Mark Hunter's Blog, page 66

Sales Leaders Don’t Discount Their Price

After speaking at a conference recently, a sales manager approached me to say how his company is seen as the premier company in their industry for their quality and service.  He went on to say how everyone loved them, and then he dropped the bombshell.  He said the big reason they were the leader was because they would cut their price to match any competitor’s price.  With that statement, I lost it!

My response to him was, “If you’re the leader in service and quality, then why do you have to cut your price to match everyone else?”  His response shocked me even more.  He said, “If we didn’t cut our price, then we’d lose a lot of business very quickly.” With that statement he proved that his statement about quality and service was a sham.

If you’re the leader, then act like the leader and lead with your pricing, and that means no discounts!  People will pay for quality. In the end they don’t want cheap prices. They want solutions to their problems.

Check out this video where I talk about how the value you offer will determine the price you get:

Sales leaders don’t discount!  What part of this do you not understand?  Leadership commands a premium price!   Clearly this sales manager’s company was not the leader he thought they were.  If they were, then he wouldn’t have to be matching every other price in the marketplace.

Being a sales leader is not just saying the words; it’s doing the actions that go along with it.  If you can’t back up your sales leadership beliefs with prices that go with it, then guess what?  You’re not a sales leader.

Sales leadership is not for everyone. If was a sales leader, who would they be leading?

Leadership is about setting the standards for the industry. It’s about being on the front end of impacting the marketplace.  Leadership is about people coming together throughout the supply chain to create superior outcomes.  For those who do that, your customers will pay full price and many times they will pay a premium.  They’ll do this for one simple reason. They know in the end it’s not the price one pays for something, but rather it’s the value one receives from what they buy that determines the real outcome.

And don’t forget that a coach can help you excel in your sales career! Invest in yourself by checking out my coaching program today!

Copyright 2018, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results

Your Prospects Don’t Care About What You Sell

Since your prospects don’t care about what you sell, why are you starting off your prospecting calls explaining what you sell? Read the memo — your customers don’t care! Do I need to start revoking your sales privileges to get you to understand?

Recently I had a call from a guy who wanted to sell me raw land. Wow, that’s just what I woke up this morning thinking. All morning I was sitting around waiting for someone to call to sell me raw land somewhere in western Nebraska. You can’t teach stupid. For some it just comes naturally, but that’s the only thing that comes out of bad prospecting phone calls.

It’s not about what we sell; it’s about the outcome we help customers achieve. Check out this video where I share the story of a person who thought they could get companies interested in yoga classes:

Your goal is to lead with a question or statement about what the prospect will see of interest to them, and I’ll remind you again — what is of interest to them is not what you sell!

Now you’re wondering, “How do I know what is of interest to people I call?” It’s simple. It starts with thinking of every other customer you’ve sold to and thinking through the outcomes they achieved. When you have a list of the outcomes your other customers have achieved, then you will begin to see a pattern as to the value of what you sell.

Second step is to take this list of outcomes you’ve helped customers achieve and begin bundling them together by the type of customer you sold to. Doing this will allow you to now begin to see patterns in how you help customers.

Breaking down into “customer buckets” will now allow you to see what is going to be of value to prospects you call. You’re now in the home stretch, as the last part is now building out questions or short statements you can make to help you make your prospecting calls engaging. That’s your goal with a prospecting call. It’s about creating engagement. It’s not about doing an information dump.

And don’t forget that a coach can help you excel in your sales career! Invest in yourself by checking out my coaching program today!

Copyright 2018, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results

Sales Motivation Video: Do You Know What You’re Doing Tomorrow?

Great salespeople never end a day without knowing what they’re going to accomplish tomorrow.

Do NOT spend the first hour of your day getting ready for your day! No!  Instead, start the day strong because you prepared the night before.

Check out the video to see what I mean:

And don’t forget that a coach can help you excel in your sales career! Invest in yourself by checking out my coaching program today!

Copyright 2018, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results

The Evolution of Sales Leadership

Recently, I was with some people who refused to believe I was in sales.  They thought, “How could somebody like him be a salesperson?”

The small group said I was too nice and too thoughtful to be a salesperson.  When I asked them why they thought that way, their response was uniform. Their view of a salesperson was somebody who takes advantage of others.

You can imagine the engaging conversation I had with these people about how I viewed the sales profession, and I think I was successful in turning their opinions around about salespeople.   After our conversation was over and we had all gone our separate ways, I couldn’t help but wonder about the millions of others who share the same feeling about salespeople as these people did.

