Category Archives: Inside Sales

Tips for Sending Gifts to your Clients

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gifts for business clientsWhen prospecting for new business, it’s not always enough just to make cold or warm calls, send emails or cards, or leave voicemails Sometimes you also have to send gifts.  After all, your goal is to make your client aware of you, stand out, and encourage him to do business with you. Of course, gifts alone are not enough – but it could make you stand out from the crowd from your competitors.

Let’s face it, your clients are busy. In order to grab their attention, you need to do something unique.

Below are some ground rules for gift-giving –

1). Inexpensive – send only inexpensive gifts. If you are sending a gift that’s too expensive, your client may interpret it as a bribe. However, your gift doesn’t have to be tacky. Be creative. Have a different assortment of gifts available and send one that you feel will really interest your client. And don’t forget to include a nice handwritten card.

2). Useful – send something that is useful or that he can give to his children to play with. Examples include a mousepad, magnet, pen, business card holder or letter opener with your company’s logo and contact information. When I worked for a durable medical equipment company, the owner created a round plastic measuring tool to help clients properly measure the size of bearings for chairs on wheelchairs and other equipment. Believe it or not, that tool was extremely popular and helped secure some large sales. I actually had clients who wanted to order large quantities of it to send to their customers!

3). Large prospects – focus on clients who you suspect will give you large or repeat orders over time. While there is nothing wrong with pursuing small clients, you want to target clients that will give you the most bang for your buck.

Below is a list of companies that are a good source for inexpensive gifts –

PromotionsNow
4imprint
Poor Richards Promos
Oriental Trading
Plum
e-CorporateGifts.com
Motivators

Gift-giving shouldn’t be just during the holidays. For your business clients, make it a year-long habit.

Note: If you like my post, please check out my book Advice for New Salespeople: Tips to Help your Sales Career for more help.

10 Things Start-up Owners need to know about Selling

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start-ups and sellingYou’ve done it. The months or years of toiling in your basement, garage, dorm room or tiny apartment have finally paid off. No more eating dry cereal or soup for dinner. No more working late in the evenings or weekends.

You have successfully created your first new product or service that you want to launch into the market. Your loyal employees who stuck by you are also thrilled. Your ship has finally arrived.

But wait a minute? You don’t know how to sell!

All those courses in computer science, coding, engineering or business never taught you the fundamentals of selling. Sure, maybe you watched a video or two of Zig Ziglar or some other great salesperson. Or you cracked open a sales book once or twice, or read some articles online. You may have even taken a workshop or two about selling. But beyond that, your knowledge of selling is weak.

You admit it. So now what?

Well, like most start-up owners, you decide it’s time to hire your first salesperson or two. But before you place employment ads, there are some things you need to know.

1). Do you really need a salesperson? Is your product really ready for the marketplace or do you still have some more beta testing to do? While no product is perfect, no salesperson wants to spend hours on the phone dealing with a constant stream of technical issues or complaints about bugs. Unless you are paying that salesperson well to be a glorified technical support person, you may need to go back to the drawing board.

For example, I recently spoke to a new business development manager at a Maryland start-up who complained to me that his company was having a high turnover of salespeople. Some would stay for only a few weeks or a couple of months and then leave. When I probed further, I discovered that his product was still being beta tested for the enterprise market. However, the good news is that his product was actually doing well in the consumer market, which didn’t require the same heavy technical demands as the enterprise clients. In fact, the product was receiving high ratings on Amazon and positive reviews from independent tech bloggers. I suggested to him that he immediately stop hiring salespeople until his product was more ready for the enterprise market. I also suggested that his company switch gears, and focus more on the consumer market since he was having greater success. Sure, maybe he wouldn’t generate as much revenue in the consumer market, but at least he would be receiving some cash flow and generating positive buzz.

By using public relations, partnerships, and affiliate marketing, I suggested his company could do quite well in the consumer market. Hopefully, that good well in the consumer market would spill over into the enterprise market once his market was ready.

