Winning Edge: March 2015 - BESMA 2015

Winningedge For sales and marketing professionals

March/April 2015 | www.ismm.co.uk

Stars in es our seucy cess at

Celebrating in sales e c n e l l e c x E h is the Brit wards and Marketing A

ducking red tape

How to bid for public sector work Cover V10.indd 2

word spreads

Why customer experience counts

time is money

Qualifying a lead in only 10 minutes 18/03/2015 16:49

BESMA ad_Layout 1 12/03/2015 11:02 Page 1

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contents

contents

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March/April 2015

www.ismm.co.uk

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Cover Story

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Harrier Court, Woodside Road, Lower Woodside, LU1 4DQ Tel: 01582 840001 Fax: 01582 849142 Email: sales@ismm.co.uk Website: www.ismm.co.uk Chairman: S R Watson-Challis President: W Eric Peacock CMG DL ISMM Honorary Fellows: HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh KG KT, HRH The Princess Royal Vice Presidents: Lord Apsley, Angela Browning MP, Patrick Joiner FInstSMM, Lord Moynihan, Michael Pambos PhD FInstSMM, The Rt Hon The Lord Parkinson, Dr William Pedley, Norman Waite FInstSMM Director of Business Development: Julian Reid Editorial: Marc Beishon, Tom Nash Design: Del Gentleman Advertising: Julian Reid Email: magazine@ismm.co.uk Tel: 01582 840001 Printing: Ridgeway Press © ISMM 2015. Opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by the ISMM. The publishers endeavour to check all facts and figures prior to publication, but are not responsible for errors in material supplied to them for publication. Any article published will automatically be deemed to carry the sole copyright and be the property of the ISMM. International Standard Serial No. UK ISSN 1746-6849

ismm.co.uk

1 Contents V3.indd 3

12

38

28

3 editorial

18 the best of british

The word ‘value’ is being used more – and sales is at its centre

Our full report and pictures from the magnificent British Excellence in Sales and Marketing Awards

4 sales talk A round-up of news and research from the world of sales

24 public sector selling

7 Opinion

Philip Norman explains how to cut through red tape and win new business from the public sector

Andy Brown on the merits of ‘good cop, bad cop’ negotiating

28 value propositions

8 opinion

Make your proposals reflect your true value, says Sarah Hinchliffe

John Lynch explains how to build thriving export sales

32 education

11 tools for the job

Juliette Denny explains the learning merits of ‘gamification’

Innovative equipment to help switched-on sales professionals

34 customer experience

12 smarter selling Qualifying a lead in 10 minutes,

avoiding presentation problems,

hiring for telesales and more, including ‘Coathanger’ – our look at the lighter side of sales life

David Batup and Lisa Muller consider the concept of customer experience in B2B selling

38 social media analysis New analytic tools offer sellers rich feedback, explains Jon Halestrap

16 integrity and trust

48 member profile

Research shows that doors will open for trustworthy salespeople

Winning Edge meets CRM pioneer Charlie Shaw of Gold-Vision Winning Edge 1

17/03/2015 17:33

Regus ad_Layout 1 06/03/2015 08:53 Page 1

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Business Centres in the United Kingdom Aberdeen Amersham Barking Basingstoke Bathgate Beaconsfield Belfast Bellshill Birmingham Blackpool Bolton Bolton Borehamwood Boughton Bracknell Brentwood Brighton Bristol Bury Caerphilly Camberley Cambridge Canterbury Cardiff Castle Donington Cheadle

Chelmsford Chertsey Chester Chippenham Cinderford Cobham Crawley Croydon Darlington Darlington Dartford Darwen Deeside Dinnington Dundee Dunfermline Durham Edinburgh Ellesmere Port Exeter Fareham Farnborough Farnham Fleet Gateshead Gatwick Glasgow

Gloucester Grangemouth Guildford Harrogate Hatfield Hayes Heathrow Hemel Hempstead Hereford High Wycombe Horsham Hounslow Jersey St Helier Kirkcaldy Lambourn Leatherhead Leeds Leicester Leominster Lincoln Liverpool Livingston London Ludlow Luton Maidenhead

Maidstone Manchester Mansfield Melksham Middlesbrough Milton Keynes Motherwell Newark Newbury Newcastle upon Tyne North Shields Northampton Norwich Nottingham Nuneaton Oldbury Oxford Peterborough Plymouth Portsmouth Potters Bar Preston Reading Redhill Reigate Richmond

Global Locations Rickmansworth Rochdale Sheffield Shrewsbury Slough Solihull Southampton St Albans Staines Staines-uponThames Stirling Sunderland Swansea Swindon Tockwith Twickenham Uxbridge Wakefield Warrington Watford West Bromwich Westerham Weybridge Windsor Woking York

Algeria Argentina Australia Austria Bahrain Bangladesh Belgium Botswana Brazil Bulgaria Cambodia Canada Chile China Colombia Costa Rica Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Estonia Finland France

Germany Ghana Greece Guatemala Hong Kong Hungary India Indonesia Ireland Israel Italy Ivory Coast Latvia Lebanon Lithuania Luxembourg Japan Jordan Kenya Republic of Korea Kuwait Macau Madagascar Malaysia Malta Mauritius

Mexico Monaco Morocco Namibia Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nigeria Norway Oman Pakistan Panama Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Singapore Slovakia

Slovenia South Africa Spain Sri Lanka Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Tanzania Thailand Tunisia Turkey Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Venezuela Vietnam Zambia

Whatever your business needs, Regus can offer you a smarter way to work

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23/3/15 12:17:05

opinion

editorial comment

value proposition value is being used more and more in many business contexts, with sales at the centre

T

he word “value” has been used for some time now in sales circles, particular in terms of the value proposition of our offerings.

Put simply, selling is about communicating the value of what you have to offer, and that may not just be in the products and services a company sells, but could also be in the expertise and approach a salesperson or salesforce brings to the process of selling – how you sell can have great value to customers, as we’ve reported in several articles recently, and see also articles on pages 16 and 28 in issue, which reinforce this “Training salespeople this message. Even if you are to be confident ‘value selling commodities or are in a retail B2C job the combined negotiators’ is key.” product/approach is likely to be critical in an age where customers can quickly turn to someone else.

Constructing and articulating value propositions for complex sales is hard of course, and it’s probably the top obstacle that companies face in the sales cycle and in presentations and proposals.

It’s no wonder that most of the top consultancies and business books revolve around the value issue, with approaches such as the insight and challenger models. In turn, companies have been grappling with the spin-offs of getting better at value propositions, in particular value-based pricing,

WINNINGEDGE FOR SALES AND MARKETING PROFESSIONALS

MARCH/APRIL 2015 | www.ismm.co.uk

DUCKING RED TAPE

How to bid for public sector work

ismm.co.uk

3 Editorial V2.indd 9

WORD SPREADS

Why customer experience counts

TIME IS MONEY

Qualifying a lead in only 10 minutes

customers want value too Lately we have been hearing more about value from clients and major sectors such as healthcare.

Value-based pricing in the NHS has been a controversial topic, and the American healthcare reforms have emphasised value for money much more in moves away from “fee per service”.

Overall, value-based procurement, often just as hard for customers to implement as value-based selling, is something we are likely to encounter more and there are clear opportunities for mutual synergies under the “win-win” banner.

But perhaps the greatest challenge is to avoid value just becoming another management buzzword, and preserving its true value...

from the editors

A new look for winning edge

T

STARS IN OUR EYES

SS AT CELEBRATING SUCCE LENCE IN SALES THE BRITISH EXCEL DS AND MARKETING AWAR

which is widely overlooked, according to a new study by McKinsey. Understanding more deeply what customers value and training salespeople to be confident “value negotiators” are key to this approach, which can defend price increases and maintain profitability. Amusingly, McKinsey cites a company that valued the packaging of a product more than the actual product itself.

his month brings a new look to Winning Edge magazine. Our smaller, more modern format makes for an easier read with better signposting to content.

Winning Edge is the UK’s only magazine that focuses on the sales side of the sales and marketing professions and for many years we have been covering topics that are simply not covered elsewhere in the business media. There is plenty of coverage of marketing,

particularly in the retail consumer sector, and now also in social media, but little on the often complex methodological and interpersonal issues involved in selling in the B2C and B2B worlds from the viewpoints of frontline salespeople, sales managers and directors, account managers and all involved in the extended internal sales and partner community in a firm.

We hope you enjoy the new format and please continue to call or email us with your ideas

about articles you would like to see – and why not write an article for the magazine? We particularly welcome articles on practical sales topics, case studies, and reviews of books, training materials, software and ‘road warrior’ gadgets. We can line these up for you – and there’s more interesting salesrelated items out there than ever.

You can also advertise your business in Winning Edge – email pressoffice@ismm.co.uk for our rate card.

Winning Edge 3

18/03/2015 12:15

Most important aspects of working life

Industry news

41%

6%

27%

17%

Good work/life balance (Not having to work too many hours)

Good Job satisfaction

2%

Company culture

Good job security

Good salary and benefits

3% Good boss & colleagues

T ele s elling

Phone facts of life Men and women are different when it comes to telesales calls When marketing and selling to women on the phone, being ‘relatable’ and thorough in your communication with them is a key factor towards securing a sale. But with men, a speedy approach with concise messaging wins the day.

According to research by callbased marketing automation company ResponseTap, nearly three-quarters of women say that speaking to a well-informed, helpful agent reassures them that they are getting exactly what they want.

Only a third of men say that a well-informed agent would make them more likely to purchase, but it would help many to decide faster.

buzzwords

‘Social selling’

“Social selling is the use of social media to interact directly with prospects, answer questions, and offer thoughtful content until the prospect is ready to buy. Social selling is not hard selling. In fact, it’s the opposite.”

“Cold calling is the solicitation of business from potential customers who have had no prior contact with the salesperson conducting the call.

You might say one is yesterday’s way of selling and the other is today’s.”

Source: Biznology.com

4 Winning Edge

4-5 News V3.indd 2

motivation

Salespeople seek satisfaction at work

Research suggests that salespeople are not incentivised by money alone Salespeople rate work-life balance and job satisfaction as more important than salary, according to new research. Some 41% of workers in sales roles claim job satisfaction is the single most important aspect of their working life.

In addition, the study found 15% are currently looking for a new role, while different age groups reveal changing priorities when it comes to work and play.

A survey, carried out by YouGov for recruitment specialist Reed, asked 1,600 salespeople across industries about their attitudes to work, career aspirations and regrets. It identified key trends that indicate how UK salespeople’s priorities change over the course of their career – which Reed says could have a significant effect on the talent management strategies of many UK firms.

With 41% of workers claiming that good job satisfaction is the single most important aspect of working life, followed by the need for good work-life balance (27%), it seems that a sales role is no longer just about the salary package. Despite 15% of workers looking for a new role, satisfaction rates are very high among salespeople, with 88% describing themselves as satisfied.

While just over one in ten workers (13%) have stayed loyal to the same employer over the course of their career, almost twice as many (22%) have moved workplaces more than seven times. When asked why they changed employer, salespeople reported better prospects for promotion (42%), better salary (41%) and boredom with their current role (30%) as the top three motivators.

Jason Culloo of Reed Sales, says: “In the candidate-led market we’re in today, employers need to think hard about how they attract and retain the best sales staff.

What this research shows is that although salary is very important, now we’re out of the recession it’s no longer just about pay – employers need to consider many other factors, such as flexible working and how they can offer greatest job satisfaction.”

What matters most to sales professionals across the ages 18-24 Salary and benefits (38%) 25-34 Job satisfaction (31%) 35-45 Work-life balance (31%) 45-54 Salary and benefits (25%) 55+ Job satisfaction and work-life balance (joint top 32%) Salary figures

Sales director

Sales manager

account manager

sales executive

Min

Max

Min

Max

Min

Max

Min

Max

South

£60,000

£150,000

£30,000

£60,000

£30,000

£50,000

£20,000

£35,000

Midlands

£50,000

£120,000

£25,000

£50,000

£25,000

£37,000

£18,000

£30,000

North

£50,000

£120,000

£25,000

£50,000

£25,000

£35,000

£18,000

£30,000

ismm.co.uk

17/03/2015 18:41

Sales Talk | industry News

Talking Point

Short Selling N ew s ro und- up

f eel ing th e h eat

“Almost half of professionals in the UK (48%) claim they are closer to burning out than they were five years ago, while over two-thirds are required to work outside of their regular office hours more often than five years ago. The top triggers of workplace stress are lack of exercise, feeling understaffed and job insecurity.”

Source: Survey of 3,000 UK businesspeople by office provider Regus.

I SMM N ew s

Link in to sell more ISMM stalwart offers social media advice Nevil Tynemouth of Durham-based New Results Training has written a guide to help businesses and salespeople improve their performance using LinkedIn. Tynemouth, an ISMM Fellow who runs regular networking events for the institute in the North-East, says: “Only a handful of organisations and individuals are using LinkedIn to find new customers and to sell more of their products and services. My book, Sales Success on LinkedIn, aims to help by describing techniques, tips and tools they can employ.”

He continues: “So many people seem to adopt a very different persona online – they can be a great salesperson face to face, but online they come across as either too aggressive or too passive.”

Tynemouth, who has been delivering LinkedIn training courses for two years, takes a humorous, human approach to make the book as accessible as possible. He adds: “I believe firms can use LinkedIn to win big contracts, just by making a few simple changes to their online profile.”

ismm.co.uk

4-5 News V3.indd 3

Job undone A survey by specialist recruiter Randstad Business Support reveals that just two in ten job candidates tailor their LinkedIn profile when going for new job – yet three-quarters of applicants are comfortable with future employers viewing their online profiles.

