THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

Account management, or as I like to call it, relationship management, is the art of selling to support the workings of the customer. With this understanding the accountmanager must systematically steer each customer to purchase themost profitable products and services. This is truly an art andnot a science; thus, the act of account management requites an abstract

approach to administration and counsel. Yes, counsel, a word many

times absent from the account management job description. It’s a

job description that can also be called The Good, The Bad, and

The Ugly. In the movie of the same name, three charities

represented the three personality types. Many times these types

will reveal themselves in the account management relationship.

The Ugly refers to the type of person you must interact within

the company in order to accomplish your mission. That person believes there was no reason to make a change to yourproducts or services. Or believes your products or services do notmeet the needs of a department or division. That person is the one inmeetings who objects to everything you say and pushes back every

proposal you create. That person can hold the title of manager or vice

president or sometimes president. Any future business will have
to go past him or her. How does one win with the ugly?

The Bad refers to that unknown enemy. The enemy that is unseen and unheard. The one that has two employers, the company thatemploys the person and the product/service that has his or herdevotion. That person would win twice if he or she could gettheir solution in the door. It may be the product/service the person has used foryears or it can be the newest thing in the market today. Whateverthe driver, your goods are not good for that person. How does one win with the bad? The Good refers to your ally. That partner whohas outlined the goals of your products or services and sees the valuethey provide to the department/company goals. The person you havebefriended and can call on with new ideas and innovations; he or sheis welcomed and given an open interview. How does one win withthe good?FeaturesLet’s start with the hardest one first, The Good. Yes, I know youthink this is the easy one but it is not. Someone in this category isclearly open to your ideas, products, and creations. Here is the badpart; the person is also open to others’ ideas, products, and creations.If the person is of any value to you, it is because they are a sponge

of information sourcing. Information that can and will support the

person’s driven goal factors, whatever they are. You must feed the

person great, timely, and, many times, cost-cutting ideas. If you

don’t, he or she will find them elsewhere. Ideas that will grow his

or her business, division or department, thus growing the person’s

wallet. Now for The Bad. The bad is the easiest of the three.

Answer these two questions: What is the product or service that

intrigues The Bad? What is the newest item on the market today

that all are talking about? Once you find the answers to these two

questions, sell against the answers. Those products/services are your

competition. The Bad is also the one that seeks education and enlightenment. The Bad is a good place for a beta test of a new feature, but it must live up to thehype. The hype is very important to The Bad. The Bad can becomea great ally, but only through time and by comparing the differencesbetween your offering and the answers to the two questions. The Uglycan be a different animal. The Ugly will never express his or her

true feelings about the products/services. The Ugly will never have a

solution to the problem. The Ugly just knows that your solution is

not what the company should invest in at the time. The Ugly is

always looking for the bigger, better deal/product/service. When

talking with The Ugly, talk on two things in tandem, i.e., the present

and the future. Simultaneously you must make a move in words

from speaking on two levels. When you talk about the features of

your products/services today and the benefits derived you must also,

in the same breath, talk about the future feature applications of your

products in his or her business for years to come. You must show a

history of the evolution of your product/service. The Ugly is not big

on references from others that have used the products/services in the

same manner, but he or she does not want to be the first out of the

box to have used it. The Ugly will test you time and time again

before relenting.

Action to be takenaccount management or relationshipManagementKnow your customers. There is no need to get hung.

PROFITABLE SALES PIPELINE BUILDING

The strength of any great sales professional is in the size, value,

and credibility of the pipeline. A pipeline is defined as an

identified prospect company to which you have described the

features of your products or services. These features will

enhance the value of the prospect’s business or solve a potential

company problem in the future. A good sales professional looks

at a pipeline as a living, breathing, and growing object. It will

start out small and continue to grow when it is fed the proper

nourishment, and will begin to feed you only at its mature stage. Building this pipeline can also be compared to constructing a commercial skyscraper; the deeper and stronger the foundation, the taller the building. The construction of an industrial or commercial building represents considerable investment in terms of both time and skill. It is critical that the pros and cons be carefully weighed before making the decision to attach a prospect to your list. The tools, skills, and a great deal of time go into constructing a profitable pipeline. Tools and skills include networking, fact-finding, concentrative-listening, information verification, and payback.  Activity, as it relates to building a pipeline, is key to success. The higher the level of a new contact, location of a new business, andrediscovering old opportunities, the greater will be the size, value, and credibility of the pipeline.

Start in the center and work your way out. Find peopleyou know, companies you know, and businesses inclose proximityto your place of business, home, and

school.

Every business is a suspect until eliminated on the

basis of a prospect’s needs, buying timing, and

opportunity.

Develop a ranking system for the prospects in your

pipeline. (Rank the prospects in your pipeline

according to when they are schedule to close/buy. A

three- or four-tier ranking works well.)

