Since the start of the pandemic the salespeople I’ve helped who have applied the following tips have created more substantive business opportunities and healthy pipelines for 2021.

Positive Mindset – Having the belief and self-talk that you are helping and offering value to others, rather than “selling” and being intrusive during hard times, is the key to comfortable outreach and making calls.
https://www.linearstructure.com/how-to-strengthen-your-mindset-to-thrive-in-ambiguity/
https://www.linearstructure.com/video/accelerate-your-recovery-mindset-leadership-to-thrive-in-ambiguity/

Share Value – Approaching with an offer to help, by sharing fresh ideas and new perspectives without focusing on products and services leads to more meaningful and productive conversations. This value could assist prospects in achieving both company or personal goals.

Marketing Gravity – Build an ‘Attraction Campaign’ by creating a series of 6-7 pieces of content that demonstrate the value you can bring. Organise to send these to prospects over coming weeks via a variety of media, including social media, email and follow calls.
During your telephone calls establish if the content you sent was relevant and of interest and potentially set up a virtual meeting.
https://www.linearstructure.com/video/how-to-leverage-the-power-of-social-media-for-sales-managers/

Engagement – Whilst sales and relationship building principles are the same, how you achieve them has altered dramatically. Ensure your meetings are truely interactive and engaging by using collaborative whiteboards, process visuals and mixed together with great questions to stimulate a genuine two way conversation.

Invest in your professional image, an external mic for crisp sound, a webcam for sharp visuals and quality lighting are all key to presenting a professional image. And don’t forget to dress as if you were attending an important external meeting. Prospects will judge you on your appearance and it does influence their buying decisions. So don’t miss this easy opportunity to outshine your competition.
https://www.linearstructure.com/how-to-create-an-outstanding-virtual-customer-experience/

Try to make meetings in the morning while people are fresh rather than later in the day when virtual meeting lag sets in. Time your meeting at 15min after the hour or at 45min to allow people a bit of headspace between meetings which are normally booked on the hour.

Implement – Consistency in your outbound activities is the secret to success. Get your attraction campaign well organised and preferably automated to save time. Discipline yourself by booking regular daily slots into your diary for your outbound prospecting and follow up calls for meetings. This will ensure a continual flow of fresh opportunities into your pipeline.
https://www.linearstructure.com/video/virtual-selling-optimise-your-new-sales-reality/

These approaches are field tested and proven to produce the results you desire!

Any questions or ideas please drop me a line at peter.holland@linearstructure.com

Committed to Your Sales Success!

Peter

During the first lockdown we pushed through and dealt with unprecedented circumstances. This was a flight or fight response driven on adrenaline and we did a great job of adjusting and holding things together at work and home.

But now most people are feeling the fatigue that this adrenaline approach creates.

So, what should be your approach in 2021?

With ongoing restrictions and uncertainty what changes do you make to be successful long term?

Imagine driving down the motorway speeding, tense, stressed and focusing hard as you overtake in the outside lane.

If you actually arrive in one piece how do you feel?

Did you get there any faster? 10-20 minutes max.

Compared with driving at a consistent speed with a quick coffee break en route, staying sane and enjoying the journey.

In 2021 changing our viewpoint to identify the key activities that produce the most impact, value and results is central to building resilience and long-term wellbeing.

Keep our objectives and goals but be kinder to ourselves and others in achieving them.

Create new positive daily work patterns, ensuring regular joy breaks to connect with friends, and time outside in the fresh air!

Previously you probably felt achievement from your ‘busy’ momentum, commuting, office meetings etc.

The destination maybe the same but would a different route or KPI signposts along the way improve how you get there?

Why can’t we make this journey more enriching and worthwhile?

Now’s the time to reflect and plan a rational and coherent approach that will keep you positive throughout 2021.

Committed to Your Sales Success
Peter

The unprecedented changes to our lives and work in 2020 have created new challenges never experienced before. Technological barriers have shattered, causing millions of us to alter our beliefs about what is possible working virtually.

As 3-4 times the amount of people could be working from home in 2021 and post-pandemic it begs the questions:

What can we do to successfully manage a team that is dispersed?

What key challenges must we address to optimise this 2021 environment?

Here are 3 elements to worth considering in your 2021 planning.

Communication Plan – At the start of the pandemic hundreds of hours were spent on endless virtual meetings. Moving forward we need to create some communication norms to make productive use of time.