2). Amateur or Pro, does it matter?  There is a running debate within the start-up community about whether your first couple of salespeople should be amateurs or pros. Some argue that hiring inexperienced salespeople are better because they are hungrier and will hustle more. The argument goes that if you hire an experienced salesperson, he will not be very motivated to sell; instead, he would only rely on his contacts rather than making a lot of cold or warm calls. However, others argue that your first couple of salespeople should be more experienced because they can quickly increase your sales by their expertise and knowledge. In addition, they can also establish a sales process that can be used later when more inexperienced salespeople are hired.

My response – unless you are selling a highly technical product or service that requires advanced training and education, trust your gut and hire the salesperson who will help you generate a lot of sales. Young or old, if they know how to sell, if they are willing to learn about your product and market, and if they are trainable or coachable, hire them and get them prepared to hit the ground running.

Having a diversity of salespeople from different ages and backgrounds can offer your company different perspectives on how to grow your sales.

You can’t always judge a salesperson by his age, the length of his resume or his previous sales results. Sometimes you just have to trust your gut.

3). True believers, are they the best? Some start-up owners feel that only true believers, the ones who really understand their mission or see their vision, should be your first hires. Really? Chances are you may be hiring a wolf in sheep’s clothing – a con artist who pretends to believe in the “cause” but will quickly bail out as soon as your company hits rough water.

Look, forget about hiring true believers. You are running a business, not a religion. Just hire good salespeople. Once they start selling, if your product or service is good as you think, they will eventually become true believers.

I once worked for a small tax research publishing company where I didn’t know anything about accounting. However, over time, I became impressed with our products because our clients really loved what we were selling. Then and only then, did I become a true believer.

4). Should you learn how to sell? Let’s face it – popular culture has not been kind to salespeople. The Glengarry Glen Ross movie and the Death of a Salesman play have done little to enhance the image of salespeople by depicting them as losers or con artists. I actually know people who won’t admit they sell for a living.

So what do you do for a living?

“I, well, you know, I’m a new development person. I mean, I’m a new business opportunity person…I mean I develop new business.”

Whatever.

As a start-up owner, you may feel it’s better to hire a sales expert so that you can tend to other matters, like product development.

But if you don’t learn about sales, you run the risk of either hiring lazy salespeople, or worst, con artists who will take advantage of your naïve. Either way, you could lose a lot of money, time and prestige.

I once knew a small publishing company owner who admittedly knew nothing about sales or marketing. He never held a sales meeting. Never cracked open a book about selling. His marketing campaigns were from the Dark Ages. Instead, he hired a saleswoman who literally sat by the phone all day waiting for it to ring. She spent her three-year tenure at the company reading books. When a prospect did contact her, she went through the motions of qualifying him, scheduling a short demo, and offering a trial. Sometimes she would follow-up and sometimes she didn’t. With a large base salary, she had no incentive to work hard. Then one day, she quit. A more proactive and assertive salesman was hired. He ended up generating more new sales in 4 or 5 months than the previous saleswoman did in an entire year.

Why? Because he made cold and warm calls. Because he followed-up. Because a true salesperson can’t live on his base salary. In short, he knew how to sell.

The owner, realizing his mistake, now regretted not hiring a more proactive salesperson in the first place. All those potential sales slipped through his fingers because he didn’t take the time to understand the sales process and hire the right salesperson.

On the other hand, I knew another owner who not only took the time to understand sales but provided a small library of sales, marketing and business books for his sales team to read. He even watched videos about not only how to sell, but how to hire good salespeople.

But let’s say you are an extremely busy start-up owner and have little time to read about selling. Have no fear.

I would like to suggest two books you should read to get you quickly up to speed –

The Big Book of Sales, by Alan Gordon
The Ultimate Sales Machine: Turbocharge Your Business with Relentless Focus on 12 Key Strategies, by Chet Holmes

If you are ambitious and want to read more, HubSpot has created a list of the 20 Most Highly-Rated Sales Books of All Time.

Also, there are several excellent YouTube videos about selling that you can also watch.

And BTW, I know there is a lot of debate about which is the best sales process. Is it The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation, by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson, or could it be SPIN Selling, by Neil Rackman? Maybe you believe in Relationship Selling: The eight competencies of top sales producers, by Jim Cathcart.

Look, all three are good books. Read them. Consider their arguments. But at the end of the day, you will have to decide which sales process really works best for your sales team and your company.

