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Articles by Colleen Francis
How to Measure Sales Success: KPIs and Metrics That Matter
The best way to measure sales success is with leading indicators—the KPIs and metrics that predict future revenue and let you fix problems before sales dry up. Listen to a deep dive discussion about sales KPIs and performance: Key Takeaways: How to Measure Sales Success with KPIs and Metrics Closed deals are a lagging indicator. Measuring only revenue tells you about the past—by the time sales dry up, you’re already months behind and past the point of easy recovery. KPIs are leading indicators.
Ride-Along Coaching: It’s Not What You Think
Coaches far too often have the wrong assumptions about how ride-along coaching works. Here are six ways to make your sales coaching more effective. by Colleen Francis Sponsored by Ride-along coaching ought to be a powerful tool at the disposal of every leader in a sales-based organization. But many still don't use it properly. As a result, their sellers—and sales—suffer the consequences.
8 Prospecting Tips
In a perfect world, prospects would fall from the sky. There would be no need to hunt or chase people down, they’d simply just appear! Unfortunately, as we tune back into reality, we have to accept that prospects can be tough to come across. Many salespeople have exceptional product knowledge and people skills, but lack the prospecting abilities to actually put those skills into practice. There’s no escaping the fact that we have to prospect consistently in order to sell consistently.
Use the S.A.L.E. Methodology to Counter Any Objection
We all face questions and objections from buyers. The key to creating a nonstop sales boom is in reframing these objections as simple conversation starters that lead towards a sale. In doing so you will reduce your anxiety and will be able to work through them more effectively. S = Stop and listen. That’s right. I am saying that the best first step in answering questions or objections is to stop. Do nothing. Say nothing. Just for three seconds.
Using Criticism to Your Advantage
You’ve probably had to deal with professional criticism at some point (or often) in your sales career. In such a fast-paced, high-pressure profession that is continuously focused on results, we are often subject to our fair share of criticism from colleagues, managers, clients, and prospects. If you want to be successful in sales, you must train yourself to take criticism and use it to your advantage.
Know the Different Types of Customer Value | Sales Strategies
Over the past few months, due to travel restrictions, companies have been conducting more and more product training sessions. I’m not opposed to product training, but it’s critical that we don’t pitch product features to our customers. Instead, what we … Read More » The post Know the Different Types of Customer Value | Sales Strategies first appeared on The Sales Leader.
Your Sales Team Needs This Trait
Your Sales Team Needs This Trait Colleen Francis - 31 December 2020 All of the top sales teams in the world generally possess a few key traits for success. One of these important keys is resilience. Let’s face it, sales can be challenging. Slumps happen, even a verbal agreement to move forward … Read More » The post Your Sales Team Needs This Trait first appeared on The Sales Leader. Read the full post here
My Sales Reading List | Sales Strategies
February 21, 2020 I got a request the other day from sales reps who were looking to better themselves. Specifically, they asked me what they should be reading as sales reps. I think the answer I gave surprised them because they were probably thinking I would give them a list of 10 sales books. While I think it’s important to be reading on your craft, I believe, in order to better yourself as a salesperson, you need to be reading in other areas.
A Simple Strategy to Better Manage Your Time
You are here: Home » Sales Leader Blog » A Simple Strategy to Better Manage Your Time February 14, 2020 I often get bombarded with questions from overwhelmed salespeople and sales managers on how to manage their time effectively given everything they have to do in a day. It’s not just about making phone calls or seeing customers—it’s about sending emails, monitoring social media, posting topics, and prospecting for new business.
Are You Lacking Consistency?
February 13, 2020 Be honest, is your sales team, or are you lacking consistency? One of the most underrated concepts when it comes to growing sales is this idea of consistency. Any endeavor in life, but especially sales, requires a high degree of consistency in order to create success, not to mention maintaining and growing it! Think about it: You will not get into shape unless you’re consistent with working out and eating right.
