All posts by Peter Holland

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Are your Sales Metrics Helping or Harming your Customer Relationships?

When you think about productivity do you recognise the power of the KPI’s you choose?

I want to share with you a real-life experience whilst working with a top multi-million-pound manufacturer of construction products.

I discovered the impact of different metrics when working with their Technical Services Team. This team were responsible for answering all of their customers technical product questions. However, in an effort to produce an efficient and productive team the management had chosen to measure as a KPI of the ‘number calls handled per day.’

Every week the Technical Services Team would produce a report which showed the number of calls they had dealt with each day. The team diligently tried to get through as many calls as quickly as possible every day.

What was the effect of this metric?

Unfortunately, the team were focusing on getting through their calls as fast as possible. In fact, if one of the team became involved in an in-depth conversation with a customer they would receive dirty looks from their colleagues! They saw this as slowing down the team’s productivity.

When we decided to change this KPI metric to measuring the ‘number of qualified opportunities’ the team discovered each month, everything changed.

This wasn’t easy at first for the team, but by helping them learn to ask better questions they started holding more relaxed and professional conversations with customers. They were now focused on showing personal interest in customers, discovering what type of projects they were doing and ensuring they were using the right product and advising on its application. This change of metric gave customers a much more valuable level of service. However, the benefits didn’t stop there, it also gave the company huge improvements. Each month the team were now actively discovering good quality opportunities and passing them to the sales team to follow up, resulting in a dramatic increase in sales results.

This internal technical team also became more engaged, as their work was now much more fulfilling and rewarding. To ensure they saw the value of their work we had the sales team report back on the results from the leads generated and rewarded the Technical Team on these results.

So, why not review the KPI metrics you are using to measure performance and ensure they are producing the behaviours you desire and most importantly add value to your customers.

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Are you Leveraging the telephone technology – to its highest potential?

As we discussed last week creating powerful correspondence is a great way to engage with new prospects.

However, to get the maximum benefit from this activity you need to be really effective on the telephone. Unfortunately, today many people feel self-conscious about speaking on the phone. They hide behind email which is a shame because the telephone is one of the greatest tools for creating rapport and relationships with people.

Even more so today with the opportunity to hold interactive skype calls where you can have 1-on-1 meetings that are brief, friendly and engaging.

So, let’s think for a moment about the correspondence we created. If you haven’t seen this go to the previous podcast where you can see an example, which we will use for our telephone follow up today.

Usually, I recommend you arrange to do your follow up calls 48 hours after they receive your correspondence, so it’s fresh in mind.

Let’s look at a successful formula to make this call, and we’ll take the toughest example – someone you have written to but have never spoken with before.

I would never cold call them without having written a personal letter or email to them in advance. I like to do this for two reasons.

Firstly, you feel more confident when you’ve taken the time to write a professional letter to someone.

Secondly, it builds trust in the other person that even if they haven’t seen the correspondence sent they will give you time to explain why you wrote to them in the first place.

So, let’s look at what to say on your follow up call. First of all, you want to introduce yourself by name and your company. But here’s something most people don’t do, they don’t give their prospect a ‘first call notice’. What do I mean by that? Well, you need to say something like, “you and I haven’t had the opportunity to speak before, but I wrote some correspondence to you last week”. By saying you haven’t spoken before, you’re giving them that ‘first call notice’ it lets them relax mentally. If anyone has called you and given their name but you don’t remember it you automatically start to go through a mental rolodex! You are thinking to yourself. Do I know Peter, should I remember him? Etc., etc. They’re not concentrating on what you’re saying. So, the first call notice is important to avoid this happening.

The next area to focus on, just like the sequence of your letter, is your industry expertise. You could say something like, “I’ve been working with other professionals in your sector for x number of years now”. Then you want to site job title expertise, you can do this by saying, “some of the concerns I’m hearing from other sales professionals in your position are…”

Then you can mention some of the challenges you highlighted in your letter.

After mentioning those key issues, you can show how you can help simply by saying, “I’ve been able to help our clients solve these challenges in a number of interesting ways.

