will encourage the fact that a sale is not done alone, but rather by a team.

The economy may be unstable, but that does not mean that your sales team needs to be. Support from the inside will project an air of confidence and security that your client needs at this uncertain time, and you will be surprised how quickly new clients will be drawn to your positive aura.

So the next time a successful sale is made, encourage the team to run through the steps that led to the sale, designating proper attention where it is deserved. You will be surprised how quickly the team will try to repeat their winning techniques in their next sale.

Installment One ? Revisit Old Clients & Reactivate Old Leads

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 10:23:09 -0400

by Charles Bernard

This post continues my series this month of 6 strategies for increasing sales performance in economic recovery.

Revisit Old Clients
Contact a past client or someone you served at one time, but are not actively working for now, and do business with them again. Start with your list of past clients, call them, say “hello,” and see what's going on. Don't make this a hard-sell call.

Example
Tell them, "Hi, it's Sophia. I'm calling just to check in.” Ask them what's new ...how they're doing ...what problems they are facing. Plant seeds (ask problem probing questions and describe solutions that you have provided to other clients like them) in the conversation and get invited to meet face to face.

Reactivate Old Leads
Someone calls. You send information. You call to follow-up. They don't respond. You call again. After that, you give up and forget about them. Many of those leads you simply gave up on can be turned into profitable business for you, with just a little extra sales effort. Most salespeople give up too early.

Example
I recently went back to my CRM system and ran a report on leads that were entered in the last six months. After thirty minutes and some reaching out, two prospects that I did not have last week had scheduled conference calls with us. It was that simple.

Please give me your thoughts and feedback!

6 Strategies for Increasing Sales in Economic Recovery

Introduction

Revisit old clients and reactivate old leads.
Help clients create new sales for you.
Add more value.
Keep busy and stay focused.
Prospect more.
Be positive.

Sales Performance for Economic Recovery

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 10:17:14 -0400

by Charles Bernard

Throughout this month, with its theme of increasing performance for the economic recovery, I will be writing a series of six blogs based on the six suggestions at the end of this introduction. I would love to get your comments and feedback along the way!

Introduction
Every business has ups and downs, and you don’t need a recession to convince you to problem solve in your own business. Even in the best of times, you should develop revenue generating strategies that will succeed when times are tough. Many sales people fear a down economy, believing that clients will scale back on projects, buy on price, and stop spending. An economic slowdown can be a problem for your company, but it can also be an opportunity to gain new clients and drive more sales. This strategy is especially true if you have developed sales methods that work in a recessionary period.

We are living in a “survival of the fittest” sales world, where we are forced to adapt on a constant basis. Some of my recommendations may help you to meet this challenge. Here are six suggestions to proactively improve sales in your company right now:

Revisit old clients and old leads.
Help clients create new sales for you.
Add more value.
Keep busy and stay focused.
Prospect more.
Be positive.

Stay tuned for more details about these topics in my posts that will follow!

Enthusiasm, Enthusiasm, Enthusiasm!

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 09:16:39 -0400

by Wyeth Killip

I had the opportunity today to take a break from the phones, emails, and never ending task lists to spend 30 minutes hearing a fresh perspective on strategic tips for overcoming call reluctance. There were several points that got me thinking, and I wanted to share a quick sound bite from one of my key takeaways.

We have all heard it before: Be enthusiastic. But unless we make a conscious decision to be enthusiastic each and every time we walk into a call, chances are the madness of our busy day will distract us from the one thing that may have the greatest impact.

Enthusiasm is contagious. If you are one of the naysayers arguing otherwise, then let’s face it, you’re missing the boat. Enthusiasm is your chance to put your own unique spin on your pitch and inject excitement into the arm of your potential client.

Remind yourself to add enthusiasm to your presentations and sales pitches. While it may feel hokey at first, you will quickly see that your enthusiasm is reflected in your audience’s participation. You’ll see an almost immediate change in the level of their engagement. Your audience will go from sitting back, slouching in their seats to sitting up, shifting to the front of their chairs and listening with heightened awareness.

