To help you reach your sales goals
What’s your biggest sales challenge? Recent Poll…
Jan 11th
| What’s YOUR biggest sales challenge? | |
| Getting new customers | |
| Getting clear response from company | |
| Appointments with Decision Makers | |
| cold calling | |
| Acquistion | |
| Making more calls | |
| closing the deal | |
| follow up | |
| Business to business | |
| Leads – Hunting for new opportunities | |
| Converting customers | |
| getting in the door | |
| Convincing people to try our product | |
| Company market recognition / no one know who we are | |
| Finding interested companies for our services. | |
| Getting past the Gatekeeper | |
| increasing customer count and order size | |
| Getting to the decision maker without offending the gate keepers | |
| deal size | |
| Finding peoples phone numbers. | |
| the budget conversation | |
| closing the deal | |
| Finding the decision makers | |
| Learning what a company I’m not already engaged with sees as their biggest opportunity | |
| taking action | |
| getting the client to spend more money | |
| Brand recognition | |
| Getting in the door. | |
| Voice mail | |
| getting to the decision maker | |
| Education of what we do in order to achieve sales. | |
| Finding more qualified prospects | |
| shorten the sales cycle | |
| Lower liabilities in contracts | |
| Relevant insight information on prospects | |
| return phone calls | |
| getting to correct decision maker | |
| Connecting to key decision makers | |
| Our competition offers direct loans, which we currently don’t offer….. | |
| adf | |
| gathering competitive intelligence | |
| Get in the door | |
| Making cost irrelevant | |
| qualified leads | |
| Follow through on calls | |
| prospecting | |
| self-promotion | |
| Leads | |
| marketing | |
| Closi | |
| Getting appointments with decision makers | |
| Keeping up w/ marketing for new clients while working w/ exisiting ones | |
| Gatekeepers | |
| C-Level appointment setting | |
| New Clients | |
| finding customers | |
| Driving inside sale team | |
| Getting prospects to respond via telephone or email. | |
| letting peole know we are here | |
| getting face to face with the decision maker | |
| finding time to find new customers | |
| acquiring new clients | |
| Making my boss happy! | |
| Stop living pay check to pay check | |
| Understanding who is the Real Decision-Maker for IT projects. | |
| Getting to the decision maker. | |
| getting through to the decision makers | |
| Locating the current contact information | |
| Not enough High Quality Leads | |
| Often discovering who the real decision maker is and accessing them. | |
Are you George Washington or George Costanza?
Dec 27th
Washington Crossing the Delaware (1851), by Emanuel Leutze. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. (Source-Wikipedia)
Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River, which occurred on Christmas Day, December 25, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War, this was the first move in a surprise attack organized by George Washington against the Hessian forces in Trenton, New Jersey.
I know a lot of people have off this week and are taking it easy with friends and family. However, should you be taking it easy this week? Or planning your surprise attack for 2012?
For the last month, I’ve been pressing harder than ever to make sure that on January 1, I’m starting my plan of attack for 2012, not thinking of my plan of attack, but executing my plan of attack!
Why attack this week?
- People are more relaxed this week and more receptive to calls. (If you’re working and their working, you’re already on the same page)
- Do what others are NOT doing. Success is about doing the opposite of others and working smarter not harder.
- Start ahead of your competition in 2012 and be ahead of your quota!
Self-thought questions:
- What worked in 2011?
- What did not work in 2011?
- How am I going to change what did not work in 2011 to benefit my business in 2012?
Take the time to plan:
- Dedicate two hours of silence, no phone, no e-mail, and no distractions…
- Write your plan down and commit to it. (In your own handwriting!)
- Keep your plan of attack for 2012 in front of you daily and hold yourself accountable.
It’s up to you to develop your surprise plan of attack like George Washington or develop your plan of attack with your couch, like George Costanza.
Which George are you? Would Love to hear your comments…
Mike Krause’s Sales Sense #15: Got Training Automation?
Dec 17th
Suffering from high-turnover? Suffering from repeating & training the same concepts over and over again to your sales team that takes little or no initiative on their own?
I have the solution!
Recently, I have been working on a few projects where the above was the problem/pain. The framework we designed was around automation and strategic training spoon fed to the sales team.
The result:
1. Accountability to the sales team through reporting. (Big brother is watching)
2. Reduction in trainer time answering the same questions over and over again. (Now they have the ability to send a link and make the sales rep become engaged)
3. Reduction in travel expense. (All in an E-learning platform)
The impact has been HUGE and now the sales representative is held accountable.