5). Should you create a Quota system? As a start-up company, I wouldn’t worry too much about setting quotas for the one or two salespeople you have on staff. In the beginning, you are going to spend most of your time testing the market and seeing who is actually is buying your product or service – if, in fact, there is a real market. Sure, you can guess. Create a client profile of who you think will be a good customer. You can make some cold calls, send out some emails, and maybe send out some direct marketing pieces. But I would avoid creating any hard quotas for sales until you have a better feel of your market.

Rather than creating sales quotas, you may consider doing activity quotas. Activity quotas are when you expect salespeople to make x-number of phone calls per week or schedule x-number of demos or trials per week. On paper, this sounds like a great idea. However, be carefully that you are not forcing salespeople to do a lot of “make or busy work” – you want them to focus on selling, not dialing for bogus dollars.

carving up sales territories6). Should you carve up and create sales territories? If you had three or more salespeople, my answer would be yes. But if you only have two salespeople, and the entire country (if not the world) to cover, I would say no. However, as your sales team grows, in order to avoid duplication and hard feelings, setting up sales territories by geography or market segmentation may not be a bad idea.

Some companies prefer using the Round Robin method of distributing leads – where inbound leads are dole out on a rotating basis among the sales team.

Experiment. See what works. But no matter how you distribute leads, always focus on the end game – obtaining sales.

7). Should you use a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool? My answer is yes. Using Excel spreadsheets or Post-it Notes isn’t going to cut it for you. While Salesforce.com is considered the dominant CRM in the market, as a start-up, you may not afford to purchase it. There are other CRMs that do cater to start-ups and small businesses for free or at a reasonable price, including –

Close.io
Contactually
Act!
Insightly
Pipedrive
PipelineDeals

To get a full listing of CRMs and obtain independent reviews, please check out Capterra, a Northern Virginia based company that helps businesses and nonprofit organizations find software.  Not only does Capterra provide reviews, but you also receive product details, deployment, vendor contact information, and features checklist. You can even request a free consultation with a Capterra customer service rep to find the right match for you. They also publish interesting blogs and infographics that you can download.

My final advice is this – buy the best CRM you can afford. In the long run, a good CRM will save your sales team a lot of time and money. Take your time. Do your research. I recommend that you consider at least three CRMs before making a final buying decision. You may want to contact other start-up owners and compare notes with them.

8). Are the Yellow Pages a good source of sales leads? Unless you’re living in the 1980s, my answer is No. As a start-up, you are probably on a tight budget. However, there are several inexpensive or free lead generation sources you can use including –

Data.com (formerly Jigsaw)
LinkedIn
Twitter
Industry newsletters and blogs
Business websites
List of clients from your competitor’s website (yes, I know this is sneaky, but if your competitors are going to publish their clients, you might as well call them. Who knows, some of them may be upset with their existing vendor).
Google Alerts
Networking events
ZoomInfo

RedJester created a list of 23 lead generation tools you may want to consider.

Also, check out Neha Jewalikar’s article on the “7 Must-Have Lead Generation Tools for Marketers” in Radius.

As you grow, don’t forget to take advantage of inbound phone calls or emails, referrals, and trade shows.

No lead generation tool is perfect. You will always have bad contact information. When I receive a new lead, one of the first things I do is check the contact on LinkedIn. While not everyone keeps their LinkedIn profile up-to-date, it’s usually a good way to verify if you have a good lead.

sales pipeline9). What are your expectations? You really need to keep your expectations within reason. For example, in most cases, it takes a good salesperson at least three months to build a pipeline from scratch – that means straight cold calling with no referrals or no inbound leads. And even if a salesperson is lucky enough to receive some inbound leads from your website or word of mouth, converting that lead into a customer can take weeks or months. I’ve worked at sales jobs where the sales cycle can last anywhere from a few months to two years. I know of some salespeople who spent five years closing a sale.

It really depends on what you are selling and the type of industry you are in.

And when it comes to cold calling, it’s not unusual to make at least 6 to 8 attempts before you reach the decision-maker. I know some salespeople who have told me it will take them at least 12 attempts before they reach the key person at a company or organization.

And yes, there are ways you can help shorten the sales cycle, like providing good CRM, generating good qualified sales leads, and offering great marketing solutions. Remember – your salespeople are serving on the front lines. Like any good soldier, they need your support.

