Entries tagged with “business management”.
Did you find what you wanted?
Although there are many out there who promise they have found it, there really is no magic bullet for lead generation. When you get right down to it, the best marketing automation tools are the ones that put you in the right place at the right time, that being when the prospect is most likely to buy.
Studies have shown that 2 of 3 sales are made to prospects who have said “no” not once, but 5 times! In fact, someone has to hear your company name at least 3 times before it even registers. One very successful sales rep stated he must leave an average of seven to ten voice mails before his messages are returned. (more…)
I was recently asked by task.fm to answer a question received by one of their website visitors. The question was: Can eliminating sales quotas increase profits? It’s an excellent question, so I thought I would share my answer here.
Can eliminating sales quotas increase profits?
Absolutely not! It simply won’t work in a performance based career. In fact, eliminating quotas would have the exact opposite effect on profits, in much the same way that guaranteeing a sales person a job for life without asking them to produce any sales would be. (more…)
Have you ever been in an internal meeting and asked “why do we do that?”, only to receive the response “because we have always done it that way”? Have you ever heard a prospect say the same thing in response to one of your fact find questions? In my opinion, this is a very dangerous response. More importantly, it often presents a great opportunity for improvement and could result in an excellent sales opportunity. Here’s is a story to illustrate why: (more…)
Here is some great information from Chris Chariton, Vice President of Supplier Marketing and Marketing Services for GlobalSpec about business to business marketing trends for the upcoming year.
Aim Higher!
Susan A. Enns, B2B Sales Connections
www.b2bsalesconnections.com, www.linkedin.com/in/susanenns, or www.twitter.com/SusanEnns
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Life Threw a Curve Ball…And Now We’re in Business!
Here is my interview with Bizoomi.com, a great website for small business!
http://bizoomi.com/2010/08/02/3028/
Aim Higher!
Susan A. Enns, B2B Sales Connections
www.b2bsalesconnections.com, www.linkedin.com/in/susanenns, or www.twitter.com/susanenns
I have been trying to track down a billing issue with a company for over a month. After sending yet another follow up email to my account manager today, I finally received a response. It started out by saying “So-and-So is no longer with our company…” The first thing that crossed my mind was how long has So-and-So been gone, and more importantly, how long have emails from his customers been going unanswered.
This reminded me of a time when I ran into an ex-colleague who said, “I was really getting upset with you. I was trying to solve a customer’s admin problem. I left you voice mail messages for weeks before someone happened to mention that you were no longer with the company.”
Situations like these are very frustrating to both your internal and external customers. Not only can you lose them forever, the frustrating part of it is that their loss was completely preventable!
When an employee leaves your company, here are 5 tasks that every manager should do immediately. When I say immediately, I do not mean within the week, I mean the same hour, or at the very least, the same day.
- Set an auto-responder on the ex-employee’s email address stating that the employee is no longer with the company and who the customer should contact now. Just deleting the email address all together will only create an automated undeliverable email message and create further frustration.
- Change the ex-employee’s voice mail message stating the same as the automated email message. Also, ensure that you change both the office phone voice mail, as well as the message on the company provided cell phone.
- Send an internal email memo to all employees in your company stating that the employee is no longer with the company and who will be handling his accounts until a replacement is found.
- Change all the office locks and security codes that the employee had access to.
- Change all passwords to all computer programs that the employee had access to.
It’s inevitable. One day a sales representative will leave your company for good. Be it by his choice or yours, you have to be prepared and act immediately to smooth the transition. If you don’t, your own lack of action could cause your company irreparable damage.
Aim Higher!
For a free copy of our white paper How To Recruit The Best Sales Professionals, visit our Download Centre at www.b2bsalesconnections.com/download_centre.php.
Do you need an expert sales management coach who is affordable and accessible? For less than an average dinner out, you can consult with us every day and receive the personal direction you need. For more information, check out www.b2bsalesconnections.com/coaching_services.php.