Number cruncher

book s

Account management by the book

The latest edition of a popular book explains how to manage key customers Are you looking for an ‘off the peg’ solution to key account management? If so, you’re not taking the task seriously enough, says Peter Cheverton.

In a new edition of his popular textbook, Key Account Management, Cheverton presents a straightforward and effective planning methodology for key account managers and others who need to ensure that they manage key accounts effectively and profitably.

This updated 6th edition, published by Kogan Page, takes a long-term, team-selling strategic view of the account management process, from defining the customer to managing the relationship and achieving key supplier status. It includes coverage of the latest best practice, including IT’s role in account management, plus new case studies, supporting online resources and a new section comparing how different industries and markets approach the task of key account management.

Alinean, a specialist in communicating value to prospects, has released a new portal, “I Want My ROI”, with a collection of free online return on investment (ROI) calculators and assessment tools, “helping executives to benchmark spending, assess performance and drive business improvements”.

forward thinking Global sales performance expert Miller Heiman has released Advanced Concepts, an on-demand sales enablement tool that delivers content on sales best practices to alumni of the firm’s Strategic Selling and Conceptual Selling sales methodologies.

train without gain?

Best Practices in Design and Delivery of Sales Training Programs, a report by US sales training companies Richardson and Training Industry Inc, finds only 22% of sales training programmes are rated “very effective.

Don’t apologise

Todd Cohen, an international speaker and author on sales culture, has published a business development book, Everyone’s In Sales: Stop Apologizing, a lively, practical guide to help salespeople sell better.

Growth model

Clarify, a specialist in strategic business development, has developed a business development maturity model.

Designed around a set of six analytics that touch on all client-facing facets of a business, the model promises to “replace guesswork with hard data and a precision-based framework for optimising business growth”.

Winning Edge 5

17/03/2015 18:41

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Andy Brown considers the pros and cons of the double-handed sales negotiation

I

have been selling, on and off, ever since my first job as a medical sales rep, when I sold medical filters to hospitals. I recall many unwanted appointments and some very strange hours. I once did a 2am demonstration on the use of an IV filter – ah, happy days...

Anyway, back then in the early 1990s, when I visited a new prospect my aim was to build a relationship, discuss medical journals and get the consultants interested. Once they were engaged, my regional manager would come along to “seal the deal”. At the time, he seemed to be undoing all my good work, but with the benefit of hindsight I can see he was playing “bad cop” to my “good cop”. Did it work for us? Honestly, I’m not sure – and in fact I only lasted 12 months in the role before I moved to another sector.

Today, however, we still see examples of this technique in meetings and interviews – so does it work and should you use it?

Stay warm and tough The answer to the first question is: it depends. As is often the case in negotiation, it is not what you do but the way you do it that provides the impact.

Sometimes bringing in another person who has a different perspective, and perhaps a more direct approach can give support to your lack of movement. If someone is expecting you to move because of your good relationship, you may feel that bringing in a senior team member to deliver the bad news may keep that relationship intact.

But the best negotiators will not risk the possible reduction in credibility that this might entail.

Excellent negotiators use words and tone that enable them to remain tough on the objectives, while also remaining warm towards the customer or prospect they’re negotiating with. This is a skill that requires practice and confidence.

Then there is the question of what you do if good cop/bad cop is used on you. (Professional buyers can be just as adept at it as sellers, by the way.) I have three suggestions. First, a smile (letting them know the tactic is unlikely to work) and calling their bluff can be effective if the relationship is good, such as “I am getting mixed messages from each of you, so may I just summarise what has been said…” If the relationship wouldn’t suit that response, then “divide and conquer” might work.

Direct all your questions at the bad cop – the meeting tone will change, but stay with it, and stay warm. The bad cop will soon realise that they are ismm.co.uk

7 Comment Brown V4.indd 9

Opinion negot iat ing good cop, bad cop

By Andy Brown

“Excellent negotiators use words and tone that enable them to remain tough on the objectives, while also remaining warm towards the customer or prospect they’re negotiating with” the only participant in the meeting, to the exclusion of the good cop. This would not have been their intention and, in most cases, their behaviour, tone and words will soften, to avoid the meeting becoming nothing more than an argument.

My third suggestion is take a recess. This works particularly well when you have a silent person across the table and only part way through the meeting does the role they are playing become clear. Bad cop is a difficult role for most people to play, as the majority of us like to be reasonable, so taking a recess can take the wind out of the sails of any puffed up bad cop.

Andy Brown is a consultant at Negotiation Resource International (NRI), a specialist in negotiation and behavioural skills learning and development.

Visit www.nri-group.com

Encourage movement towards your position There are many other tactics that are far more effective in modern negotiations, so think carefully before using good cop/bad cop. It may cause you to lose credibility and may very well reduce the other party’s willingness to move their position towards yours. If there is one skill at which good negotiators excel, it’s providing an environment, a structure and a warmth that encourages movement towards their position at all times.

Winning Edge 7

17/03/2015 18:55

as central to the company’s future as selling to the industrial park next door, profitable export sales are probably not going to happen on a worthwhile scale. The salesperson’s part in this is to make sure that everyone else in the company knows what the salesperson is doing, why they are doing it and what the others can do to help make it go smoothly. I only know one way of doing that and it isn’t by ranting at people after something has gone wrong. What the salesperson needs to do is to get to know everyone who has a part to play and encourage them to play it to the full.

Opinion

if you’re going to build a thriving export business, the whole company has to buy in, argues John Lynch

Y

ou’re in Harlow, you send something to Leicester and when it gets there it’s faulty. OK, it shouldn’t have happened and you’ve probably given yourself an objection you’ll have to overcome, but the two towns are only a hundred miles apart and an engineer can be there in two hours. It’s a hitch, but it isn’t the end of the world.

You’re in Harlow, you send something to Benin and when it gets there it’s faulty. Now you do have a problem, because as far as Benin is concerned, Harlow really is the end of the world.

Can you fix the problem on the spot? Only if you’re there. If you’re not, though, what are your options? Ask a forwarder to pick the dud up and ship it back to you while you send out another one? Face it: you shouldn’t have got into this position in the first place. Avoiding it, though, is not just about you, the salesperson – effective international selling requires the whole company to get involved, with everyone playing their part in making it work.

This is a task for senior management. Export sales should not be a bolt-on addition to a company’s normal business. To succeed, many companies should see the markets beyond their home borders as an essential part of their business mix. If management, from the MD down, is not committed to exporting as being just 8 Winning Edge

8 Comment Lynch V4.indd 2

it’s a team effort Your people in finance have to understand the terms of sale you have agreed with the customer and they must know how to make selling overseas them work. Do they know how letters of e x p ort or d ie credit differ from cash against documents?

By John Lynch If not, you must explain it to them, but not by giving them a lecture.

Logistics needs to know how to package goods for transport by sea or air in such a way that they arrive safely and also comply with the terms of the letter of credit or other contract you have entered into with the customer, as well as meeting the requirements of the importing country’s customs

“Your research department must know what special requirements are imposed by the importing country’s laws, regulations, climate and culture”

John Lynch has more than 40 years experience in international sales, working on every continent except Antarctica. He is the author of The International Sales Handbook and runs a consultancy business, Profitableexporting.com, which aims to help companies build their export sales business through coaching, seminars and hands-on consultancy. Email him at jl@profitableexporting.com or visit www.profitableexporting.com

authorities and (in some cases) central bank. Don’t get into a situation where you ask your logistics colleagues why they didn’t crate a piece of equipment they sent by sea to New Zealand and hear the answer, “You didn’t ask us to.”

Your research department must know what special requirements are imposed by the importing country’s laws, regulations, climate and culture. If it doesn’t, how do you expect to develop products that meet the customer’s needs?

In each case, there is a twofold task: it’s management’s job to impress on all staff the importance to the company’s future (and therefore to their continued employment) of meeting the needs of the export markets; and it’s the salesperson’s job to make sure they all know what their contribution should be.

In future articles I’ll be going into many aspects of the export business in more detail. The first of these, in the May/June edition, will deal with the vital role of the forwarding agent in meeting your export, finance and logistics objectives. ismm.co.uk

17/03/2015 19:00

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On the move

G a d g e t s f o r d i s c e r n i n g p ro f e s s i o n a l s

round-up

tools for the job | gadgets

projector

Android beamer

ZTE, a smartphone maker in the US, also makes projectors and this Spro 2 has a touchscreen interface that runs Android.

It is said to be the first smart projector to feature autofocus and auto-keystone. Resolution is 1280 x 720 and it projects HD images up to 120 inches with a brightness of 200 lumens.

It’s also a wireless hotspot, supporting up to eight devices via 4G and can stream media content. Check zteusa.com

motorin g

videoconferencing

Sporting chance

mobile phone

World’s thinnest?

With petrol prices down, thoughts turn to the V8 you always wanted. You may not have a Lexus on your shopping list but that would be remiss as the firm has launched the GS F, a 470 bhp V8-powered motor with “sports car performance and handling, but in a luxury saloon car package”. The power unit is mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission that offers a manual shift and four driver-selectable operating modes, including one for the racetrack, where you’ll be able to really test if it will get you from 0 to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds.

It’s packed full of the usual Lexus electronics and UK details are out soon.

This is the time of the year when many new mobile phones are announced, and one trend looks to be a competition for the world’s thinnest. A contender is the OPPO R5, built out of stainless steel, which measures just 4.85 mm in width, a size “that the industry had considered unachievable”.

You still get an Octa-core Qualcomm processor and a 5.2 inch AMOLED screen, and it has a ‘cool element’ heat dissipation technology to prolong the phone’s life.

There’s also a rapid charging system.

notebook

13 into 11

Dell has a number of new notebooks out including the XPS 13, which has the neat advantage of a 13 inch screen in an overall size of a typical 11 inch computer. It does this by having what Dell says is the world‘s first “virtually borderless infinity display”, so eliminating much of the usual bezel. Given that 13 inch screens are a sweet spot, this is a model well worth looking at, not least because you also get up to 15 hours of battery life. ismm.co.uk

11 Gadgets V2.indd 3

Carry on conferencing

Logitech’s ConferenceCam Connect is a portable allin-one videoconference system that you can use with any computer and software. It offers ‘razor-sharp resolution’ and can see everyone in the room via a 90-degree view with pan and tilt, zoom and autofocus. The speakerphone supports both mobile and USB audio. On its battery you can run a conference for 3 hours or the speakerphone for 15. microphone

Sound choice

This is the iRig MIC Cast, a compact, portable voice recording microphone. It plugs into your iPhone or iPad and is said to be “great for business applications like recording meetings and enhancing the audio and voice quality of conference calls”.

It also has a stereo headphone output, enabling monitoring of recordings, and you get iRig Recorder, a voice recording/editing app.

Winning Edge 11

18/03/2015 10:18

smarter selling

sales techniques

How to qualify a lead – fast Shweta Jhajharia explains a systematic approach to qualifying leads – and earning a prospect’s trust – in just a 10 minute call

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t’s estimated that 79% of marketing leads don’t convert into sales (source: MarketingSherpa).

So how can you qualify a lead quickly and efficiently to avoid wasting their time and yours?

Minute 1: Start strong, and position yourself correctly This is a qualifying call – so it’s important that you set the stage correctly. Position yourself as the one making the decision – you’re trying to qualify them, not convince them to buy from you.

Minute 2: How and why did they come to you?

Context is important: if they’ve come to you as a referral, they’ve had a bit of priming; if they’ve only seen a Facebook ad, they may not know much about you.

Minute 3: Get an overview of your prospect You need a top-level summary of what they do/ who they are, to find out if they match your target niche. There’s a danger of your prospect rambling, so ask just two questions and set a time limit.

Minute 4: Find the bridge they want to cross Where is your prospect now and where do they want to be? This brings up their ultimate goals and puts you in position to explain the bridge that can get them there towards the end of the call.

“You’re trying to qualify them, not convince them to buy from you”

Minute 5: Identify what’s in the way Help them clarify exactly why it is they’re unable to get to their goal. Here you’re trying to understand the issues holding them back. You’re also able to position yourself as the solution to their problem.

Minute 6: Figure out what they hope to get from you You have to know what they’re expecting before you can decide if you can help them. If they’re expecting something you are likely to be able to offer, that will make it very easy to pitch to them.

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Shweta Jhajharia is principal coach and founder of The London Coaching Group. Visit www.londoncoachinggroup.com

Minute 7: Find out the urgency If their problem isn’t immediate, it’s going to be a tough sell. A qualified lead is someone who needs what you have to offer as a priority.

Minutes 8-9: Restate their problem It’s time to earn their trust and respect. Feed back to them what it is they desire, and what it is that’s preventing them from getting there. Articulate their problems and desires better than they can, and they’ll associate the solution with you.

Minute 10: Close the deal, or close the call By now you should know if they are qualified or not. If they are, you’ll want to explain the next step in your sales funnel. If they’re not right for you, then you politely let them know that they’re not a good fit. If you know another business that might be able to help them, refer them onwards – you’ll earn a lot of goodwill from both parties. ismm.co.uk

18/03/2015 10:20

smarter selling

presentation

How to think on your feet

Michael Collins offers 10 tips to help you if a sales presentation goes wrong

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The elephant in the room: Whether it’s cold coffee or ugly wallpaper, never ignore it, as it will distract you and the audience. Make a light comment to build empathy.