10). Are Salespeople miracle workers? Do you still believe in the tooth fairy? If your product or service is crap, the best salespeople in the world aren’t going to help you.  While it’s expected that any new product or service will be shaky during the first couple of years, if what you are offering is completely bad, salespeople are not going to save you. Sure, they may use hard sell or strong-arm tactics in the beginning to generate sales, but in the long run, you are going to fall flat on your face. Selling is a team effort – the product, development, shipping, marketing, and administrative teams all have to work together with the sales team to ensure success. In today’s economy, and this is especially true for a start-up, all employees are salespeople.

Summary:

Selling is tough. But for a start-up, it’s even more difficult because you are facing several obstacles – tight cash flow, little brand or no name recognition, shoestring budget, and an ever-evolving change of plans or directions. You have to be agile, smart and focused.

You have to face the fact that some salespeople you hire won’t cut it or just don’t like working for a start-up. It’s nothing personal. It happens to the best of us.

When it comes to hiring salespeople for a start-up, you need to be brutally honest. If the hours are long, tell them. If the compensation package is low, tell them. If your resources are limited, tell them.

But also tell them this – that you worked your ass off for months, if not years, to create a product or service that will benefit thousands of people. That you truly believe in what you are doing is not a pipe dream. That you really believe your product or service could change the world for the better. That you are committed to improving your company. And if they hang on, the ride will get rough, but the rewards may be great.

Note: If you like this post, please check out my book – Advice for New Salespeople: Tips to Help your Sales Career for more help.

How do you handle Rejection in Sales?

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handling rejection in salesRejection. We all face it.

Your girlfriend rejects you.

Your favorite college rejects your admissions application.

Your bank rejects your car loan.

In sales, we all know so well what rejection is. We deal with on a daily basis.

You make phone calls, send out emails, mail out marketing pieces, and leave voicemails, and what do you get for your efforts?

Rejection.

Well, most of the time. Sometimes you do get some wins – some orders or sales. As a result, you are motivated to move forward. But after receiving rejections on a daily basis, you are bound to become frustrated and angry.

However, let’s put rejection in perspective here.

Yes, it’s a lot of work dialing for dollars, sending and replying to emails, and leaving dozens of voicemails daily.

But when you think about it, all that work is nothing compared to writing a novel or short story and trying to get it published. Let’s look at rejection from a writer’s point of view for a minute.

You spend months, if not years, writing a novel. You are working alone (or maybe in a coffee shop). You are attending seminars and workshops where your work is sometimes trashed by your teacher or classmates. You post your work on Wattpad and read negative comments.  You submit your publication to agents and publishers, and they reject your work.

Sound familiar? Sure, but the difference is that a writer is pouring his heart and soul into his work. It’s personal. He’s also spending a hell of a lot longer writing than you are making sales calls.

Here is a list of some famous writers who were initially rejected –

William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies” was rejected 20 times before it was published.

Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen received 134 rejections for “Chicken Soup for the Soul.”

Robert Persig’s “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” was rejected 121 times.

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter was rejected 12 times.

Madeline L’Engle’s book “A Wrinkle in Time” was rejected 29 times.

Stephen King’s “Carrie” was rejected 30 times before it was published.

My point? Don’t give up. Embrace rejection. Sure, you can always fine-tune your sales techniques and strategies. Seek advice. Get a mentor.

Still not convinced. What do the experts have to say?

Below are two videos from YouTube how to handle rejection in sales –

Jan Buermans, a sales trainer, says that when faced with rejection, you should ask one question “What do you mean?” and then shut up and wait for the answer.

Lily Rubio, Creator & Owner at Cupcake Covertops, offers some of the best advice I’ve heard on how to deal with rejection. For example, she mentions that for every 10 no answers, you get one yes. The key is to get out there and make sales calls and not take it personally.

 

Open Space Offices – Good or Bad Idea?

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Open space office You are sitting at your desk trying to compose an important email to send to a client. You are on a tight deadline. You are trying to concentrate. Suddenly, your co-worker sitting next to you in an open space office loudly blows his nose. Or, another co-worker sitting across from you in the same open space gets into a heated conversation with his girlfriend over the phone. Or, another co-worker walks over an employee two desks down and starts up a conversation about weekend plans. Or, another co-worker two rows down is shouting at the sales manager to gain his attention.