Green Circle Growth: Get Serious About Quarterly Reviews
You are here: Home » Sales Leader Blog » Green Circle Growth: Get Serious About Quarterly Reviews February 12, 2020 Quarterly business reviews are essential for understanding potential growth with existing customers, retention issues and future opportunities. They are just as crucial for troubleshooting where sales performance isn’t meeting expectations, as well as for measuring the return on investment your client is receiving for the work you do together. Get serious about doing this analysis.
The Most Powerful One-Word Sales Question | Sales Strategies
You are here: Home » Sales Leader Blog » The Most Powerful One-Word Sales Question | Sales Strategies February 7, 2020 My very favorite question in all of selling is simply, “Why?” Why do I like it so much? There are a number of reasons. Short First, it’s short. I’ve determined over the 25 years that I’ve been selling that the shorter the question you ask, the longer the answer you get.
Don't Put Off Your "Must-Dos"
February 6, 2020 As a seller, each day you have a set of tasks that need to be completed. Don’t put off your “must-dos.” It’s common. A seller shows up to work in the morning, with the best intentions to get some “needed” tasks done, only to get thrown into the craziness of the day which results in several unexpected tasks getting done (or not), but not the one(s) that were vital for the day! These must-do tasks by the way, often have something to do with prospecting. Let’s face it.
Sellers Should Never "Know It All"
January 30, 2020 Salespeople often have a healthy ego, but this can go too far when a particular seller feels like they “know it all.” The best and most consistently successful salespeople always maintain an attitude of growth and learning. They realize that no matter how good their sales results are today, that there’s always room to discover even more.
Time to Put a Stop to Buyer Objections
January 29, 2020 It’s a friction point that holds you back from achieving sales success: buyer objections. If left unchecked, those objections will stop you dead in your tracks from being able to present a compelling proposal to your prospective customer. And that puts you at risk of landing fewer deals. The more objections a buyer has, the more likely it is you have a fact-finding mission on your hands. The objections you hear tend to take on a familiar refrain.
The Number One Skill to Look for When Hiring | Sales Strategies
You are here: Home » Sales Leader Blog » The Number One Skill to Look for When Hiring | Sales Strategies January 24, 2020 When it comes to hiring, the number one skill or behavior to look for is teachability/coachability. As a manager, you want people who don’t think they know it all. You want people who are willing to learn, change, and grow as the market, your product, and customers demand it. As a seller, you need to show your managers that you are willing to learn.
Is Your Sales Team Forgetting This Crucial Step?
You are here: Home » Sales Leader Blog » Is Your Sales Team Forgetting This Crucial Step? January 24, 2020 Could your sales team be forgetting about this crucial step? Recently, I was coaching a sales manager and we discovered that their inside store reps thought they were too busy to do a proper quote. So, they just printed the page from their website with the products on it, wrote the price on it in pen and gave it to the customer.
Building Trust With Your Clients
January 16, 2020 Building trust with clients should be at the forefront of every organization’s thinking and planning. Look, making a sale is great, but just because a buyer agrees to purchase your product, use your service or work with you doesn’t mean your job is done. Let’s talk about a few ways to build trust with clients.
Gatekeepers Are Your Responsibility
January 15, 2020 Good deals get stuck when you lack access to the right people to successfully close a sale. There are two ways that lack of access occurs. The first way—as I’ve talked about recently—happens when you try to only go straight to a decision maker and miss the opportunity to connect with a range of influencers who can help make that sale happen. Let’s talk now about the second way the access door remains shut: when you allow gatekeepers to keep it that way.
Diversify Your Prospecting
January 9, 2020 Especially in 2020, you need to diversify your prospecting to ensure long-lasting success. The world continues to change at a rapid pace. And sellers, especially, need to keep a pulse on all the latest changes and trends as new tools seem to pop up faster than ever to make prospecting easier. No longer do you need to (nor should you) stay stuck in the traditional prospecting avenues.