Ask Anne T eles elli n g ma de s i m ple

Anne Bagnall’s telesales and marketing ‘agony column’

Over the past 15 years I have employed many telesales operatives, so if you also employ some, or are thinking of creating an in-house team, these are some of the questions to consider about Equipment failing: Ensure it is clear to the recruitment – and my top tips. audience that it’s being addressed promptly.

What kind of person should I be looking for?

Heckling: A simple phrase like “Thank you for There are no hard and fast rules your contribution” should help you regain your about this. Good telemarketing authority. If all else fails, ask the heckler to leave. personnel can come from all walks of life. One of my very best operatives Awkward questions: Paraphrase the worked in a toy shop for 20 years question and ask if your understanding is correct. before joining us. But they should This will put you in control and buy you time. If the have a positive outlook, a pleasant question is antagonistic, say something like, “That’s personality, and the ability to interesting. Tell me, how would you deal with that?” speak clearly.

How do I know if they can do it?

Chatter at the back: If the audience is The best way to identify if someone getting restless, suggest a five-minute break. If it’s can do the job is to include role plays just one or two people chatting, stop, look at them, in your interview process. Ask them and then ask for their permission to continue. They will to telephone a colleague in another stop so as to avoid being the centre of attention. office and use a prepared script.

Check with your colleague afterwards Use of mobiles: If a mobile goes off, don’t to see what they think. I wouldn’t criticise, but say, “I’d better check mine is off.” hire anyone for a telephone role without knowing what Not connecting with the they sound like on the audience: Ask questions that phone. involve getting a show of hands or How can I avoid high use humour to grab their attention. levels of employee attrition?

You freeze: Don’t panic.

Visuals are processed Unfortunately, this Pause, take a sip of water to 60,000x faster in the industry is known for give yourself time to think, or ask brain than text. Take attention off yourself by using some high staff turnover, the audience what you last said. visuals in your but here are my tips presentations for avoiding problems Practise thinking on when recruiting: your feet: Public speaking l Check previous groups, like Toastmasters, employment carefully. If the offer this opportunity. candidate has had several jobs within the space of a year, Stockpile that’s a red flag. The person phrases: Use may have been made redundant, your own phrases or famous but it’s still a red flag that must quotations to get out of trouble. be explored Michael Collins is a member Toastmasters l If they are unemployed, International, a non-profit educational organisation find out why – there may be a that teaches public speaking and leadership skills.

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good reason for their situation l If there are gaps in their CV, check carefully why l If they’ve been working abroad, treat this as a gap in their CV. What should I do if I am still unsure about their past career history?

Taking up references is the best way to understand your candidate’s true position. If these aren’t forthcoming,

“The best way of identifying if someone can do the job is to make sure to include role plays in your interview process” be careful. If you still like the candidate, speak to your HR adviser about using a temporary contract initially.

What kind of salary will I be expected to pay?

Look at your local area and see what other companies are offering. Good telephone personnel are in big demand and you will need to be competitive if you want to attract the right people. As a very rough guide, you would usually pay from £15,000£24,000 per annum depending on the type of work and the level of experience of the recruit.

Anne Bagnall is founder and managing director of Phonetic, a call centre specialising in B2B telemarketing. She also has a consultancy and training company called Phonetic Elite, which specialises in telesales coaching and training. She is happy to answer reader questions privately. Contact her at anne@phoneticgroup.co.uk or visit www.phoneticgroup.co.uk

Visit: www.toastmasters.org

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Winning Edge 13

18/03/2015 10:20

smarter selling

sales techniques

Are you outward bound?

Henry Schuck describes three key outbound sales techniques to guarantee successful sales budgets are big enough to warrant a strategic account approach. An organisation chart will enable you to target the right people within a firm but not limit you to a single contact. Having insight into the IT organisation gives you the power to employ multistakeholder selling. This tactic will give you higher visibility in the organisation and tighten your sales cycle as you control when the relevant decision makers are invited to the table.

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ike the bright display of a bird seeking a mate, content marketing strategies provide companies with the opportunity to be discovered by prospects. These inbound sales strategies have earned a valid place in the lead generation process, enabling potential suitors to assess options and make educated choices at their own pace. But even the most beautiful bird still needs to eat, and getting inbound to produce the quantity and quality of leads needed to feed your hungry salesforce can be a difficult challenge.

That’s where highly targeted outbound strategies take centre stage. By identifying your targets and reaching out to them, you take control of your own successes instead of waiting for them to come to you. To make valuable use of outbound strategies, you should employ the following key tactics.

1. Fish in the right lake Targeted prospecting is critical to having successful sales teams. No one should be spending their days calling hundreds of numbers only to come up with nothing. Sales intelligence tools enable you to segment in a wide variety of ways and identify specific targets that will not only have the highest likelihood of converting, but also be the ones that will turn into long-term customers and high value accounts. For example, with visibility of prospects that use a specific computing technology, which we help companies with, you can select those whose 14 Winning Edge

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“No one should be spending their days calling hundreds of numbers only to come up with nothing”

Henry Schuck is CEO of DiscoverOrg, which provides a sales intelligence platform for IT vendors with verified contact information and organisational charts on sales prospects. www.discoverorg.com

2. You can be choosy With the adoption of effective sales intelligence tools, sales teams can identify and contact the prospects with current needs and reach out only to those with the highest likelihood of purchasing.

This eliminates the wasted time and effort of old-style outbound sales. Today’s sales and marketing teams are no longer looking for the most leads at the lowest cost, but identifying the right prospects and approaching them informed with solutions designed to address their issues. Making use of tools like real time triggers gives you actionable data about prospects’ open initiatives and leadership changes so that you can come knocking when they are ready to open the door.

3. Following the bubbles Make sure that quality inbound leads are engaged in a strategic manner by outbound sales efforts. Successful people have mastered the art of balance but when we talk about marketing, the discussion always seems to come down to inbound vs outbound technique. In reality, it is far more productive to think about how to make them work most effectively in concert with each other. Prospects who download, read and subscribe to your content are selecting themselves to know more about your solutions. Supplement the information entered by inbound leads to access content with the profile data from your sales intelligence solution.

Outbound strategies definitely give you control of the sale. By engaging with prospects early in the decision-making process, you can develop relationships, provide more tailored solutions and close more sales. But it’s also important to remember that striking a balance between inbound and outbound strategies is crucial. ismm.co.uk

18/03/2015 10:20

smarter selling

Coat Hanger t h e li gh t er s ide o f s a les consu m er m arkets

Retail therapy

Steve Gales describes the merits of science-backed sales promotions

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n markets increasingly driven by discounts, not joining in the price war risks seeing brands and retailers fall behind the competition. On the flip side, if they default to price drops, they run the real risk of having no margin left – a risk recently highlighted by research from Kantar Worldpanel, which reported a decline in sales by value in the grocery sector for the first time in 20 years.

As well as responding in the short-term, smart manufacturers and retailers are combining their approach with creative, long-term solutions that keep shoppers coming back. Smart brands are also realising that, as long as consumers feel they have got a good deal, they do not always seek to buy goods for purely the lowest possible price.

“Consumers do not always seek to buy goods for purely the lowest possible price”

Distinctive marketing levers and mechanics such as cashback, trade-up, prize-draws, instant win and satisfaction guarantees all grab consumers’ attention. Executed well, these more creative sales promotions bring the opportunity to increase sales and sell specific products or older or slow-moving stock at an optimum price. A year-round calendar of sales promotions also helps to capitalise on the prime seasons for selling and creates sustainable deals that don’t completely compromise margins. managing the risks Putting science into the equation by factoring in historical data from previous promotions underpins the risk behind the creative solution. This not only gives the brand and its sales promotion partner a better understanding of buying patterns in their markets, but also enables them to forecast the redemptions of a promotion within a tightly predefined range, backed by insurance.

Compared with disappointing customers by constantly offering sale items with limited availability, rolling out promotions that deliver on their promises and feature future value offers a far more commercially effective, long-term strategy.

Steve Gales is sales director at Opia, which specialises in risk-managed sales promotions. Visit: www.opia-sp.com

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getting that sinking feeling James foley vice president, customer experience, for telecoms company Resilient, and also an ISMM fellow, recounts how he closed one of the most important sales of his career.

“I had presented a very large proposal to a business I had been working with for several months, and had been trying to reach their chief information officer (CIO) for feedback. I’d tried all the tricks to get him on the phone – calling very early, calling very late, being ever so nice to his PA. I even sent a bagel and coffee to his office, with a request for a call. No feedback.

After a week or two I thought the opportunity had passed, so I took a

few days holiday helping a friend renovate his boat. My friend skipped out for an hour or two, and I thought I’d do him a favour by cleaning the bottom of the boat. I must have dislodged a piece of wood, as water started rushing in. I managed to wedge my finger in the hole and the water stopped. Just then the phone rang. It was the CIO I’d been trying to reach for weeks, and he wanted to go through the proposal in detail.

So, there I was trying to close one of the most important deals in my career, with my finger stuck in the hole trying to stop the boat from sinking. After nearly 30 minutes on the call, with my finger turning cold and numb, I knew something had to give – I was either going to close the deal or lose the boat.

Needless to say, my friend no longer speaks to me...

Heartwarmers

Sales stories with a feel-good factor

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alesman, Charles Sumner, of NottinghamCar.com, Radcliffe-onTrent, has won a national award just six years after being declared bankrupt. Sumner won the Citi Microentrepreneurship award for his multimillion pound car sales business. The 47 year-old says he had been “left with nothing – no home, no business and no money” when his property business collapsed in 2009, in the recession.

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esearchers in the US report that an old maths puzzle known as the travelling salesman problem has inspired an algorithm that can help pinpoint better kidney donor matches. The classic problem is for a salesperson to find the shortest route to visit each city on a list just once. In another version, they don’t have to make it to every city, but there’s a reward for each one they do get to. That, it has been found, is a lot like the kidney transplant donor problem.

Winning Edge 15

18/03/2015 10:21

Feature | survey

Trust account A global survey of business buyers shows that the door is open for engagement with trustworthy salespeople

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at’s off to the software giant SAP for carrying out a large survey of global business executives to gain insights into the changing dynamic between buyers and sellers. Presented in a report, What’s the future of sales, and conducted by Londonbased research firm Loudhouse, the survey polled more than 1,220 senior personnel responsible for buying goods and services ranging from technology, business and recruitment services to facilities and fleet cars.

A headline finding seems to be that “with information at their fingertips but under increasing pressure to make the right purchasing decisions, buyers are feeling increasingly let down by vendors who still operate using traditional models that lack relevance among an audience with higher expectations than ever”. It adds more evidence about the role of salespeople being crucial to buyers in terms of the experience they have of a vendor’s frontline sales operation, which has been noted by analysts in the past few years.

Interestingly, the biggest number of executives who were polled are in India (207), closely followed by the US. The UK and Ireland are well represented (106), while the vast majority of all respondents are in large companies (£500m to £1bn+ in turnover). One shortcoming is that no job titles are given so we can’t see how many are professional procurers.

The first part of the survey explored how the executive buyers research products and vendors.

There’s a comparison with what firms were doing a year ago and “social networking and blogs top the list of channels used more now than 12 months ago (71%), followed by web searches (70%) and vendor websites (60%). Meanwhile, a growing buyer network exists inside the organisation – 60% of buyers make purchasing decisions based on employee recommendations, while 50% use social media channels to help make decisions. As such, two-thirds (66%) agree that more people are involved in the buying process than two years ago.”

Now we come to the vexed question of how far buyers are through their research and decisionmaking before they make contact with a vendor.

Again, this is a big topic we’ve looked at closely 16 Winning Edge

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Above and on next page: parts of an infographic that accompanies the survey

(see the Nov/Dec 2014 edition on the ‘percentage game’), and the figures bandied about that a majority have more or less made up their minds already is one of these rogue stats that can be debunked by realising it is an average, so you shouldn’t ignore the many prospects who could be engaged earlier. This survey pushes the figure up still further – “80% typically know exactly what they want before they make contact with a vendor”, while over two-thirds wait longer to initiate contact with vendors because they are doing more research themselves. are they commodity buyers?

What’s apparent though is that many in this survey may well be buying at the more commodity end – certainly 71% say they have purchase responsibility for “technology products and services”, which includes some basic items, while other areas of purchasing include office equipment, business travel and advertising, But we would expect that if we quizzed people wanting mostly things like consulting, data warehousing, HR services, legal etc the 80% figure would drop. ismm.co.uk

18/03/2015 10:34

survey | feature

UK. Despite the lack of time, they are also more risk averse so decisions are taking longer.

The survey covers frustrations with vendors as business buyers now receive an average of 64 approaches by salespeople a week. “The perception is that sales teams have become more intrusive. Perhaps understandably, 60% of businesses are generally less tolerant and trusting of salespeople, a figure that rises to 69% in the UK.” Aggressive salespeople (48%), salespeople lacking relevant knowledge (46%) and unsolicited approaches (44%) are the biggest frustrations.

There’s an encouraging finding when it comes to the final decision – “Buyers vary in how they prefer to communicate with vendors throughout the purchase process. During the initial research stage, telephone dominates (used by 60% in the last 12 months), with contact through the vendor’s website (49%) also popular. Email (48%) becomes the chosen form of communication when buyers begin shortlisting potential vendors, but it is face-to-face meetings (60%) that are the most preferred channel when making a final decision.”

