Stevens Consulting Group

Times are difficult. Gasoline prices are up. Food and grain prices are up. Your ire is up and your business… down. It is so easy for the individual and the entrepreneur to decidedly give up. There are times when you feel all obstacles are in your path and the least resistance is stopping. It is understandable, yet an easy escape. There is too much recent talk of recession proofing the business and conducting business in tough times. These are simply titles and excuses for items that are required to operate a successful business.

A functional business is similar to a garden. The foundation for any garden is proper fertilization techniques that help nurture the soil and maintain its balance with its vegetation. Yet plantings will not grow without strong roots and soil. Similar to soil the best nurturing for your business is constant sales and customer care. The more sales and the higher the customer acquisition the easier to pay for people, property, equipment etc.

Other factors that assist in root development and nourishment for your soul and destiny relate to your attitude. Your holistic approach to your business is soil upon which your business grows. Similar to fertilizer your daily dosage must include the following:

Desire. For business to flourish you must abundantly desire success. Recall why you founded your business and what you hope to achieve. Your passion for assisting others is the fuel that bounds you from failure to fortune, fertilize your soul by returning to your desire so that you revitilize your soul. Another nutrient is repeating your mission statement and visualizing the success you desire to achieve.

Believe. There is no better nourishment then your faith. Faith is a component of both passion and love. Faith is your ability to disavow the norms and continue. Good roots fight inclement weather so must you! Thomas Edison did not believe he failed he had faith to succeed. If Henry Ford, and Andrew Carnegie did not have faith our American business system would not be the supreme power it is. And if Abraham Lincoln did not have faith, African Americans would not be free and his name would not be associated with America’s greatest president. In fact, faith was so imperative for Lincoln because his successes did not arrive until after his 40th birthday. Your faith gets you through intense storms but you must see the sunshine well before others.

Achieve. The only manner for success is continuance. My mentor states do not seek perfection seek success. I wholeheartedly agree. There is no perfection. We all face daily obstacles. We are constantly challenged by the errors of our ways, yet the only way to achieve is to continue moving. Refrain from excuses and continue to achieve no matter what the conditions.

Nurture. Gardens require daily maintenance; food, water and vitamins. You too must invest in nutrition. Success is achieved through education. Learn from your mistakes. Failure is the best educational tool we recognize. Many do not believe failure is a nutrient, yet it is the best nutrient. Think like Edison and use your failures as a road map towards new attempts. Education is the one item that no business professional ever retorts. Education is the greatest fuel for business success. Use previous experiences as a nutrient for new ideas and new possible beginnings.

Succeed. I recall a young man that had limited athletic ability. He was reared in a dysfunctional home and loathed by family and friends. After much discovery he found an outlet in track and field. After years of searching he found a tool that displaced the discontent in his life. With much practice he got better and began to appreciate the sport. His success brought about future success. He visualized future success. Within months he became the captain of his team and a four-time school record holder. He also enrolled and graduated from a prominent university. You too can achieve success. You have to breathe it, become it and yearn for it. Success does not come easy. The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King jr. stated, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.” Take the ladder of success one step at a time by seeing each step, living each step and appreciating each step.

Prosper. Admittedly, each day represents a new challenge and yet new opportunities. However, when your garden begins to show new growth, you stop in admiration. Take the time to reap what you sow. Learn to stop and smell the flowers and appreciate your success. Your ability to stop and reward yourself is prosperity. Yet also understand that prosperity is not only about money, it is your balance of both your personal and professional life.

Our worlds like gardens require constant attention. There is a need to eliminate weeds that shadow the beautiful flowers. Our gardens require comfort during inclement weather. And there is a need for daily nourishment to obtain strong roots for growth. The best gardens are attended. However, the most abundant gardens obtain daily nutrition, bountiful sunshine and love. Give foundation to your garden and watch your business become fruitful!

Blessings.


© Drew Stevens PhD 2008. All rights reserved.

Labels: Drew Stevens, Entreprenuership, sales strategy, sales techniques

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Posted by Drew Stevens at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments

Labels: customer service, Drew Stevens, sales strategy, Training, training and development

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Posted by Drew Stevens at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments

Through trial and error we understand that the more issues remain the same the more they must change. Research in a myriad of periodicals mentions numerous challenges for organizations especially in the selling process. New issues abound daily impacting how selling professionals meet buyer’s needs.

