Span the Chasm – Sales Team Training – Driving Sustainable Sales and Growth through Development and Consulting

Tag: Referrals

  • A Great Renewal Strategy Can Be the Key to New Sales

    A Great Renewal Strategy Can Be the Key to New Sales

    Renewals are getting tougher these days.  Everything is suspect when businesses cut costs to survive a recession.  Sales managers I talk to bemoan the changes to the renewal process this recession has caused: longer negotiations, shorter renewal agreements, reduced ancillary products. 

    Your current business is at greater risk every day. 

    Imagine if you could adopt a renewal strategy that can lay the groundwork for explosive growth down the road.  Focusing today on a great renewal strategy can have unexpected benefits in creating more future business.  

    How so? Well, let’s walk through it.  

    A Great Renewal Strategy Factors These In…

    First of all, a solid trust bank will be expended when a renewal negotiation begins.  The larger the balance going in, the more likely you will get through a renewal discussion on the positive side.  That’s accomplished with a solid cadence of connection to your client. There’s a real need to be focused on the champion and economic buyer within this cadence to build trust with those that are most likely to help you get a strong renewal. And focus on multiple ways of connecting; email ONLY is insufficient.  

    As sales leaders, establishing a multi-pronged client cadence is immediately transferable to your prospecting. This teaches your team to both hunt and gather creatively. 

    Secondly, do the math on your ROI for each client.  How much are you saving your clients in time, money, and headaches?  How much revenue are you assisting them in generating?  What other sources of value are you creating?  One example would be to connect two clients to work on a joint venture to solve a problem together.  If you’re the source, you’re the reason for the increase in value you bring.  Solve client problems with other clients.  

    Both of these behaviors, a trust-building cadence and ROI calculation, create an environment for consistent and fruitful renewals.  The real genius of making this part of your sales model is this:  Referrals.  

    80% of people will refer you if you ask them.  Having a strong trust bank and clear message of value creation; gives those you ask all the ammunition you need to have a remarkable closing rate on your referrals.   

    As always, we at Span the Chasm can help you develop a program for this from your current sales process.  Reach out to us and preserve your current revenue while laying the groundwork for your future business.  

  • Sales Leadership Lessons from: Alcoholics Anonymous

    Sales Leadership Lessons from: Alcoholics Anonymous

    You read the title and one of two things just happened…

    If you have known me for a long time: ‘Wow! THAT explains a LOT!’

    If not a long time: ‘So THAT is why the club soda!’

    My decision years ago to walk away from my addictions was the best decision I have made in many ways. And it drove unexpected benefits, too many to count. One of which was the many lessons learned in the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous that, unexpectedly, brings tremendous leadership wisdom for sales leaders.  

    Are you willing to learn from a bunch of drunks in recovery who have mapped a path to freedom that applies to how you lead your teams? I suggest we can and should as there is a lot of time-tested wisdom in there that is available for you.

    Humility:  Humility isn’t thinking less about yourself. It is thinking about yourself less. That means focusing on others and serving them. Humility makes it much less about what you are entitled to and makes it more about what you can do. Humble people have an amazing propensity for production.

    Honesty:  Truth is truth. And that is just the truth. Once it is managed or manipulated, it is no longer the truth. Basing our engagements and interaction on truth makes the conversations much safer and productive. And there is a whole lot less to have to remember!

    Hope:  Hope is the fuel of the front line. Without it, the amount of received rejection would crush them. The health of their hope is in your hands.

    Self-Discipline:  To train. To practice. To run the play the right way. To not be distracted away from the goal. That is self-discipline and it is like a muscle. It takes a lot of training. It can atrophy. Sales leaders can help their teams to train it. To feed it. Success is built on self-discipline. Self-discipline doesn’t give up what we want most for what we want now.  

    Courage: Facing the reality of addiction takes courage. It isn’t easy and it isn’t pretty. For your team, they are facing difficult tasks that are new, difficult or frightening. Courage is action in the face of fear. Help them through it. Be kind along the way.

    Integrity: Integrity is doing the right thing when no one is watching. You set the tone for your team on where the line of integrity is set. What are you going to tolerate? Pick wisely because whatever you tolerate, you are going to have to live with. In a socially connected world, where you are drawing a line in private may become public. Set the bar high for your team.