Good meetings require ‘Build-up’. Clear communication beforehand highlighting the purpose and setting an expected outcome help ensure everyone is fully prepared to make a meaningful contribution.

When individuals are dispersed inclusion and openness are vital to keep everyone well informed. It’s important to share not just what was agreed in a meeting, but also why and how decisions were made so people feel connected and engaged in the process.

Create consistency by deciding on which channel you will use for different types of communication. E.g., you might use Slack for daily internal messaging but email for formal documents and meeting summaries etc.

Review how many meetings are really necessary to be productive?
What’s the most effective format and frequency for your team to get results?

Social interaction in the office is something we all miss the most. So, try and recreate these ‘Watercooler’ moments with informal virtual hangouts and a ‘Random’ chat channel on Slack/Chatter where people can post funny appropriate videos, comments and jokes etc to lighten the workday.

Managing Remotely – This can require some new skills even for experienced managers. Reflect on the quality of your communication.

• Am I managing by objectives?
• Can I explain the task clearly to my team with expected outputs?
• Do I know how long it takes to produce this work product?
• What are the resources needed to deliver this product?

Make sure you agree realistic deadlines, remembering many employees are working in conditions that are far from ideal. Imagine working from your dining table whilst trying to keep your children occupied at home!?!

The key ingredient is TRUST

Workout with your team the right number of calls and check-ins and their optimal schedule for work each day. The concept of sitting at a desk at home from 9-5 is counter-productive and unsustainable. So, we need to recreate our working patterns and urgently help our teams adjust so they can be effective and engaged next year.

Employee Wellbeing – Before CV-19 we had some separation between our working life and our home life, and we spoke of creating work life balance. Today this fragile boundary has been removed. We are in one space with constant I.T. connection causing stress and potential burnout.

It’s important to establish ‘Boundary Control’ to alleviate this issue. One suggestion is for staff to be able block out family appointments and engagements in the calendar.
Another concept is to create highly individualized flexible work schedules that enable couples to balance family and work responsibilities.

New daily working rituals are proving essential to performance and productivity. It’s not healthy or sustainable to sit at a desk all day at home. Management need to clearly communicate to employees that this is not their expectation of a ‘normal’ workday. One solution is to encourage people to start their day getting some fresh air outside, a walk in the park or exercising. Break up the day into ‘Sprints’ where they focus on completing a task or objective in 30-45mins. Then take a 15min break, run an errand, do a chore and then refocus on your next ‘Sprint’ of productivity.

Companies who have dispersed workforces regularly provide an allowance to staff so they can purchase a good ergonomic seating and create a stimulating comfortable work environment with quality lighting, pictures and plants.

Implementing these adjustments will create a much more productive and enjoyable 2021!

Please share your thoughts on any aspect of planning for 2021 that you have found effective.

peter.holland@linearstructure.com

How can you leverage the power of social media on a daily basis?

With so many potential contacts, leads and content available it’s no wonder salespeople sometimes feel overwhelmed.

So, let’s look at some practical tips to organise your activities and maximise results all with just a few minutes a day.

1. Check Twitter Lists – create lists for clients, media, targets and competitors. This will reduce information flow and give you laser focus. Like, share, Re tweet comments, including company posts.
2. Check Linkedin – like, comment and share etc. Demonstrate you are an active part of the community.
3. Bookmark ‘recent activity URL’ from Linkedin – of key contacts and save into a folder on the bookmark bar. Check out the links daily so you don’t miss an update from your contact. Or alternatively pay for Sales Navigator and receive updates automatically.
4. Plan one EXCELLENT post a week on Linkedin – think about what your contacts would be interested in. It could be a shared article, a new brochure, or a TED talk. Or create your own article if you have something valuable to share like a case study that demonstrates how others have overcome challenges and the results they achieved. Do this in a meaningful way not just because you feel you should post something.

For some great additional ideas on leveraging social media to do research, make new connections and make meetings check out this webinar with Sara Pearce of Saffron Pea media.

https://www.linearstructure.com/video/how-to-leverage-the-power-of-social-media-for-sales-managers/

“Dedicated to Your Continued Sales Success!”

Peter

If you’ve been in sales over the last six months you’ll know getting quality virtual sales meetings is challenging.

Plus, now the ‘honeymoon’ period is over, just asking for a quick catch up is no longer going to excite your audience.