Distractions. The price some of us pay for working in an open space office.

Is an open space environment a good or bad idea?

This question came up recently in my head while I attended a panel discussion on “What Can We Learn from Billion Dollar Startup Workplaces?” The event was sponsored by WorkDesign Magazine and it was held at a semi-open space office of WeWork Wonder Bread Factory in Washington, D.C. (I say semi-open space because start-up companies actually work in small offices with glass walls. Yes, you can see people working when you walk by, but the offices do reduce some noise and offer some privacy. In addition, I notice phone booths available for people to make personal calls).

It appears that the trend these days for start-ups and some well-established companies is to adopt open space. For example, during the panel discussion, Emily Hollan White, Senior Director of Talent & Culture at Optoro, showed us a layout and photos of the new open space for her company. Optoro, a company that helps retailers sell their excess and returned inventory, moved into its new location last year. Ms. White explained that the open space environment encourages more collaboration among their employees.

I have worked in open space, semi-open space (with high cubicles) and close space environments where I had my own office. I even worked in my home office.

Let’s outline the pros and cons of working in an open space –

Pros of Open Space:

1). Collaboration – working in an open space encourages collaboration and teamwork among employees. Lack of walls and secrecy generates more camaraderie and increases information flow.

2). More space – from an employer’s point of view, he is saving money by not having to build offices; thus, he can hire more employees and increase his usage of floor space. This is a win-win for everyone – open space encourages more job growth for employees, and employers benefit by increasing their profit.

3). Big brother is watching you – from your employer’s point of view, he can make sure you are doing your job and not playing Solitaire or reading porn sites on your computer. (And frankly, if you have so much time on your hands to be playing computer games and reading x-rated sites, you are in the wrong job).

4). Cost savings – again, from an employer’s point of view, he is saving money by reducing heating and cooling costs. Also, there is a more communal atmosphere where the company can save money by having employees share resources, e.g., copiers, printers, fax machines (yes they still exist) and office supplies.

5). Sales pitches – from a sales point of view, you can listen to each other’s sales pitches and lines, and adopt or tailor them to your own needs. For example, here is a video clip from the “The Wolf of Wall Street” where Jordan Belfort (played by Leonardo DiCaprio), pitches a penny stock to an unsuspecting and naïve investor –

You notice that several salespeople in the background are listening to Mr. Belfort’s conversation. That actually happens more often than you think in sales. If someone is using a good line or phrase, you make note of it and use it with your clients.

(However, for the record,  I don’t recommend that you lie or mislead your clients).

Cons of Open Space:

1). Distractions – too much noise can make it difficult for employees to concentrate on their work, thus hurting productivity and increasing stress.

2). Lack of privacy – computer screens are easily visible and phone conversations are likely to be overheard. (However, my rule is this – always assume that your employer is monitoring your computer and phone activity, even if they claim that’s not the case. Sure, there is no harm in you checking the weather or the lunch menus at the local restaurants, but avoid sites that you know your employer will frown upon).

3). Germs – open space can encourage the spread of disease, especially colds, which could adversely affect attendance and actually hurt productivity for the company.

4). Not attracting good employees – some potential good job candidates may be discouraged from working in an open environment because they don’t feel it’s a good fit for them.

There have been several articles written in recent years discussing the open space working arrangements.

For example, Buzzfeed.com published an article called “24 Reasons Your Open-Plan Office Sucks”. Based on the findings Journal of Environmental Psychology, the writer outlines several job dissatisfactions associated with open space including –

1). Increase distraction

2). Inability to have a private conversation

3). Perceived lack of visual privacy

4). Higher levels of distress, irritation, fatigue, headache and concentration difficulties

On the flip side, as reported in the Harvard Business Review, Paul Rosenberg and Kelly Campbell cited success in adopting open space at The Bridgespan Group in their article “An Open Office Experiment that Actually Worked”.

They reported that “the open layout has increased productivity, energy and connectedness.” But they admitted that “the journey from a traditional office to this new space where everyone shares workbenches, tables, lounge areas, and first-come-first-served private rooms took careful thought and planning.”