It’s notable though that 68% say they have less time to deal with vendors and 79% say that ROI on products and services is generally under more scrutiny. “Buyers themselves are becoming intolerant of inefficiency – they are concerned with wasting company money (77%) and time (58%) if they get a business purchase decision wrong.” And significantly: one in eight are worried about losing their job, rising to one in four in the ismm.co.uk

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personalised approach And there’s more: “75% of buyers say they often feel like they are way ahead of a salesperson who is supposed to be ‘helping’ them” (a figure increasing to 81% in the UK and India). “As such, a personalised, consistent and relevant service is fundamental if vendors are to flourish.” Only 30% of buyers describe the overall process from initial encounter to the point at which they received the offerings as “excellent” and 52% say the experience is “good” – and there’s a lot of room to up the game, as 81% of buyers who have an excellent experience say they are very likely to buy again from that vendor, compared with just 28% if the experience is merely “good”.

Buyers are open to closer working with vendors and the magic word “trust” appears as the number one requisite, followed by experience, insight and cost, which is not top of the list (this is logical, as cost is less of an issue in more complex deals where direct engagement is needed). Some 94% would “like vendors to treat them more as a partner to win together in the short and long term than a single sales transaction”, and “66% are including more risk-sharing in their contracts with vendors than they did two years ago”.

There is a big challenge but a big opportunity – “90% of buyers think vendors can differentiate themselves by offering an exceptional customer experience based on meaningful interactions with them at every step of their buying journey”. You need to speed up the purchase, be consistent and provide good communications, and above all look to four key areas – personalisation, trust, experience and insight.

Winning Edge 17

18/03/2015 10:34

Best of british

The UK’s top sales and marketing professionals were celebrated at the recent British Excellence in Sales and Marketing Awards (BESMA)

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Telesales Professional Karen Malone - Yell “Demonstrated outstanding application in an exceptionally tough environment – and willing to go the extra mile to deliver”

he best UK sales professionals in 2014 were honoured on Thursday 26 February at BESMA, the country’s ‘Oscars’ for sales directors, sales managers and sales and marketing teams, held at London’s prestigious Lancaster Hotel.

The awards, organised by the Institute of Sales & Marketing Management (ISMM), support and promote the sales profession.

They recognise individuals, teams and their companies for outstanding sales performance and the valuable contribution they make to their profession and the UK economy.

Sir Eric Peacock, ISMM president, and Paul Sloane, a spokesman for the institute, welcomed the audience and noted the exceptional quality of this year’s BESMA candidates. They thanked the 45 judges, chaired by Frank Rowe, for the rigour they applied in the judging process, before introducing awards presenter, 6 foot 10 inch England rugby champion, Martin Bayfield.

Here we celebrate BESMA’s winners and capture a flavour of what the judges said: New Sales Professional Donna De’Ath – SIG Distribution “Great understanding of client’s needs, quick to engage and left the customer excited. She created real momentum and impetus” Sales Professional – under 50 employees Chris Knight – teeofftimes.co.uk “Good natural sales ability demonstrating presence, strong rapport-building and self-belief based on solid preparation”

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Sales Professional – over 50 employees Jane Hayden – Merial Animal Health “The stand-out seasoned sales professional of the day!”

Sales Support Team Lyreco Nespresso Sales Support “Their enthusiasm and passion was tangible.

They are the glue that holds the sales function together and stood out from the rest” Account Manager Matthew Wilkinson – Yell “Outstanding results in a declining market” Sales Team – under 50 employees IT Media Online “Exceptional sense of ownership and commitment to their goals and they invest in themselves and their own success, generating great results” Sales Team – over 50 employees Ecolab London and South East Sales Team – Ecolab “Two team members are now managers, but the team is still very much alive, a true testament to its inherent strength, working together to help the rookies”

Sales Development Programme Tom Horton – Car Loan 4U “T he emphasis on creating a culture of inclusivity and high-perfor ming behaviours shone throughout”

ismm.co.uk

18/03/2015 10:50

Student of the Year Sponsored by Brighter Directions

Judges:

Winner Jack Miller, Telefónica O2

Runner up Alex Bush, Swinton Group

Claire Curzon, Brighter Directions; Susan Perry-Whitehead, DHL Global Mail; Bryn Thompson, Pareto Law

Telesales Professional of the Year Sponsored by Campaignmaster

Judges:

Winner Karen Malone, Yell

Runner up Adam Lucas, Virgin Media

Janet Efere, Tadpole Training; Paul Cochrane, Mercuri International; Daryl Watson, ConsultF5

New Sales Professional of the Year Sponsored by Jotun Paints

Student Jack Miller – Telefónica O2 “A pure thoroughbred salesperson, totally passionate about his role and demonstrating great use of training and sales skills”

Judges:

Winner Donna De’Ath, SIG Distribution

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Runner up Catherine Harrison, AXA Insurance

Matthew Curtis, Jotun Paints Europe; Paul Spargo, Zoopla Property Group; Lorna Leck, The SalesActivator

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18/03/2015 10:50

Sales Trainer of the Year Sponsored by First Artist Bank

Judges:

Winner Selina Jackson, Lyreco

Sales Trainer Selina Jackson – Lyreco “Showed real passion and enthusiasm in delivering a company wide sales culture change programme. Some really impressive ROI figures demonstrate her success”

Runner up John Allison, SIG

Jane Fielder-Scrivens, EDF Energy; Simon Blackburn, Growth Engineering; Andy Perkins, Miller Heiman

Sales Professional of the Year (Under 50 employees) sponsored by Lincoln West

Judges:

Winner Chris Knight, Teeofftimes.co.uk

Runner up Chris Skinner, Intelligent Data Group

Ian Moyse, Workbooks; Paul Morgan, Telefónica O2; Martin Hutchins, The Professional Academy

Sales Professional of the Year (Over 50 employees) Sponsored by OpenSymmetry

Judges:

Winner Jane Hayden, Merial Animal Health

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Runner up Ashley Martin, Pitney Bowes

Sean Culligan, OpenSymmetry; Frank Rowe, SIG; Ian Rose, AXA Insurance

ismm.co.uk

18/03/2015 10:51

Sales Support Team of the Year Sponsored by Dave Stewart Entertainment

Judges:

Winner Lyreco Nespresso Sales Support, Lyreco Ireland

Runner up Outsource Relationship Management Team,Virgin Media

Mark Bailey, De Vere Venues; Mark Haughton, Corpdata; Sue Farley, Insights Learning and Development

Account Manager of the Year Sponsored by Ellis Salsby and De Vere Venues

Judges:

Winner Matthew Wilkinson, Yell

Runner up Mark Fyfe, SIG

Ellis Salsby, Ellis Salsby; Andrew Carr, Orion Group; Shaz Quereshi, SOCA

Key Account Manager of the Year Sponsored by Gold-Vision

Key Account Manager Simon McManus – SIG Construction

“Instrumental in introducing a new key account role successfully in a business notoriously changeresistant.Very calm and professional”

Judges:

Winner Simon McManus, SIG Construction Accessories

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Runner up Ros Wells, Telefónica O2

Charlie Shaw, Gold Vision; Steve Broadhurst, Mitre; Tom Nash, Winning Edge

Winning Edge 21

18/03/2015 10:51

Sales Manager of the Year Sponsored by Sterling Chase

Judges:

Winner Rachel Tweddell, Virgin Media

Sales Manager Rachel Tweddell – Virgin Media “Rachel won the judges’ hearts and minds with a fabulous level of authenticity and an inspiring commitment to her company, her team and to her role of sales manager. Exceptional!”

Runner up Matthew Curtis, Jotun Paints Europe

Steve Eungblut, Sterling Chase; Mike Farrell, LV=; Tina Anderson-Dixon, KPMG

Sales Team of the Year (Under 50 employees) Sponsored by ForceManager

Judges:

Winner IT Media Online

Runner up Home Energy Connections, E.ON

Javier Peralta, ForceManager; Steve Lindsey, Lincoln West; Ian Luxford, Grass Roots

Sales Team of the Year (Over 50 employees) Sponsored by Xactly

Judges:

Winner Ecolab London & South East Sales Team, Ecolab Pest Elimination

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Runner up The Sales Network, Everest Home Improvements

Tom Castley, Xactly Corporation; Jeremy Strang, DHL Express UK; Chris Merrington, Spring 80:20

ismm.co.uk

18/03/2015 10:51

Customer Service Team of the Year Sponsored by Randstad

Judges:

Winner New Heating Centre, British Gas

Runner up Sales Relationship Management Team,Telefónica O2

Ruth Jacobs, Randstad; Ciaran Kinsella, Deloitte; Gordon Glenister, BPMA

Customer Service Team New Heating Centre – British Gas

“Taking customer engagement to a new level, bringing the customers into the office to engage directly”

Sales Development Programme of the Year Sponsored by Oracle

Judges:

Winner Tom Horton, Car Loan 4U

Runner up Helen Saunders, Promoting Sales Excellence, Crest Nicholson

Neil Pridham, Oracle; Kate Kidd, KPMG; Roger Evans, RBS Group, Mentor Services

Sales Director Ian Moyse – WorkBooks

“Truly inspirational and the personal contribution to his team and Workbooks is outstanding in terms of leadership, experience and innovation”

Sales Director of the Year Sponsored by Avention

Judges:

Winner Ian Moyse, Workbooks.com

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Runner up Tom Devine, Everest Home Improvements

Alberto Pavanello, Avention; Fiona Challis, Azlan; Gary Akehurst, Winchester and Aberystwyth Universities

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18/03/2015 10:51

Feature | Public sector selling

ducking the deluge of red tape Philip Norman explains how to improve your chances of winning public sector business

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ismm.co.uk

18/03/2015 10:52

Public sector selling | feature

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idding for public sector business is not for the fainthearted, or such is the perception among many private sector businesses. Have you ever been tempted by a public sector opportunity, only to find that the paperwork might take you longer to decipher and fill in than it takes to recruit a whole team of bid professionals? Are you lacking in the necessary resources and unsure of how much the whole process might cost? And yet, have you really looked into this and explored every avenue? Not considering the vast public sector arena could mean that you are potentially losing out on some really solid business. Here, I’ll describe how you could get closer to winning that worthwhile prize.

Having worked for a number of years as a public sector procurement professional, both within a central government collaborative procurement directorate and also within a large

“Not considering the vast public sector arena could mean you are losing out on some really solid business” NHS procurement agency, I became increasingly aware of the rapidly emerging gulf between public sector procurement professionals like myself and private sector businesses that wanted to bid for opportunities, but simply did not know where to start or what the paperwork required of them. stymied suppliers I was certainly very well versed in all aspects of public sector procurement – my role involved developing strategies and, in turn, tenders for large-scale public sector procurements and overseeing their evaluation and award process.

This was an in-depth exercise that involved a huge amount of planning, market research and knowledge, and took place over a number of months in order to get it absolutely right. But I always knew that a huge lack of awareness and understanding seemed to exist among suppliers over what was really required of them.

I found myself thinking of ways in which I could make the process simpler for businesses to understand. I often found my sympathies were with those on the other side of the fence, the frustrated private sector marketers – talented people with unblemished track records in B2B marketing and yet completely flummoxed by what some saw as a ridiculously convoluted process.

Of course, the intention behind the current ismm.co.uk

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public sector tender process is that it should be a completely fair and competitive system, allowing any business the opportunity to bid for proportionately sized contracts to supply large, prestigious organisations such as the NHS (the absolute transparency of the process also being the reason behind its perceived inflexibility). The irony is that the supposed beneficiaries are so put off by the apparent bureaucracy and an uncertain return on investment that they do not always pursue these opportunities. Yes, training workshops can be provided by the public body: how to tackle the e-tendering portal; ‘meet the buyer’ events; insights into the latest tendering regulations published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU); information on pre-qualification questionnaires (PQQs) and invitations to tender (ITTs); and the list goes on – but these just don’t seem to be enough to give the potential supplier confidence that the process is going to be clear, concise and, dare I say, sensible.

Overcoming the barriers From my experience, I know that there are very good reasons for the way in which public sector tenders are developed and that there can be simpler ways for businesses to approach the bidding process. I felt such a strong desire to Bidding bloomers l Confusing the PQQ and ITT phases You must understand the difference between the two. The PQQ is about selection criteria and shortlisting. The focus is always backwardlooking, so you need to demonstrate your credentials. The bidding is through an ITT, which is forward-looking and focuses on how you will seek to perform the contract. l Not asking questions It is a myth that you cannot communicate with the buyer during a tender process. If you are not offered the benefit of supplier engagement activity or a pre-qualification event, this does not mean you cannot enter into dialogue with the buyer to clarify any aspect of the tender.

But follow the requested procedures. l Lacking creativity and innovation Creativity and innovation will set your bid apart.

Go beyond expectations with all the features and benefits you can offer. Show you are capable and cite examples. Work out your USP or ‘win-theme’, and build on that to make your response more relevant to the requirement.

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18/03/2015 10:52

Feature | Public sector selling

communicate this message that I eventually left the government to set up my own business with the main aim of helping businesses overcome the barriers to bidding for public sector business.

Winning public sector bids is not as unattainable as many think. With a good understanding of how the system works and a clear strategy in place, the whole process can be well managed and completed within reasonable timescales, with minimal strain on resources. Even if success is not achieved first time round, once a bid has been completed in the correct way, the key information will be at your fingertips and ready to be reviewed and refined should you wish to bid for another opportunity.

