Sales Waterfall: 10 Things in Q3/Q4

Over the past 15 years I have found from 5-10 different sales guru's, my own experience, and actually doing these things listed below apart of a pretty regular sales system, to be helpful in increasing my overall sales performance. I spend my time planning, delegating where I can while helping too, and going where the opportunities are, as opposed to monotonous cold calling taking 50% of my time in my prior sales days. Right now, its the second half of year so you can implement these approaches weekly, so by the time your end of year comes, you are ready for a strong close out and jumpstart to 2016 with a new wheel already turning. January is a time to get these things in motion and moving the wheel forward with a new support person helping you. 

What you will read below in summary.  The Quick List for those Short on Attention: Writing Content, The Top Officer, New Prospect Research for Monday, Types of Emails that get responses, Tagging/Organizing CRM/Linkedin too, 7 Touch Points, Paid Advertising, Having a Sales Survey, Help an Intern aka Sales Support Specialist get experience by helping you, and the Next Tradeshow event. 

OBJECTIVES HERE:  First, do all of it here with the overlying point that you are successful by the sum of your effort, not just one of these approaches (rule of 7). Second, learn to delegate 75% of this to help someone else get experience, like a young student. Third, have a sales survey you start sending out to new prospects.

95% of us wind down on Friday around 3pm, yes, it's true VP's of Sales. I find that winding up Sunday mid morning or early eve for 1 hour right before or after a workout is very helpful because going into a fresh Monday morning prepared is vital, with a map for the week, and a ready to go lists, time blocked calendar, and 1-2 new wheel turning and revenue generating strategies per week. Many start this on Friday as a rule but adding to it as you get closer to your weekly start I have found more beneficial being on Sunday. I also do Wednesday night as a mid point to forward ahead all uncompleted tasks in priority. 

The old expression is still so true, "you don't plan to fail, you fail to plan" and I have seen this in the great quarters I had where I planned well, and also where I missed my number (not many of them) and looked back on it.  Also another good one is, "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take" that we all have heard. I learned this when I agreed to present to the Chief of Staff of the VA (John Gingrich) in Washington DC on Vermont Ave where I had 15-20 seconds to decide when I was asked "do you want to do this TJ? We need to know now." I said yes not realizing this guy reports to the president. Ok, Game on.

Because we all engage people regularly, ask good questions, listen to clients, and try to achieve sales success monthly, we are all in this together so feel free to add your favorite strategies here to the this list after you are done reading. NOTE:  I am not asking for your emails or trying to engage you for my gain, believe it or not, I don't really care about that stuff; just here to help, learn, and grow in this fast paced technology and media space with some proven results that have won me sales awards thru my career.

1) Writing A Content Piece Weekly:

As a sales or marketing professional you may be stuck in a monotony of prospecting, day-to-day distractions, managing your funnel, closing business, and account farming, all as an individual contributor. The easiest way to break apart for an hour from that to clear your mind, is by having something to send a potential client and ask for their feedback on it. That is content.  Content you have written, had proofread, and is ready to go to generate you Sales Connects first then Leads. Frank Rambauskas, the author of Never Cold Call Again, one of my favorite series on moving the sales process quickly as an expert, hits on this pretty hard.  You can repurpose something you read and liked to site it as a source and/or go to your marketing coordinator to have her take a look at it and add any colorful graphic images to it for final touches or just pull a few images from Canva or 99designs. It can be topical, feedback driven, situational, or simply a Top 5 List with a "do you agree" at the end of it.  Do this monthly at minimum and you will start to see your status as a sales pro increase 2 fold with every piece you write.  Make it good, relevant, with some stats if possible, and well thought out.  Every now and again name dropping or saying how you solved a problem for someone else is fine, but don't over do that or you will sound way to salesy in most cases. NOTE / TIP:  One key is co-hosting content with your best client and send this to a prospect. I have done this after they were a client and each gave a perspective on the sales process and what each does to make the process more efficient, then we published it together. TOTAL ROCKSTAR!

2) Top Officers (5 weekly) - A Separate List:

About 10 years ago, I read a series of books, by Anthony Parinnello, who is a successful sales executive that mastered calling on C-Level Executives to rapidly move his sales process along.  He calls them V.I.T.O. (this is not how to call on a mob boss).  It stands for Very Important Top Officer. The idea here is to make sure weekly you have your 5 Senior Executives you are calling on and keep in touch with; at least 5 new ones weekly on top of the others to follow up with.  15 Year TIP:  I have found that the first and best entry into a new prospect is at the top not only from the Selling to VITO series but by Jeb Blount and Frank Rambauskas also.  It sets a precedence right away you are serious, have something of value, and would like it to be considered by the best target point of contact or by an evaluation committee. Ask for both in the same sentence.  It also gets peoples attention below them because you are getting referred by the top person or at least their Admin who you have been very nice and respectful too and sent a thank you card to. Yes a card.  If you don't have a top officer list separate from your prospect list, you are missing out. Get one immediately going starting with your newest prospects to call into first. Speaking of new prospects...