After much planning and design, they created an open space that included an open café, several small seating clusters for small group conversations, glass-walled conference rooms, and lockers for employees to keep personal items.

However, they did offer rooms for employees to use for private meetings, phone calls (but no private offices for management), and background noise masking, “so that conversations in the open are heard as mild hubbub rather than distinct, distracting words.”

The last two points are worth exploring more because I believe that The Bridgespan Group may have found a possible compromise and solution to make open space more tolerable for everyone.

1). The need for private offices – sometimes you need some privacy. Maybe you need to discuss something personal with your manager, or you need to meet with your HR manager. Based on my experience, all open space companies that I’ve worked for have provided private offices for those reasons and more.

2). Background noise masking – I went on a job interview recently where my potential employer told me that their company uses white noise to reduce the noise level. I think that’s a great idea. I only wish that some of my previous employers had adopted the same practice.

Below is a list of some companies that provide background noise masking tools and systems –

Sound Management Group, LLC
Steelcase QtPro
Cambridge Sound Management SONET Qt® (for individual personal spaces)
Lencore
Speech Privacy Systems

Here are some other suggestions for improving working conditions in an open space environment –

1). Give potential employees a tour of your office – Do a “show and tell” of your office space with all potential employees when they arrive for an interview. Make sure they know upfront what type of office they are required to work in. Or better yet, have them sit with a salesperson for a few minutes to get the feel of the office. Better to learn early if a new employee can handle and adjust to an open space than to find out later that he can’t and have him quit. Let’s face it, not everyone can work in an open space. No shame. It happens.

2). Earplugs and Headphones – In sales, you can’t function wearing earplugs and headphones when you are trying to make calls. However, there are times when you need quiet in order to compose or respond to an important email or write a contract or RFP. In those situations, yes, I would recommend wearing earplugs and listening to music of your choice while writing. (Personally, I can’t concentrate while listening to music, so earplugs are my solution).

3). Enough space – there is space, but then there is too little space.  I’ve worked in an office where I felt the salespeople were sitting on top of each other. In addition, you were sometimes required to get up out of your chair to open the office door for deliveries or visitors, answer tickets, and do live chats  – all while trying to make and receive sales calls, and sending emails to your clients. At one job, I actually had to sit next to the company printer and got distracted by the constant churn of printing, while employees would walk to and from the machine. And to make matters worse, some employees would treat the printer like it was the proverbial company watering hole and stand around shooting the bull.

While I understand that some start-ups are running on tight budgets, you need to ensure that your employees have enough space to actually do their jobs. If not, the money you save on offices and utilities may be lost with high turnover.

sick woman in an office4). If you’re sick, go home – While I admire dedicated employees who are willing to come to work even when they are under the weather, you must be considerate of others – this is especially true in open space environments.  No one expects you to be a martyr for the cause – while falling on your sword is noble, you may end up slicing your co-workers in the process. Maybe employers need to give sick employees more leniency when it comes to docking their sick time or offer employees the flexibility of working from home when ill.

5). Encourage Employee Feedback – if you are moving into a new office, or switching from a traditional closed office to an open environment, seek employee feedback and comments. When employees feel their opinions are being considered, this encourages high morale and retention.

6). Enforce good manners – sure, we are all adults, but sometimes we need to be reminded of that. That means if someone is speaking loudly or hovering over you while you are working, take them aside and politely tell them to knock it off. Of, if things are really going badly, speak to your manager.

However, speaking to your manager may not always be possible.

I once worked in a semi-open environment at another job that was so tense for me that I actually quit a week after I joined the company. I was sharing a small office with the sales manager and a senior sales rep. I found myself sitting in a corner with a nice window view overlooking a beautiful small pond and park. At first, I liked the arrangement. But after a couple of days, I began regretting my decision. My manager was a good ol’ Southern boy who talked incessantly all day long. He would talk about cigars, his car, his former jobs, his former sales reps, his wife, and basically everything under the sun except work.

Being a veteran employee, he had a solid pipeline, great contacts and he could squeeze sales to meet his monthly quota with no difficulty. However, being a new sales rep, I knew I would have to work hard during my first year to build up my pipeline. I had to concentrate and stay focused. But my manager just wouldn’t leave me alone. Being a new employee, I couldn’t just tell him to shut up. Finally, frustrated and angry that I couldn’t do my job, I quit.