Here are some ideas on how you can get greater acceptance of your meeting invites.

1. What is in it for them? – Ask yourself what will they learn? How will their condition or knowledge be improved by taking this meeting?
2. Are you stuck to your script? – Ask yourself am I just delivering an automated presentation or have I tailored it for them? Have I included ‘space’ for questions and interaction?
3. How well do you know your audience? The general issues facing their industry and more specifically their own company and personal objectives.
4. Give a fresh perspective. Focus on adding your value, use your insight, unique expertise and network to educate and expand client’s viewpoint. Leaving them feeling they’ve learned something worthwhile.

Using this approach will give you earlier and more frequent access to decision makers.

But remember, in a virtual environment this value needs to be demonstrated early on and often during the relationship.

Focus on helping not selling and you will be on a winning path!

If you’d like more resources on this topic here’s a link to a full webinar: https://www.linearstructure.com/video/how-to-create-an-outstanding-virtual-customer-experience/

 “Dedicated to Your Continued Sales Success!”

Peter

Gaining engagement and trust during virtual meetings is challenging. You can’t read the room as you can in a face to face situation.

Here are some tips to ensure you drive value into all your virtual meetings.

1. Preparation before meetings is vital, but don’t fall into the trap of being so focused on delivering your presentation, you lose frequent contact with your audience. Use your preparation time to enable you to be more flexible during the meeting and adapt to their key concerns.

2. Don’t make assumptions, if a client mentions an issue they are facing is it essential to investigate thoroughly. We need to drill down and find the real reason or cause for the problem and get all the background details to fully understand their situation.

3. Asking good questions and actively listening to the responses is the only way to discover how you can add value.

4. Confirm back what you think you heard. Why is it important to ask confirming questions?

There are two main reasons:

1. You are ensuring that you have clearly understood the issue and background details, plus if you have misunderstood or the client has overlooked any important points it gives both of you an opportunity to correct it.

2. Secondly, and maybe more significant is the level of trust that is built between you and your client during this process. When they see you have a) taken the time to fully understand their personal situation and b) have correctly summarised the key issues effectively.

So often we are focused on demonstrating our capability that as soon as we hear our prospective client mention an issue they are facing we dive in with solutions, references and examples. Before we have fully investigated and confirmed back to ensure we are on the same page.

My challenge for you this week is to improve this one aspect of your communication. Focus on staying in the moment, really focus on what your client is saying. Rather than thinking ahead as they’re speaking about what you want to say next.

Ultimately, their last comment will give you the next step to move the conversation forward successfully and keep you right on point!

Follow these tips and you will discover you have all the time, information and insight to deliver value to clients in every meeting.

If you’d like more resources on this topic here’s a link to a full webinar https://www.linearstructure.com/video/how-to-create-an-outstanding-virtual-customer-experience/

“Dedicated to Your Continued Sales Success!”

Peter

With so many web meetings, ensuring customer engagement has become a priority.

Working virtually provides you with the opportunity to use sales content more effectively and imaginatively than you did previously in a face to face meetings.

Here are some guidelines to help you create real engagement from your sales content.

1. Seamless demos and presentations guide conversations with an agility that is often not possible in person. By creating a virtual ‘tool kit’ you can draw from that allows you to adapt to different circumstances. Then ensure you become very comfortable and confident using your technology platform.
2. Create a logical interactive pathway that leads the conversation, covers issues, and continually building trust and engagement.
3. Vital to align presentations to both the stage of the sales process and personalize it to the situation
4. Create precise content in a useful range to deal with outreach email, social media posts and web meetings.
5. Make sure your content helps the decision-making process!
   Disconnected content requires more energy to sift through and delays someone taking the next step.
6. In ‘Virtual’ delivery it’s harder to read the room.

Continually, confirm that you content is resonating with your audience by using viewpoint questions.

If not STOP and make a course correction. Maybe share a Whiteboard and encourage clients to map out the challenges and a solution together.

Investing the time to create this engaging sales content will pay off massively as your meeting with flow and reach successful conclusions more frequently.

If you’d like more resources on this topic here’s a link to a full webinar https://www.linearstructure.com/video/how-to-create-an-outstanding-virtual-customer-experience/

“Dedicated to Your Continued Sales Success!”

Peter

Coaching is the number one management activity proven to accelerate growth.