The #1 Strategy to Growing Current Accounts | Sales Strategies
You are here: Home » Sales Leader Blog » The #1 Strategy to Growing Current Accounts | Sales Strategies January 10, 2020 A large number of my clients this year are looking to grow and retain their existing account base. They want to grow and retain those existing accounts at the highest level possible in their marketplace to better serve them and provide more value. What Is the Number One Step You Need in Order to Retain and Grow Your Client?
3 Truths about Selling to People
January 3, 2020 If you travel a lot with work—as I do—it exposes you to a much wider variety of ways that people experience the world around them. But travelling can also make us keen observers of human beings and how they do business with each other. If you’re paying attention, you start to see there are truths that never change, no matter where you go. In a sense, human beings all run on the same software, but have a cultural layer on top that which comes with its own set of assumptions.
The Power of a Fresh Start
January 2, 2020 This time of year has a certain appeal to it. I think all of us, to varying degrees, recognize the power of a fresh start at the beginning of each January. The difference, of course, is between those who only recognize the fresh start and those who actually take advantage of it. I challenge you, at this time of year, especially at the beginning of not only a new year but a new decade, to reinvent what you believe is possible for yourself.
Know the Influencers Who Make More Sales Possible
You are here: Home » Sales Leader Blog » Know the Influencers Who Make More Sales Possible December 30, 2019 Previously, we looked at how important it is to beware of talk traps. Now let’s examine the first big step you must take to avoid those costly pitfalls that kill your time and sink deals: learn how to connect with all the right people in your buyer’s decision-making process.
Take a Step Back at the End of the Year | Sales Strategies
You are here: Home » Sales Leader Blog » Take a Step Back at the End of the Year | Sales Strategies December 27, 2019 December is truly a great time to stop and think about ourselves and our businesses from a marketing perspective as a salesperson, which we often don’t do. Don’t Neglect Your Professional Image Often times, we find ourselves incredibly busy at work: constantly responding to emails, prospecting, or closing deals. As a result, we often forget about taking care of our assets.
Beware of the Talk Trap
December 18, 2019 There’s a menace in your sales territory today. It’s one that can drain your resources, rob you of your time, lay waste to your sales targets and sink the morale of your entire sales team…effortlessly. That menace is the dreaded talk trap. You have to be able to know it and name it first before you can take steps to not fall into it.
Your December To-Do List | Sales Strategies
December 13, 2019 As we approach the last few weeks of the year, salespeople often find themselves either coasting into the new year because they have accomplished their sales goals, or they find themselves pushing hard because they have struggled to reach their sales targets. Regardless of where you are, don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t sell in December.
The Best Way to End The Year
December 12, 2019 As we inch closer to the new year, I wanted to discuss the best way to end the year. Now is a wonderful time to take the opportunity to thank your client base. Regardless of your 2019 sales results, but especially if you hit or exceeded your targets, you wouldn’t be able to make the sales you did without your customers! So, why not take the time to acknowledge them in these last few weeks of the year?
A Simple but Brilliant Account Management Strategy
You are here: Home » Sales Leader Blog » A Simple but Brilliant Account Management Strategy November 29, 2019 I was working with a group of sales managers at a workshop a few weeks ago and one of them introduced this strategy. It was a very simple strategy of implementing an account plan when you didn’t have a sophisticated account planning process. Utilize Your Markers We know why our customers buy from us.
B2B Selling is Now B2ALL
November 28, 2019 There has been no greater impact on B2B sales in the last decade than the online consumer-buying process. Business buyers purchase far more B2C products in their lives than work-related solutions, therefore they’ve become used to the convenience of hopping on the web versus dropping into brick-and-mortar stores. Forrester, in fact, predicts that online sales will account for 17% of all US retail sales by 2022.