Finally, you want to create curiosity and give an invitation.  Simple say, “I’ve been sharing some of these experiences and insights recently and I’d welcome an opportunity to learn more about your own objectives and see if these ideas can add value to your operation. When do you think there might be a good time to have a chat about that in the next couple of weeks?

This follow up approach is simple, it follows the same format and content of your letter for the telephone call, you’ve shown how you can add value and offered to share some specific examples with the person to help improve their business.

All of this correspondence and telephone work is focused on how you can help the other person. You’ll notice I spent very little time talking about myself my company, products, service or how great we are!

So, with this in mind I wish you great success in leveraging the telephone to create some fantastic new business relationships.

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Creating powerful correspondence that engages them every time

How much of the unsolicited mail or email you receive goes in the rubbish bin?

I’d like to bet pretty much 90% does. Why is that? Well, typically because this correspondence is focused on them. It all about ‘How good their company is, their products or service.’

So, I’d like to flip ideas on this conventional marketing approach on its head and instead focus on stimulating interest but focusing on the key issues or interest of your customers.

But what should you include to produce this type of communication?

Here are the 4 steps to create engaging correspondence.

  1. Introduce yourself personally and your organisation.
  2. Note your expertise in working with their peers in the sector.
  3. Share how you have helped overcome key business issues they face.
  4. Invite to share some fresh ideas and experiences to see if they can add value.
  5. Include a date & time you will call to see if the issues were relevant and of interest.

Next, think of the deliver method you will choose, most people will email this content, but how many emails to you receive in a day? 30-40? And if it’s from someone you don’t know there’s a strong likelihood you will simply hit the delete button before even reading it!

How many personally addressed letters did you receive last week? Probably none right or this month even?

So, why not consider writing personal correspondence to prospects using quality stationary and even hand-write the envelope for a personal touch. Automatically, you start to differentiate yourself as someone who’s thinking differently from the herd.

Be sure to follow up at the appointed time (1-2 days from delivery) as promised.

Last week a client called me who initially rejected this as an old-fashioned snail mail approach. However, he was pleased to report some of his rookie salespeople had taken up the idea and written to twenty prospective clients. They received three calls back from prospects requesting meetings and following their own telephone follow ups a further two meetings had been arranged. He confessed he never thought this approach would work but now he’s glad they tried it out.

So, I encourage you to drop a line to some ideal prospective clients and start some new and engaging conversations this week!

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Is your approach to prospects creating interest or tension?

The vast majority of approaches to prospective clients either via emails, correspondence or telephone calls focus on you. Your company and how good you are or your product or service.

What’s the effect on prospective clients? Most of these marketing pieces don’t create much interest but rather they create tension in prospects.

So, I’d like to flip this on its head and use a different approach. One that is focused on their key objectives, the issues they face and the challenges they need to overcome to achieve great results.

Why do you want to do this?

Ultimately when you are approached you’re thinking about “WIIFM” What’s in it for me?
So, you need to stimulate interest first rather than concentrating on the immediate action you’d like the person to take. For instance, they probably already know you’d like a meeting or telephone call with them to discuss your product or service.

The problem is it’s far too early in the conversation for them to make a commitment, until they really understand what’s in it for them.

So, how can you do this?

First of all, think about the new ways of marketing. In the past, marketing was focused on outbound activity. Generally, it was an interruption, either cold calling, cold emails or interruptive ads. But today’s sales generation are really focused on inbound marketing. They are creating interest and gaining permission from the customer either through blogging, publishing relevant articles and generally creating value for the customer.

So, we need to think, are our activities still relevant and effective?

Any marketing activity that pushes services or products on customers is really using that old outbound technique. What we really want to do is use marketing techniques that rely on earning people’s interest instead of trying to buy it!

So, what I’d like you to take away from this article is really a change of mind-set. Stop focusing on your company, business and what you want and make that shift to thinking about the challenges clients face and the unique value you can add to your prospective clients.