Susan A. Enns, B2B Sales Connections
www.b2bsalesconnections.com, www.linkedin.com/in/susanenns, or www.twitter.com/susanenns
Posted by Susan A. Enns under Sales Management Skills
Experience has shown no matter where you set your minimum selling price, a sales representative sooner or later will ask you to lower it. The question is not whether you will be asked permission to discount; the question is when should you say yes.
One of the best examples of this is highlighted in an excellent article “Making Sales and Losing Money” by Brian Jeffrey. The article highlights a case where a sales rep, after obtaining his largest order to date, actually loses money on the sale. Not only does Brian discuss how this could easily happen, he also discusses excellent ideas on how you can prevent it from happening to you. You can read the article at http://ow.ly/27HXi and and you can browse Brian’s available Sales Management eBooks here.
The bottom line is your company’s fixed costs must be paid whether you make the sale or not. Therefore, any time a discounted selling price contributes at least one dollar towards paying your fixed costs, it is considered profitable. As long as all of your variable costs are covered, including the cost of the goods sold plus any variable sales commissions, the discounted price can be accepted.
The Minimum Selling Price Calculation Worksheet is an Automated Sales Tool available for sale in our eStore. It will will automatically calculate a product’s minimum selling price to contribute at least one dollar towards the payment of fixed costs, given the cost of goods sold and the commissions to be paid on the sale.
As most managers would agree that making a sale for only a dollar is hardly worth the effort, the spreadsheet also shows how much gross profit is being made if you sell the product at a certain price. That is very handy if you or your team has a gross profit component in your compensation plans. Most importantly, you will quickly and easily have the information you need to make the right business decision.
After all, in sales, saving time is very important. In fact, many studies show that sales people only spend about 25 percent of their time selling. That means your sales people are spending only ten hours per week selling. Taking a step further, if they have a $1 million quota, each one of your sales reps is worth $2,000 per hour! To free up more time for your sales reps to spend on selling, check out the other automated sales tools created by B2B Sales Connections.
Aim Higher!
Need ideas for your sales meetings? Join our free webinar where we discuss quick and easy ways to make your sales meetings more interesting and productive. To register, visit www.b2bsalesconnections.com/webinars.php.
Webinar does fit your schedule? View the presentation video in our Download Centre at www.b2bsalesconnections.com/download_centre.php. While you are there, be sure to download a free copy of our white paper “Creating Your Unique Value Proposition”
Susan A. Enns, B2B Sales Connections
www.b2bsalesconnections.com, www.linkedin.com/in/susanenns, or www.twitter.com/susanenns
Here is a great blog post from Lisa Larter about running a business. Thought I would share it.
http://www.lisalarter.com/BlogThoughts/?p=351
Aim Higher!
Susan A. Enns
B2B Sales Connections
www.b2bsalesconnections.com, www.linkedin.com/in/susanenns, or www.twitter.com/SusanEnns
Posted by Susan A. Enns under Sales Skills
I received this in an email from a friend of mine. Not only did I find it very funny, but I also found it very relevant in today’s business world. I don’t know who wrote it originally, but I understand it was two math teachers with a combined total of 70 years experience. If I ever do find out who wrote it, I certainly would shake their hands!
Speaking from a strictly mathematical viewpoint…it goes like this: (more…)
Posted by Susan A. Enns under Personal Development Books
Did you know that business people who read at least 7 business books a year earn over 2.3 times more than people who read only one book per year? Think you don’t have time to spend on your own ongoing personal development? Did you know that if you spend just 10 minutes a day reading, that adds up to over 60 hours a year? Investing in yourself is always a safe bet!
The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business by Tara Hunt
This book was first suggested to me by one of our website visitors. It was recommended to learn more about connecting with customers one on one through the use of online media. As he said , “Don’t let the title fool you. It’s fantastic, and I wholeheartedly recommend it!” After reading the book myself, I have to say that he was right! Thank you Dave Newby!
For more book suggestions, please visit http://www.b2bsalesconnections.com/books.php
Aim Higher!
Susan A. Enns, B2B Sales Connections
www.b2bsalesconnections.com, www.linkedin.com/in/susanenns, or www.twitter.com/SusanEnns