How are you automating your sales process?
Mike Krause’s Sales Sense #14: Discount Doom! How much is enough?
Dec 6th
I get it- discounts drive new clients.
I understand Groupon and the millions of other companies that are on the deep-discount bandwagon. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a bargain hunter too, however the business doesn’t always benefit from these massive discounts to grow their business. We all have read about how Groupon and like-minded companies are NOT paying off for businesses:
1. No repeat business-people come once and never come back commonly called “coupon hunters”
2. Under profit margins on the HUGE discounts offered by Groupon
3. Clients perceive establishment as a discount place and are never able to restore value back to full price.
Let me give you an example of ludicrous discounting; this week I received an e-mail offering a $7,995.00 discount off an $8,995.00 item for a complete DVD set with a 12 month membership from a company. These were my first thoughts:
1. Price gouging!!!
2. What value are you TRULY offering to your clients?
3. What about the client that paid $8,995.00? How do they feel?
It’s okay to discount on occasion your product/service, but how much is enough?
I would love to hear your comments about discounting:
Sales Sense’s Mike Krause Offers Four Questions to Help Sales Professionals and Small Businesses Develop a More Assertive Sales Approach
Nov 30th
Corporate buyers are more reluctant to make buying decisions in this economy, requiring sales professionals to be more assertive in their sales approach, offer solutions and provide more value to speed the sales cycle.
ShareThis 
Mike Krause, Chief Sales Architect, Sales Sense Solutions, Inc.
The average B2B sales cycle has increased dramatically over the last five years.
Rochester, NY (PRWEB) November 30, 2011
As one of four sales experts, Mike Krause, Chief Sales Architect and president of Sales Sense Solutions, Inc.,was interviewed by Newsday for an article on selling to the reluctant buyer in the business to business (B2B) market. The article provides tips on how to speed up the sales cycle and turn a reluctant buyer into a satisfied customer more quickly.
Krause recommended that sales professionals ask their prospects the right questions to engage them in the sales cycle and help it move faster, including:
1. Do you have the right decision maker?
2. Has the prospect thought about a budget for this project? If not, the sales professional can then educate the prospect on costs.
3. Ask the prospect: “When would they like the solution or product delivered?” This establishes reasonable expectations for the sales cycle.
4. Is the prospect in pain? Assess if the prospect really needs your solution or is it something that is a ‘nice to have’ rather than a necessity. To get at this point the sales professional might ask the prospect, “If my solution doesn’t fit for you, what’s your Plan B?”
According to Krause, the average business-to-business sales cycle from start to finish has increased over the past five years from 90 day to six months to more than 12 months now, on average.
About Mike Krause and Sales Sense Solutions, Inc.
As a recognized sales thought leader, Mike Krause inspires business leaders and sales professionals of all generations – from the most experienced to the newest rookie on the team – to maximize their personal and professional potential. Mike shares his proven strategies for sales success in his book, Sell or Sink: Strategies, Tactics and Tools Every Business Leader Must Know to Stay Afloat! Learn more athttp://www.SalessSenseSolutions.com and http://www.SellOrSink.com.
Four Reasons Why Old-Style Sales Training Rarely Work according to Sales Sense Solutions’ Mike Krause
Nov 30th
According to Dave Stein, CEO of ES Research Group, Inc., responding to a Focus.com question on September 21st, “roughly 85 percent of traditional sales training techniques result in no measurable impact after 90 days.”
Mike Krause, Chief Sales Architect, Sales Sense Solutions, Inc.
To be most effective, sales training must be an individual process, not a one-size-fits-all fix applied to the entire sales force.Rochester, NY (PRWEB) September 30, 2011
Mike Krause, Chief Sales Architect of Sales Sense Solutions, Inc., concurs with Mr. Stein’s statement and adds that “one of the largest pain points for companies, is their sales training.” Companies have spent millions trying to train their sales force and it never works as planned. Why?
1. Most companies treat sales training as a group exercise: bring everybody in from the field for a couple days, talk at them or bring in an outside old-school expert to deliver one set of messages, then send them back out to sell. Problems: all sales people are at different levels of experience, knowledge and expertise. Applying the same training to the entire group inevitably leaves some of them far behind and others bored to tears. Plus, everybody is out of the field for two or three days, resulting in momentum loss and thousands of dollars in lost sales.
2. There’s no individual follow up from the training staff to see how effective the sales training was that they administered in the two or three day group session. No post-meeting evaluations were collected to see how well the training actually trained the sales people. This also means there’s no accountability on the part of the sales people to improve their process using the new techniques they were presented.