And I’m talking about amazing value. What value could you add that would make you irresistible in their eyes…challenge yourself to come up with answers to this.

So, they are thinking not just, “That’s a nice idea” but rather “Wow that would make a dramatic improvement to our business.

Next week stay tuned as I want to discuss creating powerful correspondence, ‘How do you write to engage people?’ and Secondly, are you using that amazing piece of technology The Telephone…How can you use it to create remarkable results.

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What Is The Only Thing You Need To Achieve Your 2018 Goals?

As we reach the end of year I dread hearing people’s New Year’s Resolutions, it’s an annual circus as so many will fail even before the end of January comes!

The fact is that the world is crying out for men and women who can get things done.

In every company, at every level the ability to take responsibility, commit to a task and see it to completion are rare and valuable talents.

So, as you approach 2018 and reflect on the growth your company, the results of your sales team or your own personal career advancement, why not ask yourself.

What projects have I started but left unfinished this year?

These could be at work or around the home. Do you have any unfinished DIY projects?

Many of us are good starters but poor finishers.

One of the best definitions of excellence I’ve heard is:

Excellence is a commitment to completion.

Too many sales leaders have great strategies, but they fall by the wayside, because they aren’t fully implemented and sadly miss their potential for creating remarkable results.

So, think about the impact on your team and their results if you allow this to happen. Anyone who is asked to commit to taking a certain course of action is bound to ask a simple question.

“How committed is the person asking me to be committed to this task?”

So, your attitude to this quality can either multiply incredible results or dilute the potential of your entire team.

There is simply no substitute for persistent discipline and determination to change behaviours if you want to see performance standards rise to a completely new level.

Closely linked to commitment are the qualities of volition and accountability.

Volition is the power to make your own decisions and accountability to hold yourself to seeing them through.

One task that can help you make this shift is to hold a 1 hour weekly improvement meeting. As a team review any areas that need working on and share your ideas for improving any aspect of the business. Then to-do’s, tasks and deadlines must be assigned after every meeting. The key is not to ask for too much to be completed. Make the gains small but constant. If you’re having these meetings weekly and making small incremental gains each week, think of the profound impact you’re going to have in 52 weeks. A year from now your company or sales team can be massively improved.

So, I’d like to challenge you to set some fresh and meaningful objectives for 2018 backed with a commitment to complete them!

Remember the world has a constant need for more people like you!

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Are You Maximising The Power of The Telephone?

The prevalence of new and alternative methods of communication have caused many salespeople to neglect one of their most powerful assets. A piece of old technology, the telephone.

Too many people these days prefer to hide behind Email, text and social media rather than picking up the phone and creating an engaging and meaningful conversation.

Why do people feel this way? One reason could be that text, tweets and emails are quick and easy to create and send. They don’t require you to step out of your comfort zone. Picking up the phone and dealing with a live interaction where you need to think and respond in the moment is more challenging, but the payoff is worth it.

What’s the impact of this trend?

Could we be inadvertently reducing our level of influence, the effectiveness of our communication and the depth of relationship with clients?

I’d make the case that for salespeople, the telephone should be your greatest friend.

Unfortunately, as convenient as email is it simply cannot give you the level of interaction you desire when speaking with a prospect or customer. The tone or substance of an email can easily be misinterpreted. You thought you were being witty, but they thought you were flippant!

You thought the tone of your email was clear and concise, but they took your comments as cold and impersonal, possibly even rude.

Using the phone effectively allows you to gain a greater understanding of how a client is thinking and feeling. Providing you with a valuable opportunity to ask relevant and useful questions to assist them further.

So here are 3 tips to improve your telephone skills.