Feed your pipeline daily, and it will feed you monthly.

(Each time you eat, feed your pipeline one suspect. In

one week either convert to a pipeline prospect or

eliminate.)

Every great pipeline will have some rabbits, deer, and

elephants. (The object of the game is to have

something closing at all times — small prospects you

can close quickly, medium prospects that may require

more time, and large prospects that could require more

time and have a greater dollar value. Your industry

will dictate the number of accounts in each.)

The easy sell is the one that your product and services

were design to solve. The solution that integrates

seamlessly and provide the greatest value to the prospect.

Avoid the six deadly sins of building a profitablepipeline.Pride is excessive belief in one’s own abilities that interfereswith the individual. There is gold in some of the strangestenvironments. Look under every rock. Don’t let your pridestop you from entering those golden doors.

Envy is a feeling of discontent or covetousness with regard toanother’s advantages, success, and possessions.Gluttony is excessive eating — to over consume prospects in one’s control. Every company does not belong to you.Only eat what you have placed on your plate, not everythingon the buffet table.

Lust is to crave, hunger for, covet, or yearn for power. Resist the need to over control the prospect or your information.Let the information flow to you. (When the student isready, the teacher will appear.)

Anger is manifested in the individual who spurns loveand opts instead for fury. It is also known as wrath.Anger blocks one’s creativity, reasoning, and fact-findingabilities. All are in need of building a profitable pipeline.

Sloth is the avoidance of physical, mental or spiritualwork.Greed is good. Control it; don’t let it control you.

CASUAL VS. BUSINESS DRESS

http://www.mimsmorningmeeting.com/

As late as the 1870s surgeons could be seen performing openoperations on their patients while dressed in Brooks Brothers suits with full Bemberg lining, corozo buttons, and double besomflap pockets. They would wear a white pinpoint cotton dress shirt

with French cuffs, forward point collar, and the tie would be optional.

Today’s doctors don a pair of Wal-Mart scrubs in the color of

the season and a pair of Nike Air tennis shoes to perform a three-hour

operation. Professional dress has changed over the last 136 years,

but have we (salespersons) have gone too far? Sometimes I cannot

tell business attire from casual attire. The term business casual

does not apply to us, salespersons, or maybe we need a clearer

definition of the term. Business casual is crisp, neat, and should

look appropriate even for a chance meeting with a CEO.

It should not look like cocktail or picnic attire. Avoid tight or baggy

clothing; business casual is classic rather than trendy.

When do you dress business, casual, or business casual?

The answer to this question is will depend on your industry, business,

and event. We seem to comprehend the words business attire dress

and the words casual dress but the wording business casual dress

seems to confuse most of us. Let’s set the record clear. Let’s define

business for both men and women.    http://www.mimsmorningmeeting.com/

CASUAL VS. BUSINESS DRESS

Proper Planning Prevents Piss-Poor Performance

THE MIMS MORNING MEETING

http://www.mimsmorningmeeting.com

While driving to an appointment and listening to my favorite sports talk show, ESPN Radio with
Colin Cowherd as the host, I heard an interview with
Warren Moon, a newly elected member of the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame. 
Warren Moon, now retired, spent his most productive years as a quarterback for the Houston Oilers. The Houston Oilers were charter members of the American Football League, now transplanted to Nashville, Tennessee, and rebranded as the Tennessee Titans.      When
Moon was asked about his years of greatness and success as a winning quarterback, he said, “I did all my hard work on the practice field the week before the games.” 
Moon went on to explain, “If practice was a success I knew that the game would be great and we had a better than 90% chance of winning.”       Those two statements by Mr. Moon brought me back to a statement my eighth-grade English teacher Lady-Marie Scranton would make at least once a week to a room full of wannabe smart ones: Proper Planning Prevents Piss-Poor Performance. She was referring to the homework assignments that had not been turned in and the likely impact on Friday’s examination.  I carry those six P words with me in every job I tackle. In order to sell in a business-to-business environment you must properly plan before you enter the game.http://www.mimsmorningmeeting.com

THE THIRST FOR MORE INFORMATION

THE MIMS MORNING METING

http://www.mimsmorningmeeting.com

Human beings, over the years, especially in the past 15 to 20 years, have developed an immense thirst for more and more information about anything and everything.  This thirst has been greatly fueled by the simplification and ease of use of the exuberant mobile accompaniments that feed us stockpiles of immeasurable multitudes of critical propaganda.  Devices such as the common radio, the television, the newly invented Internet/ World Wide Web, PDA and cell phones feed by a growing broadband connectivity — these are tools designed to inform, educate, enlighten and, yes, comfort us. The average man or woman today is more knowledgeable and more insightful on more subject matter than any people at any time in human history.  Because of this stimulation, we are now receiving, processing and filing more information than ever before.  We are in a information gulp.  Yes, the information gulp is a great place to be if applied in the proper affectedness. Think of the information gulp like this.  The information we crave is delivered as rapidly as we can take it.  Then we swallow as quickly as is humanly possible, and with quick abandonment we run back to aggrandized.  The thirst for credible, crystal clear and meaningful information is our new religion.  We hunger for information that will create the change, information that will make an antithetical adjustment in our lives and in our day-to-day businesses.  This opens the door to information that will elevate us from one station to the next higher station in life. The new phrase du jour is He who dies with the most information, has lives and has lives well.  

