Craig Klein wants you to know that the emails you send to your customers, and the emails you’re not sending, could be shooting your sales performance in the foot. Believe it or not, changing the way you email your customers can do more for your bottom line than just about any new sales technique you learn this year.   

Read more here.

Tibor Shanto, Renbor Sales Solutions was working with a group of sales people earlier this week.  The big complaint was the number of prospects who were on vacation.  Everyone is entitled to a vacation.  In fact they should be required to take one.  A break might have your prospect come back with a fresh outlook that could open the door for you! 

That does not mean you can sit back and take time off.  It means you need to focus on something productive… something that can long term results.  Here, Tibor shares two ideas to assist you with August sales frustrations.

Being such a fan of twitter (http://twitter.com/bridgegroupinc)Trish Bertuzzi thought it would be interesting to ask some fellow “twiteratti” to contribute sales productivity tips.  But, of course they had to do so in 140 characters - or just about 10 seconds - or less!  It was a fun and interesting exercise.
Here is what she received.

This week’s post is from Naviga’s partner Astron Solutions, courtesy of, Michael Maciekowich, National Director. Astron Solutions is a New York-based consulting firm dedicated to the delivery of human resource consulting services and supportive technology. They work nationwide to develop and implement human resource programs that support the strategic direction of organizations through the creation of a positive employee relations environment.

An age-old battle exists between organization needs and the desire of salespeople to enhance their earnings. Many salespeople, understandably, will take the road of least resistance in an effort to enhance their personal wealth. Unless there is a close Return on Investment (ROI) to the organization between sales goals and individual compensation, however, the process becomes a one-sided event. Case in point? When an organization is interested in margin and profitability, and the salesperson is focused on commissions based purely on sales volume.

Based on observing, listening to, receiving, and placing thousands of sales calls, Art Sobczak put together a list of the Top 10 Errors Made by Sales people When Using the Phone. The list details the most heinous, avoidable errors sales reps commit every day; Mis-cues that sabotage their sales efforts. Read through the errors and then pay particular attention to Action Steps. This is what you can do to avoid the errors. Follow the advice, and be more effective.

Founder and President of Sales Training And Results, Inc. (STAR) Bill McCormick’s search found that there are over 9 million results in a “secrets to closing” google web search. And, no, this article isn’t about the top 4 hidden secrets to closing more sales. That is because he doesn’t believe that there is some special magical mystery to being effective at closing more sales. The challenge (not secret) lies in having the perseverance or following through to use a system that works. This article will highlight four simple and straightforward methods or choices used by sales professionals to close more sales. Depending on the type of product/service that you sell and the duration of your sales cycle, you may find that some of these methods work better for you than others. Pick and choose the method that fits best for your business and sales approach. Please also keep in mind that you often can combine two or more of these methods in the same conversation with a prospective customer.

Recently, business coaching and adult education expert, Tim Hagen, had a salesperson come into his office to try to sell him a service. He came in, sat down and asked two questions: “What do I do?” and “How I think the business is running?” He then immediately launched into his sales speech. Tim sat back and listened as the salesman made a classic selling mistake.

Tim had no need for his product, but the salesperson was intent on selling. He had an “I have to sell” mentality. This is oftentimes where salespeople go wrong.

This week’s blog is a whitepaper from Naviga’s partner Seneca Creek Consulting, a nationally-recognized Federal sales and marketing consulting company in metropolitan Washington, D.C., established in 2003. Seneca Creek assists its clients in developing winning strategies for penetrating the appropriate agencies, prime contractors and major programs where their solutions have the best fit.

Perhaps the most common question asked by any small to mid-size enterprise that has recently acquired a GSA Schedule is expressed in the title of this article.

When you realize that approximately 20% of the Schedule holders account for approximately 80% of all revenue derived from these Schedules, the obvious question becomes: What are the successful Schedule holders doing that I am not?

The seemingly mutually exclusive attributes of assertion and patience need to be present. Assertion is required to doggedly discover those agencies, programs and personnel that constitute many of the essential elements in any sale to the Government. Patience is the sense that the Government moves slowly in the acquisition phase of completing a contract action. This fact leads to the first of 3 essential steps (Discovery, Planning and Execution) that form the foundation of virtually any successful effort in government sales.

Step 1: Discovery
The three components of Discovery are:

1. How is the Government buying the solutions we are selling?

• Is the buying centralized or decentralized?
• Who makes the buying decision? End user, Contracting Officer, or combination of both?
• What contractual vehicles do they prefer? GSA Schedules, Basic Purchase Agreements, Agency or Government-Wide Multiple Award Contracts?
• Does the acquisition shop have preferred providers of this class of product?
• Are your products being purchased through large agency-wide or government-wide acquisition contracts? If so, how do you become a participant?
• Is the buying done directly or is it imbedded as part of a larger program (e.g. large design and construction buy) where the buyer is another company?

2. Where are my competitors focused?

• Where have your top 3 or 5 competitors made the bulk of their sales?
• What contractual vehicles or entry points are they using?
• What is their “value proposition”?
• Who do they deal with in their top accounts?

3. Who is buying what we are selling?

• Who are my prime targets? (Example: Department of Defense, Civilian and Independent Agencies, Intelligence Agencies, Qusi-Government Agencies)
• Is the buying done by Tier 1 and 2 Government contractors (e.g. CSC, Northrop Grumman) that hold or compete on large-scale programs (contracts) or by small business prime contractors?
• Is there a “middle-man” that manages pre-qualified contractors?