What we know are the following:

➢ Decision Makers are hard to find. There are so many responsibilities for people that trying to find the time for discussion is difficult. Additionally, since organizations tend to focus on lean, more people are making decisions rather than management. A recent Wall Street Journal Report states that personnel without authority to purchase a laptop can plan a regional meeting with a budget of $500,000!
➢ Competitive Neutrality. The proliferation of the Internet and information is challenging. Buyers comprehend more of your organization than your own sales force!
➢ Organizational labyrinthine. Globalization, rightsizing, mergers and multitudes of organizational transformation are as perplexing as discovering the DaVinci Code. Reporting lines and decision processes are difficult.
➢ Financial Planning. The one constant is decreasing divisional funds. Agreement is reached only to discover the unavailability of funds.
➢ The best defense is unclear. 15 years ago, training your sales force was mandatory. With tightening budgets and productivity issues, selling professionals are sent into battle without armaments.
➢ CRM. The sales tool offered to assist selling professionals is underutilized and mis-understood.
➢ No Teamwork. Sales require more collaboration with the marketing department.



With over 27 years of research and analysis with numerous organizations we constantly hear about sales excuses- no return calls to numerous voice mails. I have made return calls to interested parties only to never hear from them again. The world has become more complex and navigationally difficult.

Read any present newspaper or periodical and you will begin to acquire the phraseology of the “knowledge economy”. This is defined as an economy based on creating, evaluating, and trading knowledge. In a knowledge economy, labor costs become progressively less important as opposed to the amount of knowledge acquired by individuals and organizations to become more effective. Simply put, the more information one has the more knowledge one gains. Content is king! This is the key differentiator.

Selling professionals similar to your clients must be content experts. Clients desire trust and respect and they desire intellectual conversation. Drop the features and benefit discussion- these left when public seminars did. Your clients crave illustrious council. Selling professionals must be advisors, consultants and experts. This is vital to your business success.

There are some rules about sales:

1. There are simply four techniques of selling that are vital. One does not need numerous methods and training. Learn the four simple steps and you will sell more than you realize.
2. There is no basic selling rule or principle that has been discovered in the last hundred years.
3. One needs to take these principles and use them daily. Practicing these rules and making them a habit in your daily life will make you better.
4. Do not rush learning. Rome was not built in a day. You must learn daily and practice daily but without haste and impatience.
5. Evaluate yourself. Be critical and learn by what you are doing and not doing to become better. Be honest in your assessment.

The one issue of selling never expressed in training or research is that it is not event based or linear. Selling is a process, it takes time, it takes effort and it takes patience!

© 2008 Drew Stevens PhD. All Rights Reserved.

Labels: Drew Stevens, sales strategy, sales success, sales techniques, Sales Training, selling skills, Strategic Selling

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Posted by Drew Stevens at 3:55 PM | Permalink | Comments

A growing concern for many sales and marketing managers is optimization of sales leads. Each year selling professional’s get a plethora of business development leads unfortunately unearthing less than 47 percent. Worse, over 50% remain dormant. Managers postulate but to no avail. The numbers barely move. In recent research for this article, several clients utilize the Internet for sales leads with less than 5 percent reaching closure. To develop and optimize a productive lead generation program sales and marketing leaders must formulate a B2B strategic plan. The following information is meant initiate dialogue.

Content is King. Since the dawn of the Internet information has proliferated our society. Present clients obtain more information about your organization then you realize. Press releases, news stories, earnings even advertisements all provide analysis of the organization. When a lead finally does reach a selling professional, research illustrates that 87% of selling professionals reiterate known content.

Solution – Sales and marketing must formulate strategic client questions that provide client value. Rather than rehash features and claims, new leads are taken through an analysis to better understand needs. An exemplar might provide competitive product samples or packaging. Competitive firms can then provide alternative means and find gaps.

Mom always liked you best. Clients today inform all representatives of a lack of time and a lack of interest. In fact, according to CSO Insights the quality of leads is positively impacting the conversion rate of leads to first calls. Marketing and sales must collaborate on lead completion strategies. These are plans that assist in collecting a myriad of data for lead movement through the pipeline. Marketing instructors always discuss the “ …phics when discussing the 4 P’s and so must sales.

To help lead movement organizational strategies must be developed to understand demographics, geographic, psychographic and behavioral issues. This tool assists sales representatives with a better initial call to comprehend issues. Similar to an archeologist trying to unearth the past, a selling professional has more data to motivate the lead to a next step.