3. The sales people are often street-smarter and more experienced than the outside trainer the company brought in. The sales reps know that they must just endure a couple days of meetings, then they can go back to doing what they’ve always done. They’re polite and nod their heads and never feel compelled to apply any of the training’s lessons on which the company spent thousands of dollars.
4. The company doesn’t take the time — or have the ability — to understand the individual training needs of its sales people. Therefore, those who do need training in specific areas may or may not get what they need from the mass education sessions administered once a year.
Expecting a sales professional to learn everything they need to know about the company, its products and successful sales techniques in two or three days is preposterous. Think about it: no one earns a college degree in two or three days, how could an individual hope to learn all they need to know about products, services, company philosophy and sales processes in that same amount of time?
The solution to these age-old sales training woes is twofold: (1) create a comprehensive training program that is tailored to each individual’s experience level and needs. The training should include some in-person formal classroom training and reinforcing training conducted through a well-designed instructional portal over a year’s time. (2) Equip each sales person with a SmartPhone and a laptop to stay in full contact with their prospects and facilitate on-going training while they’re productively working their territory.
The company may still spend thousands outfitting the sales reps with the right tools but at the end of the year, the sales training process will have been much more effective and the sales people will have learned how to sell something.
About Mike Krause and Sales Sense Solutions, Inc.
As a recognized sales training expert and thought leader, Mike Krause inspires business leaders and sales professionals of all generations – from the most experienced to the newest rookie on the team – to maximize their personal and professional potential. Mike shares his proven strategies for sales success in his book, Sell or Sink: Strategies, Tactics and Tools Every Business Leader Must Know to Stay Afloat! Learn more athttp://www.SalesSenseSolutions.com and http://www.SellOrSink.com.
Small and Medium-sized Business Failures Linked to Ineffective Sales Training and Marketing
Nov 22nd
Sales Sense Solutions’ Sales Training Programs Featured as the Answer to Poor Sales Planning
Mike Krause, Chief Sales Architect, Sales Sense Solutions, Inc.
To become successful, business leaders and owners must work ON their business as much as they work IN their businessRochester, NY (PRWEB) November 22, 2011
Sales Sense Solutions’ Sales Training Programs Featured as the Answer to Poor Sales Planning
Dr. Jeremi Bauer, CEO of Bauer Management Group is authoring an eight-part series to help the leaders of small and medium-sized businesses identify and correct serious issues before their companies enter crisis mode or fail. Dr. Bauer recommends the sales training programs of Sales Sense Solutions as models that are invaluable for small and medium sized businesses of all types to increase sales through proper sales planning and execution.
Sales Sense Solutions was featured in Part 2 of Bauer’s series titled Ineffective Sales and Marketing published November 10, 2011. Mike Krause, Chief Sales Architect of Sales Sense Solutions, Inc., claims that the worst thing a sales person, or organization, can do is to be unprepared for a selling engagement. By answering key sales planning questions, a sales professional prepares for those engagements and start down the path to effective – and successful – selling.
Dr. Bauer also references 96 short videos created by Mike Krause that are available on YouTube and Vimeo. These two-to-three minute videos focus on tools, tactics and strategies that anyone in sales can put into action immediately to increase their sales effectiveness.
About BMG
Bauer Management Group (BMG), was founded to help small and medium sized businesses capture opportunities and overcome challenges. BMG partners with our clients for the long-term, becoming strategic partners in the organizations success and helps keep owners from falling into the trap of working for the business by identifying and work on pain points in the organization. Then help owners identify and capture tactical and strategic opportunities that will ensure continued growth. Through this process, the owners are able to look at their business from 30,000 feet and begin to manage their business instead of their business managing them.
About Mike Krause and Sales Sense Solutions, Inc.
As a recognized sales thought leader, Mike Krause inspires business leaders and sales professionals of all generations – from the most experienced to the newest rookie on the team – to maximize their personal and professional potential. Mike shares his proven strategies for sales success in his book, Sell or Sink: Strategies, Tactics and Tools Every Business Leader Must Know to Stay Afloat! Learn more athttp://www.SalessSenseSolutions.com and http://www.SellOrSink.com.
