30 November 2009 | Uncategorized | Jason Reed

The Miller Heiman Client Summit in Atlanta was a big success!

The ballroom was packed with more than 75 sales professionals attending the Miller Heiman Client Summit. A diverse group, these sales professionals ranged from senior executives to “bag carrying” sales professionals. Equally as diverse were the industries they represented. However, it was a common objective that motivated each one of them to participate: they were there to exchange ideas, share best practices, hone skills and refine their trade.

The summit’s agenda was full of presentations related to the best practices of sales and sales leadership. Miller Heiman founder Bob Miller led a discussion on the importance of treating strategic client relationships as corporate assets while other sales leaders shared with the group the challenges they are facing in this economy, lessons they’ve learned, and how they’re tackling them. It was very interactive. As valuable as the presentations were, the tremendous amount of networking that took place throughout the day (and during the wrap-up cocktail hour) was insightful. I participated in a wide range of discussions centered around:

• How to effectively deal with the ever-increasing pressures of commoditization
• How sales organizations mount a consistent approach to selling globally
• As we emerge from this unforgiving economy are we poised to handle our customers’ needs
• The customers’ decision-making process has clearly changed in this market and decision-making power has moved up to more senior executives. As a result, there are implications to salesmanship and the acumen needed to sell and succeed at higher levels.

It seemed to me that most of the professionals shared a similar mentality. Perhaps it is best characterized as a belief that as sales professionals we must be open to and commit ourselves to improving. One attendee I talked to said it best: “When you practice, you improve, and when you don’t, you don’t.”

Jason Reed
Sales Vice President, Miller Heiman

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23 November 2009 | Uncategorized | Miller Heiman

If you could only ask one question of your sales team this week to move sales forward, ask this:

Are you able to articulate why this meeting should be high priority for the key decision maker?

It’s the end of the year – and understandably, the prospects and customers you need to connect with are as busy as you, if not more so.

By stating a valid business reason and emphasizing how your conversation will help with the contact’s priorities,  you encourage contacts to meet with you because it quickly highlights your reason for calling and shows you know what is relevant to them. Valid business reasons also help persuade buying influences to meet with you because it shows you’ve taken the time out of your day to research their business challenges and are prepared to demonstrate how you can help them meet or exceed goals and objectives or minimize problems.

Put yourself in your contact’s shoes: would you agree to a meeting if the other person was vague about what it is about? Probably not. Would you agree if you knew that the meeting would help you accomplish something within your own organization?

Listen to three examples of a valid business reason here and begin crafting yours today.

photo credit: koyochi

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16 November 2009 | Uncategorized | Miller Heiman

If you could only ask one question of your sales team this week to move sales forward, ask this:

Do the key players from our organization align with the key players in their organization?

For a sales organization to be efficient, all parts must be properly aligned internally for efficient communication and action.

In that respect, imagine what sort of impact a company could make on its sales revenue when it strategically aligns its members  to the key players within a customer’s organization. By matching individuals from the client’s company to those within your organization that hold the same responsibilities, the ability to communicate clearly and to quickly address those individuals’ concerns become more powerful.

For those accounts that represent strategic opportunities, it may not be enough to simply identify key players. Organizations looking to achieve larger objectives with their key customers will need a game plan to move initiatives forward.

photo credit: A.M.Kuchling

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09 November 2009 | Uncategorized | Miller Heiman

If you could only ask one question of your sales team this week to move sales forward, ask this:

Are there buying influences who are trying to avoid a “lose?”

Proving  how your company’s solution helps to accomplish your customers’ goals is crucial to selling strategically. But identifying whether those decision makers are looking to avoid a specific loss can be equally helpful. Are they trying to avoid:

• Losing customers?
• Losing revenue?
• Losing credibility with investors/executives?

Position your product for a win-win sale by gathering as much information on both the organizational and personal motives of all relevant players.

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05 November 2009 | Uncategorized | Miller Heiman

Fact-based decisions are necessary to drive results in today’s challenging economy – especially when you’re already working with limited resources. So having the most current research can truly go a long way in helping you make smart, strategic and precise decisions that will impact sales results.

We invite you to participate in our seventh annual Miller Heiman Sales Best Practices Study. You will join more than 21,000 professionals who comprise the largest global study ever produced on sales performance best practices. Survey participants are among the first to receive the study results which reveal the selling activities that are helping companies around the world achieve the greatest results.