As a starting point, I have found that it can help to be aware of potential minefields before embarking on a bid. Using my experience of evaluating tender responses, I have put together a list below of what I have found to be the biggest mistakes companies make.

more Bidding b loomers l Failing to inform your referees It does not give a good impression if a public sector body contacts your nominated referees and they are either not aware they were listed or, even worse, give you a poor reference. This happens more often than you might think. l Submit the tender too late Most public bodies have a zero-tolerance approach to late tenders, and rightly so. Plan methodically and allow time to upload the documents (I always suggest submitting your bid at least 24 hours prior to the deadline). l Introducing inappropriate or ill-prepared people If you are invited to undertake or receive a presentation, make sure it is the most appropriate person or people from your company who attend. They should all be well versed in the requirement and in your company.

Going for the wrong contracts Only go for contracts you know you can definitely fulfil, otherwise you will be wasting your own time and that of the public sector – and buyers can

Being ‘economical’ with the truth It’s amazing how many companies bidding for the same work all profess to be the industry leader. Do not include bold statements that cannot be backed up with the appropriate evidence. And a word of warning for the re-bidding incumbent supplier: be very careful what you submit – they know you and what you can actually deliver.

“Only go for contracts you know you can definitely fulfil, otherwise you will be wasting your own time and that of the public sector”

Pricing waywardly The public sector does not negotiate in the traditional sense, so the price you bid within the tender is the price they will evaluate. If you price at a point that your market intelligence suggests will result in a win, be extremely diligent in ensuring the price is sustainable for you. Price review points within public sector contracts are becoming increasingly hard to come by. You do not want to be making a loss with nowhere to turn.

have long memories. If the tender asks for certain requirements, make sure you can deliver them or have a plan in place to do so. If you go ahead, complete the tender documentation in full, do what is asked of you and avoid sending stock corporate sales material and pasted patter.

Failing to follow instructions Even before your bid is quality assessed, it could be disqualified. Ignore the word count or fail to complete any part of the tender and you could find yourself removed from the process without recourse. If asked to complete the tender in a particular format, do not ignore that instruction.

The public sector does not want to see the response in any format other than that specified.

Presentation beyond that specified will not score extra marks.

Not asking for help If you do not have the time, capacity or experience, you can get additional help in completing your bid. Expert companies like mine specialise in developing public sector responses.

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Philip Norman is founder of public sector bid management company Bidbetter. He has worked with both SMEs and multinationals in a number of different sectors, achieving a three out of four bid-win success ratio for his clients. Call him on 01202 237506, connect on LinkedIn or visit www.bid-better.co.uk

There is no doubt that you will experience some frustrating processes and documentation when bidding for public sector business, but if you bear these points in mind, you will be on track towards unravelling the mysteries of the public sector tender process and winning that business-changing bid. In general, the only way you will win public sector business – and any formal tender business for that matter – is if you approach it in a planned, thoughtful, methodical and energetic way.

Public sector contracts are there for the taking.

You just need to be proactive, follow all instructions and stick to a strategy. Take it seriously and you could be reaping the rewards. ismm.co.uk

18/03/2015 10:52

ISMM qualifications ad_Layout 1 17/03/2015 17:06 Page 1

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Preparing and delivering sales presentations, handling objections, negotiating and closing sales, understanding influences on buyer behaviour, understanding customer segmentation and profiling, understanding sales and marketing in organisations, using market information for sales, time and territory management for sales people, planning for professional development, prospecting for new business, sales pipeline management.

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Qualifications range from Levels 1-6 and are made up of small awards which lead to larger Certificates and Diplomas.

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To find out more about ISMM qualifications, contact us at www.ismm.co.uk/education and find an ISMM Accredited Sales Training Centre near you or email us at education@ismm.co.uk

WE Mar April 15 TEXT.indd 29

18/3/15 11:57:28

Feature | proposals

Showing full value Sarah Hinchliffe explains the importance of translating your market offerings into customer value in your written proposals

V

alue is important throughout the entire business development lifecycle. While value is often covered in sales methodologies, it’s easily forgotten in proposal development, especially if the brief from the sales team to the proposal team is scant or non-existent. So, what is value, why is it so important and how can you express it?

Simply put, value is the net result of a purchase.

By “net result” I mean the difference between the investment you make in terms of cost, time, effort, risk and emotion – and what you gain in tangible

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or intangible outcomes. As the seesaw opposite shows, the gain must outweigh the investment.

A tangible outcome can be measured in terms of a clear metric of some sort. In businesses, this will usually be related to improving a financial position, such as increasing revenue/profit or reducing costs, or decreasing risk, for example better legal compliance or stronger security.

Ideally, these outcomes can be quantified by calculating an actual value like a cash or percentage gain. For consumers, a tangible outcome could be measured in the same way, especially when it comes to property and pensions. ismm.co.uk

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proposals | feature

An intangible outcome generally relates to feelings or emotions. It may be hard to quantify in metrics. In businesses, think about things like staff satisfaction and morale. For consumers, think about prestige, safety or even just sheer enjoyment.

A word of caution, however. You may find that your direct customer – the business sponsor or user – will take the intangible benefits into account when considering their internal business case, only to have the financial director discount them when asked to approve the expenditure. The stronger the tangible business case is financially, the better.

So, think of value as a business case showing return on investment (ROI). At the end of the day, no one – neither business customer nor consumer – buys anything without a reason. The key to value in the world of sales is to find the reason.

Building value Let’s go back to some good old sales 101 theory.

Remember FAB – features, advantages and benefits? Features are simply facts about your product or service, such as colour, size, weight or other specification: “Our survey system can be used for customer and employee satisfaction surveys and comes with over a thousand predefined questions.”

Advantages are outcomes that can arise as a result of the feature that may or may not be important to your customer: “The predefined questions in our survey system will save you the time of formulating your own questions and are proven to test key aspects of customer and employee satisfaction effectively.”

A feature or advantage only becomes a benefit when it addresses a desire or requirement

Ti p p i n g t he ba l a n ce Investment

outcome outcome D

effort and emotion

outcome c

risk

outcome b

Cost and time

outcome a

Strong value statements clearly show that the outcomes to be gained outweigh the investment

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expressed by your customer. For example, a customer that has a longstanding manual survey system with well-established questions may simply want to automate the process and not be interested in predefined questions. But a customer that has never had a system at all may see predefined questions as a benefit.

To build value, the first step is to uncover what’s important to your customer and then convert your features and advantages into benefits. The next step is to quantify the benefits.

A good way of determining when you have got to the bottom of the quantification element of the value equation is when you have passed the “so what?” test. If you apply this test, you should be able to drill down to a hard metric. You may even distil intangible benefits into tangible ones.

Let’s imagine that your customer is showing interest in your survey system for employee satisfaction surveys and you are explaining that by taking action on the results of the survey you should be able to improve staff morale. So what?

Staff will be less likely to leave. So what? Hiring and training costs will go down. So what? You will

“Simply put, value is the net result of a purchase” save £x per annum, which is x% of your annual budget. Now, you have a solid business benefit.

On the other side of the value balance, you will also need to understand the factors the customer will need to invest – including cost, time, effort, risk and emotion. Learning about these elements from the start of the business development lifecycle will set you up to build the value case in your proposal.

Why is value important?

If the customer has built their own business case for ROI, you may ask why you have to bother.

There are two good reasons. First, in order to build confidence and trust in you as a supplier, you need to show your customer you understand their business. Second, you need to show them how your offering will satisfy their business need, ideally better than your competitors’ offerings. If you don’t show them, who will? If you leave it to them, they may miss something or do it wrong.

Here’s a story to illustrate the point. A major automotive company made the safest, most comfortable lorries in the world, but they were also the most expensive. A key customer needed to replace its lorry fleet, but told the salesman that it was unlikely to choose the same lorries because it needed to cut costs. The salesman organised research into lorry driver motivation and proved that the make of lorry was an important factor in keeping drivers because they value safety and Winning Edge 29

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Feature | proposals

comfort. He also did research on lorry driver turnover and the cost of recruiting and training drivers. He built up a case that, over a period of years, it would be cheaper to buy the expensive lorries because the company would keep its drivers for longer and avoid high replacement costs.

He won the business. But if the value calculation had been left to the customer, he may well have lost it on price, which is an all too familiar story.

Value is specific, not generic Value is in the eye of the beholder. Features and advantages are for marketers – communicating to the masses with ideas that might appeal. Benefits and value are specific and for sales – addressing individual and company motivations and desires.

“In order to build confidence and trust in you as a supplier, you need to show your customer you understand their business” Learn about your customer’s business – what do they measure on their corporate dashboard and which of those measures relate to your offering?

Find out about the members of your customer’s buying committee. What are they measured on as individuals and within their departments? And what do they care about personally?

If you can gradually build a picture of all these elements and demonstrate how and when your offering will deliver outcomes on all levels – personal, departmental and business, logical and emotional – you have all the ammunition to make a cracking value story in your proposal.

Sarah Hinchliffe is a director of i4 Sales Performance, which focuses on helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) achieve bid excellence. i4 is a Shipley Business Partner.

See www.i4salesperformance. co.uk or email sarah@i4salesperformance.co.uk

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How to express value If possible, express value throughout your proposal.

I say “if possible” because sometimes your proposal will be structured in accordance with a customer’s prescriptive instructions and you may not be able to work value into certain sections or responses.

Whether you have the luxury of designing a fully branded, bespoke proposal or you are constrained to a strict formula, you should still work out your value and include as much as you can.

Working with the sales team as early as possible, the value story should be built up during the sales stage of the business development lifecycle, before being given to the proposal team to work into the final document as part of the win strategy – the compelling reasons for the customer to choose you.

Once you have worked out the value story and the structure of your proposal, you must then

P i c t u re s speak lo uder th an wo rds £250,000 Saving

£200,000 £150,000

Recruitment and training budget

£100,000 £50,000

System investment

£0 2014

2015

2016

The graph shows the projected return on investment for the XYZ survey system. Within two years, ABC could save £90,000 on its annual recruitment and training budget

determine which elements of value you can include in which sections. You may have defined financial, operational and human components of value that you can bring into corresponding commercial, solution and people sections. You should aim to create a high level concluding value statement for your executive summary. You may also include a very detailed breakdown of an ROI model in a key section or as an appendix.

You can express value in words and/or graphics.

When creating a written value statement, include payback (quantified outcome), investment, timescale and, of course, the solution: “ABC Company will save £90,000 per annum on current £200,000 recruitment and training costs within two years by implementing XYZ’s employee satisfaction survey system for an annual investment of £10,000.”

While the best value statements are definitive, you may not be able to guarantee such results, so you may wish to soften the “will” to “could”, or preface with wording such as: “Based on average results from our customers over five years…”

As written statements can become quite complex, by far the best way to express value is by using a graphic (such as the graph above).

Value makes a difference By working out your value story, you will show your customers that you understand them and their business. By doing this, you will be seen as credible and helpful, inspiring confidence and setting yourself apart from your competitors. ismm.co.uk

18/03/2015 10:54

Global Experience – Local Presence Our advanced coatings provide protection for major projects worldwide

Marina Bay Sands – architectural masterpiece in Singapore

Oasis of the Seas – world’s largest cruise ship

Dubai Metro – world’s most advanced fully automated rail system

Eiffel Tower – iconic landmark in Paris

The Jotun Group is a matrix organisation divided into seven regions responsible for the sale of Decorative Paints and Performance Coatings (Marine, Protective and Powder Coatings).

The company has 36 production facilities in 21 countries, 69 companies in 44 countries and is represented in over 90 countries around the world.

For more information about Jotun products or about careers opportunities in Jotun please contact our UK head office on 01724 400000 or enquiries@jotun.co.uk

jotun.com

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03/03/2015 10:16 18/3/15 11:57:29

Feature | education

Learn to play the game Juliette Denny explains the benefits of using gaming techniques to improve your learning system, engage your teams and create real ROI

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ecuring return on investment (ROI) is an essential, but often seemingly unachievable, goal of a learning and development strategy. For many involved in the strategy, the learning management system (LMS) is key. If your LMS doesn’t inspire or encourage participation, it simply won’t be used.

Apply the principles of gaming (“gamification”) to your LMS Game on and you can overcome its Deloitte gamified its training programmes and found that learners pitfalls, developing a system that took 50% less time to complete engages its users and encourages their training. Long-term a culture of empowerment. learner engagement was

massively improved is your LMS giving roi?

Today, when every action and investment counts, it is important that your LMS is giving you value for money. And remember, ROI doesn’t simply refer to financial investment – it’s also time, effort, resources, accountability and support.

How hard is it to get your LMS off the ground, and how easy is it to get your employees to use it? Is top tier management behind the project? The LMS requires buy-in from all levels of an organisation.

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If you’re struggling with your LMS roll-out and seeking employee engagement, start with Donald Kirkpatrick’s four levels of training evaluation: reaction, learning, behaviour and results.

REACTION: Are learners eager to log on? How often – if at all – do they return? Do they enjoy time online, exploring, completing modules and taking assessments? Ideally, the LMS should be a self-service platform for learners to interact without you having to push them.

Invite learners to complete employee reaction surveys directly on the LMS. LEARNING: What do you want the LMS to do?

Change behaviours? Change attitudes? Upskill the ismm.co.uk

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education | feature

workforce? Increase sales? Reduce induction times for new staff? Reduce employee attrition?