CONCENTRATIVE-LISTENING

 THE MIMS MORNING MEETING

information healthy

Concentrative-Listening information healthyYou cannot perform concentrative-listening until you formulate the proper questions.  To formulate the proper questions you must have a clear and concise understanding of the subject matter. Thus you cannot get the proper answers needed to solve the pending problem because solving the problem equals the selling of the good or service.Every professional job preparation is the cornerstone of success.  Success is gained by the time devoted to uncovering information about the opponent.  Doctors, accountants, teachers, writers, actors, and scientists study a subject before, during and even after solving the problem.  There is a direct correlation between the quality of the research and the success of the action.  They will pore over tons on information before coming to a conclusion.  Many salespeople don’t devote the proper time or use the proper methods and resources when researching a prospect’s business.  Thus very little quality goes into that first appointment, that demonstration, and the presentation.  Concentrative-listening is the first step in the CRC Sales Technique, which starts with the use of the World Wide Web or Internet.  CRC Sales Technique is created to target five areas of account penetration and convergent 1. Highest level of company penetration, 2. Eradicate wasted time, 3. Produce a larger gross profit margin on any products and services sold, 4. Shorten the sales cycle for any company and 5. Solving the customer’s real problems not the symptoms. www.mimsmorningmeeting.com

IT’S THE ECONOMY STUPID! Part I

The Mims Morning Meeting

I’m old enough to remember the presidential campaign of 1992, when James Carville’s mantra for the Clinton campaign was, “It’s the economy, stupid!” By “the economy,” Carville meant how businesses and people are doing right now. Are sales up?  Is unemployment down? Are you better or worse off than you were four years ago? It’s the economy, stupid!  Think of your prospects, their business conditions, their people, and their sales revenue. Is it good or bad? Do you know? Do you care? Does it make a difference to you? And why should  it? How is your prospect’s industry moving now and what does the future hold? It’s the economy, stupid!

It matters not if your product is as simple as nuts or bolts for the buildingof a child’s toy or as intricate as designing and building systems to meet an ever-growing need, or as accurate as real-time data and video displays in control rooms. Your knowledge of the world’s economy is the most valuable tool to have in your box. A broad understanding of the inner workings of the world economy helps explain why decisions are made, the impact of these decisions on your prospect’s industry, those who will benefit from these decisions, and those who will be harmed by these decisions. The economy dictates all of the above and more. How did the last bill passed by the U.S. Congress help or injure your prospect’s industry/business? Which prospect offers the best opportunity for you and your products and services based on the economic indicators/changes? Many questions can be addressed with an elementary understanding of the world economy and its impact on your day-to-day life. Here’s how.

If you are an old pro, new to the game of selling, orsomewhere in the middle, a quick refresher courseon today’s working economy is needed each day.Change occurs on a second-by-second basis.Here are five things you should do every day tokeep your economy skills sharp.

1. Buy X number of shares of stock. If you know nothing about thestock market, buy what you do know. Buy a shoe company stock orstock in your favorite book publishing company. What you know, buy it. If you buy the product, buy the stock.

2. Take a class. Your local community college and university offercontinuing education classes on the economy and remuneration. Take a class on your own dollar, not the companies dollar.

3. Watch more television. Learn a new language. The quickest way to learn the language of economics is to hear it from people who speak it and apply it to the business and industry of the world.CNBC’s Morning Call and Squawk Box; MSNBC’s Business Arabia; Europe Tonight, BloombergTV Bloomberg on the Market; and CSPAN Washington Journal and CSPAN 2 Today in Washington.  

4. Read only one. The only newspaper that supports the total needsof the sales environment and business needs while providing insight into things to come is The Wall Street Journal. Read it daily.

5. Pick the fly shit out of the pepper. Learn to look behind the headlines in everything you view. Find the benefit to your quest in all source material. Free your mind and the rest – sales – will follow.

Benefit of No. 1Nothing will motivate you faster than parting with your hard-earneddollar, especially if that dollar has the ability to multiply itselfexpensively. An added benefit is the knowledge you will gain from tracking that stock. This is the truest indicator of the economy at

work.