Numerous studies have proven that through human interaction we tend to reflect the experience that others are projecting. If someone is excited, their voice is full and bold; their interest in what they are talking about motivates the listeners to match their level of conviction with attentiveness.

We are naturally drawn to interact with individuals that create experiences that we enjoy. Through the repetition of those positive experiences, trust is gained and we can consistently rely on those particular individuals to continue to deliver positive results. It’s obvious people buy from people they like and trust. Thus the end result is enhanced communication, strengthened relationships, and improved sales!

Service We Dream Of

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:21:30 -0400

by Natalie Johnson

We hold workshops and forums in the hopes of not only educating our attendees, but also with the goal in mind that like us, most people attend events with the purpose of making new connections that can be beneficial to their business. At our I Don’t Want to Be a Salesperson; I Want to Be a CEO event on May 7, a valuable connection was made between two good friends of CFS.

Our good friend Jennifer Walzer of Backup My Info! was one of our panelists, and at the event met a participant who is now a client of hers. The two met during the networking portion of the event when the participant realized she could use Jennifer’s services to protect her online database.

An important element of excellent customer service to keep in mind is that, believe it or not, it is a two-way street, especially when it comes to your networking goals.

Your aim as the service provider should always be to ensure quality assistance when called upon, but it is even better when you can surprise the customer with additional service. In terms of service for networking opportunities, always assist the client, customer, or friend, in as many ways as possible.

Provide a list prior to the event with the names of companies and individuals that will be attending the event, give a useful introduction with commonalities the two may have, and if time permits encourage a second meeting that you may facilitate so the two may further network.

Utilizing these tools will not only promote networking for your customers, but it will also foster growth of your own network…not to mention spread the word that your networking events are the ones to attend.

As Walt Disney said, “Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends.”

Service Is Child's Play

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 10:53:36 -0400

by Charles Bernard

When I was running sales at my systems integration company, NETLAN, we went through a period of friction between sales and engineering. We got into the email wars where someone in one department would blast someone in the other department and make sure that plenty of other people were copied on the emails, including the respective department heads. The problem got out of control, and eventually we called a meeting.

The tension in this particular case did not get resolved through a simple meeting, so we had to come up with something else. I remember brainstorming ideas and still nothing seemed to work. Then one evening I went home and explained the story to my eight-year old daughter, Sophia. “Some guys at the office are being a little bit mean to each other, what would you do?” She promptly replied, “Send them a Valentine’s Day card!” February 14th was quickly approaching.

What a fabulous idea!

With that, I went to the nearest Hallmark store and bought the largest Valentine’s Day card I could find. Two days later, after my team had signed it, we called a meeting for both sales and engineering in the conference room.

We surprised everyone with the card, and what followed was unexpected, but also a welcome surprise. I have never seen grown men display such emotion. Hugging, crying and basically discovering how foolish and self-centered we had all become.

What really got us afterwards was the discussion about putting aside our differences and creating a process that focused our attention on providing better service to our customers. To put our solution into action, we invented a process called CFS, which later became my current company’s name sake.

Sometimes, we need to take a step back and realize how our internal service affects our coworkers. And from time to time the best way to do that is through the eyes of a child. Amazing how a simple kid’s mindset can solve the toughest of problems. Go Soph!

The Second-Best Compliment

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:32:35 -0400

by Elizabeth Frederick

We always say the best compliment a client or former client can give you is a referral – it means they were so happy with your service they are willing to recommend it to a friend.

Well, if a referral is the best compliment, repeat business has to be second best.

This week has been a crazy one at CFS – we’re heavily involved in the Exploration phase of a new client engagement, and we’re continuing to offer our highest level of service to our other clients. On top of that, it’s been a busy week in sales!

We moved forward with Terms of Engagement for three prospects, and we developed a Confirmation Document (proposal) for another one. The best part? All four of these prospective clients are actually past clients who have come back for new projects!