Whatever elements you monitor, measure them before and after training on your LMS to compare the pre- and post-learning knowledge. Remember that evaluation doesn’t stop when the learner finishes the learning. Assess their knowledge retention a few weeks or months later to see if the LMS roll-out was truly successful.

BEHAVIOUR: You can only know whether you’ve been successful in changing behaviour if you monitor learners over the course of a few months.

Consider these questions: l Did learners put any of their training to use? l Can they teach others their new skills? l Are they aware they’re acting differently?

Knowledge retention is key. Learners may behave in the desired ways immediately following training, but as soon as knowledge starts to fade, so will the behaviours.

Such techniques might work well in the short term, but how much is actually learnt? Will employees who just log on the requisite Game on number of times make enough Ford Canada gamified its effort to embed their knowledge LMS and found a huge increase and give your L&D programme in actions per user of 100% within five weeks sufficient ROI? A way to secure engagement that has longer-term impact is through gaming techniques, making learning more enjoyable and fun. Gamification gets learners logging on, learning more, remembering more and changing their behaviours for the better.

RESULTS: Has the training programme produced the desired outcome for your business in terms of productivity, employee retention, morale, quality and customer satisfaction?

The factor that makes the most difference is

“One learner’s sales rose by an average of 678% across six different customer accounts after undergoing training on a gamified LMS” engagement. Learners need to engage with the software and e-learning content so they can enjoy using the LMS, learn more, change behaviours for good and ultimately produce the results you need.

Employee engagement in learning terms means that learners are committed to their training programme and appreciate its importance to their work life and career progression. In the context of the LMS the learner will be eager to log on, explore, consume all content available to them and even encourage colleagues to do the same.

Game on – how to secure engagement on your LMS There are tactics you can use to get your employees logging on and not tuning out.

You can offer a combination of carrot (reward) and stick (punishment) to induce desired behaviours. The carrot for your LMS could be praise or monetary reward, for example, the first five employees who log on ten times in one month get a bonus or a gift voucher. Conversely, the stick could be that those who don’t complete certain e-learning modules will face disciplinary action. ismm.co.uk

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Juliette Denny is managing director of online learning management expert Growth Engineering. Visit www.growthengineering.co.uk

Your employees – donkeys or gamers?

Donkeys may respond well to the carrot and stick technique, but humans have an intrinsic desire to play games, compete and achieve. With the smartphone opening up a world of gaming, the need for L&D to tap into this exciting new world is paramount. With a gamified LMS, you can award learners with badges for exploring and interacting with it, points for completing e-learning modules and achievements for completing entire development streams.

Gamification allows you to tap into your employees’ innate competitive nature: a leaderboard on your LMS will display all your learners and how they are faring in comparison with each other. That can give them the extra motivation they need to spend more time logged on and consuming training content in order to “level up” and reach the top of the leaderboard.

Applying gaming principles in this way can have a drastic impact on each level of the training evaluation process, and therefore your ROI. A gamified LMS will also help embed the learning content more deeply by utilising knowledge application questions, as opposed to knowledge recall. Such questions have been proven to help cement information in learners’ minds by making them think laterally and apply their learning to actual situations.

Socialisation, community and social learning all benefit from a gamified LMS. Badges can be awarded for social behaviours, perhaps sharing an achievement via LinkedIn or commenting on a fellow learner’s activity on the LMS. A Facebookstyle dialogue stream and forum discussion boards will further demonstrate how your learners can share their knowledge, increase their skills, provide advice and guidance, and work as a cohesive unit.

Make a game plan If it is not being used, your LMS is worth absolutely nothing to you, your learners or your organisation. Gamification offers the solution.

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18/03/2015 10:55

Feature | customer experience

Satisfaction guaranteed?

David Batup and Lisa Muller examine how social media is transforming the way customers view their experience, and what this means for B2B selling

T humbs Down

n e g ati v e fe e dbac k c o s t s

25%

Of customers will switch provider after just one negative experience

357,000 A single customer could share a negative experience 357,000 times

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19%

Will not trust a company after one bad experience

59%

Of customers say that they don’t have a relationship with their provider

T

he concept of customer experience has received a lot of attention over the past two years as an effective means of competitive differentiation and building customer loyalty.

In many markets the barrier to entry is lower than it has ever been, resulting in fierce competition.

In these markets, creating positive customer experience is not only a matter of business sustainability but also a matter of survival.

There is nothing new about the impact that a poor experience has in any aspect of selling or fulfilment of services or promises. It is very clear there is nowhere to hide if a company fails to deliver, does not keep its promises or is not responsive to customers when they need support.

Social media is now so widely used, by B2B vendors and customers alike, that sharing experiences with ever-increasing audiences has never been easier. The flip side for companies is that they face dramatic consequences if they fail at any stage of the customer engagement. Consider the recent research findings (see left) from customer engagement company Thunderhead, not ismm.co.uk

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customer experience | feature

least that a single customer could share a negative experience many thousands of times.

Driven by the knowledge that buying behaviour has changed so dramatically, many companies have realised the need to focus more than ever on customers. This focus is typically driven by the customer services team, and often supported by programmes such as “putting the customer first”.

In addition, such customer-focused companies have gone further to measure customer loyalty, using metric scoring methods such as the net promoter score. They do this on the basis that customer loyalty drives reputation, in the context of market perception and downstream revenues.

From product-focused to customer-centric Customer experience (CX, as described by global research and advisory firm Forrester) in business to consumer (B2C) markets has become a science. It plays a key part in corporate strategy, and leaders in B2C companies are targeted and rewarded on CX scores. The science clearly shows there are strong links between a good CX and the nurturing of a loyal customer and a bad CX resulting in a highly dissatisfied one. This, in turn, has a direct impact on revenue and market perception.

Forrester has been measuring the impact of B2C CX since 2010, unearthing a very strong correlation between high CX and customer loyalty, leading to significant revenue improvement.

Whether it’s the willingness to consider the company for another/second purchase, or the likelihood to recommend the company to a friend or colleague, certain industries, such as the mobile phone sector, airlines, hotels, car rentals and credit card providers reveal a very strong CX focus.

So, what does all this have to do with business to business sales?

In his 2013 book, Tilt, Ivey Business School’s Niraj Dawar suggests the focus for value creation and differentiation is shifting away from “upstream” activities like product sourcing, logistics and product design towards “downstream” activities such as the customer interface and customer retention. In other words, to gain competitive advantage nowadays you need to shift your strategy towards the customer, so that you can interact with them in the marketplace.

For Dawar, business success lies in the downstream activities, as he explains: “…value is created in the interactions with customers, competitive advantage is built and sustained in the marketplace, and the primary costs reside in acquiring, satisfying, and retaining customers”.

From a sales perspective the shift to a downstream focus is having, or will have, significant implications: ismm.co.uk

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Customers – ignore them at your peril Our customers’ experience is the one we choose to give them. Customers will then choose to share their perceived experience via social media, potentially reaching millions of future customers.

Accenture defines CX as “…how business customers and their stakeholders perceive the entirety of interactions they have with a supplier company across all marketing, sales and service touchpoints”. This description emphasises the need for CX to be concerned with every touchpoint.

Accenture has identified CX as one of five key focus areas for improving sales effectiveness.

CX is now operationally described as customer experience management (CEM). This concept is already firmly embedded into business language, coupled with solutions and monitoring to help companies achieve added value for their customers

“To gain competitive advantage nowadays you need to shift your strategy towards the customer” and to help differentiate themselves from the competition. Last year, Nunwood, a consultancy that assesses the quality of customer experiences delivered by the UK’s top companies, published its UK customer experience excellence results. The size and success of the top 20 companies in the survey suggests the CX wave has arrived.

Looking at the practical impact of CX on sales, we know the sales team is as much a part of the solution as the products and services that form the solution. In these situations what the customer experiences during a buying cycle will have a significant impact on the final decision. This impact not only influences an individual outcome of a sale, but also the longer-term relationship and customer retention, ie. the opportunity to engage further and sell other solutions and services.

who should own cx?

David Batup is a consultant with SBR Consulting specialising in sales transformation and customer experience. Contact him at dbatup@sbrconsulting, dbatup@gmail.com or visit www.sbrconsulting.com

Who should own the CX programme? It doesn’t matter, provided the sponsor of the programme has enough leadership support to make things happen. The sales director would be suitable, with the support of the CEO. This way, there is direct linkage between the CX programme and company success and sustainability. As Christine Crandell has concluded in Forbes, “It falls to you, sales, to deliver on the revenue targets you’re beholden to. You’ll need to lead the entire organisation to a customer-centric approach, sponsor research on the buyer’s journey, use your customer relationships to understand how the definition of value evolves over time, get the rest of your peers to change their ways to consistently deliver value, and transform your own cold callers into relationship stewards.”

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Feature | customer experience

someone in the buying team they will remember it most at the final point in the procurement process, typically when deciding between the last two vendors on the short list.

Imagine this scenario. A buying team are at the shortlist stage of their selection process. They have decided that either of the last two vendors can build, deliver and implement the solution. In addition, they have established that their project team can work with both vendor teams, and the numbers are about the same.

In your mind you see the buying team as they sit around a table. The door is shut and they have to reach a decision. They have completed their deliberations and the call is too close to make, based on the checklists or scores from their

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“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel” evaluation. So, the head of the buying team asks the question, “What do we all think?”

What do you think springs to mind in the heads of the others around the table?

Logic? Rational thought? No, what comes to mind is the way they feel about the last two vendors. We have established that these feelings were formed by the experiences they had when working with the two selling teams during the procurement. In other words, we are looking at the quality of the CX during every touchpoint with the sales team and supporting cast.

Customer Experience maturity model Culture Internal customer experience adoption and values

The emotion behind CX The concept of CX is a fragile thing. It varies from person to person and company to company, but the one thing we do know is that it is an emotional thing. In the past, we have referred to the concept of ‘E$’ (emotional dollars) which can be exchanged at every touchpoint. Your goal is to add value to the customer at every touch point so that you end up at the decision point with a healthy E$ bank balance.

This is a simple way of looking at the CX challenge, but one which helps the team understand the importance of a strong and successful CX approach.

If you have overdrawn your E$ bank account then there is a very good chance you are in trouble when it comes to the final decision. In this situation you will discover a mixed bag of good and bad experiences at various touchpoints. One of my favourite quotes from US author and civil rights activist, Maya Angelou, is still relevant today to the way a selling team can behave towards the buying team. She said: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

It is commonly known that any memory linked with strong emotion, and therefore feeling, remains with us for a very long time, if not forever. If you did deliver a good or bad experience at a touchpoint, then despite what else might be said it will be remembered and impact your E$ account.

To get an idea of how strong this can be just think back to a situation where you were buying something significant. This could be either as an individual or as part of a buying team at work, and you were made to feel stupid, belittled or inadequate by the selling team. It’s a sure bet that the feeling is still strong. When this happens to

Process and technology Measurement Mapping Awareness Level of personal and cultural change

Customer experience impact on customers

© SBR Consulting, 2015

ismm.co.uk

18/03/2015 10:57

customer experience | feature

CX: signs of maturity Their comments and input to the decision will be considered, but driven by emotion. What is expressed will have a layer of logic and rational thought, but what is really influencing the comments will be an underlying layer of emotion.

If overall they have had a bad CX journey with one vendor, then the thoughts in their heads will be, “There is no way on earth I want to work with that team” or “It will be over my dead body”.

Therefore, any positive or negative experience the members of the buying team have had during any touchpoint of the buying cycle will remain clear in their minds when it counts the most.

Of course, this would include all the members of your selling team and partners. Their behaviour and attitude will contribute to or destroy the impact of good customer experience. In a marketplace where differentiation is increasingly hard to achieve, that old adage, “people buy from people”, is never more appropriate and where possible they will buy from people they feel they can: trust to keep their promises; work with through good and bad situations; rely on to be open and honest in their communication; and, where possible, like.

In a recent McKinsey interview with Lynn Vojvodich the CMO of Salesforce.com, she stated: “The relationship with the customer doesn’t end at closing the sale. It’s also about how you serve that customer. When you are in a business like Salesforce.com, which is a subscription-based model, our success is completely predicated on our customer’s success.”

This is interesting because she is suggesting that CX is extending to the success of your customers in the context of the adoption and use of your product or solution. Anyone who operates a subscription-based commercial model will be well on the way to knowing this. If not, and your model is more product-or solution-based, then there is a strong pointer here that extends beyond a successful implementation or fulfilment. It could be that you should consider a customer-success element to your CX strategy or philosophy.

But despite a CX wave supported by most major companies and underpinned by research from some leading analysts, there is still worrying management complacency towards the subject.

Get the CX basics right Genuinely brilliant CX may be rare, but how do you at least aim for that? There are many excellent CX models around on to how to improve CX and therefore your competitive advantage. But, where do you start? Using a simple CX maturity model ismm.co.uk

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Maturity level

description

notes

Awareness

At least, top managers are aware of the role of CX in the success and sustainability of the business

CX should form a key part of the company strategy, even to the point of measures being identified in the annual report

Mapping

All the touchpoints for the lifecycle of a customer are known

This includes all customers – new, existing, partners, strategic. A CX flightpath exists, with key processes, owners and systems mapped to each touchpoint

Measurement

There is a measurement for each major touchpoint

Each measurement is derived from customer feedback and revisited regularly for new and existing customers. The results drive clear actions and outcomes

Process and technology

Processes are revisited and where necessary re-engineered to improve CX

Results from feedback and measurements are actively used to reassess the effectiveness of company processes.