(I found out later that other salespeople quit for the same reason I did. One guy actually sent my manager a video of Donald Duck to drive home the point. The manager was so dense, he didn’t take the hint).

Conclusion: Whether you think that open space offices are a fad or not, more companies than ever are adopting the plan. While I believe that most employers want their employees to be productive, they need to adopt some common sense approaches when considering office arrangements. No employer wants to see high absenteeism or turnover of employees due to poor working conditions. While the bottom line is earning a profit, you still need to attract and retain good employees who will help you achieve that goal.

I believe open space is here to stay. I believe the pros outweigh the cons. Just make sure your employees will have a say in office arrangements, or the only open space you will be seeing are vacated desks and chairs.

What do you think? Please let me know if you have any comments to share.

Recommend: Close.io “how to sell” video presentations on YouTube

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Steli Efti, Founder & CEO of Close.io, has created an excellent 16 part video series on how to sell. The series is posted on YouTube. While the presentation focuses mainly on inside sales and start-ups, some of his advice can also help outside salespeople and those working for major corporations.

Here are some of the key takeaways –

Salespeople need to hustle1). Hustle –  you have to hustle if you want to make sales. Sitting on your ass and waiting for the phone to ring isn’t going to work. If you want to get into the money zone you need to get out of your comfort zone. You have to be proactive. While you hope your company has a good marketing department that can provide good inbound leads, you have to take responsibility for your own success. Remember – the marketing team isn’t working on commission – you are. So start calling.

2). Show up, follow-up and close – really, in summary, that’s what selling is all about. Just showing up daily (and on time), making your calls, following up with more calls and emails, and closing is the key to your success. It’s not rocket science. You just have to be consistent in your actions. Sure, there are certain techniques that you can learn along the way. There are a lot of books, articles, and blogs to help you. But when you think about it, selling is like acting – you just have to bury your negative emotions and bad mood, and professionally play the role you were hired to do. You have a process, use it well, and you will be successful. But don’t try to fake it until you make it. Clients can spot a phony a mile away. Just make it work – now.

3). Rejection is your friend – Embrace it. If you are not getting a lot of rejections, you are not doing your job well. Don’t focus on just the low hanging fruit – go after the high hanging fruit with the potential of bigger sales. Low hanging fruit is for order takers. Salespeople don’t take orders – they make orders happen.

4). Be a Journalist –  Ask good questions. Listen more and talk less. If you really want to help your clients and solve their problems, you need to dig deep by asking for good qualifying or needs-based questions. You want to be seen as a problem solver, not a sleazy salesperson trying to peddle his wares.

5). Value – focus on selling value, not features. When you do a feature vomit on your client, he will run, not walk, away from you. Remember – it’s not about you, it’s about your client. What value do you offer that’s going to solve his problems? If you don’t have what the prospect needs, be honest, and move on. As the old saying goes, there are plenty of other fish in the sea to catch.

6). Lead generation – as I mentioned in other posts, there are many ways of finding leads. But before you start buying or developing leads, review your existing customers (if you have any). Create a client profile of your top 5 to 10 best customers. Who are they? Why are they buying from you? Do you see any patterns? Once you have a good idea of who your clients are, you can then start targeting prospects that fit the same pattern. It’s better to narrow down your prospects than waste time going too broad. Yes, a wide net will catch a lot of fish – but do you want big fish or minnows?

7). Objections – there is a lot of advice on how to handle objections. In my opinion, the most common objection is the price. However, it’s always a good idea to list some common objections and has answers prepared for them. In short, it’s better to be ready and respond with one or two sentences, then fumble around sounding like a fool. Because if you sound like a bumbling idiot, the next sound you hear will be “click.”

8). Send emails – contrary to popular belief, cold calling is more than just making phone calls and leaving voice mail messages. You also need to send emails. Some clients respond better with emails than by phone. No problem. The key is to connect with your prospect and hopefully get the sale. Phone, email or carrier pigeon, do whatever it takes to make the connection. Get a response. If it’s no, OK…but don’t cross your prospect off your list too fast. Try to circle back later. Maybe he will be in a better mood or have a budget to move forward. Based on studies I’ve read, you need to make anywhere from 6 to 8 attempts before a prospect will acknowledge your existence.