Is sales and, in particular, sales leadership evolving?  I think so! No, I don’t have data points I can share to indicate it is evolving, but I can take confidence in doing what I can.

Each day I make it my objective to impact others positively.  Will you join me in this task?  Will you each day strive to be seen as a stronger more impactful sales leader regardless of the position you hold?

Titles don’t mean a thing when it comes to being seen as a sales leader. Being seen as a sales leader is a personal decision you make. It’s a decision you make to impact and influence others.

As a total optimist, I’m sold on the belief if we all make it our mission to up our sales leadership game each day, we will make a significant difference in the continuing evolution of sales leadership.

What will the outcome be if we’re successful? It’s quite simple — we will have helped many more people be able to see and achieve what they didn’t think was possible.

And don’t forget that a coach can help you excel in your sales career! Invest in yourself by checking out my coaching program today!

Copyright 2018, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results

Is Your Sales Pipeline Too Fat?

Would you be willing to bet your home on the quality of what’s in your sales pipeline?  The vast majority of people would not, and I suspect you’re one of the vast. Why are you putting leads into your sales pipeline if you don’t think they have a chance of ever turning into a customer?

Watch this 93 second video where I talk about this issue:

The greatest asset you have is your time. It’s the one thing you can’t make more of. The best you can do is find ways to leverage it better.

This means you have be very judicious about what you spend your time on and the tools you use.  All this sounds good, but don’t think all you need to do is add more tools, apps and hacks to your process to make it a bigger funnel. Falling into this trap is only going to result in one thing — more leads that don’t go anywhere.

Think of the last time you moved into a larger home.  Immediately upon moving into the larger home, you began having more stuff, and very soon you thought to yourself, “How did I ever make it in the smaller home?” Our stuff expands to the amount of space we give it, and the same is true with our sales pipeline. We will put into it as much as we feel will fit.

A key part of knowing what you can have in your sales pipeline is knowing how much time it will take to manage it over an extended period of time.  Just because you can make one phone call to a lead today doesn’t mean you’ll have time to make the necessary number of follow-up calls it will take to move the lead all the way through to customer status.

If you cannot gather quickly from a lead a key outcome you feel you can help them achieve and a timeline you can do it in, then the lead simply does not belong in your pipeline.  The reason is simple. You don’t have the time. The time you do have is going to be better spent on better prospects.

It’s time you push back. I’m a firm believer you will achieve more success having fewer leads you can spend more time with than having too many leads with which you can merely use an unsuccessful “spray and pray” strategy.

And don’t forget that a coach can help you excel in your sales career! Invest in yourself by checking out my coaching program today!

Copyright 2018, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results

Sales Motivation Video: Great Salespeople Like to Hear “NO”

When you hear “no” from a prospect or customer, what do you do?  I don’t think this is a word to be feared, but rather an opportunity to move toward greater success.

I know it seems counterintuitive to think that way.  But check out the video and you’ll see what I mean:

And don’t forget that a coach can help you excel in your sales career! Invest in yourself by checking out my coaching program today!

Copyright 2018, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results

Your Customers are a Reflection of You

The way your customer responds to you is a direct reflection of how you respond to them.  Recently, I was having dinner with a gentleman who has one of the neatest job one could have.  He works in the press box for the Atlanta Braves.

This means he gets to hang out with every major broadcaster, sports commentator and sports writer in the baseball world.  He shared how in just a few minutes, he can turn a person who’s having a difficult day and big ego into a raving fan of his by just being who he is.  He laughed about how the way he handles himself spreads to others in the press box.

Take a moment and think about how you are seen by your customers. I’m a firm believer who we are and how we act rubs off on those we come in contact with.

A great way to see this is by watching people on a Southwest Airlines flight. Notice how much amiable they tend to be compared to passengers on other airlines?  It’s simple. The type of people Southwest hires are those who have engaging personalities.  This personality is on display each time you board a plane and amazingly it rubs off on passengers.

Check this short video where I talk about this issue:

It might be time to ask ourselves if the “bad” customer we have is a reflection of how we may appear to them.  Yes, this is harsh, but in 20 years of consulting, I’ve had a chance to work with hundreds of companies and thousands of salespeople.

One thing I’ve found to always be true is that companies and salespeople that operate as jerks wind up with customers who are jerks. Conversely, companies with great cultures and salespeople have great customers.