Do Less, Achieve More
November 28, 2019 Yes, it is possible to do less and achieve more. As I’ve touched on recently, the general mantra for professionals in today’s world is “more, more, more.” Expectations, at least as far as I know, certainly aren’t going down in most companies and industries. Targets are met, or even exceeded, only to be brushed aside for the next period’s target that’s often bigger and more intimidating than the last.
From Brand Trust to Brand Advocacy
November 22, 2019 It used to be that buyers needed to know you first before they could trust your product. Today the reverse is true. You’ll only get the chance to build a personal relationship with a buyer once they trust your brand can help them. And, once you have that relationship in place, you can recruit a fan base for your product to generate future revenue. But let’s first go back a step to building that personal rapport. You’ve earned a client’s trust of your corporate brand.
Even the Best Sellers Need a Referral Refresher | Sales Strategies
You are here: Home » Sales Leader Blog » Even the Best Sellers Need a Referral Refresher | Sales Strategies November 22, 2019 I was surprised when one of the clients I’ve been working with for close to 10 years asked me to discuss referral selling for a sales roundtable I was going to facilitate for them. I was surprised because this client is exceptional at what they do: millions of dollars in services and their top salespeople are constantly hitting records.
The 3 Biggest Sales Engagement Myths
November 15, 2019 Despite changes to our selling marketplace, too many sales professionals are rooted in beliefs about customer engagement that simply aren’t true. That’s why today, I’m going to dispel the three big sales engagement myths. Myth #1: Being on social media isn’t selling It is. As I have explained previously, we still sell to people and people still buy from people. What’s changed is the People Vector: the direction and magnitude of how we do business with each other.
When It's OK Not To Grow
November 14, 2019 Sometimes, it’s OK for your business and sales not to grow. You read that right. The general theme behind most advice online is to “grow, grow, grow!” It’s the age of the “entrepreneurial hustle” and sales advice all over the internet is about doing more, achieving more and selling more. Don’t get me wrong, even most of the content on our site is dedicated to sales growth, and why wouldn’t it be?
Making "Land and Expand" Work for You | Sales Strategies
You are here: Home » Sales Leader Blog » Making “Land and Expand” Work for You | Sales Strategies November 8, 2019 I want to highlight a sales strategy I’ve noticed perform incredibly well as of late. We started calling this the “land and expand” strategy. What is the “Land and Expand” Strategy?
Time-Based Branding: You Grow by Making Things Easier
You are here: Home » Sales Leader Blog » Time-Based Branding: You Grow by Making Things Easier November 6, 2019 Time-based branding makes it as easy as possible for your customer to find you and buy from you. Get this right and you will unlock new growth in even the most competitive of marketplaces. In the first of this two-part series on how to adopt this winning approach in your organization, I showed you why you need to shift to one-stop shopping.
Sales Prevention Department: Where's Yours?
November 1, 2019 Where is your sales prevention department? You may have one without knowing it! Lost sales often happen for reasons that are entirely within our control. Quite frequently, they’re caused by the kinds of internal rules we create in businesses of all sizes. When that happens, we are creating a sales prevention department for ourselves. Granted, organizations thrive on rules—policies, procedures and systems—because they help make people work more efficiently.
The Quickest Way to More Sales
October 31, 2019 The key to faster sales is extremely obvious, yet also counterintuitive. It has to do with your efficiency. Obvious, right? Not so fast. When I say efficiency, I’m not just talking about squeezing more prospecting calls into an hour, or speed talking your way through a presentation so you can wrap it up and move on to the next one. This advice about efficiency is counterintuitive because some sellers have “norms” which they may not readily see as issues until someone points it out.
Your Client Wants an Insider - Not a Partner
You are here: Home » Sales Leader Blog » Your Client Wants an Insider – Not a Partner October 25, 2019 There isn’t a buzzword out there today that’s more dated than the notion of you being in “partnership” with your client. The fact that it’s still used so irritatingly often in business today should give you serious pause. Words only have power when they are backed with sincerity and appropriate meaning. Look around you: a true partnership is a mutual choice and a deeply personal one.
