Sales Boot Camp Bullets The sales swamp of sameness check

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Wow  its time for some fitness work!!!

 Sales Boot camp bullets to the rescue!

Nushi Stach putting an 'old sales soldier'

 through their paces at TMI TACK Vilnius Sales

 (Photo from Sales Boot camp session last summer -  Nushi and I ran a Sales Boot camp for the Group).

Many Salespeople today feel that their offerings are almost indistinguishable or insufficiently different from the competition and that make their  2012 very tough.

 Conventional unique selling points USP have come to have a certain 'hollowness' about them.

With tougher times  in 2012 of economic slowdown or double dip recession. If we are not careful this negative mind set can take on a stranglehold of an energy sapping quagmire. That is not good for the start of a new sales year.

For many selling is becoming almost entirely commoditised with excessively restrictive purchasing policies from the buying side or by market rules with incessant drive for year on year savings (YOYS).

This ‘slough of despond’, is their “swamp of sameness” - that place where, it is believed,   a cheaper price is the only way to keep afloat in that swamp.

For some salespeople, selling has become less fun. They feel unduly shackled by dull process of worthy best practise and mandatory guidelines.

The ‘swamp of sameness’ is of course a partly ‘real’ and partly ‘virtual’ place.  It is both a rational and emotional phenomenon. It is both a reality and a perception.

 It is located in a salesperson’s mind because the mind is where the first sale is made.

Are YOU wallowing in the ‘Swamp of Sameness’?

Sales Boot camp Bullets - Your Swamp of Sameness Check

(Please use this check list to find out how deeply you are in the “swamp” and be honest with yourself- no one’s looking. ……………yet !)

1. Do you know the rules of Buying Team  PowerPoint “Bingo” and RFPs ?   Y/N                                              

2. Do you keep your customer record systems  (CRM /CEM)/in the Cloud) up to date and USE them ?                                                                                        Y/N

3. Do you know how much Prospecting work you have to do to achieve your company’s “New Business Target for 2012”?                     Y/N                                           

4. Do you have a detailed plan as to where you will be next week

and who you will be contacting ?    Y/N                                                                       

5. Do you know how much business you have in the pipeline at quotation stage ?                                                                                           Y/N

6. Do you know how much business is likely to result from firm orders NEXT MONTH ?                                                                               Y/N

7. Do you prepare a forecast of how much business you reckon you will produce in the next month?   Y/N

8. Is your forecast sufficiently specific for you to pin-point any specific

customer that isn’t coming up to expectations ?                         Y/N                                                     

9. Do you know whether you are neglecting part of your product range ?                       

Y/N

10. Do you know what your Average order value is ?    Y/N                                              

11. Do you know what your average “Calls to quotations” ratio is ?                         Y/N

12. Do you know the key strengths of your competitors ?                                           Y/N

13. Do you have at least 4 names of buyers and influencers for each customer ?        Y/N

14. Do you know what specific objectives you have for contact in a customer ?         Y/N

15 Do you know what questions to ask to really drill down deep into customer’s        Y/N concerns, attitudes, opinions and issues beyond conventional fact finding technique ?

16 Do you know how to overcome voice mail and answer phone barriers ?               Y/N


17. Are you still not on LinkedIn, Twitter etc.

18. Are you using LinkedIn , Twitter to best effect?

etc.                                                                                       

                                                                                            Totals      Yes              No

                                                                                                           =====       ======

                                                                                                          ---------     ---------

More than 6 ‘No’s’ and you’re in the swamp -  losing sales, wasting time and subconsciously working for the competition !  Read this series of Sales Bootcamp bullets and use its advice and all that will change  in weeks.

Need a charge up to fight the swamp of sameness?

Special Event

If you are looking for fresh ideas for your sales plans for 2012 why not apply to the Managing Sales Workshop hosted by Croydon Chamber of Commerce

Thursday 16 February 2012, 9.15am - 11.30am
Jurys Inn, Wellesley Road, Croydon, CR0 9XY
Cost: Complimentary to Premier Plus & Local members / £20.00 to non-members
BOOK PLACES ONLINE