    Willingness: The core for achieving and maintaining sobriety. Willingness. Are you willing to do whatever it takes to win and serve your clients in an amazing way? If you aren’t, don’t expect your team to. Being willing to do whatever it takes is contagious. Be that for your team.  

    Perseverance: To quote Dwayne Johnson, ‘It is hard to beat a man who won’t quit.’ That is perseverance. No matter what the conditions, applying the will to win. I think of my sweetest sales victories and they came when I could have easily and justifiably quit. But I didn’t. Nurture and encourage perseverance in your team.  

    Service: In the end, we must answer the question: ‘Is this about taking or giving?’ Giving, ultimately, I believe, is the path with greatest reward across all vectors. A life and profession built on true service is not only gratifying to live it is filled with success. As our good friend Zig Ziglar reminds us: ‘There is plenty left for us if we help others get what they want and need.’  

    A completely understandable question is: ‘Randy, will applying these principles work and, if so, how?’ I think the answer is ‘Yes!’ and here is why:

    1. We are building on transparency. Authentic conversations. Based in truth. It is a safe and nurturing environment where your teams can experiment and grow. Not without consequences but certainly without fear.
    2. Progress, not Perfection. The beauty about AA is there is no expectation of perfection, only progress. If we foster a mindset of constant progress, our teams will grow. Their skills will grow and their production will follow. Not because they are perfect but because they are focused on getting themselves better today than they were yesterday.
    3. We practice these principles in all of our affairs. The key word is practice. Focused. Intentional. Daily. Consistently. If we as leaders practice these principles in all of our affairs, our stress level will come down. Our relationships will be stronger. Our contribution will be higher. Practice.
    4. One Day At A Time! This is probably the killer hack from AA. The focus on NOT living in sobriety for the rest of your life. It is just on today. If we are focused on today, mindful, present and focused, we can Win the Day. Do that 7 days in a row and you just Won the Week. 4 of that in a row? Won the Month. You get the point. #Winning TODAY is the critical first step of winning anything long term.

    Imagine what it would feel like for your team members and clients if you practiced and applied these principles every day. It. Would. Feel. Amazing!

    My challenge to you is to pick one or two of the principles above and start putting them into daily practice. Need help? Let’s chat. You deserve it. Your peeps deserve it.

    Bring it! #BeBrave

  • 3 Sales Leadership Lessons from: MacGyver

    3 Sales Leadership Lessons from: MacGyver

    You ever wonder how MacGyver does it? You know, that crazy 80s TV guy who can get out of ANY situation, no matter how impossible?

    In a race against time before an impending explosion and all he has is some bailing wire, duct tape, and 3 pennies. Tic, tic, tic…. You feel time running out and <presto> he is free.

    Un. Be. Lievable!

    Amidst the stressful predicaments, there are lessons that also apply to sales leadership:

    He did what he could, where he was, with what he had.

    There was no luxury of a smartphone or Amazon prime app to find resources or get help. He had to solve the crisis with what he had in THAT moment.

    This lesson is so important for sales leadership because MacGyver was able to stay in the moment, present and focused. Why does this matter? Because, as sales leaders, when we don’t use this mindset we focus on what we can’t do and wish for things we don’t have. All of which DON’T help our current situation and distracts us from our mission.

    Let’s break down the 3 best MacGyver lessons:

    Do what you can.

    In every situation, you have a handful of things you can do.  And thousands of things you wished you could do but can’t. Pick from the realistic list of things you can do now. It might be with a frustrating rep or difficult prospect. Pick what you CAN do and do it!  Wishing for options that don’t exist decreases your chance for success.

    Where you are.

    You are where you are. Nowhere else. In a situation. With a rep. You are there. BE there. 100%.  Wishing for somewhere with a better territory or a different team reduces your probability of success. You have your mission and your team. Make the most of them.

    With what you got.

    Your product or solution does what it does today. No more.

    Your team today is your team. No different.  

    That is what you have to work with. Not a future set of functions or people. Not what it will do someday or who they will be someday.  Lean into what you have and solve the most meaningful business impacting problems you can with what you have.  

    Go to battle with the team that you have. Use their strengths wisely. Deploy them wisely. Help your team focus on where they can give value with the assets available today. Not focused on what you will have someday. 

    Adopting this mindset will move you forward faster in every situation and will remove much of the stress you carry by worrying about things outside your control. It’s what successful leaders do. Coach K and Coach Wooden both won games against much better teams because they used this mindset. They did what they could, in the moment, with the team they had. And won.  