We do our best every day to help our clients improve sales, and we always strive to provide excellent customer service. It’s immensely gratifying to see that our clients have valued our efforts and are willing to invest in new projects with us.

Thank you to all of our current and former clients! We’re honored to work with you.

Value Your Feedback

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 09:03:27 -0400

by Natalie Johnson

The event that was perhaps the inspiration for our blog theme of the month was a customer service training we held with a client this past Wednesday evening.

Customer service is an element of sales that we have always stressed, but until now had never conducted a training solely on. In the sales world we all know customer service not only dictates the success of the sale at hand, but also promotes the concept of repeat business. The purpose of our training was to stress the consequences of poor customer service both internally and externally.

Post-training we always take the time to dissect the wide array of feedback from the audience, and brainstorm how we can improve the training.

After our review we realized that the standard approach we took to the customer service theme of our training may not be the best future method. In other words, a nonspecific response to a client or customer problem is not always the best solution. A generic solution will not suffice if the situation is realistic and the client is emotionally involved in the dilemma. Every client has different desires and the best way to meet them as the provider is to educate ourselves of these differences and to remain open minded.

Therefore, the main lesson we received from the training: everyone is unique.

In the case of our training we needed to consider that our client conducts the majority of their customer service over the phone, so lessons on body language and in-person service did not directly apply. Their form of service lasts several months, and develops a relationship with the customer, a type of customer service that in the future we will be sure to address.

However, in terms of internal customer service, we stimulated significant conversations about how your attitude in the office affects the attitude you have with your clients. In our feedback we found that of the elements of the training the participants found especially helpful were that it taught them to, “be more positive in the office” and keep in mind that “complaints affect everyone around you and bring down morale.” Participants also realized that their fellow employees may react to their negative attitude and thus, everyone should “be aware of how your actions are affecting those around you.”

The main take away from our review of our customer service training is that in order to provide the best service possible to our customers, we must listen to their specific complaints and requests, and be respectful of others’ opinions. The views of one individual may at first appear outrageous, but it is surprising how often these views are shared by others.

Is Service in Season?

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:03:54 -0400

by Elizabeth Frederick

Those of you in the Northeast know we’ve been having a heat wave for the past few weeks. Last week was the worst yet in New York – it topped 100° three days in a row. On the hottest day of the week, Charles was visiting a friend. His air conditioner had stopped working, and he had placed a call the previous day to schedule a repair. After waiting on hold for 15 minutes, the technician was scheduled to arrive the following day between 2 and 8.

Charles met his friend at 6, and the technician still hadn’t arrived. They sat and waited, and at 7 his friend called the service company to confirm his appointment. After waiting on hold again, he was told the technician would arrive by 8.

At 8:30, the technician still hadn’t come. He placed another call, waited on hold again, and was then told his appointment had been rescheduled to the following day.

Now this situation would have been annoying anytime, but on a day that hit 104°, it was unacceptable.

Charles shared this story and it made me think. We’ve been focusing on customer service this month, and something I don’t often hear discussed is that service can be seasonal.

Think about it – you expect a repair appointment with the cable company to be difficult to schedule, and you’re not necessarily surprised if the technician doesn’t show up on time. If you called the day before your Super Bowl party, though, you’d hope for better service.

The retail industry is a great example. In preparation for the holiday shopping rush, retail employers typically increase their workforce by at least 4%. They could maintain their pre-holiday employment numbers and force customers to deal with longer lines, but they’ve made the conscious decision to spend the money to ensure a more pleasant shopping experience.

Many businesses don’t really think of themselves as seasonal, but if you take a step back you can see situations in which it might make sense to place a higher emphasis than usual on customer service.

If you recently experienced a product failure, you might want to hire extra customer service reps to handle the additional calls – the last thing upset customers want is a longer hold time. If a competitor is slashing prices, you could offer free samples, friendly and efficient reps, and faster shipping to compete. If you’re struggling in sales and every deal counts, it might help to train your sales team to improve communication and response times.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t always strive for excellent customer service, but some situations require additional focus. Are you ensuring that service is in season?