3) New Prospects List, Monday Research:

Who are your new prospects you are calling on for Monday?  Are you leading up to an event and can open dialogue about that event they are going to?  Have you written a new content piece you can send them along with an article that is of interest to them?  Or maybe 2 slides you put together right away with things of interest to them while mixing in a content piece you wrote (show you mean business and are a good source of info to them).  Before all of that though, you need to have spent 15 minutes minimum on each of them researching not only their company, but who they are connected to on Linkedin, press on their company, how it affects them, any challenges you can see they are having, and also most importantly what groups they are connected to where you can advertise with and on. These are tips you already know but may not do consistently, just a reminder. Creating a new rolling list of 10 weeks with 5-10 per week starting this week for you is key as a good refresh from the past few weeks you may have been inundated. 

4) Types of Emails that Get Responses:

Have these ready to send out on Tuesday after your research on Monday.  

The "Advice Email" where you are asking for their advice on something and it could be as light as should you attend the next industry event and get their position on it if they have ever gone before. This follows a voicemail I leave them letting them know I left it and maybe a linkedin connect with invites to a potential event.  Cold Calling is not effective most of the time but when I have to, this has gotten me a ton of dialogue and business.  This is if I cannot get referred in I am at least able to set up meetings at events where they and other professionals will be next. It also gets me in front of them prior in many cases for a coffee or quick introductory meeting at their office.    

The "Prepared for You Email" is one where you took some time to put together a 2 slide overview based on your research on them and it may also include someone in the company who you took time to speak with ahead of reaching out to them showing you have some key info and a value prop worth considering.  Also, potentially some content you wrote in the past and a way for them to connect finally with you on Linkedin.  

The "Top Officer Referred in Email" is by far the most effective way to sell on the planet.  Being referred in on a warm call or at the least by the admin who you can keep an open dialogue with if you cannot get ahold of your ideal target. This is not going over anyones head at this point remember, because you are calling on them for the very first time. If you have called them in the past but never spoken to anyone yet just pretend its brand new and note that you look forward to being fully evaluated with specific areas where you are able to assist.

5) Tagging & Organizing (CRM & LinkedIn):

Simply, being able to tag and organize your CRM along with your Linkedin profile is extremely helpful. It takes a little extra time for linkedin. Those can be titled Daily Contacts and Targets (List 1) and Very Important Top Officers (List 2).  You will always be current and have an easy time sending out various bits of info to your targeted lists. You can also use your marketing department to coordinate any mailing efforts. I find this is not effective done by mass mailing unless it's promoting a Free Value Based Webinar on topics held by industry experts, maybe you, and not salesy at all.  Or it could also be invites to special events held at the next industry show or seminar that are hosted/co-hosted by you.

6) Eventually they Warm Up (The Rule of 7):

How many times does a client see you, hear from you, read something by you, all in a different way and means of delivery?  This is the oldest rule of marketing where it takes 7 times for a client to take some kind of action.  It really needs to do two things on that action point:  Create Interest and Establish a level of trust as an industry expert who is memorable because of the last 6 things they did leading up. Not just Email, Voicemail, Branded Signature, LinkedIn connect or "in-mail" saying something you did already like a call or note sent is good BUT also Content you wrote, 2 slide attachment custom to them that you prepared, twitter message or link, introduction by a colleague, meet at an event you know they are going to, Flash Drive in the mail with THEIR company logo on it showing a 2-3 custom slide overview, that is what puts them over the edge.  Never Cold Call Again would disagree with me hear but I would meet him in the middle and say you need to not nearly cold call as much after 6 months of going thru this process.  Most times if it's a warm intro by someone else, it does more the process so much faster, but as you are going thru this you are warming up the process too, so if you have to go thru cold calling, to me this is the only way to do it; warm them with credibility and being out there in your field BUT Cold call as little as possible by being out there.

7) Paid Advertising (Link Your Ad to Your Content for Something, Become an Expert):

Advanced but apart of a bigger initiative and useful as a tool apart of a much bigger outreach and business development initiative that you will buy into no matter what industry you are in. You want to put this in your arsenal as a piece of the pie.  Being in front of the key people you are trying to reach with your face and name on it is crucial as one touch point. Whether they click or not, they see it and start to see who you are and that you are out there in the public, which is making you more accountable without you even knowing it but also more credible at the same time.  You will be giving them resources, tools, and even maybe helpful templates all for FREE as an engagement model apart of your content you link to. Most of us know this already but many don't do it (mainly they don't know how to hyperlink, imagine that) or gave up on it because they were not doing the other 6-7 things with this and didn't see any results.  Giving away true value FREE info is essential to build trust and credibility in your space on top of your other processes as well. The reaction you want is "I cannot believe that was FREE info". Remember, it's not the one approach you use (the slice of the pie) but it's the sum of all the approaches (the whole pie) that get you noticed and new opportunities to partner with.  Again, you must delegate most of this on your second half of the sales year to win and prepare for next January also!