Each of the identified targets must be pre-qualified and ranked in order of importance. While these action items sound sufficiently straightforward, the fact is that a great deal of research and “shoe leather” is required to obtain valid, comprehensive answers that permit us to proceed intelligently in our quest for Government sales.

The third question “Who is buying what you are selling?” or “How do you determine what agencies to focus your limited resources on and why?” can be challenging.

This is no easy task and it takes a great deal of research of both past and forecasted buying to narrow the target agencies. For the most part, every agency in the federal government is theoretically a customer. However, based on your service or product offerings there are some ways to narrow down the field. Examination of Exhibits 53 and 300, as submitted to OMB, can provide valuable insights into the status of proposed IT acquisitions from virtually any agency.

First, do your comprehensive research and match your past performance to agencies that are performing similar types of services. For example, if you have experience in implementing SAP Financials, then you would search for Agencies using the SAP platform and, within this group, search further for those who have “Financials” as one of their Agency’s requirements.

If you are in the health care business then your logical target civilian departments are probably Health and Human Services and its member agencies, along with the Department of Veterans Affairs, who is one of the largest providers of medical services in the USA.

If construction management is your specialty then organizations like the Army Corps of Engineers, Navy Facility Engineering Command, Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment, and GSA Public Building Service may be the place to start.

If you are a small business look for agencies that are committed to setting aside purchases for small business and small disadvantaged businesses like 8(a)s, service-disabled veteran-owned, veteran-owned, Hub Zone, and women-owned. Look at the grades each agency has received based on meeting their small business goals.

Often, agencies identify mandatory small business participation in major acquisition programs. For example, the Department of Veterans Affairs Transformation Twenty-One Total Technology (T4) Program is an upcoming multiple award contract vehicle to provide comprehensive, world-wide, IT solutions to support both VA and non-VA customers. The VA has mandated that 30% of all contract dollars shall go to small business.

In summary, the Discovery step is where you need to do your homework, focus and narrow down your targets. It’s not easy but you need to prioritize even if you have unlimited resources.

Step 2: Planning

In the Planning step, we address the question: “Where do you start and why?” The plan is, in large part, the distillation and application of substantive findings from the Discovery phase. This involves a detailed set of actions that are measureable with a focus on agencies, major acquisition programs, contracting vehicles and teaming partners. The plan allows for assigning responsibilities to individuals who are intrinsic to the marketing and sales efforts.

Don’t under-plan, yet don’t over-plan. The plan should become a working document, not a novel nobody wants to pick up and read. The requirement that each element in the plan needs to be completed is perhaps the biggest hurdle to actually enter information into the plan.

Market research services, GAO reports, trade publications, participation with affinity groups such as IAC, AFCEA, and SAME constitute some of the essential assets to use in the planning process. The Federal Procurement Data System is another tool that can be invaluable in determining what programs to target for buyers of your services or products as it provides an historical record of all non-intel agencies’ procurements.

For example, let’s assume you are a small engineering company specializing in Building Code Compliance services. During Discovery you identified that the top 4 agencies ranked by demand for your services are: Army Corps of Engineers (ACE); Navy Facilities and Engineering Command; GSA Building Services and Housing and Urban Development. Further, you determined that your specialized services are typically procured as part of a larger program.

Since you have limited resources you decide to focus on the ACE. An important part of your plan is to determine where to start. Organizationally, the ACE has 9 Divisions comprised of 44 Districts and numerous research, engineering and design centers. Construction projects are contracted and run in each Division and District. Given this organizational structure, you need to determine what districts have the programs and budgets that mesh with your firm’s portfolio of offerings. In addition you need to determine what contracts have been awarded and which one’s are in the planning stage. One thing is for certain, many of the top large and small engineering firms have already established a “beach head” in these Divisions and Districts so teaming becomes an important part of your plan.

At the risk of being repetitive, we cannot emphasis sufficiently the importance of focus. While there will always be pop-up opportunities which will reasonably require attention whether or not they are contained in the game plan, for effectiveness, these should be the pursued as the exception and not the rule.

With few exceptions, the highly successful small to moderate size businesses have had focus on Government programs as the one constant attributes of their planning.

Frequently, there are two main pitfalls that even experienced salespeople can fall into in terms of activities. First, they simply are not doing enough. What is enough? Enough telephone calls to make appointments, enough face-to-face calls, enough calls that involve or influence the decision-makers. In general, the more focused sales activity salespeople generate, the greater the number of sales opportunities they can create.

Second, but equally important, salespeople often are not clear about how to identify the prospects most likely to have a genuine need for their product or service. Without an objective way to prioritize which prospects to contact first — and/or an efficient strategy for contacting them — salespeople are doomed to waste a large percentage of their time.

According to globally recognized business coach Jonathan Farrington, developing a strategic sales process, will help you avoid these pitfalls.

Have you had a look at your CRM lately and seen all the dead wood?  How about that stack of stale business cards getting in the way of your mouse?  Why have these once hopeful opportunities died on the vine and how do we prevent this from happening again? David Tyner, shares some tips on effective sales follow-up that will help keep these hopefuls from becoming hopeless.