Let’s talk about sales – The most relevant tools, systems and tasks

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With the increasing relevance and use of technology, some of them might be more in use or trending than others. Be aware that, for some specific markets or industry segments there are a couple of new “hi-tech” things popping up. I like technology and try as much as possible to keep an eye on any relevant development, though, as usual, there’s a lot of noise around new things that in reality, just don’t fit in most of the businesses, aren’t used or are used inappropriately, which leads to unnecessary hurdles. Let’s take Twitter, for instance, it might not be a relevant tool for big B2B corporations in the gas/oil/chemical world, but can be extremely important for SaaS companies. So, there’s no right or wrong, and don’t take the below information as unique, but as the most commonly-used platforms in the various fields:

• EMAIL/OUTLOOK:
  • Sounds logical and at the same time one of the most critical aspects of life for a salesperson.
• SENSING QUESTIONNAIRE (OR APPROACH) – Template available on my webpage:
  • It might differ from company to company, but the basis of sales management relies on understanding customers and adapting products and services to their needs.
• FORECASTING:
  • Forecasting is crucial, particularly in the industry as it allows for proper planning and optimization of utilization rates, but also in any other business with stock optimization and product rotation.
• VISIT REPORTS: Template available on my webpage
  • Every company will have its own process or way of working. In some, there’s a standard format or template, while in others, there’s no obligation or strict rule about visit reports.
• LEAD GENERATION: Template available on my webpage
  • Again, each company will have its own system or database. If it doesn’t, there are currently free platforms online or you can create a rough spreadsheet or your own database.
• SALES VISIT PREPARATION: Template available on my webpage
  • This framework helps you to prepare for a customer visit. The purpose, the objective, the premise, the strategy and the anticipation. This exercise is crucial for non-routine visits.
• BATNA: Template available on my webpage
  • Are you selling to the best customers? At the best price? Or are there other alternatives that could bring the same or better returns with fewer costs? How do you know that? This tool or process allows you to benchmark not only internally with your existing portfolio and the possible alternatives to a customer, but also your position as their supplierand theiralternative among the different competitors.
• Contact Matrix: Template available on my webpage
  • Do you know “who is who” in the company? The technical manager, the project manager, the quality manager? Finance? How can you put them in direct contact with their counterpart in your company?
• Influence Matrix:
  • Do you know who your customer’s decision-makers really are? Who influences who? Who blocks who? Who supports what?
• The Adopters Curve:
  • Product lifecycle. A new product will go through a different sequence of stages from its introduction towards its decline. This curve is normally used by marketing teams but it’s always good to know its existence and principles as you’ll experience this evolution on your customer’s portfolio.
• SELLING Models:
  • You might hear or come across one of these:
    • Conceptual selling
    • Consultative selling
    • SPIN selling
    • Solution selling
    • Dale Carnegie Sales
    • Sales First
    • And hundreds more….

CRM systems:

• This is a data warehouse system to capture customer’s key information, insights, and interactions. Normally accessible by sales, marketing, and management.

• EMAIL TRACKING:

It’s a software that integrates with your email and allows you to know when a recipient opens an email or opens a link you’ve sent.

• GOOGLE ALERTS:
  • You can set up alerts to track what competitors are doing, your specific market news, topics, people, and even follow your prospects’ activities.
• Cloud systems
  • Dropbox, Google Drive, and Amazon Cloud, among others. This is one piece of technology that any business and teams can’t ignore. Mobility, file sharing, sharing folders, links and so on.
• EVERNOTE:
  • One of the salesperson’s main problems is taking notes, organizing them, sharing them or archiving them. Evernote takes care of this and much more – like sharing or voice recording when you’re out of paper or driving.

 

This is an excerpt of my book “sales is my passion”,  available here: http://amzn.to/2DY7nVy