Solution – Provide sales representatives with enough data to move the lead through the management system. Have marketing work with sales to establish the type of content required for your organization. Additionally, clients today require multiple “touch points”. Produce value for prospective leads with white papers, analysis, industry trends, market data reports, EPA analysis etc. When available gain an email address or physical address to send updates to prospects. Constant contact with leads will help convert them into future sales.
Technology for technology sake. People today are overwhelmed with technology. Just recently I attended a Blue Man Group concert and the following information was displayed.
GENERAL EMAIL STATISTICS
• In 2001nearly 12 billion email messages will be sent every day Jupiter Communications

• The average number of email messages per day is 32, up 84% per year. 

• There are now as many as 170M corporate electronic mailboxes in use, growing 32% per year, with 440M mailboxes in total. 

SPAM STATISTICS
• In 1999, the average consumer received 40 pieces of spam. By 2005, Jupiter estimates, the total is likely to soar to 2000. The Standard

• America Online estimates that spam already accounts for more than 30 percent of email to its members – as many as 24 million messages a day. The Standard

• 7% of ISP churn was directly attributed to spam. Gartner Group


People are simply too tired of electronic commerce. Even though it is faster and least expensive, it is still intrusive.

Solution – Work with marketing to develop a paper and a paperless campaign. Direct mail is on the rise. B2B lead generation techniques need to follow this trend. Conversion rates must increase and the alternative is to remain in contact with leads in a plethora of ways that capture attention. Personalize pieces for maximum benefit. Sales and marketing might develop a cover letter that discusses previous conversations and outlines plans for future action.

Analysis not Paralysis. One client recently indicated that over 87% of their leads came through the Internet. However, when seeking additional information, we uncovered less than 10 percent of leads closed. There are a number of reasons for this from questions, to demographic data to the foppishness of sales disinterest in the lead. Some representatives have issues discerning what is a good lead and what isn’t.

Solution – What is needed is not more leads. Sales and marketing need to work together to discern what constitutes a qualified lead as well how to execute the lead to the next step. Each B2B process is different; ensure success by truly understanding how your organizational process works from beginning to end. Do not over analyze try different scenarios to you identify what works well.

No Pain, No Gain. Face it selling professionals can get quite frivolous with leads and inquiries in the system. Blame is easily thrown to marketing for poor execution and comprehension. Yet this is a team effort. One does not blame the running back for poor running if the line does not block nor should selling professionals. Inquiry management is a team effort.

Solution – Provide incentives for both sales and marketing professionals. Additionally, performance reviews for selling professionals must include quality of inquiry management information. Exemplars provide full disclosure of prospective clients not simply name and address. Key individuals consistently provide information used by marketing critically analyzed and used to optimize the lead equation.

Present B2B’s use services such as Six Sigma, Balanced Scorecard and a cadre of services to develop, qualify and optimize the business. For many years a division existed between the worlds of sales and marketing invoking territorial behavior. In a shifting global economy, a competitive industrial environment and the knowledge explosion, it does take a village. Too many choices create confusion and lethargy amongst prospects. Rather than count the leads, we need to move them. New methods need be employed to remove the morass that clogs the pipeline.

Good Selling.

©2008 Drew Stevens Ph.D. All Rights Reserved.

Labels: cold calling, Drew Stevens, inquiry managment, lead generation, lead inquiry, lead management, sales skills, selling skills sales seminars

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Posted by Drew Stevens at 2:36 PM | Permalink | Comments

Many people ask me about trends in sales and marketing. While watching and reviewing recent research I have determined the following trends for the next several years.

1. Lead Generation – Recent research illustrates that sales representatives generate 50 percent of their selling leads. As work progressively gets busier, representatives will turn to other avenues to generate leads. The true survivors will be those to rise above and create their own business advocates.

2. Training – Currently their exist a proliferation of sales training firms. The large issue, nearly 45% of corporate training dollars are spent on sales versus updating skills in management, technical applications, or finance. The preponderance of evidence suggests that many firms train in fundamental skills in one-day increments. And, those that do- train once per annum. Training is a process not an event.

Training in sales is a necessity and a proper return on your investment. Do not train for training sake. Ensure success with metrics and continual functions to aid effectiveness.

4. CRM denotes crude relationship mechanism. Contrary to many pundits nothing replaces selling then a relationship. The proliferation of the Internet and its tools enables personnel to research and develop consultative sales ideas not augment the relationship. Refrain from hiding behind computers and get selling professionals where they need to be- in front of the consumer.

5. Globalization – There is a vital need to understand culture, dialects and linguistics. Selling professionals must comprehend how to bridge the gap between the western world and those of our new neighbors.