Re-engineering improves them

Culture

The values, attitudes, training and staff behaviour support a culture of excellent CX

The company’s behavioural DNA supports ongoing improvement of CX. Recruitment, training, performance reviews, promotion and rewards all reflect the commitment to improving CX

Lisa Muller is a consultant with SBR Consulting specialising in sales transformation, customer experience, and go-to-market strategies. Contact her at lmmuller@yahoo.com, or visit www.sbrconsulting.com

and matrix (see opposite and above) will help you in the initial phases of assessing and putting together a CX approach or strategy. This can be used to help drive a board-level discussion about: l Why CX is important? l What needs to be done? l Where do we start? l How will we know if we have been successful? l Is there a business case for doing it?

Most companies will by now be aware of the importance of the impact of CX on their current and future business. But the number of companies that are actively doing anything meaningful about it declines sharply after the awareness stage. CX maturity, however, can be aspired to and, with enough effort, achieved.

For sales, the importance of CX cannot be stated highly enough. As one sales director once commented, “In sales, second place is first loser.”

Today, first place is no longer guaranteed through brilliant selling or excellent products or services.

In part 2 of this article, in the next edition, we will be taking a deeper dive into the key elements in each level of the maturity model.

Winning Edge 37

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Feature | social media

Facts at your fingertips Jon Halestrap explains how social media can offer sellers rich feedback on what their customers really think

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ismm.co.uk

18/03/2015 10:58

social media | feature

customer ‘solution’. I would call this approach Solution Selling3, a new facet of the more established solution selling.

So what part does social media play? Next time you are in a social gathering, just look at how many people are glued to their phones exchanging information. Some of that information could be gold dust for you. It could have the potential to really differentiate you in a competitive pitch, if only you knew how to get hold of it.

So let’s consider the following scenario: three salespeople from three different companies approach a camera manufacturer to sell them a new range of camera accessories. All f you think social media is three have great stories about their all about viral videos of wares: they know their product cute animals and range, price points and delivery. of B2B buyers search gossiping about the latest Salesman A is going to do a for information on reality TV star, think good, old-fashioned, sales pitch: social media again. Social media is “Here are my products, they are (source: MediaBistro) increasingly a tool that can help sales better than those you already buy and marketing professionals pursue new from our competitors, for the following clients, offering them meaningful, relevant reasons.” In short, Salesman A is only insights to improve their businesses. Social media showcasing the products and letting the potential is the way to go to beat targets, improve your hit client identify what they might want. rate and, ultimately, enhance your career.

Saleswoman B is planning a similarly traditional The world of the lowly sales rep has changed dramatically over the last ten years. The pace of “Next time you are in a business is ever faster and potential clients just don’t have time to look at products on the off social gathering just look chance they could be interesting (and if they did, I at how many people are would suggest they are not the potential clients you should be talking to in the first place). glued to their phones I have over 25 years of experience in sales. exchanging information” When I first started, the majority of calls involved having either lunch or drinks at the end of the day.

In fact, 11:30am or 4:30pm appointments were the norm. This worked really well for me, as the solution sale and is going to use all the skills she more calls I made the fewer meals I had to has learned to probe the prospect to find out what prepare when I got home. But how many potential problems they believe they have and offer the clients have time to sit down for lunch nowadays? solutions to those problems. The message is, “I will give you what I think you need to sort out the solution selling3 problems we both believe you have.”

When you call on a client or prospect today, they Salesman C, though, is going to adopt a are already likely to have carried out considerable Solution Selling3 approach. Before meeting the online research and decided to call in their top client he is going to conduct a social media three potential suppliers. As a result, salespeople in analysis of their range of cameras and the range the 21st century have to be able to harvest all the offered by the client’s nearest competitor. He will information they can relating to their potential then be armed with information to use as the customer, their own product and their market in foundation of his sales presentation. He will know order to ensure they are seen as being part of the specifically what people like and dislike about

I

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55%

Winning Edge 39

18/03/2015 10:58

Feature | social media

Case study 1: Hardwa re m anufacturer

Case study 2: Public se c tor

A well-known manufacturer wanted to know what people were saying about a particular model of camera it had recently released. An initial analysis quickly determined: 1. It was getting considerably more negative comments than expected 2. Users were complaining about one part of the hardware in particular 3. Most complainants were male and the peak of complaints came on a Monday morning.

The camera manufacturer then ran a comparison analysis between this model and a direct competitor. The competitor’s hardware had less than 10% of the negativity expressed as a percentage of posts and considerably more positivity overall. By delving into the results more closely, it found that, while it did have some technical issues, the real problem was that it had positioned its model incorrectly in its marketplace. By repositioning it, the firm expects to have a much better outcome in terms of happy customers – and sales.

these products, having listened to both. His presentation will revolve around what has been learned from this research. Having listened to both the prospect’s customers and to the needs of the prospect, Salesman C can position himself as someone who can truly add value. He would be able, confidently and insightfully, to present the problem and suggest the solution: “Do you realise that over the last month, although your customers

“The world of the lowly sales rep has changed dramatically over the last 10 years” are saying great things about your warranty, they do not seem to like your lenses or your tripods?

In fact, the tripods supplied by your competitor get much better reviews. You should consider looking at a different supplier.”

This is the sort of winning edge that will make the difference, as you are showing that: l You have carried out research l You have identified a problem (that the prospects may not even know they have yet) l You are offering them a solution.

And how much time and effort has Salesman C had to invest to gather information deemed valuable in the eyes of the budget holders?

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Jon Halestrap is VP of business development at TheySay, a text analytics company founded by Oxford University computational linguists. He specialises in implementing social media sentiment and text analysis to improve business performance.

Email jon.halestrap@theysay.io, visit www.theysay.io or tweet @TheySayLtd

A hospital trust used social media analysis to investigate patient feedback information. It wanted to focus as early as possible on the key issues affecting patient satisfaction, while also listening out for early warning of emergency issues. In this particular instance, it was able to determine very quickly that patients had some problems with its pharmacy, which it was subsequently able to rectify. It had no awareness of the problems until it ran this analysis. It is now regularly using the tool to help determine the best use of its limited financial resources.

He probably spent no more than 20 minutes on this – but a precious 20 minutes if spent correctly, which could greatly increase his chance of winning the deal.

This analysis is also a great way of ensuring that you retain your existing customers – because you can consistently give feedback on results of strategies by looking at what people are saying about the products and the competition.

Solution Selling3 works equally well for B2B as for B2C – just use the available information to your advantage. The technique can be used by sales and marketing professionals, and others, across all sectors, to find out what people are saying about products, services or brands – and competitors. The case studies above show how social media sentiment analysis and text of US marketers analytics can increase sales and use social media for customer satisfaction, and lead generation maximise customer retention. (source: IBM) So in summary what advantages can social media text analysis give you?

There are three main areas of knowledge: 1. Market knowledge Spend 20 minutes setting up some analysis streams for your sector, so you understand market trends fully, inform your customers and add real value.

2. Prospect knowledge Spend as little as 10 minutes setting up an analysis of a target customer. It will enable you to see what is being said about them or their competition, giving you competitive insight and advantage.

3. Customer knowledge What better way to get to know your customers than by seeing what is being said about them?

Give them feedback too, to help them grow, and they will come to regard you as a trusted adviser and could end up needing more of what you’re selling.

61%

ismm.co.uk

18/03/2015 10:59

Congratulations to all the British Excellence in Sales & Marketing Award (BESMA) winners and nominees from all at Randstad

We understand how important it is to have high performing talent in your business and the BESMA accolade confirms success.

We have over fifty years of unrivalled experience, credibility and knowledge of the sales industry which makes us your ideal recruitment partner.

Randstad is a specialist sales and marketing recruitment business, with a proven track record in providing talented and dynamic professionals from across a range of industries.

Therefore, if you are looking to build or maintain a high performing team then contact Randstad recruitment; visit randstad.co.uk to find your closest branch.

We have an extensive candidate portfolio, from sales trainees, telemarketing and customer service executives, through to business development managers, marketing executives and sales directors.

“Randstad has shown a genuine interest in not only filling the Sales & Marketing positions I have available, but in understanding our business, our needs, our processes and on improving the quality of service and candidates delivered�

Martin Hitchcock, Advertisement Director, Johnston Press

WE Mar April 15Edge TEXT.indd 43 ISMM Winning members magazine advertv2.indd 1

18/3/15 12:06:40 11:57:29 06/03/2015

WE Mar April 15 TEXT.indd 44

18/3/15 11:57:30

Appointments

Career Lines Katie Gamble | m otor sp ort. c om Motorsport.com, which claims to be the premier online media source for racing content, has hired Katie Jayne Gamble as UK sales manager. She has nearly ten years of sales and management experience, including a recent position as a sales manager at Haymarket Media Group where she developed media business for agencies and direct clients for Autosport. Gamble joins newly appointed Motorsport editor in chief Charles Bradley and F1 editor Jonathan Noble – each also previously with Autosport.

Angela Townsend | sh a r p

e u rope

Angela Townsend has been promoted to UK sales manager for Sharp’s Visual Solutions business just a few months after joining the company as a key account manager. She has nearly 20 years’ experience in audiovisual and display sales at firms such as Sony and also Epson, where as reseller account manager she was responsible for a range of direct market reseller and value-added reseller accounts. Last year she also picked up the AV News Salesperson of the Year award at Integrated Systems Europe. At Sharp, she says: “My message to resellers is that we will provide you with all of the support that you need to increase business.”

Paul Lee | CRM

Alan Banks

Nicola Myers

M ar keto

d ou bletree

Marketo, now one of the major marketing software players, has brought in Alan Banks as MD for the EMEA region. He’s got a strong technology track record, joining from LivePerson, where he was head of global sales and customer success, and was “instrumental in achieving strong sales growth and increased pipeline development”.

He’s also been at the strong line-up of Adobe, HP, SAP and CA. Banks takes over from Fergus Gloster, who is leaving soon to pursue personal interests.

Nicola Myers is the new sales manager at the grade II listed DoubleTree

by Hilton Hotel & Spa Liverpool, transferring from being head of partner experience at Liverpool Football Club.

She’s keen to transfer her commercial skills from the football pitch to the hotel sector – she’s managed high value sponsor relationships in football and has been recognised at the BT Sport Industry Awards, North West Football Awards and was a finalist in the Football Business Awards.

T e c h n olog i e s

CRM Technologies, which is a marketing automation agency, not a software house as its name suggests, has appointed Paul Lee as sales director. He’s said to have extensive knowledge of the marketing automation and the demand generation industry, joining from Adobe where he was enterprise account director, and he’s also been at Oracle Eloqua and Blueview Group. CRM Technologies managed a 54% growth last year and bills itself as one of the first specialist marketing operations agencies in the UK, combining consultancy with expertise in systems such as Salesforce.com, Eloqua and Marketo.

A ppo i n t m ent s E x t r a l scott barnsley has gone to Parker Software as sales director. He started out at Cadbury as a junior salesperson before IT moves. l steve molloy has moved from Hertz, where he was head of insurance sales, to Paragon Automotive, as sales and marketing director. l Giles Farley is the new international sales manager at Sonnox, a

provider of audio processing plug-ins for audio engineers.

l Stewart Middleton has taken on the UK sales director’s role at

Plum, an outdoor toy supplier. He was at Mookie Toys.

Eckhard Wernich | M atr i x 4 2 Matrix42, a provider of software for workspace management, has hired Eckhard Wernich to take responsibility for international sales with a focus on emerging markets for the firm. Said to be an experienced sales specialist with an excellent network of contacts, Wernich will manage market development in the UK, Benelux and Australia, and he has particular expertise at setting up indirect sales structures. Matrix42 has an impressive client line-up – its 3,000 customers include BMW, Infineon and Carl Zeiss, and they run about three million workstations using the company’s workspace management systems.

ismm.co.uk

43 Career Lines V2.indd 3

l Jock Nicol has been appointed sales manager at Specialist

Subsea Services. Nicol was once a clearance diver in the Royal Navy.

New Jo b?

Have you moved job or taken up a new professional role in sales and marketing say at a chamber of commerce or charity?

Send us the details, including where you moved from, what your key achievements have been and anything else you do that’s fantastic.

Email: magazine@ismm.co.uk

Winning Edge 43

19/03/2015 10:58

directory | sales training and consultants

The directory In association with

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Bruce King An inspiring and unique combination of sales and motivational strategies, presented worldwide.

T: 01923 859977 E: bruceking@bruceking.co.uk W: www.bruceking.co.uk

Carole Spiers A leading motivational speaker and provider of employee counselling, stress management training, workplace bullying awareness training and employee wellbeing services.

T: 020 8954 1593 E: info@carolespiersgroup.co.uk W: www.carolespiersgroup.co.uk

clarify Specialist business development for enterprise technology and services organisations with high value business propositions.

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Our learning technologies are changing the way companies approach their L&D and bringing awesome online learning to all sectors.

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Huthwaite International Helping businesses across the world transform their sales performance, delivering long-term, tangible results through our behavioural change programmes.

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Ian Segail One of Australia’s and New Zealand’s leading strategists and coaches on sales performance management and author of Bullet Proof Your Sales Team.

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i4 Sales Performance Focused on helping small and medium enterprises (SMEs) achieve bid excellence. i4 is a Shipley Business Partner.