Benefit of No. 2An education isn’t how much you have committed to memory, oreven how much you know. It’s being able to differentiate betweenwhat you do know and what you don’t. –Anatole France,
French novelist (1844 - 1924)

Benefit of No. 3For years, viewing the television has been labeled a waste ofvaluable time. Cable television has changed that thinking. Informtelevision is a tool of the information first generation. It is as easy as choosing the proper program to inform and educate you on

the changes that occurred while you slept.

Benefit of No. 4  Information is of value only if received in a timely manner. Timely manner means that you can act on it to effect change and elevate your products or services. The Wall Street Journal has always given me the edge on my competition.

Benefit of No. 5  If we value the pursuit of knowledge, we must be free to follow wherever that search may lead us. The free mind is not a barking dog, to be tethered on a ten-foot chain. –Adlai E. Stevenson Jr. http://www.mimsmorningmeeting.com/

HOW TO BUILD A PROFITABLE SALES PIPELINE

The Mims Morning Meeting

The strength of any great sales professional is in the size, value, and credibility of the pipeline. A pipeline

is definedas an identified prospect company to which you have described the features of your products or

services. These features will enhance the value of the prospect’s business or solve a potential

companyproblem in the future. A good sales professional looks at a pipeline as a living, breathing, and

growing object. It will start out small and continue to grow when it is fed the proper nourishment, and will

begin to feed you only at its mature stage.

Building this pipeline can also be compared to constructing a commercial skyscraper; the deeper and

stronger the foundation, thetaller the building. The construction of an industrial or commercial building

 represents considerable investment in terms of both time and skill. It is critical that the pros and cons be

carefully weighed before making the decision to attach a prospect to your list.The tools, skills, and a great

deal of time go into constructing aprofitable pipeline. Tools and skills include networking, fact-finding,

concentrative-listening, information verification, and payback.

Activity, as it relates to building a pipeline, is key to success. The higher the level of a new contact,

location of a new business, andrediscovering old opportunities, the greater will be the size, value, and

credibility of the pipeline. www.mimsmorningmeeting.com

WHEN TO GET THE HELL OUT OF DODGE Part II

The Mims Morning Meeting

(This is a continuation of the Blog of the same title)

Features 

 

The Sign of a Buyer

 

1st.Is the prospect involved in the sales/buying process.

A. Did the prospect ask for a demonstration of your

product or service? Or did you suggest it to them.

B. Will the prospect pay for a demo of the product or service?

C. Had the prospect given you direction on how to sell him/her?D. Had the prospect gotten other members of their/her team involved with you in work with your

solution?

E. Had he/she ask for references or site tours of others using your product or services?

F. Has the prospect called you with direct questions or did you call him/her to give information?

G. Can the person that said yes to your agreement sign your agreement.

2nd- Have you solved the real-problem the company is facing?

A. What is the impact on the prospects bottom-line if he/she purchases your products or services?

B. What is the return on the investment of this purchase?

C. What is the general rule for payback on investment set forth by the CFO of the prospect company.D. Have you discussed what happen after the purchase is made.E. Have you answered or reviewed the 14 question in concentrative-listening?

 

Action to be taken

 

1. When you can present your solution to the head not tothe tail.(we all know what comes from a human’s tail end)

2. Look for the real-problems to be solved not a symptom of

the real- problem. (you don’t place a band-aid on a gun shot wound)

3. Close often.

4. Take others alone to give you a reading on this prospect.

( before you married them you took them home to mother)

5. Ask other sales professional that have sold or lost deals

to this prospect about their encounter. (today’s environment

requires a back-ground check)

6. Do you understand how your solution will effect the

prospect business both domestically and internationally.

(All medicines require instructions and will outline the

effect on the total body)

7. Do your homework before you meet the prospect, during

the process and just before the final close.

(See booklet on Concentrative-listening)

8. If you want to know read the sign you can’t go wrong .

WHEN TO GET THE HELL OUT OF DODGE

The Mims Morning Meeting

Sales professionals waste time with prospects who are not going to buy. If you have worked in the field of sales and sales marketing you have a story about the prospect who got away after you had forecasted the deal would close.  Not only had you forecasted the closing for this month but, you purchased that new 50″ flat screen TV based on thecommission you would receive. How could I misreadthis prospect? He told me I had the deal. Why did he sign with my competition? These are the questions you ask yourself on the first day of a new month after you the missed your forecast.. The other question is how do I explain this to the bosses, the ones at work and the one at home?

To prevent this from occurring again read the prospect’s signs and signals; stop listening to the words coming out of his or her mouth. You have been reading signs all your life. When you were a child your parents gave you signs. You knew when to ask for something and when not to ask by reading the signs and signals. When you drove your car to the office you read the signs in order to get to your destination safely. We live in a world of signs and signals. Your prospect is no different; your prospect also gives signs and signals each time you speak with him or her. You just have to learn the language. You must read the signs to determine the outcome of your work.

The signs are clearly posted and easy to read. Your prospect will use signs to denote his or her actions.www.mimsmorningmeeting.com