6. Multigenerational Selling – Veterans, Baby Boomers and Generation X’ers are giving way to the millenials. This strong group of over 78 million people is entering the sales force. Generation Y as they are often known as are high in technology, quick to impress and move quickly. It is essential for sales professionals to understand how to communicate effectively to cross-generational groups.

7. Research is essential – Recent research from the 2008 CSO Insights discovered that 47 percent of sales leaders found that their professionals lacked good research skills. Sales leaders understand the value of information and know where to get it. Pundit believe research is a waste of time, nothing is more imperative than truly understanding customer needs.

8. Value versus Features and Benefits – Refrain from the selling stereotype. Sales professionals must sell value. Research shows that over 70 percent of selling professionals value selling. CRM, the internet and other software devices will not help. Professionals must ask the difficult questions to seek improving the client’s issue.

9. Professional Selling. There are too many organizations and associations that seek certification and sales development. The fact is that every facet of the organization is a selling process. That said, sales must be taught to everyone. More importantly, selling is the very nature of entrepreneurial success. World Class leaders will send all employees to a sales program. More importantly, just as marketing is taught in universities so too is the need for selling.


©2008. Drew Stevens Ph.D. All Rights Reserved.

Labels: Drew Stevens PhD, sales selling, sales strategist, sales trends, selling strategy, selling techniques, selling tips, Strategic Selling

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Posted by Drew Stevens at 5:39 PM | Permalink | Comments

There is research and some text to illustrate that politicians and selling professionals share similar characteristics. “Research for a forthcoming book on selling illustrates that sales representatives and politicians especially the new congress and incoming presidential candidates can learn something from each other”, states Drew Stevens PhD of Getting to the Finish Line an international management consulting firm with expertise in selling and customer service. “My initial research illustrates that there are seven main factors that assist each with their expertise,” he adds.

1. Charisma – The best selling professionals and politicians are charismatic. The best selling politicians of all time are Clinton and Kennedy respectively and the best selling representatives are Zig Ziglar and Donald Trump. Charisma attracts buyers and followers.
2. Relationships – Politicians and selling professionals hold a large base of relationships and contacts. They remain in constant contact with these individuals in good and bad times and whether services are needed.
3. Passion – Selling professionals and politicians have passion for their work. Voters and buyers disdain apathy. The best speak with conviction, with honor and love of work.
4. Risk – Each love to take risks albeit when and where appropriate. Each will take a risk to honor and serve their base.
5. Amiable – The best are good orators as well as easy to speak to. Each is pleasant with a peaceful demeanor and relates well to their respective base.
6. Language – Admittedly selling professionals by nature have the gift of gab, the lexicon of politicians and sales persons is wonderful. Solutions learn a new word each day!
7. Knowledge – Interestingly, both conduct incredible research to understand markets, trends, industry, consumers, constituents, etc. The prepared person is always ready to handle change.

The following list contains some of prevalent attributes. Further research is being conducting and more information will be available soon. For additional information please contact Drew Stevens PhD.

Labels: cold calling, Drew Stevens, politics, Positive Selling, sales help, sales techniques, Sales Training

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Posted by Drew Stevens at 12:37 PM | Permalink | Comments

I am barraged with a daily dosage of emails and voice mail solicitations. Nothing disturbs me more than someone who does not know me trying to pitch me without understanding my need. In the last few weeks a photo company has called my office countless times to sell me on my photo copy needs. Each representative begins their rote communicate with similar diatribe, "How are you today"?

There is another vendor that recently sent this to me:
"I just wanted to let you know that I'm your point of contact here at xxxxx.
I'm hoping to get a sense of what you're looking for. Do you have time to talk today? If not, when is a good time for you?
Have a good day,"

What is so frustrating about both situations is the ridiculousness. Not one bothers to ask of my needs. Not one solicits me for value and not one understands my business!

Here are some best practices:
1. Do not cold call. It does not work! It is disruptive and I am surprised how many first continue this senseless practice.
2. Research the firm you want to speak with. A recent research report illustrates that 47.9 percent of selling managers are concerned about selling professionals research efforts.
3. Only speak with a buyer. Wasting valuable time with a gatekeeper will gain conversation not revenue.
4. Ensure all campaigns you conduct are focused on outcome and results for the client. Facts about you, your competitors etc provide little relevance to your pitch.

Labels: cold calling, Drew Stevens, Drew Stevens PhD, sales skills, sales strategist, sales strategy, Sales Training, selling, selling skills sales seminars, selling strategy

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Posted by Drew Stevens at 9:20 AM | Permalink | Comments