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Leadership Development Ltd (LDL) Sales and leadership consulting. Emphasis on ‘skill+will’. Full-time consultants. 500,000 people trained. High energy learning that delivers.

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Improve your sales and management skills, working with other forward thinking sales professionals who want to be better.

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Miller Heiman The leader and innovator in sales execution, we help businesses grow profitable sales through our easily repeatable methodologies.

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MTD Sales training We specialise in business-to-business, business-to-customer, telephone and retail sales training. We work with a wide variety of clients, large and small, both in the UK and internationally.

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Delivering outstanding client productivity through comprehensive web-based sales training courses, assessments and qualifications.

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Book Paul Sloane to speak at your conference or to give high-level training on sales, innovation and leadership.

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A thought-leader and international authority and coach on personal branding. Keynote speaker, columnist, media personality and author of Walking TALL: Key steps to total image impact T: 01344 427977 E: lesley@walking tall.org W: www.lesleyeverett.com

Finesse Sales Training

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Founded by Winning Edge contributor Steve Hoyle, we specialise in helping clients to grow the capability of their sales teams in complex B2B environments.

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Destination Innovation

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18/03/2015 14:49

sales training and consultants | directory

directory rates you have three listing options. to book, call 01582 840001 or email magazine@ISMM.co.uk

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Graham Roberts-Phelps is among the UK’s most experienced and expert sales and customer service trainers, working regularly with the ISMM for over 15 years.

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An International business training specialist with 54 offices around the world, providing open, in-company and bespoke sales, marketing, finance and management courses at a choice of locations around the UK. T: 01923 897900 E: info@tack.co.uk W: www.tack.co.uk

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Speak first

Tack International

Winning Edge 45

18/03/2015 14:49

Events page_Layout 1 17/03/2015 17:06 Page 1

Dates for your diary SPRING/SUMMER 2015 Business Success Seminars iSMM seminars provide free sales training plus the opportunity to network with fellow sales professionals and make new business contacts.

Featuring thought-provoking and entertaining presentations, the seminars are full of new ideas and practical advice for maximising sales and winning new business. The seminars are free to members. Guests can attend one seminar free of charge and then there is a £95 charge thereafter.

BIRMINGHAM, DUDLEY

Thursday 19th March

Dudley Urban Village, Castlegate Park, Birmingham Road, Dudley DY1 4TB

LEEDS

Thursday 14th May

Village Urban Resort Leeds South, Capitol Boulevard, Tingley, Leeds LS27 0TS

MASTERING NETWORKING IN SALES

THE PRINCIPLES OF MORE EFFECTIVE SELLING

Integrating Social Media into Your Sales Process

How to Negotiate More Effectively, Deal With Objections and Close More Sales

aLEx MOYLE www.selzigconsulting.com Social Media can bring many benefits to a sales professional's business, however it does not replace the need to be on the phone or meeting your clients face to face. Many sales leaders are struggling to integrate the social media sales activities into their traditional sales process without impacting core phone time and the number of client meetings.

This talk will provide sales professionals and leaders alike with simple tactics and approaches they can use in order to integrate the use of social media into their existing sales processes and help them build high value client relationships.

How Customers Have Evolved in the Last 20 Years aDaM BUTLER www.adambutlerltd.co.uk The first thing Adam Butler ever learned about sales was when his Dad who told him “The customer is ALWAYS right… even when they are wrong!” This advice has held him in good stead ever since, having achieved record sales figures in every position he has ever held.

Adam explains how your customers have evolved in the last 20 years and what you can do to ensure you are speaking to more of the right people at the right stage in the buying process. He also looks at what strategy and structure you should adopt to take your business conversations from being purely transactional to becoming friendships.

KETTERING

Thursday 30th April

kettering Park Hotel, kettering Parkway, kettering, northamptonshire nn15 6xT

GaVin inGHaM www.gaviningham.com Over the years business has become ever more challenging. Competition has increased and clients are even sharper at negotiating discounts with suppliers. Salespeople and businesses have felt the crunch and, in many cases, profits have fallen.

To grow a business successfully today, you need the skills to avoid being categorised as a commodity and the mindset to remain mentally tough.

The Principles of Selling – Negotiation, Objection Handling and Closing MaRk RHODES www.markrhodes.com A sale happens when a prospect’s need and your message coincide in time. However, you also need to have proven you can do whatever they need and demonstrate huge value and low or no risk. You also need to demonstrate that you have credibility in the area they are looking for help.

Sounds simple? It is but most get it wrong! Most people don’t know how to establish the real deep needs of their prospect which are sometimes beyond what they have told them. They rarely have an effective way of demonstrating huge value and dealing with objections that come up.

MANCHESTER, KNUTSFORD Thursday 4th June Manchester Cottons Hotel & Spa, Manchester Road, knutsford, Cheshire Wa16 0SU

BUYER BEHAVIOUR AND CHANGING CUSTOMER NEEDS

PRESENTATION SKILLS � CREATE A COMPELLING STORY

Keeping Up With, And Keeping Your Customers!

“Speak in Public? I’d Rather Stick a Pencil in My Eye”

anDY HanSELMan www.andyhanselman.com

niGEL RiSnER www.nigelrisner.com

Are you in a world of increasing competition, massive customer choice and expectation, greater transparency, tighter margins and reduced customer loyalty? You’re not alone! This is the world we’re all in, and it’s not going away!

Understanding the basics of making a speech is not quite as daunting as most people think. Nigel will help you to craft an opening line that works every time, share how to make the three key points to enable your message to stick and show you how to create an ending that will impress even your peers.

Some businesses are not just surviving in these conditions, they are ‘thriving’! How? They have a ‘Dramatically and Demonstrably Different’ approach. These ‘3D Businesses’ get close to their customers, they anticipate and exceed their customers’ expectations – it’s called customer delight!

The seminar is designed to give you confidence, new techniques and to realise the different styles of communication that are needed to really make the impact you want.

In this stimulating and participative session, Andy Hanselman will highlight how 3D Businesses do it – no academic theories or ‘magical answers’, but proven processes for helping you keep up with and keep your customers.

Nigel will also share with you a five minute phobia cure to help overcome pre-speech nerves together with easy to remember tips to make sure you can engage and not let the audience intimidate you.

Buyer Behaviour and Changing Customer Needs

Killer Presentations

niGEL RiSnER www.nigelrisner.com

niCk OULTOn www.m62.com

The only motivational speaker in Europe to have been awarded Speaker of the Year from The Academy for Chief Executives, The Executive Committee and Footdown, Nigel is a respected author, television presenter and a prolific speaker. He speaks with authority, his own life having veered perilously away from comfortable norms at times. He has learned that positive results can come from negative experiences, and that we often learn best from situations which are unfamiliar and even uncomfortable.

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How do you use your pitch to win the deal?

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How do you make sure your audience pay attention during your pitch?

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How do you make them remember you rather than the competitor?

Learn how to make your presentations effective, engaging and memorable… kill the competition not the audience!

To book, call Natasha Brigo on 01582 840001, email nbrigo@ismm.co.uk or visit www.ismm.co.uk

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New ISMM Members

Welcome to the ISMM We would like to extend a warm welcome all our new members. Here are just some of them

Miranda Aldridge director Invincipeople

Darren Hickie managing director Develop & Promote

Philip Allen international sales manager Henry Technologies

Mark Hobin creative director Mark Hobin Design

Nigel Bailey corporate development executive Bluefin Nigel Booth field sales manager Jaserve

Anthony Howell head of marketing and communications Housemark

Vicky Etherington owner Azure Marketing

James Brayshaw managing director Winshaw Outsourcing

Andrew Cussons founder Actioncoach

Ashley colemancooke owner Optimisenow.com

Jill Davies managing director Granite 5

James Coombes managing director ASF Partnership Daniel Cordier sales and marketing director Rochester Heating Michael Crane managing director Crane Business Solutions Philip Crowshaw coach (Sales and marketing)

Justin Clarke managing director Page 1 Europe

ismm.co.uk

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Jana Jankova tutor London School of Languages Laurence Judah senior consultant Vodafone Gary King managing director Tendo

Lee Davies managing director Webpageone solutions

Chris Lonergan regional head of advisory services Haines Watts

Cat Dube business coach Peck UK

Ian Morton account manager Hilti

Matthew Fletcher team leader Moorepay

Susan Mumford entrepreneur Be Smart About Art

Russell Grove sales and marketing manager Interiors Manufacturing

Seyed Niknammotlagh business development manager Arup

Jonathan Ratcliff commercial Director JMR Sales and Consultancy Sharyn O’Flynn director Premium Loyalty Catherine Osborne managing director OSBOS Adrian Peck business coach Peck UK Angie Petkovic managing director Apt Marketing & PR Daniel Plowright commercial director Irun Laura-Jane Sarkodee director Laura-Jane Sarkodee Limited Greg Scutt managing director EnglischGerman Dave Shaw digital director Clever Cherry

Andrew Guy data services director Circdata

Johanne Stimson managing director Heatmat

Simon Halliday managing director Lion Consulting

Richard Thomas sales manager Business Wales

Keith Harrington managing director Makin Organs

Nina Vanneck strategic partner lead Google (London)

Harry Hayden principal Sales Coaching Consultancy

William Wakefield head of sales CWC Solutions

Matthew Heyman Sales manager C-MAR Group

Laura Morrison managing director Your Telemarketing

Jenna Wall managing director FMCG Springboard

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ISMM member profile

Relationship builder Winning Edge talks to CRM pioneer, Charlie Shaw

What is your background history?

My career as an accountant and management consultant was an ideal starter for the sales main course. If you didn’t sell consultancy assignments for yourself and your colleagues, then you didn’t work. I was able to bring the professional ethics and skills of a “big four” practice into a traditional software reseller environment – and it worked.

We acquired and developed a highly successful Microsoft Business Solutions provider that was awarded “Outstanding partner for Europe”.

What is your current role and how did you find it?

I was fortunate to work with a business to develop a revolutionary customer relationship management (CRM) system – pure web-based, with automated Outlook and Exchange integration – in 2002.

Gold-Vision was born and our business, Esteiro, took over the full ownership and development in 2004. Esteiro Business Solutions started with just me, so I didn’t have to compete for the main job...

What have been the highlights of your career so far?

There have been two main highlights: in my IT-focused management consultancy role, I was heavily involved in successfully bringing home high profile, complex projects on time and budget.

The second highlight has occurred more gradually, and that has been the amazing professional and personal development of longstanding team members. This is matched by the pleasure gained from long lasting and trusting business relationships with a number of customers and industry contacts.

What do you like most about your role?

Starting a business from scratch and building a successful team, with a solution that makes a difference, is a highlight that far exceeds any expectations. Seeing that team grow and develop is the ultimate reward and the recognition that we receive from our customers is true testament to this.

We love to be innovative and want our team to feel inspired to play a full part in our journey.

What do you like least?

That we sometimes lose for the wrong reasons. Too often a business will choose what they believe is the safe option of a big brand, rather than selecting the right system for their business.

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“The ISMM has given me a great opportunity to meet and learn from other sales colleagues”

What are the key changes happening in your industry?

The sales and marketing function has undergone huge change in the past few years – but many businesses haven’t quite realised it yet. Marketing automation provides enormous opportunity to identify and assign new leads, and target your message much more effectively. The industry has reacted in two ways: the big CRM players have simply purchased automation solutions and stitched them together with the CRM, whereas the big marketing automation players have accepted that they are not a substitute for CRM, and have built simplistic modules. We started from the ground up to build fully integrated lead generation tools and marketing automation into one solution. This has put us in a great position for future growth.

What are your biggest challenges and future ambitions?

Many of our customers are global, and we are currently gearing up to be truly international, but without losing the feel of a small business that cares.

What skills do you think are important to your role?

An ability to listen to others and disseminate information from a great number of sources.

CRM and marketing now cover a vast area of functionality, and there are many times when companies may make the mistake of investing heavily in the wrong technologies or processes.

We have to use our CRM expertise and experience to interpret the market signals correctly.

Does ISMM membership benefit you?

The ISMM is an amazing source of interesting and useful knowledge. It has given me a great opportunity to meet and learn from other sales colleagues in a non-competitive environment.

I’ve truly enjoyed every event and interaction.

What advice would you give to others who aspire to a career in sales?

Go for it! I can’t think of many more satisfying careers. But treat it seriously, and as a true profession. Find a business with products that you believe in and work hard to understand their details and benefits. Don’t believe the miracle selling techniques, but there are many skills that can be acquired to be successful. ismm.co.uk

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ISMM Corporate Partnership Partner with the ISMM for sales success Corporate Partnership provides employers with a great opportunity to align their companies with the aims and objectives of the Institute of Sales and Marketing Management. It enables them to acknowledge the key role their salespeople play in their company’s overall success and show them they appreciate their work. Established for over 100 years, the ISMM is the UK’s only Professional Sales Membership and Awarding Body accredited by Ofqual, the government’s regulatory authority, delivering qualifications exclusively focused on selling and sales and marketing management.

The ISMM has formed partnerships with many of these companies to provide products and services to ISMM Members, allowing both parties to benefit from working together. These organisations all have to demonstrate that they share the vision and values of the ISMM. Please visit www.ismm.co.uk for details of their services.

To learn about the advantages of ISMM Corporate Membership and why so many companies, of all sizes, have joined its ranks, call 01582 840001, email sales@ismm.co.uk or visit www.ismm.co.uk

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