Small and Medium-sized Business Failures Linked to Ineffective Sales Training and Marketing
Nov 22nd
Sales Sense Solutions’ Sales Training Programs Featured as the Answer to Poor Sales Planning
Rochester, NY (PRWEB) November 22, 2011 — Sales Sense Solutions’ Sales Training Programs Featured as the Answer to Poor Sales Planning
Dr. Jeremi Bauer, CEO of Bauer Management Group is authoring an eight-part series to help the leaders of small and medium-sized businesses identify and correct serious issues before their companies enter crisis mode or fail. Dr. Bauer recommends the sales training programs of Sales Sense Solutions as models that are invaluable for small and medium sized businesses of all types to increase sales through proper sales planning and execution.
Sales Sense Solutionswas featured in Part 2 of Bauer’s series titled Ineffective Sales and Marketing published November 10, 2011. Mike Krause, Chief Sales Architect of Sales Sense Solutions, Inc., claims that the worst thing a sales person, or organization, can do is to be unprepared for a selling engagement. By answering key sales planning questions, a sales professional prepares for those engagements and start down the path to effective – and successful – selling.
Dr. Bauer also references 96 short videos created by Mike Krause that are available on YouTube and Vimeo. These two-to-three minute videos focus on tools, tactics and strategies that anyone in sales can put into action immediately to increase their sales effectiveness.
About BMG Bauer Management Group (BMG), was founded to help small and medium sized businesses capture opportunities and overcome challenges. BMG partners with our clients for the long-term, becoming strategic partners in the organizations success and helps keep owners from falling into the trap of working for the business by identifying and work on pain points in the organization. Then help owners identify and capture tactical and strategic opportunities that will ensure continued growth. Through this process, the owners are able to look at their business from 30,000 feet and begin to manage their business instead of their business managing them.
About Mike Krause and Sales Sense Solutions, Inc. As a recognized sales thought leader, Mike Krause inspires business leaders and sales professionals of all generations – from the most experienced to the newest rookie on the team – to maximize their personal and professional potential. Mike shares his proven strategies for sales success in his book, Sell or Sink: Strategies, Tactics and Tools Every Business Leader Must Know to Stay Afloat! Learn more at www.SalessSenseSolutions.com and www.SellOrSink.com.
Three Power Phrases Deflect Sales Objections, Improve Sales Performance, Krause tells the Michigan Business Network audience
Oct 31st
When prospects object, three key phrases keep them talking and reveal the real issue, according to Mike Krause, Chief Sales Architect of Sales Sense Solutions, Inc.
Mike Krause, Chief Sales Architect, Sales Sense Solutions, Inc.
Objections are a sure tip off that your prospect is trying to understand how your product or solution will work for them.Rochester, NY (PRWEB) October 31, 2011
In an interview recently with Michigan Business Network, Mike Krause discussed the three power phrases that help sales professionals address sales objections and improve their overall sales performance. When a sales professional is in the middle of a major sales call presentation and the prospect brings up an objection, it must be handled with professionalism and tact before the sale can proceed. Whether the objection voiced is actually on the subject or not, it will immediately stop the momentum of a great presentation in its tracks and divert the presentation into instant quicksand if it is not appropriately handled. The best way to handle an objection is to respond to the prospect’s question with another question that probes at the issues being raised.
According to Mike Krause, Sales Sense Solutions, Inc., “Objections are actually a healthy sign that your prospect is listening and thinking about how your solution or product will fit into their process and operation.”
By mastering the art of calmly questioning the prospect in return, a sales professional will:
1. Keep the prospect talking. The prospect(s) should be speaking about 80 percent of the time while the sales professional does only 20 percent of the talking.
2. Remain in control of the sales call and presentation.
3. Drill down through the objection/question and gets to the real issue that prompted the question or objection in the first place. Usually the first objection raised is not really the concern at all. It often takes a divergent probing dialogue to get to the real heart of the matter.
Krause recommends answering the prospect’s question or objection with one of three powerful phrases that will help get to the real issue to respond appropriately and continue to move the sale forward:
How do you mean?
Tell me more…
Why do you ask?
Krause’s 20 years of experience as a sales professional taught him to use these phrases for selling scenarios and personal situations too. Answering the prospect’s question with a probing question helps move the sales dialogue forward and keep the focus on the solution.
About Mike Krause and Sales Sense Solutions, Inc.
As a recognized sales thought leader, Mike Krause inspires business leaders and sales professionals of all generations – from the most experienced to the newest rookie on the team – to maximize their personal and professional potential. Mike shares his proven strategies for sales success in his book, Sell or Sink: Strategies, Tactics and Tools Every Business Leader Must Know to Stay Afloat! Learn more athttp://www.SalessSenseSolutions.com and http://www.SellOrSink.com.