The uncomfortable truth is, sales mangers frequently miss out on receiving professional development in this area. An incorrect assumption is made that because they are good at sales, they will automatically be qualified to coach others.

The two roles are very different and require specific skills to excel.

After coaching dozens of managers over the years, I’ve distilled down six areas which will rapidly improve coaching performance:

1. Personalise your approach – Choose a topic for the person instead of the whole team to work on. Real improvement must be personalised for the individual’s specific needs.
2. Make a written record – Use tools to set objectives and record progress. Your coaching will disappear into thin air if it’s not captured and recorded so you can follow up and implement correctly.
3. Focus on one thing – Deal with one area of improvement at a time, until proficient skill is acquired. If you give someone three or four points to work on at the same time, it’s confusing and their efforts become diluted.
4. Let them set the goals – They must select which areas they want to improve on. This creates ownership and the self-motivation required to achieve the goal. Even if they choose a different area to you, don’t worry it’s better they choose the one they want to work on first. You can always return to your development area later.
5. Be consistent – You must have regular monthly or bi-monthly sessions in the calendar for coaching to be successful. Keep these commitments at all cost. If you cancel or allow them the opportunity to, the message you send is that this is not an important priority.
6. Hold them accountable – Regular and consistent follow up shows you’re committed to help people develop. Holding them accountable keeps them on track. Follow up on the agreed action points from the previous session, monitor progress, make needed adjustments and celebrate your successes. Then set the next goal and the steps to achieve it.

Here’s a killer question

If you asked your sales team about the quality your coaching, what do you think they would say?

Take this short assessment to compare your coaching skills with top sales management practice.

Read through the eight coaching questions and give yourself an honest assessment from 1 to 5.

The score of “1” meaning I need serious work in the area and a score of “5” meaning I could give lessons to others in the area.

Be honest with yourself.

Creating a winning coaching program starts with a clear understanding of yourself.

1. Are you more focused on closing deals for your salespeople than coaching them? Is this creating dependency?
2. Do you find yourself constantly putting out fires? And failing to organise resources effectively.
3. Do you fail to book consistent coaching time with your salespeople? Consequently, finding yourself constantly fielding their telephone calls.
4. Do you find yourself ‘telling’ them what to do? Failing to realise they should be setting their own goals.
5. Is coaching just another ‘To Do’ Item or your #1 priority? Do you fail to see its importance, ending up working on many other things?
6. Do you try to make everyone in the team work on the same specific area, rather than letting individuals set their own specific goals?
7. Do you set too many things to try and improve on at the same time, lacking real focus?

8. After each meeting do you leave your salesperson with 1 or 2 points to work on before you meet again? Is there accountability and regular follow-up?

Submit your answers below to receive your complimentary appraisal report contact@linearstructure.com

Developing the qualities of self-examination and personal reflection are vital to becoming an excellent coach. But investing in this one skill allows you to make a massive impact on your team’s performance and results.

“Dedicated to Your Continued Sales Success!”

Peter

Are you or your team converting 30% or less of your sales opportunities?

Simple changes to the way you manage your sales opportunities could be the answer to rapid improvement, without extra work or stress.

Sound too good to be true? Read on…

One reason that conversion rates are typically so low is because sales managers are not focusing their salespeople on realistic and achievable prospects.

As sales guys were tempted to build a ‘healthy’ big pipeline because it makes us feel secure. But the truth is, we probably know there are some ‘album fillers’ in there that aren’t really worth chasing.

Here are three steps to get sales results heading north.

1. Tools – Managers need to have an evaluation tool to review sales opportunities with their salespeople. This ensures only realistic opportunities remain in the pipeline. Set achievable actions to complete before your next review meeting, aimed at getting commitment to the next step or an order.
2. Communication – Change the review conversation from being a cross examination to a collaborative discussion. Both the manager and salesperson should be working as a team to discover any gaps in the deal and how to close them successfully.
3. Sales Manager Focus – Too many managers fall into the trap of focusing on the soon to close, urgent opportunities near the bottom of the sales funnel. This is a mistake; they should invest their time on new opportunities entering the pipeline and coaching their people on how to handle them effectively.

Here’s an example of an evaluation tool you can adapt for your review.

Adopt these three points and see wasted effort reduced and conversion rates climb.

“Dedicated to Your Continued Sales Success!”

Peter