  1. When prospecting or following up leads, focus on stimulating interest with prospects rather than the immediate action you’d like them to take. E.g., arranging a meeting. Make sure the content of your call focuses on what’s in it for them. Explain how you have helped others in the sector with key challenges, rather than droning on about how good your service, product and company are.
  2. Become adept at listening for the intonation in a person’s voice. Have you called at a really inconvenient time? Do they sound stressed or exhausted? If so why not show some empathy and offer to rearrange the call for a more suitable time. Often this will accelerate the relationship and make people more amenable to speaking with you. After all, when was the last time a salesperson did that to you? It makes you memorable and distinct, and they won’t be expecting this fresh response.
  3. Plan your call. Too many times salespeople hit the phones without spending a few moments to think through the potential directions an important call may take. What are the customer’s key issues or concerns. Likely objections? What ways can you add value to help them move forward? How can you demonstrate the value of taking a certain action or making a purchase decision? What would be the most appropriate next step as a goal for this call? A few minutes of mental preparation will see your calls progress far more successfully.

True, using the phone does take practice and skill to master. However, the dividends it pays when building quality relationships far outweigh the effort.

So, I encourage you to embrace this form of communication and differentiate yourself from the crowd of emailers still waiting for a client to respond!

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Is It Time To Recalibrate Your Work-Life Balance?

I’m devoted to helping individuals and companies take their success to the next level.  Achieving this type of growth requires drive, focus, commitment and enthusiasm whether you are a senior manager or a salesperson working in the field.

However, there’s a tipping point. The point where overachievement becomes detrimental to your long-term success. Simply put your current progress is unsustainable.

It’s a fine line, and if you are not careful, it can cause you and your team to lose balance with a negative impact on the organisation, your results and most importantly your relationships.

So how do you know where to draw the line?

Here are 4 questions you can ask yourself for a quick litmus test!

  1. If I had to list the top 2-3 things that I say I value most in life, how much time am I dedicating to them each week? My partner, family, friends or hobbies?
  2. Do I find it difficult to switch off from work? Do I constantly find myself checking and responding to emails long after business hours or on weekends?
  3. As a management team are we fostering an environment where we respect an individual’s personal life? Or do people feel they are earning brownie points for working night and day?
  4. How often do I rejuvenate my energy by doing activities that refresh and inspire me?

The answers to these questions can provide insight into whether you are living in a way that will bring you satisfaction and long-term success. If you’re too focused on work, you get bored, burnt out and lose that vital ingredient enthusiasm.

I’d encourage you to take a step back and review your working habits. If you discover some imbalance here are some specific actions to assist you to recalibrate and maintain balance.

Ask your friends and partner for feedback. How do they see you and the way you interact with them? Are you continually cultivating these unique relationships?  Do you give people your full attention when you communicate? Or are you always on your smartphone?

Why not plan your recreation, commit time in your calendar for, family time and favorite activities.

Try switching off notifications and commit to reducing the number of times you check email each day.

Find a cause or an individual to help and support, outside your usual frame of reference. Giving of yourself like this provides satisfaction and an opportunity for new inputs, ideas and a chance to contribute that’s refreshing.

Doing this exercise and personal reflection can be uncomfortable but getting your life back on track now will pay healthy dividends both in your personal life and develop your ability to create long-term sustainable performance you can be proud of.

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Finish Strong Start Fast!

Let me ask you a question…

Why is it that some companies slow down as they reach the last quarter of the year and inevitably start the New Year slow and foggy?

While others finish with a bang making the last quarter their best!
Plus, they invest time now to leverage their plan for next year’s great success.

What I’ve come to realise in working with many organisations is that there is a fundamental difference in the focus and mindset.

Some are focused on strongly finishing and being in pole position for a fast start. While others lose focus and their attention drifts, easing back into the holiday period.  Coupled with a slow start in getting their new strategy up and running.

Companies often need assistance to maximise the opportunity this vital window of time provides.

While identifying the vital winning behaviours, it occurred to me to help my clients to make Q4 their best and be in prime position to accelerate growth with a clear plan to execute successfully Jan 1.

So, I’ve decided to create a new unique program:

Finish Strong – Start Fast!

  • Capture all Q4 2017 opportunities for maximum results.
  • Re-energise yourself and team ready to make 2018 your best.
  • Dramatically optimise your current resources to increase your conversion rate.
  • Create a clear strategy to effectively implement Jan1 so everyone is driving forward from the same page.