To help you learn more about selling, Close.io is offering a free 30-day startup sales success course sent to you via email.

Here is the link – http://close.io/free-sales-course

I thought the videos were on point. I have two criticisms – First,  I wish the Close.io would put the videos on an organized playlist on their YouTube channel to make it easy to follow each presentation. I found myself jumping around too much trying to find the next video in the proper order.

Second, Mr. Efti argues that start-ups shouldn’t hire traditional salespeople because they don’t know how to adjust to an ever-changing work environment. I disagree. I’ve worked at major corporations that constantly go through reorgs and other changes throughout the year. I also know salespeople who have worked at major corporations who had their compensation packages changed every quarter – if not every month.

For example, one of my friends uses to work for a popular large car dealership in the Washington, D.C. area. Every month, the car salesperson with the lowest sales of the month would be fired – regardless of his seniority or his sales record YTD. Why? Because the sales manager wanted to keep his sales team “on their toes.”

Nice guy.

My point is this – any good salesperson has to know how to be flexible in order to survive. The business world – whether we are talking about start-ups or major companies – is changing all the time. If you are seeking a nice, safe conservative job, become a banker or an accountant. The sales process is constantly evolving – either keep up or switch careers.

Close.io has other videos I would recommend that you check out. Also, the company has one of the best blog posts I’ve ever read about selling. Yes, they are promoting their product to some degree (hell, we are all in sales). However, the blogs offer great sales advice that you can apply in any industry.

Below is a sample video from the 16-part presentation –

 

10 places to find sales leads

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prospecting for sales leadsFinding sales leads or prospects is much easier today than when I began in sales. I literary had to use the Yellow Pages at one point in my career. Needless to say, I wasn’t very effective. Now with the internet, you have a much easier time finding leads. The real challenge is making sure you are using your time wisely to prospect and find the right leads to call on.

Below is a list of sources to help you –

1). Industry newsletters – subscribe to as many industry newsletters as you can. You can always find leads to contact. Most newsletters are free.

2). Live Chat – set up a Live Chat box on your website. Sometimes people are shy about calling you directly, so at a spur of the moment, they will send you a Live Chat to ask questions or obtain quotes.

3). Trade Shows – rent out an exhibit booth at a trade show. If you can’t afford a booth, consider speaking at a workshop or sign up as an attendee and make the rounds – both during the trade show and after hours at social events.

4). Customer Referrals – hey, if your clients like your products and services, it doesn’t hurt to ask them for a referral. You may want to consider offering a discount.

5). Good Marketing Content – providing useful content on your website will encourage prospects to visit your site, and hopefully, they will download your material and provide you with contact information, e.g., name, email address, phone number.

6). LinkedIn – since LinkedIn is a professional site, you should be able to find plenty of prospects to contact. Also, target discussion groups within your industry – there you should find a lot of potential buyers.

7). Twitter – you can find prospects by seeking buying signals. For example, if you sell bike accessories, type in “bike accessories” under search to see if someone is trying to buy those items. Or, look for a hashtag like #bike accessories.

8). Your Competitor’s website – believe it or not, many companies list their clients on their website. Big mistake. You may think you are impressing your clients and potential prospects, but all you are doing is giving your competitors a list of your clients to contact.

9). Paid Lead generating tools – Below is a list of the most  popular ones:

Sales Genie (from Infogroup, Inc.)

InfoUSA (also from Infogroup, Inc.)

Hoover’s (from Dun & Bradstreet, Inc.)

USAData, Inc.

Data.com (formerly Jigsaw from Salesforce.com)

RainKing (used in the IT industry)

DiscoverOrg (used in the IT and Finance industries)

10). Your old expired trials or clients – Just because you haven’t heard from your expired trials or clients for a while, doesn’t mean they may not be interested in ordering from you. Give them a call. Drop them an email. Who knows, they may be glad to hear from you. Maybe they now have a budget to make a purchase. Maybe new upper management came on board and now they are interested in speaking with you again. It can’t hurt you to swing back and see if they are interested again.

I hope the above list helps. Please let me know if you have any suggestions.