The Truth About Gatekeepers
October 24, 2019 There’s a truth about gatekeepers that you need to be thinking about. Namely, that you create them. You read that right. You’re creating your own gatekeepers. In fact, I’d argue that the concept of gatekeepers is almost entirely inside of our heads. While I’m not implying that gatekeepers aren’t real and simply a figment of your imagination, I am saying that you may need to think a little more “outside the box” and redefine your perspective on them.
Time-Based Branding: It Starts With What You Offer
You are here: Home » Sales Leader Blog » Time-Based Branding: It Starts With What You Offer October 23, 2019 Every time your customer makes a buying decision, they deal with risk. They ask: “What if I make a mistake? What if things don’t work out? Can I be sure I’m making a good choice? What’s the cost of failure?” To hedge their bets against considerable loss—lost money and lost time—they are prone to stick with sellers they know.
Setting Sales Managers to Fail
October 18, 2019 Are you setting your sales managers up to fail? A few years ago, I met an executive running sales teams who had recently been promoted to the role. He gave new meaning to the term “hands off.” The entire time I was with him, he ignored the teams he was supposed to be managing, had his head down in his laptop or phone answering emails and putting out fires, and seemed completely overwhelmed in his new role. Let me ask you this.
Why Top Performers Are Team Sellers | Sales Strategies
You are here: Home » Sales Leader Blog » Why Top Performers Are Team Sellers | Sales Strategies October 18, 2019 I’ve been working with organizations to help them understand what their internal best practices are for selling and what behaviours are really driving top performance. And one of the central themes being noted by top performers across multiple organizations is team selling.
Getting Pricing Wrong | The Sales Leader
October 17, 2019 Last year, I was at a large gathering of CEOs: all sharp thinkers who want to see their companies grow. While I’d been invited to address their forum to talk about the sales process, what many of them really wanted to ask me about afterwards was where they fit in that process. Specifically: do CEOs need to get involved in selling, and if so, when? Here’s my blunt answer to their question: CEOs must own their company’s pricing strategy.
Drop The Stereotypes!
October 11, 2019 Could your organization be giving into certain stereotypes? There are a limitless amount of companies out there seeking to cater to certain generations. From Millennials, to Gen Z to Gen X, organizations across the board are trying to understand how to build a culture that attracts (and keeps) people from certain generations. A noble pursuit, sure. I see no issue whatsoever with organizations attempting to build a suitable culture for their employees. In fact, I readily encourage it.
Why Workshops are Bad for Salespeople
October 10, 2019 Workshops and learning events can be the least effective—and for some, even the worst—places for your salespeople to get the training they need. You heard that right. Now, let me explain. I’ve worked directly with sales pros for a long time, helping them become top-ranked in their field. And one of the things I’ve noticed over the years is that most of them struggle to apply new concepts and practices if there’s a lack of context.
Don't Lead With Fear
October 3, 2019 You’ve probably heard some of the buzz around leading with fear. You know, the concept of learning about a prospect’s pain points and doing everything in your power to develop fear in their minds so that buying your product or service can be the only logical choice in alleviating that fear? You might have heard of this idea, to talk about the “doom and gloom” or the worst possible outcomes. This doesn’t resonate with me.
Reconsider Your Right Turns
September 7, 2019 It’s the thing you always do because it worked before. Much like the delivery person whose route over the years has consisted of taking as many right turns as possible to save time, sales leaders have a tendency of relying on time-honored habits in the execution of their work. Be warned though: it’s a risky way of doing business, and it can cost you plenty.
What's the Return on Investment?
September 12, 2019 Have you ever stopped and ask yourself what the return on investment is for your clients who work with you? It’s an important thing to quantify. Think about it, behind almost every objection, the ultimate question a prospect is asking is how much they’re going to gain, should they invest with you. In their own heads, if the return on investment is low, how likely are they to seriously consider working with you?
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