By participating in the survey, you will also receive:

• Immediate access to our 2009 Miller Heiman Sales Best Practices Study executive summary
• Complimentary access to the 2010 Miller Heiman Sales Best Practices Study executive summary, including comparisons to previous years’ results, upon publication in Q1 2010
• An invitation to a full de-briefing of the study results and its implications for high sales performance

To launch the survey, click here.

photo credit: Elessar

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04 November 2009 | Uncategorized | Clark Owen

I recently had the chance to attend the third stop of our Miller Heiman Client Summit series and jotted down a few of my key takeaways:

• Without ignoring or refuting the negative impact that the recession has had on all sales organizations, salespeople and sales leaders use the bad economy as an excuse for lackluster performance and for weak activities, poor execution and inadequate effort. “We’ll wait for the economy to turn around before our efforts will make a difference.”

• One of the most common objections that salespeople accept from their customers is: “We do not have the budget right now.”  This is not entirely representative of the truth because, even when companies tighten their belts to control expenses, they still have money to run the business. It’s never a matter of not having budget, it’s a matter of fiscal priority.  If there is a clear ROI or payback on an investment, companies will spend the money – budget or no budget.

• Often during a down economy, executives and managers become very internally focused on cost cutting, reorganizing, micro-managing, etc.  The companies that are succeeding in a down economy are the ones who stay disciplined at being in front of their customers, particularly those that are key accounts and who represent a strategic relationship.  It’s the companies that understand the economics of customer loyalty that see big dividends pay off in current and future growth.  Some firms have a false sense of security and rely on the historical “run-rate” of their customer revenue during tough economic times.  They become complacent in their relationship and investments in those customers.  They assume that these customers are satisfied with their products and services and have no reason to leave.  They are right; but they don’t realize that the same customer doesn’t have a reason to stay either.  And when a competitor comes along who can provide more value, they’re surprised when they lose the account.

• One of the effects of a down economy is that it has made the buying process in general more complex.  Everyone agrees that sales organizations need to be customer-focused to be successful in today’s more sophisticated and competitive selling environment.  However, many sales organizations have an antiquated perception of what customer- focused looks like. As we head into 2010, we still see some firms define customer-focused as being relationship-oriented: the salesperson knows everyone in the account, providing timely support and follow up to problems.  According to research presented by the Sales Executive Council,  the most successful people in today’s poor economic conditions are salespeople who challenge their customers in a provocative and nontraditional way.  The Challenger salesperson, as described by the SEC, tend to be effective at not only understanding his or her customers’ needs, but in  helping shape customers’ perceptions of what could be.  They’re very flexible and creative in communicating how their products and solutions will impact their customer, both from a results standpoint and from a personal perspective. They tend to be assertive and behave as experts in their field, and they are successful in creating a sense of urgency to act, resulting in higher wins.  This is how the customer- focused salesperson of 2010 will differentiate him or herself to be really successful in a complex selling environment.

Our Conceptual Selling® clients are familiar with these ideas as they understand the importance of understanding and expanding their clients’ concept while differentiating and building credibility.

If you’re interested in getting more information on these topics, you may consider attending our fourth and final (read: last chance!) Miller Heiman Client Summit in Atlanta, November 10, 2009.

Clark Owen
Sales Vice President, Miller Heiman

photo credit: SarahMcD

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03 November 2009 | Uncategorized | Ray DiCenzo

For many businesses, 2009 was the year of the bottom line. Creating earnings by reducing costs can be a necessary strategy in challenging times. The problem is that you can only deploy that strategy for so long before you shrink yourself out of existence. What should be keeping us up at night is: “What are we doing to fundamentally improve our sales organization to create sustainable top line growth for 2010 and beyond?”

Last week, I had the pleasure of being Master of Ceremonies at the Miller Heiman 2009 Client Summit in Princeton, New Jersey. It is clear that the question posed above was clearly top of mind for many of our colleagues. Despite the current economic challenges, the fact that it is the fourth quarter of the calendar year, the fact that travel budgets are being scrutinized, and the fact that it is extremely difficult to clear a day from your calendar to attend an event such as this, there was an impressive number of sales professionals from all industries and at all levels in attendance at this event. In fact, one could say we literally packed the room.

Most importantly, the observation (or perhaps lesson) that cannot be overlooked is the fact that those who are among the very best-in-class in their respective sales organizations continue to place a high priority on taking time out to sharpen their saw. They were open to new ideas that would challenge their current way of thinking, and are always mindful of the most basic fact that whatever got you to where you are now, will never be good enough to get you where you are going.

I am happy to say that based on the quality of the topics, the speakers, and our clients who shared their valuable insights, we were all rewarded for making this investment in time. I welcome you to join Miller Heiman for the final Client Summit in Atlanta on November 10, 2009.

Ray DiCenzo
Sales Vice President, Miller Heiman

photo credit: Dave-F

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