The best solution I’ve found comes down to two things. One, view life as one of abundance and not one of scarcity. Two, always look for the good in others.  The change you want to see in others must first occur in you.

And don’t forget that a coach can help you excel in your sales career! Invest in yourself by checking out my coaching program today!

Copyright 2018, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results

The Fat Sales Pipeline vs. the Narrow Pipeline: Which is Better?

Conventional wisdom doesn’t hold. It’s time to bust this myth!  The long-standing belief is you need to have a big fat pipeline. It’s what our bosses have told us for years.  I remember as a salesperson keeping prospects that weren’t going anywhere in my pipeline to simply keep my boss happy.

Fat pipelines only wind up doing one thing — they create havoc and keep you from truly selling.  The fat pipeline requires too much time and effort just trying to keep the leads straight.  The result is you don’t have enough time to spend on your best prospects.

For years in my keynotes and training, I’ve advocated the best approach is to have a narrow pipeline to give you the time you need to spend with your best prospects.

Check out this 91-second video where I talk about this issue while keynoting at the Growth Acceleration Summit hosted by Zoominfo:

 

The acid test I use is to look at the % of deals you have to discount to close.  I use this as a key metric because it says two things.

First, it says if you’re having to discount, it means you have not been able to get the customer to understand the value of what you offer.  This is due to you not being able to spend enough time with them.  Second, discounting to close means you may be prospecting people who don’t fit the profile of your perfect customer.  This is due to you not segmenting your leads fast enough to narrow your list to only those that fit your perfect profile.

Ten years ago I subscribed to the fat pipeline theory, but times have changed and the ability to identify leads has never been easier thanks to the internet.  This ease of list building has resulted in pipelines becoming bigger, but that doesn’t change the reality that you still only have 24 hours in a day.  Go ahead and load up on all the hacks and apps you want. It’s not going to change the fact that there are only 24 hours in a day.

Narrow pipelines are the new norm.  It’s not a game of leads; it’s a games of leads that match up to your perfect profile.

Yes, I’m aware as you read this you might be ready to go ballistic with me or minimally be upset as to how your boss would take this should you share this post with them.  Hit me with your toughest concerns. I’ll be happy to answer and share with you more on this issue.

And don’t forget that a coach can help you excel in your sales career! Invest in yourself by checking out my coaching program today!

Copyright 2018, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results

Sales Motivation Video: How are You Helping Others Be More Successful?

Did you know it’s your job to help others be great too?  When you do this, you not only help them, but you also help yourself.

Do what you can this week to help your customers, co-workers and peers be more successful.

Check out the video to see what I mean

And don’t forget that a coach can help you excel in your sales career! Invest in yourself by checking out my coaching program today!

Copyright 2018, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results

Sales Leadership and the Art of Being Focused

The last few months I’ve been overwhelmed, and it’s calling to my attention the struggle of staying focused.   I know you’ve been there before or you’re dealing with the same issue now, too.

It’s impossible to be focused until you know what to be focused on, and that’s the problem most people suffer from.  The number of priorities and the number of people demanding attention never seems to stop.  When you combine the priorities you have with existing accounts and the need to prospect, it feels as if the hamster wheel is in overdrive.

Everyone is quick to say how it is a time management issue, which is totally incorrect. The issue is a priority management problem.  It’s the objective you have of wanting to view everything as a top priority.  Becoming focused is about narrowing the list of priorities and realizing success is far more achievable by accomplishing one or two major things well than by plodding through many.

The customer you’re talking to today has the same issue, and the fellow employee you just talked to has the same issue.  Let’s be real and admit everyone has too many priorities.

What is the answer as a sales leader?  It comes down to one thing and that is a determination of singling out who is the biggest priority for you and how can you help them achieve their priority.

If you’re an account manager, it might mean helping your biggest account with the biggest priority they have that you can impact.  If your focus is prospecting, it might be the new prospect you uncovered last week — dedicates some focused time to them.  It’s not about quantity of priorities; it’s about the quality of the priorities.  By this I mean the impact you will make on this person by focusing on them.

Narrow your focus by narrowing your priorities.  By doing so you will achieve more and do it better.  Make it your goal to not just complete something, but to complete things by making a difference.  I see this as being 100% congruent with my definition of sales leader, as their job is to help others see and achieve what they didn’t think was possible.

And don’t forget that a coach can help you excel in your sales career! Invest in yourself by checking out my coaching program today!

Copyright 2018, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results