In this program, I will show you how to create a winning sales strategy to make 2018 bigger than you thought possible.

Since I can only work with a limited number of individuals, I’m accepting applications over the next two weeks to work 1-on-1 with me to ensure you maximise results and impact.

We start November 1st – Dec 15th and I want to make the entry level investment highly accessible in the spirit of the season!

There are two options:

Option A – £6,000 1Nov – 15 Dec

Option B – £12,000 1Nov – 31st Jan

(Option B includes additional intensive coaching to implement the plan directly during January to maximise fast acceleration.)

Don’t let another year go to waste, let’s take bold action and finish 2017 strong and start 2018 fast together!

Contact me now at peter.holland@linearstructure.com

“Doing this strategy work with Peter has been brilliant. In a few short hours we now have clearly stated objectives with activities and metrics to hit them. It’s given us a clear focus for the year and everything we have done directly relates to achieving our company goals. Previously, when working for other major organisations we spent months putting together bulky strategy documents and presentations, but this process has our plan down on one or two pages.”

Simon Herman – Managing Director – Bolon Flooring UK

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Are You Enjoying The Sales Rollercoaster Ride?

Being a sales professional is unlike any other career. You have a level of freedom that doesn’t exist in most professions. But along with this freedom also comes responsibility and that’s why it’s outside of most people’s comfort zone.

It’s a role where you are accountable for the results you produce month in and month out.

This profession demands that you ride an emotional rollercoaster; one where you will experience both the highs of winning deals and the lows of losing. It’s an important topic, one that regularly comes up in my coaching with both salespeople and their managers, and it’s linked to self-worth and the results you will achieve.

So, I’d like to address the question. How can you prepare mentally for this journey? Not just to survive but to thrive in this environment.

Let’s look at five keys to creating resilience and a winning mindset.

  1. One key is to take a broader perspective or viewpoint of your work. That can be challenging when you have just lost a major opportunity. But the fact is no one wins all the time and if you are converting 40-50% + of your opportunities you are ahead of the pack. If you adopt a longer-term viewpoint, you are less likely to be upset by every rejection or lost deal. You gain an understanding that this is all part of the sales process towards hitting your target. Therefore, to achieve this you need to focus on filling your pipeline with quality sales opportunities that are further out, then this will enable you to have a healthier long-term pipeline which allows you to be much more resilient to the ups and downs of everyday life.
  2. Avoid placing too much confidence in one or two big deals. Often salespeople who rely on one or two big deals to hit target come unstuck and place themselves under way too much pressure. Rather, break your annual target down based on your average order values and use these as an indicator of the number of new opportunities you need to put into the pipeline each month. Then when you do land a big deal, it will be a bonus on top of your regular results rather than a lifesaver.
  3. Key to enjoying your sales career is to realise that your self-worth and value as an individual is not linked to your sales results. If you’re going through a bad patch, you can turn it around, and current results are not indicative of your potential for improvement. The important thing is to analyse your performance, understand where you went wrong and take steps to improve. Here is where professional coaching can be a real asset to help you be more reflective, to identify issues that need work and to set specific corrective steps.
  4. If you’re a sales manager, the art and science of coaching your team to reach their potential should be high on your list of priorities. Unfortunately, many sales managers have never received training and development in this area, despite the fact that they can hold the key to increased performance for the whole team. So, educate yourself on how to communicate successfully with the different personalities in your team. One type of approach is not enough you need to be adaptable in your communication to get the best from each
  5. Finally, another area worth reviewing is your approach to your clients. Are you focused on winning your next piece of business or rather are you looking to demonstrate value and help them achieve their goals. This will make a big difference in your attitude and how likeable you are. People want to deal with people they like and trust. So, to enjoy your sales career and have long-term success, this genuine interest in others is vital.

Applying these five tips will put you well on your way to creating a winning mindset, where the rollercoaster ride is exciting and challenging in a good way!

Look out for my upcoming October podcast series that will focus on dramatically improving your communication skills with clients.