    It’s really an application of the Serenity Prayer. Grant me:

    • the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
    • the Courage to change the things I can and
    • the Wisdom to know the difference.

    Psychologists and Buddhist monks refer to this as being Present and Mindful. It’s amazing how much we can do when we embrace and deploy this way of thinking and acting. 

    MacGyver got a lot done because of this mindset.  Situation after situation averted because of it.

    Immediate action:  

    In the next 10 meetings, with reps or prospects, say the Serenity Prayer to yourself before the meeting. Seriously. Focus on doing what you can, where you are with what you got.  

    It’s available to you. But it’s a choice. It sounds easier than it actually is. But, like most things, with practice and focus it comes into clarity.

    Imagine How it would feel if you maniacally implemented this mindset? You would be much more focused and would win more frequently. Guaranteed. 

    You up for it?

    We are, of course, here to help.  Because we aspire for the title of Teacher.

    Recommended reading:
    Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin

  • Ultimate Prospecting Challenge: Old School vs New School

    Ultimate Prospecting Challenge: Old School vs New School

    Building qualified pipeline is THE most important element for any sales team. It’s the lifeblood of your future. And yet, so many abandon it for almost any other distraction: sharpening pencils, filling out CRM, joining pointless meetings. The creativity in avoiding pipeline building activities remains a wonder of the modern era!

    There are many ways to build pipeline. Referrals, automation engagement, buying lists, cold calling, social engagement. The options are endless.  

    ‘Pipeline solves all sales problems!’
    Tim Koubek, COO, Skyword

    Because of the endless choices, we wondered what REALLY is the best method? So Ken Lundin and I decided to create the ultimate prospecting challenge to test these methods and see what works best.

    Join us for our 6-month, bare-knuckle brawl as we employ two very different styles to build an abundant  qualified pipeline. Along the way, we’ll be posting monthly updates so YOU can learn and benefit from this process.  

    I’m using old school traditional techniques to leverage my networks. Things like referrals, handwritten notes, and personal calls.

    Ken is using new school modern methods of engagement. Things like software automation, funnels, inside sales engagement, and social media.

    Make sure you check out additional content with more details about this challenge, the methods we’re using, and our predictions on who will win. Watch this Monday Morning Pearls video and listen to this Uncommon Sales Success podcast episode to learn more.

    Here’s what I know: 

    We’ll BOTH create more pipeline.

    Bookmark this page, check in monthly and pick up our proven tools and techniques, plus see our stumbles! Make sure you join our email list to receive our white paper at the end of the challenge! We will be sharing our complete learnings and guidance to help YOU build better pipeline. 

    Until then…. #BeBrave!

    Updates from Randy and Ken:

    Randy’s 1st Update

    ✅ Built an email template to request brokered referrals, targeted a list of 62 contacts, sent 30 emails. Developing a follow-up sequence for this first set of 30.

    ✅Creating an engagement process with headhunters to target our Ideal Client.

    🛑Had vacation late in the month so progress slowed down, only had blocks of 15 minutes and found it hard to get in ‘flow’. 

    💲Sold 2 add-on services for existing clients!
    Ken’s 1st Update

    ✅Setup Growbots lead automation software. Loaded 550 prospects into an 8 step email sequence. 1st email sent on June 5th. Next 4 emails sent on days 1-30. Final 3 emails sent on days 61-80. This allows us to test the timing – maybe now isn’t good, but 2 months from now is better.

    Stats for the first 30 days:

    67% (365 of the 550) of prospects have opened at least 1 email.

    7.1% (39) have clicked through the email to our landing page or case study.

    3% have replied, in some cases that’s a “no thanks”.

    1 lead has been entered as an opportunity.

    💲One deal has been closed!

    ✅ Learnings:

    Something is better than nothing. Having an outgoing process to build pipeline is better than no process at all. 

    🛑Although we were able to close 1 deal, the overall warm engagement rate is low at .8%. We are targeting 3-6% as a warm reply rate. 

    In the next phase I will do follow up messaging to improve the warm reply and engagement rate. I will also initiate a new cadence based on best practices.
    1st Round Winner New school and Ken!
    Although Randy booked add-on services, Ken closed 1 new client with a higher value contract! Stay tuned for more updates as the challenge continues!