8) A Sales Survey For $15 Amazon Gift Card  (5 Per Week = $300/mo (Write-off):

Asking a client how they liked to be approached with a survey is the way to go. It is a show of respect when you actually have to cold call, which you should only be doing 15% of the time.  Many sales pros come in guns a blazing, with the best product or service out there, an ego the size of Texas, and 50 accounts, logos, and clients that they have helped. Wrong approach unless you are calling on a brand new contact at the bottom (not a decision maker).  Now, industry experts (sales pros) that show respect for time and solving problems by asking how they like to be approached; that's a different story.

Each person you reach out to 1:1 (personally, not mass) which is key, has a different personality and probably the same view on sales people.   If you use The "How You Like to be Approached" 10 question survey you develop, it will set you apart.  I bet 1-10 sales pros (if that, being generous) actually take 30 minutes to put this together for their next 25 emails. Use your marketing department to jazz it up and make it a writeable document. Use this to mix things up in your sales efforts and you will see success. You will also keep fresh and get good feedback to make the survey worth while because you are getting questions answered by each person in their own way. The answers will key you into what you need to know with them and also what prospects REALLY THINK.   If they don't bother answering it, they could just give you the time simply because you didn't expect it or come in guns blazing. I have had 8-10 say that to me this past year alone because I did that.  The #10 last question is: "Have you ever given someone who cold calls you an opportunity to speak with you?"  Yes or No?  

9) Having a "Support Specialist" aka Intern:

The best thing you can do is give a young person their first bit of resume experience to get out of the catch 22; you need a job to get experience but you need experience to get a job.  Remember that. This new generation Z (not millennials) is a whole new fresh start group looking for ways to have an impact with a very open ear and mind.  Take a few days to research the best places to pull an intern and note it does not have to be a formal program. You can pull one on your own from Linkedin, from colleagues, an on campus one day visit where you meet 10-15 students in person, and also possibly from your personal Facebook profile (using professional caution here).  Some Things they can do:  

Organize your next or first social event that you are hosting/co-hosting

Create Mailers, yes mailers, that are Engaging with a Flash Drive/Logo

Edit content for you and add graphics to it via Canva, 99 designs, pikToChart.

Research industry articles, industry news, and compile for a weekly report recap

Outreach via your Linkedin to specific targets with specific messaging (Cut / Paste)

Build a Potential Referral Partnership List w/ a Referral Contract in Place (Paypal)

10)  The Next Trade Show and that Dynamic of Trust Created There:

Attending events and getting in front of people you want to speak with like top officers is always necessary and helpful as well.  The underlying thing that happens at events is not only do you get to meet these people but these people get to see you know other people they know and respect. Its a dynamic of trust that begins to happen. As we all know, when you know more people, I have found you are much more accountable to do whats best for every client. They know that and they see that because people talk.  The events dynamic along with panels, are potentially the most successful way to gain credibility and drive your sales forward; at the least adding future opportunities to your pipeline who you stay on top of creatively over the next 3-6 months.

IN CLOSING:

If you are a sales pro that truly enjoys people, hitting quota, making money, and enjoying life, you will take these things and be able to add them to your arsenal. If you just needed some new ideas, glad to help here.  And finally, if you look at all of these, they can mostly be done by someone else, like a young sales support specialist (aka an intern).  

Take some time to mentor a young person who you have identified as willing and able to listen and put that on your LinkedIn as mentorship. Pay this intern with an tiered incentive structure that is performance driven + hourly. Get them excited too so when you close business they WIN as well!  Make sure you Execute, execute, execute very soon or NOW by making a list of 3 colleges and 10-15 profiles you are going to isolate on this Sunday or Friday afternoon. This will get you some help in being the sales Rockstar you are or are ready to be! Write your custom message and send send send to get moving with a pre-written resume showing them what they will gain when they complete the opportunity with you! Remember giving this new generation Z good feedback, interpersonal skill development, strategic development, and life skill development, will prove helpful to them and your overall success.

Have a successful second half of your sales year with some preparation to 2016 starting on Sundays!

*Please add your feedback of things you have found successful in your career that have really driven your bottom line.  Being likable does not count, thats a given. :) Also, feel free to say hello or connect with me if you want to share your thoughts further privately.